Thursday, August 26, 2010

Structural Tension

Do you know what Structural Tension is?  Sounds like a complicated, scientific term but it really is a simple concept.  This concept comes from Robert Fritz, author of Your Life as Art.  Dr. Wayne Andersen has also incorporated Structural Tension as one of his 8 Habits of Health.  

Structural Tension is based on a basic law of nature - any tension between two things seeks resolution.  Think of a rubber band stretched between your hands.  The farther you pull it apart, the more stress is caused.  One of two things will eventually happen - the rubber band will break and the tension released, or the rubber band shoots off into the air!

With this process, you are the creator of your life, not the victim.  You decide the vision of your future reality, complete with all the details.  If you want to lose weight and regain your health, for example, you might include your target weight, your waist measurement and clothing size.  Make it realistic, authentic and set a time line or deadline to accomplish your vision.

Once you create the vision, then you have to assess your current reality.  What is your current weight, waist measurement and clothing size.  The discrepancy between your current and future reality creates the "tension" that has to be resolved.

After you have completed these steps, imagine what steps or decisions you would have to make differently on a daily basis to reach your vision.  Start a walking program? Start on Medifast? Don't eat before bed? Whatever it is, use these new daily choices to advance toward your goal.

Structural Tension is explained in more detail in the Habits of Health recorded call.  Please dial 512-505-6863 to listen in - it takes less than 30 minutes but the information could change your life!

Living well, beautifully!

For more information on Medifast and the Take Shape for Life program, please visit Empowered Weigh

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

It is Just Like Riding a Bicycle

Remember the thrill of discovering your first "Big Kid" bicycle under the Christmas tree when you were six or seven years old?  Even though you were still in your pajamas, you couldn't wait to take it outside and feel the wind in your hair.  Oh, the adventures you would have on your magic carpet of two-wheels...

There was only one small problem.  You had never ridden without the training wheels before!

Your parents gently explained that you would learn how to ride without the extra support.  You wanted to believe them, you knew they had your best interests at heart, but still, there was that kernel of doubt in your heart. 

Because YOU had not experienced it yourself.

No one can give you their own experience of something.  They can describe it in rich detail, with all the emotion possible, but it still does not give you that same sensation as when you experience it for yourself.

This concept applies to everything.  I may have been a great student in school and know all of the tricks to studying, but until you spend the time to learn the material and study, you won't experience the thrill of receiving your first "A".  I can explain and show you on video how to ski down a slope, but until you actually feel your muscles tightened against the pull of gravity, and learn to pivot your hips as you make your turns, skiing won't be real to you.

Losing weight and creating health with Medifast is no different.  You can read all of the stories of the millions of people who have lost weight and feel great, but it won't penetrate your awareness.  You can taste the food and read the material on why it works, but you will always find an excuse not to go on the program. 

That is how your mind works - you don't like change, you don't want to learn something new and you certainly don't want to eat food out of a box, or because you are a Vegan and this contains egg product, or its just not the right time, or you have too many other things in your life right now... The list of excuses goes on and on!  And your waistline continues to grow and grow.

When is a good time to take control of your health?  After you have had the heart attack or your cholesterol is so high that the Doctor shakes her head every time she sees you?  Why wait for your external world to either be perfect or to suddenly face an extreme health crisis?

Did you wait for the perfect time to learn how to fly free on your bicycle?  No - of course not!  The vision of yourself on the back of the bike with a big grin on your face was strong enough to push you right past any excuses or fears.  You may have been tenative at first as your feet turned the pedals, but once you realized that you were RIDING YOUR BIKE, you soared with the clouds.

The Magic of Medifast has to be experienced to be understood and believed. Once you see the extra weight and fat melt away, you will also be a believer.  But no one can turn you into a believer without you first going on the program and experiencing the profound changes yourself.

It really isn't a hard thing to do, just visit Empowered Weigh or call me when you are ready to fly!

Living well, beautifully!

Kathy Eriksen
Certified Health Coach
Take Shape for Life

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Can Freedom be Found Eating Out of a Box?

A potential Take Shape for Life client made a comment that has stuck with me ever since.  After showing her the program and having her taste some of the products, she turned to me and said, slightly exasperated, "I just don't know if I can eat out of a box!" 

It took me back for a second, because I had already experienced the benefits of this program and the profound changes it made in my life.  I mumbled something about "There is so much more to it than that" and we quickly parted.

I now have a much better answer to her statement that I would love to share with you (and her, if she is reading this post).  So here goes...

We are here as God's children, experiencing our lives through the lens of our physical selves.  When our bodies are out of balance, overweight, tired, listless and not thriving, it affects the lens through which we see ourselves and our world.  The way to a joyful and loving life is so simple -- take action steps to feel better physically and your emotions will follow!

It boils down to a very basic issue - do you believe you are worthy of feeling better, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? Do you love yourself as a child of God? Or are you caught up in a self-imposed world of anger, frustration, doubt and fear?  It is your choice - either way. 

Only you can lift the veil that covers your "lens" and clear the fog that surrounds you.  Only you can make the decision to step forward, arms raised and say, "I want to discover the real me!"  No one else can do it for you.  The answer does not lie in the external world, despite the messages we receive from car and clothing advertisers, fast food restaurants and cruise lines.  The answer lies within, and your body is the entry door to discover your real hunger.

As Geneen Roth said in her best selling book, Women, Food & God, "It's never been true, not anywhere at any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number on a scale.  We are unrepeatable beings of light and space and water who need these physical vehicles to get around.  When we start defining ourselves by that which can be measured or weighed, something deep within us rebels."

The flip side of Ms. Roth's statement is that when we allow our physical bodies to be more in alignment with our spiritual selves, life works on all levels. 

And that is the secret I discovered after I lost 18 pounds on Medifast.  Because my body is lean and trim, I feel lighter and freer to express myself authentically.  Self-imposed thoughts of "I don't want to go to that swim party and wear a bathing suit," have been replaced by "Wonder who's having a swim party this weekend?"  Discouraging comments that I used to make to myself when my pants were too tight have morphed into the joy of finding clothes that now fit in my closet.  The sense of freedom I feel in my new body has expanded my world view. 

As my waist size shrank and the excess fat melted away, my spiritual size grew proportionally.

So, my friend, thank you for making your comment about "eating out of the box."  It made me look harder at my own "box."  As my body as gotten smaller, I have grown bigger.   My "box" of negative thinking has dissolved in the radiant light of Myself. 

Eating out of a box?  It is the best thing that has ever happened to me!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

You Can Be Free: The Greatest Contest of All

You Can Be Free: The Greatest Contest of All: "Imagine that you just won the following contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private bank account for your own use..."

The Greatest Contest of All

Imagine that you just won the following contest:
 
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private bank account for your own use.   This prize has rules – actually two sets of rules.  
 
T
he first set of rules: 
1) Everything that you did not spend during each day would be automatically taken away from you. 
 
 2)  You may not transfer money into some other account. You can only spend it. 
 
 3) Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day. 
 
The second set of rules: 

1) The bank can end the game without warning.  At any time it can say, "It's over, the game is over!"  
 
 2) It can close the account in an instant and you will not receive a new one. 
 
What would you personally do? You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people in your life, right? Maybe even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself and the people in your life, right? You would try to spend every single cent, and use it all up every day, right? 
 
Actually, this game is a reality, but not with money! 
 
Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just don't seem to see it.  
 
 
The MAGICAL BANK is TIME! 
 
Each morning we awaken and receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when the day is done, any remaining time is gone and NOT credited to us. What we haven't lived up to that day is lost forever. Yesterday is forever gone.  
 
Each morning the account is refilled, but the magical bank can dissolve our account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING.  
 
SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds? Think about that, and always think of this: Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than we think. Take good care of yourself, and enjoy life. Live each day to the fullest, be kind to one another, and be forgiving. Harbor a positive attitude and always be the first to smile.

Here's wishing you a wonderful, beautiful day, each and every day!!!      
 

Monday, August 2, 2010

Our Hearts Beat Together

My brother turns 60 years old today!  He is the first born and is leading the way into the next stage of life.  Yesterday, Charlie's girlfriend threw him a party, and here is what he said...

Always the mathematician, computer scientist and the most analytical person I know, Charlie used a profound image that resonated with me.  He calculated the number of heartbeats he has experienced since birth, then used that as a connection to the people most important in his life.  His "shared heartbeats" included everyone in the family, his girlfriend and friends. 

It got me thinking about the heartbeats we have shared with those we love...good or bad, rich or poor, the haves and the have-nots, we all have something in common. 

Our hearts beat together. 

It is how you use the energy created from your heartbeat that creates your life.  The choices you make, the paths you follow, can all be traced back to one single source -- your heartbeat.  As long as your heart beats, you have choices.  To see the good or bad in any situation.  To hear the melody of the song bird or focus on the intrusive noise of the modern world.  To taste joy in every moment or bitterness.  To touch the lives of others with love or to withdraw into yourself.  To smell the wonder of an approaching rainstorm or to turn away.

Our hearts beat together. Right now, in this moment.  Not in the past, not in the future, but right now.

Listen to your heart beat.  Thank it for its faithful service.  Enjoy the vitality it creates for you. And chose wisely how you spend the currency of energy your heart has created - just for you!