Category: Connection
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Date Your Body
When I was at university, at the height of my war with my body, I went through a phase of going to the gym almost every night after classes to spend anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes on the Stairmaster; heart beating and dripping with sweat… those hours were a torturous ritual of me…
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Waves of Connection
When people hear that I have lost over 65lbs without counting calories or measuring, by truly eating what I want, when I want and without forcing a daily exercise routine they are usually shocked and suspicious…it seems too easy. In truth the daily decisions of what I eat and how I move has come with…
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A Body of Gratitude
I was on a vacation recently, delighting in the heat of the sun poolside and was struck by a surprising awareness. I was enjoying myself! I was completely relaxed and present, dipping in and out of the pool, enjoying the company I was with, appreciating the sun and the breeze and the relaxed atmosphere. Such…
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Beneath the Marble Coat
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by
The beautiful thing about the practice of presence is that it instantly returns us to who we actually are. As very young children we are completely awake and whole, but over time our truth becomes obscured by layers of life experience that teach us that we are something other than what we actually are. In Return…
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Pass the Peace Please
For many of us overeating can be an effective, albeit harmful, strategy to fight time. I have often used food to prolong an experience: such as stretching out an enjoyable dinner with my husband by taking an extra helping, or to procrastinate another less enjoyable kind of experience: such when I stop by the kitchen…
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The Avocado Go-Ahead
When I listen to my body I realize that, despite what hundreds of diet experts say, I am not actually hungry for food first thing in the morning. I don’t usually get hungry until about three or four hours after I awaken. How many times have I forced myself to cram in a bagel on…
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My Braided Being
There is a concept within Tibetan Buddhism that every person has three levels of being: the inner, outer and the secret being. The outer being refers to the physical self, the body. The inner being is the thinking mind which includes the ego, self-identify, feelings, and memories etc. The secret being is considered the essential…
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Holding the Olive Branch
It is simple math that determines our size; calories in verses calories out. We all know that on an intellectual level but somehow emotionally we can begin to view our own body as a villain, an active agent, in the story we tell ourselves about our weight. We attribute evil powers to the body that…
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Sipping the Moment
For so long the prospect of losing weight was the illusive solution to every problem. I was convinced that having that thin body of my dreams would offer better relationships, more success, more opportunities; to me it was like the holy grail of happiness. I no longer see weight loss as carrying the power that…
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Still Water
Thich Nhat Hahn compares the Mindfulness Meditator to still water; able to reflect things clearly, exactly as they are. So often our view of life is laden with our interpretations and our judgments. We may be having a conversation with someone who seems distant and distracted for example. Rather than simply observe their state; we…
Peggy Farah, LMHC, RCC Deeper Cravings 