Tag: spirituality

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Odd Number Sexuality Group

Just a quick note about the new “wonderful sexuality” class
that started Thursday morning.

(And it’s OK if your sexuality, sex life, partner…doesn’t seem so
“wonderful” at the moment-that’s what the classes are all
about…inquiring into the “un-wonderfulness” we all experience).

We’ve got an odd number and I’d like to be able to pair
everyone up for the exercises where we work together during the week.

And…I know there were a number of people who were “on the
fence” about schedules, time zones, and whether they could fit
it in with work and family.

So if you wanted to join us, but something came up, we have one
spot available since it’s an odd number right now…and I’d love
to have you in this amazing group.

It doesn’t matter if you’re new to The Work or a “seasoned
veteran,” as we have a number of people (5 countries represented)
who are in facilitator training and also folks who are just getting the
hang of the 4 questions. There are also some first timers to my
teleclasses and some who’ve been in several.

It’s actually GREAT to have the diversity, as we all think
eachother’s thoughts and learn from each other.

I can’t think of how many times I’ve heard Katie tell everyone
to start at the beginning (even people 10 years in The Work)
…as if we’re brand new, babes in the woods, with no ideas
or preconceived notions about what’s “supposed” to happen.

So everyone’s welcome.

Because we’re always NEW anyway. We’re NEW with every
inquiry we do…every time we ask that simple question,
“Is it true?” and wait for the answer.

The mind shifts…so our vision shifts…so the world shifts
and it’s always kinder.

Give me a call if you’re interested. You’ll pay for
the 7 classes that are left and I’ll talk to you for about 15
minutes to get you “caught up.”

We’re not recording the class so that everyone feels safe
and free to get to the deepest things they want to question.

But that doesn’t mean you have to “spill your guts,” either.

You’re always free to share whatever you feel is right for you.

Also, from my notes, I’m also putting together a short synopsis of the
class (NO NAMES…NO SPECIFICS…NO REVEALING DETAILS)
so that everyone has a reference and record of some of the concepts
we explored during the class, since there is no recording.

Wishing you love, peace, acceptance, some belly laughs, and
at least one person to drive you crazy…so you go sane 🙂

Grace

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Fantastic BFF Friends

I was talking to a friend yesterday morning…about friends.

About being a friend, having friends, being friends with yourself,
best friends, BFFs, new friends, old friends, and how the world keeps
getting friendlier, the longer you do The Work.

There’s nothing like having a friend–who you can tell everything to.

Sometimes it’s almost “magical” when you open up to another
person…you can hear YOU reflected back by a loving mirror.

It’s also strange how the world can seem so scary, unfriendly,
confusing, and even terrifying…when you feel “friendless,”
alone, and seem to have nowhere to turn.

On February 10, my next teleclass starts. It’s about relationships
of every kind and the thoughts that turn them into battlegrounds,
cemeteries, and ghost towns…instead of safe harbors, greenhouses,
and fertile places to grow.

It all starts with your OWN thinking, even if you’re surrounded
by people and family and friends at every turn…

…and even if you don’t have a friend in the world, which
seems ABSOLUTELY TRUE when we’re believing our thoughts.

And it’s about what I said earlier:

“…how the world keeps getting friendlier, the longer you do The Work.”

When you’re in emotional pain, a statement like that seems like
utter nonsense…even insulting…and absolutely ridiculous when
you’re in the grip of a broken, bruised, or struggling relationship…

…and love seems like some far off, cruel, or bittersweet dream
that only plays on the radio or those super-sad CDs.

The class is called:

Turning Relationship-HELL into Heaven.
Do you want someone to forgive you? Do you wonder who’s fault it is?
Are ancient grudges destroying your family? Have you left a trail of
“serial” relationship behind you?  Do you think people are just plain mean?
Are co-workers driving you nuts (or your boss, lover, mother, or kids)?
Do you fight and make up (a lot)? Do you just give up and think “why bother?”
Do you feel like you’d finally be happy if people understood you?
Do you think you deserve better, but secretly think you’ll be alone forever?

Do you feel devastated because someone close has gone away?

These thoughts and feelings are not enemies, they’re actually friends
who open door to healing, lasting peace, and relationship contentment.

I know about broken relationships after coming back from
the Byron Katie School six years ago, only to hear my husband
say he was moving out! “What?”

Boy…did that throw all the thoughts I’ve mentioned, right
in my face!

And that “magical” thing I mentioned? I “found” it by questioning
my thinking about my former husband (who’s now a dear friend),
sisters, mom, kids, friends, partner…and about myself.

It wasn’t overnight, by any means. But by gently and consistently
doing The Work, I now find friends everywhere…from a stranger
on the corner, to my ever-deepening relationships with
my partner, kids, clients, family…you name it!

I hope you’ll join me at the class, with a group of friends,
and that you’ll continue to find your freedom by questioning
your thoughts.

Much love, Grace

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Diet-Food Teleclass Confusion

A quick note to clear up any confusion about the
“Food” teleclass that starts next week (Tuesday
Jan 17th, 8-9:30 AM Pacific Std Time, for 8 weeks).

Some people think it’s only for people with scary,
super-serious issues like I had–I was suicidally anorexic
and bulimic and terribly confused about my body image.

But this teleclass is actually for EVERYONE…because
we’ve all got issues with food–and it’s NOT just women!

Like one guy who’s going to be on the teleclass.

He said he can feel how low-level anxiety and worry
will send him to the kitchen for a quick snack or some coffee.

Which doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

But he’s got arthritis starting in a few knuckles and is “mildly
panicked” about his hands and is getting ready to do a nutrition
program to see if it will help.

The program requires just 3 meals a day for the first 10 days
with NO SNACKING.

And he’s noticing more panic and fear coming up, with
thoughts like:

“I can’t do it!!!!!!!!!”

He says it feels “crippling” when he believes those thoughts and
sees the image of himself being desperate to eat and hungry
and suffering and tired and weak for lack of food.

Hummm…sounds EXACTLY like me in my anorexic/bulimic days…

…and like EXACTLY the thoughts I hear from people trying to
lose weight, gain weight, or deal with ANY issues with food or
being obsessed with how they look.

So no matter who you are or what you’re struggling with, if
you’re even curious about the class, feel free to call me
and ask any question you might have about The Work or
whether your problem is beyond this class…or even if it
seems too unimportant to bother us in this class.

All are welcome…even the normal looking guy with
average body weight and the arthritis in his knuckles.

And no one’s problem is too big or too small.

Wishing you peace with food and your body (I felt hopeless
about finding peace, and now I hardly think about food or
my body…..if I can change so can you).

Love, Grace

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Flat Out Lizard Drinking

I love the Aussies, the Kenyans, the Japanese,
the French, the English, the Mexicans, the Dutch.

I love the folks I get to meet from around the world
at the Byron Katie events and on my teleclasses.

I love how we can all connect, from all over
the globe, on the internet with Skype and conference calls.

I also love the “lizard” thing, from one of my Aussie
companions on this journey, who I met in a teleclass.

In Aussie-speak, “flat out like a lizard drinking,”
means being VERRRRRRRRRRRRY busy.

Hilarious!

Which is great, because even though the teleclasses are
sometimes dealing with the most painful, gut-wrenching
things we can possibly go through…

…sometimes there’s a lot of goofing around, laughter,
loving teasing, and kidding.

And sometimes, after the teleclasses, group members
even stay in touch and keep doing The Work together.

In my teleclasses, there are writers, professionals,
unemployed, other facilitators, doctors, people going through
bankruptcy, therapists, actors, business owners, factory workers,
homemakers, students.

And no matter where your pain is coming from and what
you do in life, we all think the same thoughts.

It’s so freeing to be an “ordinary” human being…even
with the “worst” problems imaginable.

To realize you’re not better or worse, higher or lower.

Check the links below to see what fits your life best in
my teleclasses…the next one to start, next Tuesday,
focuses on food, eating, and body image. Then there’s a
great one on Sex and Sexuality starting next Thursday Jan. 19th.

Click on the link and send me an email to let me know which
class you’re signing on with.

We’ll be Flat Out Lizard Drinking with The Work, and let
everything else relax.

Much love to all, Grace

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Tebow-Time Thinking

If you haven’t heard of Tim Tebow, it’s
really quite a story, and fascinating to watch.

He’s an underdog quarterback for the Denver Broncos
and a very religious young man.

He just won an outstanding game where all the sports
pundits said he was washed up after  a couple
“dismal failures.”

He’s also been the center of HUGE polarizing controversies
about wearing his religion on his sleeve, whether he’s
good enough to play at this position, etc., etc.

Millions of people love him and millions hate him.

There are so many concepts surrounding things
like this…so many things to do The Work on that can take
us to our freedom.

I was a dedicated cross-country athlete in high school and college
and know how powerful the concepts of winning and losing are.

But it’s not just athletics.

It can be an argument where 2 innocent people with different
ideas gradually escalate into anger and viciousness about
who wins the argument…when they actually love each other.

Sometimes it’s polite viciousness and anger, sometimes it’s
with shouting and screaming.

It can be with food and eating and weight and whether
WE are winning or the FOOD is winning (when it’s
really our thinking).

It’s fun just looking at the Tebow phenomenon, where people
identify so fiercely with an underdog, like Tim Tebow, and have
HUGE emotional investments in how their “hero” does…
it makes for wonderful Work.

Winning and losing and “proving” ourselves can fuel
billion dollar industries-sports, politics, or a business trying
to get “market share,” or get revenge and crush the competition.

Or it can make us suffer along, with every bite of food we take.
My weekend on food and eating is in three days in Seattle. We are officially full but there’s room for one more if you email me soon. We’re diving into the game and getting to the root of what we’re believing—would love to have you join me.

Much love, Grace

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Bare Naked Heart

Although it was scary at first (and still
is at times), doing The Work with others
and allowing them to see where I hide from
the world and myself, is one of the most liberating
things I’ve ever done…and continue to do….

…my heart…bare and naked!

So…here’s some of MY latest work.

Which I’m showing you here for a 2 reasons.

One is, to help dispel the myth that people who’ve
been “in” The Work for a long time are in some
way “different,” more “evolved,” or “superior.”

If anything, the longer you’ve been in The Work,
the thoughts you work on seem even MORE petty,
trivial, and ridiculous.

And I guess the 2nd reason is sort of the same.

To remind you that we’re all working on the same
thoughts and can learn from each other’s work.

I continue to marvel at how everyone’s work
in my classes…is MY work, too.

I’m also amazed at the courage, integrity, and
innocence of “us.”

My clients and class members inspire ME!

With that said, here’s my one liner. I’ll give
you the whole thing over the next couple days
in a thumbnail form (not all the scribbling, doodles,
and arrows in the margins of my notebook):

“He/She should stop hurting”

I look out into the world, I talk with the most
amazing, beautiful people, and sometimes I feel
sad that they are “hurting” or suffering; grieving,
smoking, drinking, overeating, hopeless, full of despair,
cheated, lost, desperate, suicidal, afraid…

They are sad, so I am sad.

Now that’s rather…funny really. Stay tuned for how
I work with this thought. And write me about your
experience of working it as well.

We’re all in this together.

Love, Grace

 

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I’m Not Good Enough

I was thinking again about all your stressful beliefs you
all have sent in to me, and discovering a very common
belief “I’m not good enough”.

I hear Katie’s voice saying “Good enough for WHAT?!”

What an amazing question. I find that to try to answer it,
I’m dumbfounded (great word, eh?)

So let’s really look at this concept, which is so common and
has been around in the human race for…well, maybe since
the first cave man died from tripping over a cliff and his friend found him
on the river bed below and thought “I better not ever let this happen
to me, I need to be good enough”.

At least it feels like survival 101. I find when I’m thinking
“I’m not good enough” I start scheming on how to get better.
Or, go crawl in bed and avoid things, which is at least apparently
risk-free.

But who would I be if I didn’t have the idea that I’m not good enough?

First of all, I’d show up. I’d attend the big meeting, I’d raise my hand,
if I had the idea to go talk to that attractive person over there
I probably would do it. I’d sign up for a new class, I’d call many of my
friends and ask them if they know anyone hiring for jobs right now.
I’d sign up for OK Cupid free online dating service.

I’d call my mother. I’d finish my resume. I’d think of someone who I
know is super duper supportive and call them to talk. I’d ask someone
to facilitate me on my stressful beliefs.

I’m GOOD ENOUGH to be this person who is sitting here on the couch,
writing this email. I’m good enough to find out I might not know
everything…wow, I hardly have words to express it…
I think that I’m struck DUMB (dumb-founded, right?)

It literally means NOT TALKING.

Amazed and in awe by all that I’m good enough for. You are too!

What are you good enough for? I bet there’s a lot…everything you’ve done
so far, everything you’ve felt, everything you’ve lived has been good
enough. You’re here right now, perfectly YOU, including all your
stressy beliefs.

WOW! You guys are awesome!

And when you don’t think so, come join a class. The support is fabulous,
and you discover how you aren’t alone.

Love, Grace

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My Goofy Part

I was talking to a friend the other day about
the “non-spiritual” things we all do.

OK…the things I do.

The “supposedly” non-spiritual things.

I told him how I get laughing with my sisters
so hard that we’re rolling around on the floor.

And I mentioned how I’m so gullible that
people pull pranks on me and I don’t even
“get it”  at the part where I’m supposed to get it.

I also forgot my cell phone in L.A. at the
Cleanse and had to have it FedEx’ed back
to Seattle so I can run my life. Did you know
they have radio stations you can turn on in the
car when you’re not talking with someone on
your bluetooth? But I digress.

So what IS “spiritual” anyway?

It’s a great thing to question with The Work.

Is getting in a fight with your spouse, or
significant other, any less spiritual than
meditating or having loving thoughts about
God or a friend or some lofty aspirations?

How do we know?

What exactly does “spiritual” even mean?

The whole idea of “spiritual” can be a stumbling
block to being spiritual…whatever that is.

Just something to think about…and question.

Wishing you a belly laugh, and a bad pun,
and burping in an inappropriate place.

In other words…

A deeply spiritual experience.

Love,

Grace