Episode 33 - Guided Integration Journey

Transcript

Renee Stephens: Welcome to Inside Out Weight Loss. I’m your host Renee Stephens, and together we’re accessing the control panel of your mind/body system, bringing ease and joy to your weight loss journey and fullness to the rest of your life. On today’s show, an exploration of the extraordinary body that we have, what listeners are replacing their weight struggle with, and the promised guided journey to integrating your new naturally slender self with your life.

Renee Stephens: The gift of being hooked up, tuned in and plugged in, that’s a gift that sometimes I help my clients give their younger selves so that it’s not just in that moment, but rather this is a resource that they can connect to anytime throughout their lives, and what a wonderful affect that has.

Renee Stephens: Perhaps your behaviors, your activities are all about shopping and doing healthy shopping. Maybe you see yourself and you imagine shopping on a weekly basis or cooking fresh food or reading food labels, whatever it is. Notice the actions that you take in these environments that you identify. And as you notice the actions that you take in these environments, I want you to take another step to think about the thoughts that you think that allow you to take those actions in that environment.

Renee Stephens: If you think about the things that you most love in life, the people that you most appreciate, that you love to be with or to think about, if you think about what you value most in this lifetime, all of that is possible because of your body.

Renee Stephens: So lets take a moment to arrive and be present with ourselves, notice how you’re feeling in this moment, check inside. What’s your current experience? Are you warm or cool? Are different parts of your body warmer or cooler than other parts of your body? What’s your energy level like? Can you feel energy pulsing through your body as your heart beats? Do you have a sense of the flow of blood throughout your body, renewing all of your tissues with each beat of your heart? Do you have a sense of your aliveness, of the aliveness in your hands, the miracle that are your hands, and the miracle that is your body? There’s something about your body, there’s an aliveness there that isn’t there in other objects, that isn’t there in a body whose soul has left it. But it’s certainly there in you. Take a moment now to become present with it, to notice it, that you are a conscious living being with a body that is doing so many things in this moment, science can’t even count them. Your heart is beating, your lungs are filling with air and expelling air that you no longer need. Blood takes that oxygen into your bloodstream and moves it throughout your body. Your brain is working. Different chemicals are released in your body. Your digestive process is moving food through your system. Respiration, perspiration is happening. So many things, your internal organs are doing what they need to do. So much is happening in your body right now. So take a moment to become aware of it and appreciate it. And you could even go beyond that, to notice how your body functions for your and enables you to do the things that you do. If you think about the things that you most love in life, the people that you most appreciate, that you love to be with or to think about, if you think about what you value most in this lifetime, all of that is possible because of your body. Without this body, this body that you have been given, your favorite things in life wouldn’t be possible. So it’s always a wonderful thing to take a moment to become present with our bodies, with our experience, and appreciate and give gratitude for the body that we’ve been given. And with all of the complexity of the body there’s another level too. In fact, more levels than we probably know about. But think for a moment about your emotional level. What’s your emotional experience in this moment? How do you feel? Do you feel balanced and centered? Do you feel a little off? Do you feel like perhaps now it’s time to do some self-correcting and come back to you, come back to be hooked up and connected with your higher self or spirit or whatever it is that you like to be hooked up and connected to? During certain processes that I do with my clients occasionally it’s necessary to go back in time, to go back into the past and revisit our younger selves, often to give our younger selves an important gift. What’s the most wonderful gift that we could possibly give our younger selves, perhaps in a moment that we were scare or alone or needed some reassurance? And often the most wonderful gift that we can give our younger selves is the gift, as they say, that keeps on giving, the gift of being connected to something greater than ourselves. The gift of being hooked up, tuned in and plugged in, that’s a gift that sometimes I help my clients give their younger selves so that it’s not just in that moment, but rather this is a resource that they can connect to any time throughout their lives, and what a wonderful affect that has. Imagine what that would be like for you now, to be connected, to be hooked up, to God or spirit or you higher self, whatever it is, some kind of flow, of positive energy that balances you and reassures you. Perhaps you’d like to give that gift to yourself on today’s episode of Inside Out Weight Loss. So with that, go ahead and set your intention for this episode. Let it arise and present itself to you. Perhaps it is to be hooked up or to self-correct and reconnect to something greater than you, something that gives your strength and inspires you, that gives you that extra nudge just when you need it or the reassurance to move forward, or even the courage to be fully present in this moment now. My intent for today’s episode is to help you achieve your intent, and my further intent as you know is to end the weight struggle one person at a time beginning with you. Now that’s an interesting thought. I always talk about my passion and my purpose, which is ending the weight struggle and replacing it with, gosh, I say all sorts of things that I want to replace the weight struggle with. In fact, I seem to change it almost every time I say it. Sometimes it’s freedom and fun and sometimes it’s joy and peace. There’re all sorts of things that I talk about wanting to replace it with. And the reason that I change that around so much is that for each of us it might be something different. Or perhaps for each of us we’re replacing that struggle with space for something wonderful that may change over time. So I went ahead and put a posting on the blog, which is at www.personallifemedia.com/renee, and I said “What do you want to replace your weight struggle with?”, and I got a whole bunch of responses. It’s fascinating to see what people want to replace their weight struggle with. So I’d like to share some of those with you from the blog. Paula writes, “Lots of laughs, the first thing I thought of was to replace my weight struggle with another struggle. If I’m giving up my weight loss struggle, which struggle will I replace it with?” I love that. That’s so funny, sort of we can have a laugh about that, but, you know, I’ve certainly heard that from some people. Did I tell you about my client whose Jewish mother said to her, “If you don’t have this problem, you’re going to have another one, so you might as well keep the one that you have.” Another friend of mine, I love these mothers, has an Italian mother which seems very close to the Jewish mother archetype of model, anyway her Italian mother would say, or grandmother would say, “Everybody got assumption, everybody got assumption”, and that’s definitely, guess what, what do you think that is? Is that an empowering belief? I don’t think so. Sounds like a limiting belief to me. So lets say we replace our struggle with what Paula says, oh no, it’s not Paula, it was another listener. Sorry about that. Paula wants utter and complete ease and congruency. It’s another listener who says, “I’m replacing my struggle with a more peaceful fun filled life.” Linda says, “I’d like to replace my struggle with enthusiasm and inner alignment.” Another one says, “I’m going with calm.” And Sally says, “To replace my struggle with excitement and wonderment, and what is ahead in my life thanks to Inside Out Weight Loss and Renee.” And thanks to all of you who took the time to comment. And go ahead and share your comments on that blog post. I’d love to know what you want to replace your weight struggle with. I’m going with freedom, fun and joy for today, but who know what it’ll be tomorrow. I want to talk to you today about his journey that you’re on, about your transformation to being naturally slender. And as you probably know by now, it’s not just about losing a few pounds, it’s about much more than that. It’s about being present, about waking up to the rest of your life, and doing with your life what you are meant to do, what’s most fulfilling for you. As you may have figured out by now or perhaps you’re noticing, there’re a bunch of shifts that happen as the weight comes off your body, as you become naturally slender and let go of what’s been holding you back. There’re a whole bunch of shifts that are happening at the same time, and in fact many of those are one of the reasons that you need to have time to rest between phases of weight loss. In other words, why you need to have a plateau, why plateaus are valuable, and we’ve just had a whole series of shows talking about the value, the gift of plateaus and how to break through them and learn the lesson. Today on the show I promised you a guided meditation, which is all about coming fully into being who you want to be. So it’s time for us to take a break now to support our sponsors, and when we come back, a guided meditation. This is Renee Stephens and you’re listening to Inside Out Weight Loss on Personal Life Media.

Renee Stephens: We’re back now. Before the break we were talking about all of the shifts and changes that go along with your transformation to naturally slender. And I’ll tell you what, I have so much to talk about today, I’m going to have to split this up into two episodes I think. It’s becoming completely clear to me that there’s so much good stuff to share here and I did promise you this guided journey, so lets do that and I’ll share some more stories on the next episode. And before we go deeper into this journey I’d like to acknowledge that much of this journey is adapted from the work of Dr. Robert McDonald. So go ahead and drop deeper inside now, and begin to think about what it is that you want, about who you’re becoming and who you want to be. Go ahead and think about perhaps if this is what you want, being the naturally slender person that you want to be, having the body that you want, that you feel so great in, that allows you to be active, that allows you to look terrific in your favorite clothes, perhaps clothes already in your closet or clothes that are waiting for you to purchase them. Perhaps it’s about being able to play with your kids, to be able to run, to be able to climb the stairs easily, to be active in life, to do adventure travel, whatever it is. Think about what you want, and as you’re thinking about what you want, we’re going to walk through seven levels of integration, seven levels of integration that will allow you to more fully be that person. And the first level of integration is simply the level of environment. At the level of environment, the level of integration and environment, I want you to notice that you have what you want, we’ll just call it being naturally slender. What is the environment that you’re in, and here I mean the physical environment, the actual place that you are naturally slender. There’re probably many places, at home and at work, in restaurants, on vacation with friends and family. Notice the physical environment. And as you notice all of the physical environment and you see it and you can be present to it fully, I want you to take a step forward to notice the actions, the behaviors that you take, that you’re naturally slender. Perhaps it’s that you feel completely satisfied having one serving of food. Perhaps when you go to a buffet or potluck type of setting, you choose maybe two or three different items and you eat only those because you can more fully enjoy them. Perhaps your behaviors, your activities are all about shopping and doing healthy shopping. Maybe you see yourself and you imagine shopping on a weekly basis or cooking fresh food or reading food labels, whatever it is. Notice the actions that you take in these environments that you identify. And as you notice the actions that you take in these environments, I want you to take another step to think about the thoughts that you think that allow you to take those actions in that environment. So for example, the thoughts that you think to take those actions might be, “I deserve to be mobile and feel great in my body.” You might think, “Hmm, what food will make me feel the best and the most pleasure over the longest time”, you might think that. That might be part of your decision process. Perhaps you’ll think, “Oh, I love going to the Farmer’s Market or the grocery store to buy those beautifully colored fresh fruits and vegetables. Maybe you think that kind of thought. Maybe you think, “I really love to be hungry between meals because being hungry means I’m really going to enjoy the meal to come and it tells me that I’m right on track.” Maybe those are some of the thoughts that you think, to be able to take those actions of shopping and cooking and preparing healthy foods and setting yourself up for success in those places, your home and your office, your vacation, whatever they are. And now you take a step forward to the belief level. And at the belief level you think, “Well, what is it I believe about myself that allows me to think those thoughts and take those actions in those places. What do I believe about myself? Do I believe that I deserve to be at my best? Do I believe that I can do it? Do I believe that it’s possible? Do I believe that I enjoy doing it? Do I believe that this is the journey and the path for me and is part of becoming more fully alive? What do I believe about myself allows me to think those thoughts and takes those actions?” Working out, shopping, cooking, eating well in those environments. And as you notice those beliefs, take a step forward into identity. And here’s a really good question: “Who am I that I am naturally slender? Who am I that I’m naturally slender?” And as you contemplate this questions you may even want to pause your playback of this, your iPod or whatever you’re playing it on, you may want to pause it and think for a moment of a metaphor that tells you what you’re like, “I am like what, that I am naturally slender? Who am I? Who am I in this world that I am naturally slender?” And allow a metaphor to come to your mind. It may be you’re like a certain type of animal, or you’re like a certain type of thing. What are you like? The first answer that comes to your mind is always the right answer. And as that metaphor comes to your mind I want you to take a step even further to the level of soul. The soul is the bridge between you as a human being and spirit. And you say, “What is my soul? What is my soul like that I am naturally slender?” And a metaphor comes to you mind here as well, “I am like, my soul is like this bridge, of my soul is like what? My essence, what is it like that I am naturally slender, that I am that, that I believe those beliefs and think those thoughts and take those actions in those environments?” And finally, take a step even further to the level of spirit and pause here and stand in the place of spirit, seeing you through the eyes of spirit, of your higher self, of God. And imagine for a moment that you see yourself and you say, “I am spirit. And as I look at all that is before me and this precious one, that is…”, say your name, “the precious one that is my child, I as spirit am like what?” And allow a metaphor to come to your mind at this level as well. And as that metaphor comes to you, it may change your entire perspective, it may change your entire perspective on all else. And so you begin to walk forward integrating, thinking about your spirit metaphor, integrating with your soul metaphor, as you stand in that bridge between body and spirit that is your soul. And you move forward again to the level of identity and you think, “I am like this, and that I am is infuse with the metaphors of spirit and soul infused with that perspective and that knowing.” As you step forward into the place of belief, believing, what are the beliefs that you have, that you are that, that you are spirit. And you go even forward to the level of thoughts and you say, “Yes, well of course I think these thoughts, that I believe these things, that I am that, that is spirit.” And of course the actions that you take naturally, easily happen as a consequence of all that has come before. As you step forward into your environment again, being present today, here in this place now where you are, feeling and noticing this transformation, this integration at a deeper level. On the next episode of Inside Out Weight Loss, I’ll talk about the meaning of this journey that you’ve just been on, giving you some examples of how it’s important, because this journey isn’t just a matter of dropping a few pounds as you know. This is a matter of transformation, of connecting, of hooking up with the essence of purity, the essence that you are, so that you can and are all that you can be in this lifetime. That brings us to the end of our show today. Thank you for being present. As you know by now, there’re a number of online communities that have grown out of this show. There’s the Yahoo group, there’s the FaceBook page, there’s a group of people on fatsecret.com who are using Fat Secret as a journal and a diary, and there’s a new one called sparkpeople.com, new to the Inside Out Weight Loss community that is, that a few listeners and clients of mine have gone to and started a group there. So lots of resources, the links to most of which can be found on the blog. Also we want to know who you are. Please let us know. Support this show by filling out our listener survey also available at personallifemedia.com/renee. There’re icons on the left of the page, there’s a blog entry about it as well. Let us know who you are, we’d love to know so that we can attract the types of sponsors that make this show possible and also have products that we really care about and like. Speaking of products, there are now Inside Out Weight Loss tee shirts and mugs and tote bags and all sorts of fun things also available through the blog courtesy of Café Press, so check those out if you want to have the Inside Out Weight Loss logo on a journal, a mug or a shirt. It’s a great conversation starter and a way to share your journey and inspire others, ‘cause reaching out to others is an important way that we help ourselves. Okay, finally for other shows on the Personal Life Media Network, please visit our website at personallifemedia.com. There is loads of great stuff out there to feed your mind, body and spirit. This is your host Renee Stephens, and I am on a mission to eradicate the weight struggle from the planet, replacing it with fill in the blank. Join me as we evolve the world by evolving ourselves. Take good care.