FIVE KEYS TO TRANSFORMATION

My yoga teacher reminds us about five friends that we need to keep close at hand to work through obstacles that life presents. In eating disorder recovery, these five keys can be wonderful tools to help you move forward on your journey:

Awareness. Awareness of your behavior is the first step to moving forward. Yoga is a great way to facilitate this awareness, as yoga is a mindful practice. Mindfulness keeps you present and helps you understand your behavior along with how it impacts you and others.

Acceptance. With awareness comes acceptance. Acceptance means surrendering into your truths and making peace with yourself. It is stepping out of denial and knowing that you have the power to change your situation. It is also coming to terms with the fact that recovery is a life long process. Many people who obtain treatment believe that their work is done when they complete their treatment program-this is actually when the healing work begins. Although you can't eradicate an eating disorder, yoga can help you transcend beyond the eating disorder and teach you how to check in when the road gets bumpy.

Focus. Healing your relationship with food requires commitment and persistence. Keeping the focus, while minimizing distractions will help you move forward. A regular yoga and meditation practice can help you focus on your healing work. Studies have indicated that meditation can increase focus and awareness.

Effort. Along with focus, healing your relationship with food requires effort. When the chips are down, your effort is required to pick yourself up by the bootstraps no matter how difficult this feels at a given moment. Effort involves more than just going through the motions, but being mindful and present in your healing work. Yoga can give you this experience versus keeping you in a cycle of intellectualization.

Wisdom. Wisdom involves understanding life's impermanence. When you accept that any situation or feeling is impermanent, you can move forward in your healing work. Understanding life's impermanence moves you out of your victim story helping you accept that obstacles are our greatest teachers-- this is how we learn and transform. You can approach your recovery with a brand new outlook now that you have experienced this information.

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Next Reconnect with Food workshop is on Saturday, June 14th in Portland, Oregon


Next Reconnect with Food series begins on July 9th in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Check our website for more information about Reconnect with Food Intensive Retreat, Friday, September 19th - Sunday, September 21st in Traverse City, MI-- one of the most beautiful resort areas in Michigan.