To set yourself free, let yourself be!

mouse blog

Have you ever been in the situation where you’ve got food in the house and you just can’t let it be : it whispers to you , prods at you, worms its way into your every thought  until you just have to have it? Maybe you even have to keep going until it’s completely gone.

I’m sure we’ve all been there and know what it’s like not to be able to let food be! And here’s my take on this : if you just can’t let food be, chances are you’re just not letting yourself be! Chances are, you’re actually using food to prevent yourself from BEING.

Well, here’s a revolutionary thought for you to try on (especially if you consider yourself to be an emotional eater) : what if you could just let yourself be?

What if you were able to let yourself be fully present to your inner experiences : allowing (even welcoming!) emotions, thoughts and feelings to come and go , whatever they were ? What if you were able to be fully present to your outer experiences, whether these experiences matched up to your idea of how life SHOULD be or not? This is what I mean by just letting yourself be.

My prediction is this : let yourself be, I mean really be – and you’ll always have a CHOICE about whether you let food be or not.

To set yourself free , just let yourself be!

(And if you’re not quite sure how to let yourself be in this way, I’ll be posting more about this soon 🙂 )

© Jane Talbot 2013

Let’s Try It Again And This Time With Feeling!

Affirmation 2

I had such lovely feedback about yesterday’s post (which was all about setting intentions and connecting with the motivation behind the intention) that today I’ve decided to post one of my favourite “intentions” which may help to bring you both focus and courage as you continue your journey towards optimal health!

So, here goes  ~  “Every time I dare to feel, I am helping myself to heal”.

You can read a little bit more about how useful this intention might be here

If you’re enjoying the notion of daily intention-setting (and are looking for a little inspiration) just keep your eye on the “Heading In The Right Direction” category which you’ll find on the right-hand side of the page. I’ll post any “goodies” there and you can just help yourself 😛

With you every step of the way,

© Jane Talbot 2013

Heading In The Right Direction!

Affirmation 1I’m no great one for “affirmations” but I certainly support the view that clarity around our intentions and motivations can help us to head in the “right” direction!

On a recent mindfulness weekend, our meditation teacher was explaining to us how intention (what we want to do)  is like pointing an arrow (setting the direction) and how motivation (our “why”)  is like the energy of the bow (the energy that keeps the arrow heading in the right direction). He suggested that in our meditation practice we should begin every session by reminding ourselves of both our intention and also our motivation for developing mindfulness (which may be different every time we sit on the meditation cushion!)

Of course, there is no reason why we should limit this approach to a meditation practice. In fact, I can see real value in reminding ourselves of our intentions and motivations within the context of our journey towards optimal health. You could think of this practice  as a gentle nudge in the right direction 🙂

So today, I asked myself about my intentions and the motivations behind those intentions.  And I asked myself on a “just for today” basis (on a “forever” basis for some of us can be a little overwhelming!)

When considering my intention for today, I came up with the words you see on the image above : “I love myself enough today, not to eat and drink my feelings away.”

When considering my motivation for this, the answer I got was  “This is important to me because I want to be fully present to life and to my inner experiences. I want to learn from my feelings.I want to be fully ALIVE!”

If  my intention resonates with you at any level, I hope my words offer both comfort (in knowing that you are not alone) and a gentle nudge in the right direction.

And as you consider today’s journey, what might your personal intention and motivation be? (Oooh – and do feel free to share what you come up with : you just never know how inspiring your words might be for someone else!)

Heading in the right direction,

© Jane Talbot 2013