All About Me?

Spring Tulips Bursting

Day 5 WEGO Health Activist 30-Day Writer's Challenge

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The top story of today is…YOU. Share with your readers your proudest accomplishments in the last 5 years. Don’t be shy, tell us everything! #HAWMC

It's alien and uncomfortable for any of us to share our accomplishments - You mean, I can't rave about you? I have to rave about me? No way! Precisely for that reason, I am going to follow WEGO's #HAWMC Prompt and do just that; Rave~ If you haven't noticed, I was not computer-ing this weekend, as I was out enjoying the Spring with various activities happening all weekend-long. However, I do remember seeing this prompt and saying, "Oh, no, it's almost shameful saying good stuff about myself!" Does that make sense? It's silly, right? but look around and see how much more people you know easily share the not good than the good. Even in my field, helping others to heal their shame, speak their truth and step into owning their magnificence every day, I still am not immune to the gnawing feeling of naked inappropriateness that comes up when I'm asked to share my own accomplishments! Thank you, WEGO, for pushing me out of the box and into being seen~

In the last five years, I took the new model I developed in healing trauma, relationships and eating disorders and officially called it Therapy Beyond Walls. It came from seeing what the limitations were in the standard models of treatment and what breakthroughs and miracles happened when I took therapy beyond its walls. I saw clients start to love themselves for the first time; develop ease and joy around food, their bodies and their health; have breakthroughs in relationships and marriages; heal old and new trauma; get out of abusive environments; finally find their voices; and really believe in their lives and their own potential for wellness. For me, the accomplishment comes in witnessing the healing and the transformation of someone seeing the world from a brand new lens and knowing that now anything is possible in life. I know that I am only a channel for healing, and for this, I have immense gratitude. It is really the person themselves who feels safe enough and heard so that they can come out of their darkness and into their light. I am lucky enough to be able to take their hand and guide them, but their spirit does the healing. The ecstasy I feel is in seeing their light shine - that is the accomplishment.

Trusting my body to heal after my accident was a huge accomplishment, both in the healing and in the trust (read my blog post, 'Making Molehills Out of Mountians'). Being able to run, swim, walk, breathe and live was an accomplishment. This past December, on the Winter Solstice, I did 108 sun salutations to thank God for my full mobility.

I believe that one piece of our lives connects with and affects all pieces. Leading and experiencing my first month-long, 31-day Juice Feast was a profound accomplishment. It taught me how much we rely on food for emotional reasons when we convince ourselves we need it for physical health. There was not one time I was physically hungry during that month of no solid food. The one time I was hungry, I knew it was emotional, and when I acknowledged the feelings, it quickly passed. I learned about a whole other level of healing the body system that comes when we allow our energy to go where it's needed rather than to the process of digestion. I learned that I could really trust my intution and not need to soothe my anxiety with food {Note to those struggling with undereating: When one undertakes a Juice Feast, it is Not a fast - you consume 1500 calories every day in juice}. When I was hit by the car, because I was in the middle of a week-long cleanse, I knew I could trust my body to continue cleansing and not need to fill it with comfort food. All through the months of healing, I treated my body with loving foods that would help it heal rather than abuse or numb it.

In the past five years, I learned to love all parts of myself - the light and the shadow, and to live my life much more from the present than from the wounds of the past or fear projections of the future. I learned to really see the beauty in who I am and believe myself to be worthy, loveable and more than enough. I learned to trust my intelligence, and know that if I set my mind and spirit to something, I can and will accomplish it. I learned to embrace my imperfections, over-perfections and all the in-betweens. I learned to look at my body naked and love her - all parts. I learned to allow my feminine energy to come out and play. I learned that I can't be everything to everybody, but I can be true to myself, give from my heart, always be open to learning, and appreciate each day. These are all accomplishments.

I would love to hear from my readers about what you accomplished in the last five years. If you had a shift in thinking; started to love yourself; parented your self the loving way you do your child; started being kind to your body; had a breakthrough in your relationship.....share it all here so we can rejoice with you! And if your accomplishment is simply making it though today without being mean to yourself in any way, that is huge and we want to cheer you on~~

With Love,

Hope