Day 198

Thoughts: Letting go.

It takes courage for one to do a cleanse or detox. It is easy to stay with what is familiar - and welcoming a cleanse or detox if like welcoming a new life, a new being with new thoughts, new feelings, new experiences. Shedding the old and creating a new. Courage.

I am not doing this cleanse because I think my current being is wrong or bad, or needs fixing or changing, no it is perfect. I am cleansing because I choose cleansing right now. I am looking forward to a new way of being, new thoughts, new experiences, a new body. My predictable future from the way I am being now is that of the SAME. So I altered the process, messed up the SaMeNeSS and took on the 21 day Spring Cleanse. I am excited to experience the lightness, the peace, the love, the grace, the cleanliness, the appreciation, the integrity, the respect for self, the clarity, the strength. All that comes with a cleanse. It is a cleanse of everything, cellular - cells in the body - imprints in the mind - stagnant energy being moved. A new me becoming awakened.

It starts tomorrow with rawists Jinjee and Storm from The Garden Diet. We will eat only raw foods for 21 days and cleanse my body, mind and energy with juices, light foods, lots of greens and creative recipes. Thank you Storm and Jinjee for this journey we are all about to embrace. You can also join the cleanse - see below.

I also know that with a cleanse may come pain, suffering, aching or being uncomfortable and at a loss of power. Being uncomfortable is not a sign that you are lost, powerless, or disconnected.

Kelly Wells gives a great example of this. Like a snake shedding its skin. During the shedding process, the snake is visibly uncomfortable and unproductive. It doesn’t eat; it is irritated and sluggish, devoting all of its energy to this of ridding the old to make room for the new.

Why is the snake shedding? To grow into a larger, more capable and more evolved body and existence. While snakes do this physically, we as human beings metaphorically shed our own skin when it is time to grow personally, professionally, or spiritually.

You may voluntarily elect this process, as in the case of letting go of a job you hate in search of work you love. Many times this “shedding” occurs in a forced fashion, as in the case of an unwelcome illness, weight exceeding, financially trying times, or an unexpected loss. These times are particularly painful, yet may profoundly alter your experience and catapult you to a new spiritual plane.

When you are shedding your old identity, I realize that I will often lack my typical energy, feel out of sorts, and perhaps be angry and confused. Only after I begin to wear my new skin, my new identity, then I will have the clarity of vision to better understand the test and the growth that has occurred.

Wells also says that getting comfortable in your new skin takes time as well. After all, you are, in essence, a new person and your old beliefs and way of being have fallen to the waste side. The result, however, is that you are now a bigger person than your old self, cloaked in new consciousness and greater potential. You will be stronger, more enlightened, and more capable than ever before. Old challenges are old hat. You easily overcome the circumstances that previously seemed insurmountable.

"I am so ready to step into my authentic self and really embrace all that I desire, but I still feel part of myself resisting it.

Why is that??

If I can see who I want to be, what is stopping me from jumping in with both feet? Why do I find myself falling back into my old way of being and my ‘not-me’ behaviors?"

Leah from Defy The Box answers "Commit to feeling things fully so that you no longer need those ‘not-me’ behaviors and old ways of being. Deciding to do the work to change your life is a conscious activity, especially if being truly authentic is your goal. Part of being conscious is to be fully present to what you are feeling…..which equals feeling things fully.

This is a major shift for many people.

The Ego convinces you that the intellect is king and it is all about thinking, where as your higher-self knows that all the information you need is right here in this moment for you to feel.

What do you think? Are you ready to jump in to your ever abundant flow?

One reason we hang onto the past is because we derive our identities from our history. We know who we are because of what we've done, what we own, who we relate to and how we've behaved. When we experience a major life change – starting or ending a committed relationship, having a child, entering a new career or retiring, moving to a different home or location or taking a big leap in our personal growth – our identity changes. This is an important part of our development, but it can leave us feeling like we don't know who we are. The tendency is to resist, to hold onto the old identity. Instead, we need to let it go and embrace the new one.

Fear of the unknown is probably the biggest obstacle to letting go. It's easier to cling to "the devil you know" than risk moving forward into the unknown and unpredictable. But not moving forward is not an option. When you don't, you stagnate and fall into lethargy and depression. Neuroscientist Gregory Berns, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, advises that to be happy, you have to challenge yourself to do things you've never done before, to embrace uncertainty. It is through the unfamiliar that we find the exhilaration in life.

If you're having trouble letting go of something, try this visualization: See yourself standing on the shore of a lake. See a representation of your problem issue in a small boat. A rope is attached to the boat, and you hold the other end. Let go of the rope and see the boat (with your issue) drift off. Wave good-bye as you let it go. As the boat drifts out of your view, turn your back on it and walk away.

For example let go of your bulimic identity, by seeing yourself as no longer being bulimic you will start acting like you are no longer bulimic.

Am I done growing? Not hardly. The process will repeat again, with new adventures and new challenges, all a part my self's evolution.

Let the cleansing begin.

To join the cleanse visit www.thegardendiet.com/21days

Jinjees undeniable beautiful body, especially for being 42 years old!

www.intuitivelifecoaching.net/Article/Shedding-Your-Old-Identity.html - Kelly Wells
www.defythebox.com - Leah
www.goodlifecoaching.com/CreativeLife67.html Sharon

Challenges: My mind when I let it.

Triumphs:

"To linger in the past is to do so at the expense of your future." ~ Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold, "Tiger Heart, Tiger Mind"

"Finish each day and be done with it...You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Much as we may wish to make a new beginning, some part of us resists doing so as though we were making the first step toward disaster." ~ William Bridges, "Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes"

"It would add much to human happiness, if an art could be taught of forgetting all of which the remembrance is at once useless and afflictive, that the mind might perform its function without encumbrance, and the past might no longer encroach upon the present." ~ Samuel Johnson

What I Ate Today:

Breakfast: Buckwheat pancakes with agave syrup ... the yummiest delicious softest with crunchy edged pancakes I have ever had!

Lunch: A nectarines. A avocado and mouthfuls of macadamia nuts!

Dinner: A avocado and some baked potato wedges!

Dessert: Chocolate balls with almonds mmm mmm mmm!

Snacks: Some almonds.

Recipe: Recipe for chocolate balls and buckwheat pancakes in the earth diet book being published this November!

Exercise: I exercised my body by riding my bike to the supermarket! The bike I ride has no brakes ... so uh yes it exercises my body and my attention! No day dreaming when I ride, focus needed, or I will crash into a car or object! Hehe! I also exercised simpleness by chilling with nature, and watching the trees in the wind. It's like they are waving ... saying hello.

167 days to go!!!