Grace Notes

February 20, 2015

Eating Peace – Seven Foundational Rocks For Your Eating Peace Home

Tomorrow evening, I’ll be wrapping up registration for Eating Peace and starting the program with everyone the next morning (actually, to be exact, everyone will get the link to listen and watch the presentation tomorrow night Pacific time, so no matter what time zone, you’ve got Sunday all day to watch).

I’ve had lots of emails and questions about Eating Peace, so I thought I’d make a video and share some wisdom here with you that can bring insight to everyone.

This will be wonderful information to have whether you ever take Eating Peace online or not.

In this video, I talk about seven foundational principles or bedrocks that I’ve found serve as a base for building a beautiful relationship with eating.

They don’t have anything to do with willpower, controlling yourself, thinking positively, or following a certain food and exercise plan.

Not at all.

I tried all those things, and none of them ever worked to achieve lasting peace with my body and food.

These seven foundational rocks will help you find balance with anything, not just food.

And I have one important piece of information to share that I haven’t broadcast to the greater community….

….which is that once you participate in Eating Peace online, you’re in for life.

In other words, when you sign up, in the current version, you’ll have access to future updates and future versions of the program for as long as I’m offering Eating Peace.

I know everyone has their own timeline and path. Some people break the chain of suffering for years, then maybe relapse, and then reach a final resting point of peace and understanding with food and eating where they never go back.

Some people struggle for years and years with diets and resignation and maybe yo-yo weight gain and loss, then finally learn these principles instead of giving up, and they shift their relationship to eating, forever.

Most people are somewhere in between, and I want you to have all you need at different phases of your journey to peace, right when you need it, if I can be of service.

Therefore, wherever you are, if you’re an Eating Peace Online alumni, you can join us and take it again….no extra fee, for life.

Bottom line, I want people to feel good about eating, good about their lives, and connected to the greater universe so that they can bring their unique gift to this world and not get bogged down with eating problems.

Click here to watch the video to learn these seven foundations to Eating Peace. I’d love to hear how they work for you, where you’d like to develop one of them more, and any questions you have:

Lots of peace,

Grace

P.S. You can still register here today. And after this post, you can write me at grace@workwithgrace.com for information about future programs and when you can participate next time.

full one-time payment

1st payment for 3-payment plan (now, 3/22 & 4/22)

Much love,

Grace

February 19, 2015

Will The Truly Controlling One Please Stand Up

When I was a teenager, I considered my mom very bossy.

I didn’t have the word “controlling” at the time, but if I did, that’s what I would have called her.

She always had an opinion, she asked pointed questions, she made suggestions, knew where I was almost all the time, made plans for me, and gave me and my sisters lists of rules about the kitchen, the laundry, chores, expectations, requests.

My story was, it was overwhelming to even be in the kitchen during cooking time, table-setting time, or clean up time.

Not just overwhelming….extremely unpleasant.

I can feel it now, as I remember.

Which is one of the best ways to enter inquiry on long-past experiences, full of feeling that situation.

And lately, I’ve been looking at long-past experiences because of planning for the upcoming parenting telecourse starting Mondays at 10 am PT.

Why?

Because I keep noticing, anything unfinished about my mom or dad always would show up in exchanges with my kids over the past 20 years as they’ve been growing up.

I could do The Work on my kids and parenting….then I’d often wind up doing The Work on my mom or dad.

Double the insight, double the pleasure. Ha ha!

Here’s an example of how.

One day I noticed I had a belief that my kids should pick up their stuff and put it in their own rooms, instead of leaving it in the common living room.

Nothing wrong with that belief, except I felt great annoyance while I thought it.

So it was stressful.

I did The Work and questioned my belief, and instead of fuming with irritation, I calmly started picking up their stuff and putting it in their rooms myself, AND letting them know how much I loved it when the living room was clutter-free.

My oldest, I noticed, began not leaving anything in the living room anymore (still doesn’t). My younger kid does sometimes, and I move it….and there’s still some discussion, but I don’t feel furious.

As I did that work, I studied the anger, because it would come and go.

It felt very bossy. Very controlling. Very much coming from exasperation, fury, impatience. Feeling like a victim of these other messy, inconsiderate people in the world.

Um, yeah.

Kinda like that same thing I saw in my own mother.

When I was inquiring into my kids stuff being in the living room, I suddenly got a picture of the house I grew up in…..

…..irritation coming from my mom (my story) to empty the dishwasher, set the table, get the dish out of the cupboard, clean up the table, be careful.

Four daughters, my dad cooking at the stove staying quiet, dishes clattering, voices and noise, the phone ringing, our dog underfoot, the cat hiding somewhere in the house, some daughter missing, the cow bell rung to get-everyone-in-here-NOW-dammit!

Then sitting at the table formally, dad serving the food from the big chair on the end, asking to be excused, then anxiously on duty to clean up.

Why was that so upsetting?

I was never good enough.

It was never good enough.

Tidiness was never tidy enough, clean was never clean enough, speed was never speedy enough, chores were never done well enough.

Sigh.

These were my same glasses I was looking out of with my kids.

I had to confess to myself, this is exactly the way I saw them.

Close, but not a really stellar job cleaning up. Not caring enough, not responsible enough, not paying enough attention.

Who who I BE without these thoughts about someone else being the ogre, or the victim, and not-enough-ness all around, high and low?

Wow.

I’d just notice families doing their best.

Kids doing what they do, parents doing what they do, me noticing it all.

I’d feel…..happy.

I’d open to that experience so long ago not really being as bad as I thought….and my more recent experience with kids….not being as bad as I thought.

In fact, as I do The Work, I notice I think of these same situations involving cleaning up as good.

Fun, laughing, silly.

Just people, with stuff, and things moving from here to there, in and out of cupboards and off tables, and out of hallways and into bedrooms.

No. Big. Deal.

“The apparent world is like an echo. The echo went out from me for forty-three years, and now it’s coming back to me. It’s all like a breath. Like a pebble in the water, all of the ripples going out all those years and now they’re coming back. I undid the turmoil and since my children experience me, they’re losing it also. They’re losing their attachment to everything too. They’re becoming quiet. And that’s what The Work does for everyone….They cannot be turbulent if I am not turbulent.” ~ Byron Katie

My mom cannot be controlling if I am not controlling. My kids cannot be messy if I am not messy.

My house is not chaotic if I am not chaotic.

Oh what fun, oh what fun.

And if you’d like to un-do some of your deep-held beliefs, from long-distance past that show up in your parenting life today….

….come on over and join the Happy Parent Teleclass starting Mondays. We meet for 90 minutes every week, for 8 weeks.

We get some powerful work done on those kids and all we’re usually afraid to admit that we think about them.

I know for me, it saved my sanity, and made my life with kids nothing short of incredible.

“If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.” ~ Tao Te Ching #57

If you want to be a great parent, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and your children will govern themselves.

Love, Grace

February 19, 2015

Not Speaking Up When You’re Afraid of Rejection…Is Rejection

The other day I had a little tantrum.

I know its hard to believe. (ha ha).

It was on the inside.

A friend told me how she was cutting someone else we both knew out of her life.

Like going on a gluten-free diet, she was going on a diet eliminating this other friend (someone I knew, but barely).

I said nothing.

My first reaction….A little nervous, but justifying the idea quickly.

OK.

Everyone gets to hang out with whomever they want to hang out with. People do that to each other all the time, right?

Who am I to say “you shouldn’t cut someone out of your life, you should use your irritation as an opportunity to connect, resolve something, learn something about yourself, work it out with this other person.”

But I noticed on the inside, I was thinking these things.

I remembered I had another friend once….

….who really reminds me of this current friend come to think of it….

….who was queen of chopping people out of her life.

And then she chopped ME out of her life one day.

At the time, I felt shocked.

But I suppose it wasn’t all that surprising since that’s what she did when she was threatened, or nervous, or unhappy with someone, or felt judged or rejected.

Oh boy, though.

I could feel the inner turmoil that showed it was time for me to do The Work.

“She shouldn’t kick someone out of her life”.

Is that true?

Yes! Of course its true! It’s mean, abrasive, attacking, and clickish!

Um. OK….come on back to inquiry now.

Are you sure? Is it absolutely true she shouldn’t kick someone out?

No. There’s a time and place for no contact occasionally with people. It seems to work better, or be the only solution for awhile.

Like baking soda and vinegar, sometimes two things together make for an explosion.

How did I react when I believed that thought?

As I considered this, I realized I held back my own opinion. I was terrified of being kicked out myself. I smiled fake-ish. I judged her without telling her.

I wasn’t real!

Wow, that all happened so fast, I almost didn’t catch how my own anger and irritation and judgment actually covered over fear.

Fear of rejection.

So who would I be without the belief that she shouldn’t kick people out of her life?

An amazing answer came forward, after contemplating this question.

I’d speak up.

I’d say, “Wow….that’s a big step. I feel a little frightened of the whole kicking-out-cutting-off thing you’re telling me about. I feel sad hearing this news. I feel like pulling away from you, I’m feeling uncomfortable. I’m anxious about being rejected myself.”

Yikes!

I turned the thought around: she should kick someone out of her life.

Well, that’s what she was doing. It really was her business.

But more importantly, I shouldn’t kick HER out of my life.

Which is what I was doing when I didn’t speak up, and let her know I felt uncomfortable about her report. Maybe if I spoke up, there would have been a greater opportunity for resolve, or understanding.

Another turnaround: I shouldn’t kick myself out of my life.

I’ve done this over and over again.

But especially sitting there in that moment with my friend, who I really do love, I didn’t share my true self, my true regrets and concerns about her plan.

I went right along with what appeared to be the easy way, and kicked out a real part of me feeling worried about rejection.

Now….I know a conversation I need to have soon….to connect, show up, stay in contact, express how I really felt then and feel now.

“How do you react when you think you need people’s love? Do you become a slave for their approval? Do you live an inauthentic life because you can’t bear the thought that they might disapprove of you? Do you try to figure out how they would like you to be, and then try to become that, like a chameleon? In fact, you never really get their love. You turn into someone you aren’t, and then when they say “I love you,” you can’t believe it, because they’re loving a facade. They’re loving someone who doesn’t even exist, the person you’re pretending to be. It’s difficult to seek other people’s love. It’s deadly. In seeking it, you lose what is genuine. This is the prison we create for ourselves as we seek what we already have.” ~ Byron Katie

Love, Grace

February 18, 2015

She Shouldn’t Say That To Me!

Peace Talk Podcast this week is on ANXIETY. I’d love your comments or to read your reviews on itunes.

Haven’t listened yet? Google Grace Bell Podcast.

Peace Talk Podcast Made New and Noteworthy on Itunes!

*******

So now that I’m done with the recent in-person retreat Eating Peace and getting registrations for the upcoming 3 month online program with the same title….

….I’m aware that next Monday, only five days away….

….a teleclass begins on PARENTING.

Did you hear the shark-lurking-in-the-water sound?

Duhn-duhn-duhn-duhn.

Oh man.

Beliefs about parenting, other people’s parenting, caring for young humans, caring about actually grown up kids, judging how our parents parented….

….is intense, to put it mildly.

I would say hands down, my kids provided the most worksheets on situations where I “lost” my temper than any other situations in my life for the past ten years.

Especially my amazing daughter.

The first time I wrote a worksheet on her, I was ashamed to read it to the person facilitating me.

How could a mother be so mean, babyish, angry, and vengeful?!

My rage was intense.

And this kid was only 8 years old at the time.

She shouldn’t talk back, she shouldn’t boss me, I need her to listen (code word for listen is do-what-I-say I later realized), I want her to respect me, she is rude, ungrateful, loud, irritating, ridiculous, outrageous.

It was weird how mad I could get.

She should clean up her room, wash her dishes.

Even now I will scan the room when I enter the house, see her boots and backpack lying on the chair, and immediately think….

….”WHAT?! She should put those away in her room!”

Like it’s such a shock.

Over and over again it seemed, I questioned and entered the incredible open world of who I would be without my thoughts about my children….

….so stressful, so ingrained, so deep.

So the other day, I told my daughter “you should listen to my new podcast—that’s your DAD doing the intro and outro you know—and it’s only five minutes kinda like your you-tuber friends….I’d like to know what you think!”

She took one look at the cover art, two babies (thank you to the photographer’s son, the laughing baby on the left, who gave the thumbs-up for using the photo).

She said “I hate babies” and marched out of the room.

Who would I be without the belief she should be more respectful, or listen to my genius work (ha) or even care?

Wow.

I’d actually be laughing.

She’s funny! And spicy!

“How can you have rules and still stay out of your children’s business? Drop the rules and find out! You’ll find that your children, on their own, will live every rule you’ve ever taught them, and some of them you may not like. They are a perfect reflection of you. They turned out to be you…..Ultimately you don’t have any control over your children. You don’t have any control over anything. When you think you do, and you see that you don’t, the effect is depression.” ~ Byron Katie

I turn the thoughts around that I have about my kids, even today: she should NOT want to listen to me talk, she shouldn’t like babies, she shouldn’t clean up, I should clean up (especially my thoughts), he should lose things all the time, he should be late, she should love what she loves, I should quit being noisy in my head about their noise.

I am actually really glad she doesn’t like babies right now….she’s seventeen.

There are benefits.

I love she’s outspoken and strong. She refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school, because she doesn’t agree with it.

She’s finding her way.

When I was her age, I was smiling all the time, trying to be nice, rebellious but never TOO angry or upset, and full of very conflicted feelings.

And developing a raging eating disorder.

My daughter is really quite happy with food.

That same night after the “I hate babies” comment, she came into my room before going to bed….

…..and gave me a big hug and kiss goodnight, and said “I love you, mom”.

What a cutie.

To join the 8 week teleclass where we’ll identify our most painful thoughts about our kid(s) and do The Work on them, starting on Monday at 10 am Pacific Time….click HERE.

You do The Work, and watch your kid change (or not). Give yourself some peace.

I’d love to have you with us!

Love, Grace

February 18, 2015

Eating Peace – Distorted Thinking, Distorted Eating

Whenever I start a new program, even if I’ve taught it many times before, I review the whole thing and often make little changes or notes.

Yesterday I was contemplating the way the Mind works when it comes to food and eating troubles as I reviewed the Eating Peace presentations, twelve 90 minute lectures with slides.

Beliefs, thoughts and views of the world sure do affect our lives in a deep way, including the way we eat.

Some of its conscious, some not so much.

The mind is quite remarkable, so busy, full, quick, and often–mistaken!

That Mind.

It’ll get things all twisted up and mixed around so you don’t know what’s up or down anymore.

It’s called making up stories based on past imprints or situations….worrying….anticipation….regret.

In the world of psychology, one term for the way thinking gets whacky when it comes to food (and other stressful stories) is….

….distorted thinking.

I talk today in this video about some of the ways we get distorted thinking when it comes to food….

….and the REAL origin or view of distortion (its not really about food).

I love how food is a reflection of how you feel about life.

Click here to listen, and leave a comment for me on my website, or on youtube after you watch–I love reading your impressions and feedback, and answering your questions.

Lots of peace,

Grace

P.S. Click HERE to read all about Eating Peace, the upcoming Online and Live Telecourse Program from February 22-May 31, 2015. Jam-packed with information and tools for healing the relationship with food, and with life.

full one-time payment

1st payment for 3-payment plan (now, 3/22 & 4/22)

Once you register, I’ll personally send you all the information you’ll need via email.

Much love,

Grace

February 17, 2015

I Didn’t Say No And It Got Me A No

Can you say no when you mean no? If you don't you might feel worse later. — Can you say no when you mean no? If you don’t you might feel worse later.

Last week I had a one-time consultation call with a company to talk about a website upgrade.

I had taken a little free course the company offered to review some tweaks I was interested in adding to my own website.

The consult call was scheduled for one hour, and I knew it was basically a meeting to see if their service was right for me, and could potentially involve…..

…..sales!

As in, someone pitching me their thing.

Maybe this service would help save me a bunch of time making all the changes myself.

I had many technical questions.

But we had to wait to get to those because when the person called at the appointed hour, he asked me questions like “how would it feel if you had your website totally upgraded and handled?” and “if you could wave a magic wand, what would you want your website to do?”

Well, I already know I’ll feel satisfied and pleased when these changes are made.

DUH.

I wasn’t in a position of needing to be convinced about fixing my website. I love beautiful websites, I enjoy being creative with technology, I like all the new stuff being invented constantly.

I know people get confused about where to find stuff on mine.

We hung up, not complete yet with the conversation because I had a few more questions. We made an appointment to continue the following day.

Which is when a moment arrived.

Yes. A situation.

After getting a lot of my questions answered….I realized his service wasn’t a good deal for me.

I said “thank you for all your information, and I’m not going to sign up with you right now.”

He said “WHAT? I’m really concerned! You mean you’re going to keep sitting there without making any progress on your website, or your business?”

Wait. Was he insulting me?

Fume.

He’s concerned?

I suddenly felt like I was running off the car dealership lot with the car salesman saying “I’m concerned, I’m really concerned!” as I DON’T buy a car.

What a faker!

Sigh. I had my concept for inquiry.

“He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Is that true?

Well, no. He backed off, he wasn’t happy, he applied all the pressure he could, he repeated how terrible this would be if I said no….

….but then he said I could call him again any time if I changed my mind.

How did I react when I began to believe he wouldn’t take no for an answer?

Angry. I could feel the heat rise from inside my gut, up my throat, into my face. I looked at my watch, I wanted to hang up. I felt like I was talking to an enemy on the phone.

Bummer.

I imagined writing him an email pointing out what a jerk he was and how he came across all sweet and supportive at the beginning but that was fake.

Who would I be without the belief that he wouldn’t take no for an answer?

Deep breath. I’d relax. I’d notice how there are no emergencies. I’m safe in this moment, all is well.

I would tell him there are several things that don’t serve my needs about their services.

I’d hang up if I needed to. I don’t have to stay in the conversation.

I turned the thought around: he would take no for an answer.

Well, first of all, he’s just a man on the phone in another time zone. How could he possibly NOT take no for an answer?

What am I even talking about?

Must I demand that everyone be “nice” and easy-going, cordial, detached and never pressuring me?

How about another turnaround: I wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I didn’t stop him 5 minutes into the original conversation and say “I don’t really want to have a coaching/sales conversation, I basically have a few technical questions to run by you, then I can decide yes/no for this website service thing, ok?”

I didn’t interrupt him when I thought the initial conversation was winding and dragging in other directions.

Who wasted everyone’s time?

Me.

He was doing his job. He probably had a script, and was following what he knew to do.

I was the one who didn’t say no the minute I felt a “no”.

This is not a new experience. I’ve done this before, hoping that if I say “yes” it will be easy, smooth, non-confrontive, and I’ll avoid someone being disappointed or wanting to pressure me further.

I wouldn’t take no for an answer, from myself, or from him.

Yikes, so true.

I wind up often thinking “yes” is better than “no”. I want to dream of yes, not no. I like the idea of yes, yes, yes. It sounds fun, thrilling, like flying, or hang-it-all-do-whatever-you-want!

YES! YES!

But, wait. No is good, too, on planet earth, you say?

Wow.

What if I celebrated NO just as much as YES and welcomed the deep, powerful, empty, unknown consequences of NO.

“There was an exhausted woodcutter who kept wasting time and energy chopping wood with a blunt ax because he did not have the time, he said, to stop and sharpen the blade.” ~ Anthony DeMello

In those recent exchanges, where I judged Mr. Website Coach Salesman as salesy and pressuring me and insulting me….

….and all those other times I have overlooked saying “no” and thought of someone as going on and on, or being rude, or being too intense….

….hasn’t that been just like chopping wood with a blunt ax?

Saying no is much more efficient. It only takes one or two strokes, and the tree is down.

Then, you get to move on to the next thing.

Love, Grace

February 16, 2015

What Is The Shape Of Love?

Can you catch love, the spirit of life, or joy in a jar?

Today appears to be an ordinary day. Maybe a holiday Monday for people in the US.

Nothing super supreme special, though.

Not “Valentine’s Day” or a special love day…that’s over now.

But what if it could be?

What if it was a wildly beautiful love celebration day?

For yourself.

What happens when you don’t really love yourself though?

What’s up with that?

Often, I found different moments that created lack of love in the moment….and they looked like this:

You think you made a mistake. You remember a painful situation.

You compare yourself with others.

The thought runs through your mind that this day isn’t exciting enough, fun enough, loving enough, sweet or kind or peaceful enough.

Something’s just plain Not Enough.

You feel guilty for saying something harmful to somebody. You hurt someone.

Maybe you don’t feel you’ve done a good job.

You think you aren’t good enough, big enough, strong enough.

You haven’t gotten there yet, you judge yourself as wrong.

Owwie.

It definitely hurts to not enjoy your own company, to not feel satisfied in this moment right now, with you.

Why not today take a little break from this type of thinking today, just as an experiment?

Can you forgive yourself today for not doing it right? Or not getting it yet? For being less than perfect?

Who would you be without the belief that something’s missing in you, or wrong with you, or off, or bad, or not enough?

I found…..I feel very quiet, without these voices running off at the mouth.

I don’t have to do anything special.

Stillness is here….very, very still.

“By being nothing you are everything. By wanting nothing you are eternally full of grace…

…Tell me, what is the shape of Love? How much does Joy weigh when held in the palm of your hand? Can you catch the Spirit of Life in a jar?” ~ Adyashanti in My Secret Is Silence

Today, what if you acted like someone who couldn’t believe what’s going on in your life right now is BAD?

Someone who couldn’t think the thought “I’m a loser” or “I’m doomed” or some more mild version of the same?

Happy This Day to you. Happy every day to you.

Nothing special. Nothing.

Happy day. Happy.

You.

Love, Grace

February 14, 2015

Eating Peace Online Home Study Registration Open Today

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When I was first putting together this very thorough Eating Peace Online Program I never planned for open enrollment day to start on Valentine’s Day.

But here it is! And I love it!

Because this program celebrates self-love and self-acceptance at the deepest level.

A romance with YOU.

Caring for how you eat and take in the world in the form of food, and understanding your impulses, your actions, and how you’ve gotten to where you are today….

….and what it takes to un-ravel yourself from the battle with eating….

….is maybe one of the most amazing things you could ever do.

Without dieting, forcing any meal plans, demanding torturous exercise, or bossing yourself around.

The program begins next week on February 22, 2015.

This is a program very full of information I found in my years of recovery and study of weird or off-balance eating, and working with others along the way.

Off-balance eating comes out of off-balance thinking, feeling and being.

The program brings powerful awareness to eating as a spiritual path.

Each week, you’ll receive a new link to a webinar presentation on Sunday morning Pacific time.

You can listen immediately, or set aside another 90 minutes in the following days to watch and listen.

Then we all get online together on Wednesdays (you pick your best time–or both times–and come live to the call to do inquiry together at either 9 am or 5:15 pm Pacific Time).

After every three weeks, we’ll take a one-week break to digest, assimilate, re-watch some of the material, let it sink it….before starting the next module.

To read more about the program, the modules, what will be covered and greater detail….click HERE.

To enroll in the program with a complete one-time payment of $997, click this button.

[rps-paypal] full one-time payment of $997 (you may need to manually enter your payment amount)

For a payment plan of three monthly payments of $367, click here…..and you’re in! (We’ll invoice you for the other two payments monthly on the 22nd of March and April):

[rps-paypal] first payment for payment plan $367 (manually enter your payment)

Once you register, I’ll personally send you all the information you’ll need via email. And as I said, we’ll begin on February 22nd!

It’s my great pleasure to be of service in this way to help you heal your life with food. I think every single person who opens to this approach to healing their relationship with food can change not only their eating, but their other relationships, and their whole lives.

When you heal your life with food, you create more peace everywhere!

I can’t wait to work with you in the months ahead.

And if it’s not for you, not to worry. I’ve got you covered in more videos weekly on Wednesdays, my gift. Stay tuned.

Much love, Grace

P.S. Registration is open all week, until 9 pm Pacific Time on Saturday, February 21st.

February 13, 2015

Anniversary Day Story Change

Animals don't know what day it is--who would YOU be if you didn't know? — Animals don’t know what day it is–who would YOU be if you didn’t know?

Did you know that on this day, Friday the 13th, it’s estimated by the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute that 17 to 21 million people in the United States are kinda paranoid?

It’s apparently the most feared day and date in history.

In Finland, National Accident Day is always Friday the 13th, helping to remind people to be careful. And in the Netherlands, statistics show that fewer accidents happen on Friday the 13th because everyone’s being hyper alert.

A famous 1972 accident happened on Friday the 13th: a plane crashed in the Andes. Some of the survivors, stuck in the snow but still alive, are famous for surviving because they ate some of the dead passengers.

I remember that from when I was a kid. Ew.

Wow, OMG! Friday the 13th!

Don’t you love spooky stories?

And….sometimes spooky stories are very, very spooky. As in, they are truly alarming.

But only if you believe them to be true.

So let’s inquire.

What’s creepy about a date in your life, what gives you the heebie-jeebies about an anniversary you always remember?

(My mom says heebie-jeebies).

Have you lost something or someone? Did something difficult happen? When you think about it, are you afraid of getting hurt again, emotionally or physically, or of death?

After I first got divorced, when 11/11 came along, I felt sad.

That used to be a powerful date…but now….it’s a sad date!

How do you react when you feel forgotten, lost, afraid, hurt, or terrified and you remember it because of the date?

When I have felt this way, and believed my worst fears were true, I’ve kept myself really tiny and small, I’ve stayed home, I’ve avoided speaking to people, I’ve had a hard time sleeping.

Memories crashed through my head.

But with self-inquiry, you can imagine who you’d be without your thoughts!

For some strange reason, when I was a kid I loved Friday the 13th and would say “this is a GOOD luck day!”

I’d feel kind of impish.

So without my fearful story about a date, perhaps I’d be playful and impish again!

If you didn’t have a reference for day, time, numbers, meanings….

….who would you be?

Who would be without your belief in anniversary dates, frightening days, haunted times?

For me, without the belief that 11/11 means “marriage that broke apart” I realize that 11/11 is INCREDIBLE.

I love 11! Maybe it came first, before I chose it for a marriage event in 1990 a long time ago. Ha!

I still love 11/11!

What if you turned your memory-associated difficult sad dates around to the opposite instead?

Instead of the memory of that date being all-awful…could it be that now, in this moment, it’s only a memory?

It doesn’t mean you’ll forget about that past event, or person, or place, or time….

….it just doesn’t have to be 100% tragedy and drama. It doesn’t have to FEEL bad.

It could even be a gift, a joyful moment, a hat-tip to that vision, an awareness of what is here now that is new, different, an invitation, a possibility.

It could happen, if you inquire.

“So reality and the story never match; reality’s always kinder….You move totally away from reality when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer.” ~ Byron Katie

Love, Grace

February 13, 2015

Eating Peace: Healing Eating Wars With Mind, Feelings, Body, Spirit

If you got the chance to watch my webinar on many in’s and out’s of healing eating troubles, thank you.

I was going through the webinar the other day and realized at the end, I talk about my upcoming online Eating Peace 3 month program….and the dates are for last autumn.

I did teach the course last autumn!

But now….it’s February!

And many of you have written me to ask….well, heck, are you teaching the online class again soon and how do I sign up?

That would be YES.

Registration actually opens tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day. I’ll send a quick, short email with details in the morning with how to register.

But such a comprehensive program may not be right for you, right now. That’s OK. It’s a pretty intensive, full program, with weekly webinars and additional weekly live calls for questioning stressful thoughts using The Work of Byron Katie. There’s only one week off between each module and we go all the way until the very end of May!

Click through to my website to read all the details about the entire program and how it works right HERE….

….but meanwhile….

….here’s a video where I expand on the areas I studied, all of which came together in a big interconnected way for healing:

Mind, Feelings, Body and Spirit.

In the video in each area, I give you a really vital key you can use for changing your relationship with food and eating.

Start to use these tools and principles.

As you change your inner world when it comes to food and eating, you help change the experience of eating from agony to joy.

When you feel the joy of being alive, having a body, and eating, you spread the joy just by being yourself.

Then more and more people can become free from self-condemnation when it comes to food, or compulsion with food, or terrible violent thoughts and behaviors with food.

“There is something better than endlessly pushing the boulder of obsession up the mountain: putting it down. And if you are willing to refrain from dieting and needing an instant solution, and if you want to use your relationship with food as the unexpected path, you will discover that God has been here all along….In each moment of kindness you lavish upon your breaking heart or the size of your thighs, with each breath you take–God has been here. She is you.” ~ Geneen Roth

Enjoy! And leave a comment, I love to hear how these ideas work in your life: