Mindful meditation workshop with Sharon Salzberg
Pam and I are looking forward to a mindful meditation workshop this Saturday given by Insight LA. Sharon Salzberg will be presenting and it should be extremely enlightening. Can’t wait! Since we advocate mindful meditation for the girls with eating disorders, we also encouraged the girls to join us. Some of them may be able to participate.
The workshop will be held this Saturday, Febuary 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. @ the First Methodist Church in Santa Monica.
The capacity for attendance is 500 so I believe it will be full house! Naturally, we want to practice what we preach and we definitely need to practice mindfulness in our own lives so that we can be more present to ourselves and our clients. Speaking for myself, I know that my own practice has made a huge dfiference in my own life and in my life as a psychotherapist. I know this holds true for Pam as well.
In that light, the current group is especially bonded and all the girls are working hard to stand up to their eating disorder. They are practicing mindfulness meditation and reaching out to each other for support.
It’s so exciting to witness this process and also to support the girls in using all their tools to overcome ED! Right now I am happy to say that the group is full – we are starting to create a waiting list so don’t hesitate to contact us! We will always welcome newcomers as long as we have room! Stay tuned for upcoming events and news!
Lea and Pam
Hunger scale 1 – 10
Being mindful includes checking in with your hunger cues – frequently when we’re struggling with ED we no longer know whether we’re hungry or not. This week we looked at checking in with yourself – is the hunger in your body or in your brain? By acting out with binge/purge behavior or restriction we’ve disconnected from our natural hunger cues. Try to ask yourself next time you crave food – is this hunger or is this habit? Am I really hungry for food or what am I really hungry for – perhaps a hug or a friend? Whatever it is, perhaps you could use other tools besides food ( if you’re indeed not hungry) to get your needs met.You could journal, call a friend, do something nice for yourself.
Mindfulness meditation allows you to check in with what’s going on in the present moment. A simple mindfulness meditation exercise is the 3-minute breathing exercise: check in with what you’re thinking, how does that translate to what you’re feeling, and where does this reside in your body? All the while you focus on your breath and use the breath as an anchor – the thoughts, feelings arise and you sit with them while focusing on your breath. No need to push the feelings away since they’re already here! Welcome them and accept them without judgment.
The more you practice this breathing meditation, the more you will be in touch with your true feelings – by sitting with them you may not have the urge to act them out with ED. So next time you decide to head for the food – Be mindful, ask yourself, what am I really hungry for?
Just a Cup of Tea
This past week we served tea in a mindful way – enjoying the smell, taste, warmth and being soothed by the warm liquid as we sipped mindfully! How many times have you had a cup of tea and not even noticed you were drinking while mindlessly doing some other task? The girls all agreed that this was a very common occurrence in their lives – they really enjoyed having a mindful experience while sipping tea and focusing on their breath! Pam read a lovely poem by Steve Levine which noted how “just a cup of tea could stop the war” – the war being whatever it is we struggle with, such as ED , our eating disorder!
So, it’s so amazing how a simple cup of tea, can influence how we feel!
So remember, continue your mindfulness practice, formally or informally!
Lea and Pam
More Thoughts On Body Image
As mentioned previously, improving body image for eating disordered clients is challenging and one of the last parts to conquer for full recovery. Last week, one of the group members was open about how disconnected she is from her body while other members discussed their constant negative tapes playing in their heads about their bodies. For this reason Lea and I decided to begin 2011 with some mindful exercises on changing these destructive distorted thoughts. Mindfulness allows us to “take a moment to pause” and notice what we are habitually doing and then move into a different way of relating to ourselves. A quote from the book “Five Good Minutes in Your Body” by Jeffery Brantley says it all. ”By learning to inhabit your body more consciously and in a kinder way, you will build a base for a wiser and healthier relationship with your physical body and with your inner life.” This little book has 100 mindful practices to help you accept yourself and feel at home in your body. Check it out and begin 2011 by practicing!!
Love Your Body!
Struggles with body image is always the biggest challenge for women with eating disorders. Never mind that probably most women struggle with their body image in day to day living – we’re bombarded by media images of how women should look and perfectly airbrushed faces and bodies on the cover of many magazines and billboards. However, as we discussed “20 ways to be kind to our bodies”, we could appreciate all the wonderful and beautiful qualitites of our bodies. They sustain us from the inside out and allow us to move and “breathe” in this amazing world.
By practicing mindfulness meditation, we are able to focus on our breath in the present moment and appreciate where we are right now! If we could be present to all that is special and good around us we could enjoy this life in the body that is uniquely ours. One of our favorite self-affirmations is that “we are perfectly imperfect.” Ain’t that the truth! Imagine what we could focus on if we weren’t spending so much time and energy worrying about our bodies. So for now, try to imagine one thing that you truly appreciate about yourself. What a concept.
Go forth and be mindful! Take a walk, enjoy a cup of tea, sit down and be present to someone who needs a friend!
Stay tuned…
Lea and Pam
Playing with play-doh
We all remember childhood experiences of playing with play-doh. This week the group exercise was a sensory experience of smelling, feeling, perhaps tasting the play-doh with eyes closed. Noticing what it feels like to manipulate the play-doh in your hands – trying to enjoy the experience without judgment while trying to create a body image. Staying present and breathing.
So many reactions came up – one of the women made a bunny because she was grieving the loss of a bunny she had accidently hit with her car. We could share in her loss and wish the bunny a sad farewell. Another girl had difficulty with the body image because she was feeling angry at her own body and starting to tear the shape apart. In working through her eating disorder and practicing mindfulness she is started to connect with her own anger. Another girl enjoyed the experiencing of playing with the play-doh because it allowed her to get out of her head and use her creativity. So much came up in such a simple mindful exercise!
Stay tuned for more body image exercises to come!
Be mindful and have a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Lea and Pam
Group Review for 2010
As 2010 is coming to a close, Lea and I are examining our “mindfulness meditation” support group to see what has been accomplished and what needs to be added or changed. We are proud to say that while some members have come and gone, we now have a core group that is committed to the group process. One of our members has been participating almost the entire year. Continuity and cohesiveness are vital elements of any successful group and we certainly can see this with our group. We have noticed some of the members contacting each other during the week when they are struggling and planning social events as well. In group, when reviewing their eating/behavior plan for the upcoming holidays, most members had already set up a list of tools to help them deal with ED (eating disorder) during what could be a stressful time. (mindful breathing, journaling, reaching out to others, etc) Also, each of them explained to our newest member how “mindfulness” has helped them with ED. Lea and I were encouraged to see what an impact this group has been on their lives and recovery and how much they have learned about themselves and Ed. However, we continuously remind them that it is “progress not perfection” they should be striving for. Happy Holidays and a Healthy Happy New Year. More to come in 2011.
