Category: Presence
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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…
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Strands in a Web
A cornerstone in my broken relationship with my body was to obsessively compare my body to the bodies of others and extrapolate all kinds of false stories on whatever observation I held. For example, if I compared myself to someone who I perceived to have a “better” body, I would determine that they must be…
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Food as a Doorway
In my history of dieting it felt like every time I would go off plan it was an excuse to count my whole day, sometimes my whole week, as a write off. I would tell myself that I could start again tomorrow next week. I would then be free and engage in an overeating ritual that was…
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Body Whispers
When we tune in and connect we can simultaneously hear countless tiny messages that the body is whispering to us. For example at this moment my feet are tingly, my forearms feel cramped, my eyes are sore, I am vaguely thirsty, my breathing is shallow, my shoulder is strained and the laptop on which I’m…
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Decision Mid-Bite
There is power in realizing that once you deeply know something that knowledge cannot be undone. Once we are even just a little practiced in mindful eating, once we experience how different our relationship with food can be, we are then equipped with the power of that knowledge. Even when we unconsciously (or consciously) decide…
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The “yoga-body” barrier
Yoga is more than a very trendy way to work out while sporting our new LuLu. It can be a very powerful mechanism for experiencing our own body. For many years when I heard yoga I looked the other way. It just didn’t seem like it could possibly be for a heavy, uncoordinated body like…
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Beauty at the Core
The wonderful thing about learning to stop the incessent chatter in our minds and becoming present in the moment is that in an instant we are returned to who we actually are. Babies and very young children are completely present and awake to their surroundings, they are fully themselves. However as we grow, this becomes obscured by layers…
Peggy Farah, LMHC, RCC Deeper Cravings 