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I’ve come to fully appreciate that losing weight and keeping it off is both a body & soul proposition.
“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” ~ Deepak Chopra
For the past several years, I’ve been mostly focused on providing information and recipes to help you nourish your body.
But I think many of us are overfeeding our bodies in an attempt to satisfy hunger deep in our souls.
To help counter this imbalance, I plan on providing more Food for the Soul here on the blog.
I came across this wonderful poem as I was clearing away clutter—disposing of old yoga teacher training materials—and thought it worthy of sharing…
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Let Go Of The Past
By Kathleen O’Brien
Let go of guilt; it’s okay to make the same mistakes again.
Let go of obsessions; they seldom turn out the way you planned.
Let go of hate; it’s a waste of love.
Let go of blaming others; you are responsible for your own destiny.
Let go of fantasies so reality can come true.
Let go of self-pity; someone else may need you.
Let go of wanting; cherish what you have.
Let go of fear; it’s a waste of faith.
Let go of despair; change comes from acceptance and forgiveness.
Let go of the past; the future is here – right now.
What do you need to let go of for lasting weight loss success?
- Obsessive calorie counting?
- Dietary extremes?
- All or nothing thinking?
- Self-hate?
- Overindulgence?
- Starting tomorrow or Monday or someday?
- Giving up?
- The need to be perfect?
- Making excuses?
- Deprivation?
- Putting yourself last?
- Negative self talk?
- Stress?
Need a little help letting go?
The day after I sent out my email and the above poem on letting go for lasting weight loss success, I received an email from one of my favorite yoga teachers providing a specific yoga practice designed to help you relax and let go.
Talk about divine intervention!
As she explains, the mind attains serenity through prolonged exhalation and suspension of breath.
But there is something else that happens when we hold the breath out (comfortably) and linger in that space of stillness between breaths.
It’s a place where there is no need to rush, no need to get somewhere or to do something – it’s just a place to BE.
It is a welcome pause in a life full of activity, and striving, and accomplishing.
It is a doorway to serenity.
The practice in the following yoga video, from Olga Kabel, is a short yoga practice that uses breath and simple movement to help you relax the body, deepen your exhalation and quiet the mind.
It is particularly useful when you feel stressed or overwhelmed.
She calls it the “Doorway to Serenity Yoga Practice.”
Give a try and let me know what you think…
I need to let go of putting myself last and I need to finally get rid of all the extra weight I have tried to lose for years now.
I need to let go of my fear of not doing what I should be doing. I use this excuse to move on to other things than self care. I am important enough to take care of me, too. And I need to do so that I am around and healthy for my family.
I am really trying to let go of worry! I waste so much energy. I am a professional worrier. I am reading various books right now to help me change my decades of being a worry wart!!
Martha I am so ready to let go! You see I do income taxes and it’s getting crazier by the day! On top of that my daughter is going through a nasty divorce and trying to help her and the two kids, the oldest being a freshman in college 6 hours away from us. She’s getting no support from her soon to be exhusbandeither. Some days it’s almost too much for me! I want to scream do terra take me away!!
I need to let go of putting myself down for not always being good in my diet choices.
I need to let go of negative self talk. Nothing positive or encouraging there.
Hoping to let go of spending time on everyone else and spending more time on myself. It is so hard to put myself first sometimes. I am a teacher and a mom and often forget to focus on what I need too.
I have to focus on what I need to do for me to be healthy and happy.
I need to let go of “too much”! Too much food, too much spending, too much distraction, and just too much. I need to learn contentment and just being still, savoring what I’m eating, enjoying the people I’m with and whatever I’m doing. Thanks for asking the question and giving me something to think about that helps in many areas of life.
I need to let go that I cannot do it all. I need to focus on my own priorities. The most important is to plan my healthy meals to reduce my weight. If hubby doesn’t like the healthy food, he must either try or eat the foods he likes which caused me to gain weight in the first place. Meat and potato diets do not work!! An least not without the healthy portions and lots of veggies!