In the first few weeks, our work revolves around getting close with our past. It’s not easy to look back and see where things might have gotten off track for us where food and body image goes, especially if we have a history of emotional trauma or physical pain. But it can be incredibly useful to gain some perspective by seeing our lives from a bird’s eye view. It allows us to have a better understanding of our current mindset, which will allow us to change it if we want different results in our lives. Awareness is always, always the first step.
From there, we begin to shift those mental and physical patterns that we have turned into habits over time that cause us to stay stuck in what seems like a never-ending cycle. In order to change our future, we have to get real with where we are now, as well as where we came from, and we will continue to work on this as we progress.
As we enter the middle stage, we learn about sugar and the food industry. We talk about time and the way we use (and abuse!) it. We begin to set reasonable goals for ourselves and we achieve them, one by one. We cover exercise and the role it plays in our mental and physical health, and we stay accountable to one another in the secret Facebook group. We show up, week after week, to build on each week’s learning outcomes.
As we close out our time together, we talk about our feelings and how we can go deeper in order to really understand why we do the things we do. We seek to understand ourselves better than we ever have before, and the entire program is built around a deep desire to develop a greater sense of self-trust, self-compassion and self-respect. By doing so, we can begin to fall more deeply in love with ourselves.
In the end, we find more space, joy and freedom in our lives. It’s a truly beautiful experience.
