Tag: gratitude

Book review: Rezoom by Susan Peirce Thompson

The Powerful Reframe to End the Crash-and-burn Cycle of Food Addiction

This book explores how food recovery involves a level of self-examination, grit, and vigilance unparalleled in the addiction-recovery landscape. The first element of addiction recovery as far as food recovery is concerned is the Rezoom Reframe. The second is a set of behavioral interventions known as the Rezoom System. Parts Work is the process of getting your whole psych aligned with your weight-loss journey.

The Internal Family Systems model of the psyche is based on the idea that we all have an authentic self, a calm, clear center underneath the storm of our parts. It has eight qualities: calm, confidence, curiosity, creativity, clarity, courage, compassion, and connectedness. Parts of us fall into two categories: wounded parts from childhood and protective parts that look after our wounded parts but also keep them out of view.

The Food Indulger is the part of us that is addicted to food to protect, soothe, and numb ourselves from uncomfortable emotions. Food is the hardest substance to overcome in the addiction-recovery landscape because we need it to survive. A strong Food Controller can get us into better shape, but we won’t have peace until we get our life into balance and get our Food Indulger to calm down.

The old way of thinking about food is all-or-nothing and this leads to perfectionism. The new way of thinking is more gradual and leads to more freedom. The crash-and-burn cycle of food addiction is too destructive, and we need to end it. We need a Rezoom Reframe. The book then goes into Bright Line eating which is a relatively new weight loss program that uses the latest neurological and psychological research to help people who struggle with food addiction to lose weight and keep it off for good. This is the bulk of this book. to get a copy to read in its entirety go here.

Until my next post, why not check out my YA novels about mental illness, memoir writing, novel in verse, or even my Native American mystery series on Amazon, or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Bookbub , BookSprout, or AllAuthor.

Book review for The Other F Word: 7 Days to Forgiving Anyone

Benefits of thinking like a cat sounded goofy at first but it makes sense to not judge or hold a grudge, instead let go of the poison. We have polluted our lives with bitterness, anger, revenge, fear, that it’s no wonder our dreams don’t materialize in the midst of our emotional toxic waste dump.

While this book is religious in nature, there are a plethora of good suggestions about forgiving yourself as well as others.

Forgiveness is not something you do for someone else, it’s something you do for yourself.

Jim Beaver

The chapter on culture, family patterns, and formative archetypes was a good review since I’d read examples such as these about Middle Eastern and Asian countries thoughts about family, like preferring boys over girls, and paternal authority.

So, what is your story? What exactly does that mean? Well, it can suggest a curiosity as to what pain you had in your past that you still carry with you that determines your personality. The author believes it’s a way of saying that we are the victims, and we need to get out from under that hold, that addiction to pain and suffering.

And what if you have challenging relatives such as a malicious mother-in-law? Don’t go through life feeling alienated instead forgiveness is the author’s suggestion. Sit with that fleeting feeling and breathe in the lighthearted nature that now encompasses you.

The author’s seven day forgiveness process is similar to that twelve steps of recovery and includes such things as the angry letter, forgiveness, and the completion letter.

Some of the book’s more interesting Q&A on the forgiveness process:

  • Won’t the other person see me as weak, a doormat?
  • Is forgiving myself, selfish?
  • What is the difference between forgiveness and justice?

The author then goes into how lack of forgiveness can result in physical problems such as worry and an ulcer, and high blood pressure from anger, rage, or fear. Hives or insomnia can be brought on by intense or ongoing fear. Adding to that anorexia can be brought on by rejections and heart attack from lack of joy. I appreciated that she mentioned Louise M. Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life. In Hay’s book she writes that there are only two main mental patterns that contribute to our creation of disease which are anger and fear. Hay’s well thought out book lists almost fifty illnesses with their probable mental cause and the suggested new thought patterns.

Ericson continues on with how prosperity can be released through forgiveness. She states that it’s subconscious and that we inherit family patterns from our parents that we may need to release as well. Also list out other negative beliefs you have about money or the wealthy. Are these thoughts bogging you down? Fear is the separator in the role of gratitude which is a state of being. Allow grace to fill your awareness and let go of negative beliefs about money. The world is a reflection of our thoughts, and what usually results is a fearful self-image

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

Anger management and the creation of your own garden of forgiveness goes into creating a sanctuary like the author has on her patio where she has her morning cup of tea. I appreciated the list of flowers and their meanings as well as the book suggestions on creating a garden of gratitude. All in all the book has a tremendous amount of sacred quotes that you may or may not find helpful. I found it interesting and calming. To read it in its entirety get it here.

Until my next post, why not check out my YA novels about mental illness, memoir writing, or even my Native American mystery series on Amazon, or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Bookbub , BookSprout, or AllAuthor.

Book review for From Stress to Stillness: Tools for Inner Peace by Gina Lake

This self-help book starts out with how stress affects the body via the stress channel and goes into how to and not create stress which was very interesting. “Stress results from the negative stories (negative thoughts in our body that cause tension and a sense of contraction) that our egoic mind tell us about ourselves, life, others, the past, the present, or the future.” We think we need such thoughts when they interfere with handling life and making it less enjoyable. So how do we let go of mental baggage? Awareness and turning down the volume on the egoic mind’s radio station of relentless mind messages. Or at least change it to the stillness channel which expand us rather than contracts us. The more we tune into stillness the easier it becomes and the less compelling the egoic chatter is.

The different types of stressful thoughts are explained nicely: “I” thoughts, stories, judgments, “shoulds”, self-criticism, self-doubt, fears, worries, ideas of perfection, and thoughts about the past. That section is followed nicely by their antidotes, or ways to drop the mental baggage like accepting people for the way they are and not imposing our desires and expectations on them. Or when it’s not reminiscing it’s reliving and drudging up sour circumstances. Our memories don’t even accurately reflect what happened in the past.

Noticing, accepting, investigating, reframing, and letting go of stressful thoughts and feelings is the way to heal the scab of unresolved memories or negative thoughts. And reframing is a way to let go of ideas of perfection. The author describes in detail how to do this next. Being present, being in the body and senses, being willing to not know, being grateful, accepting life, breathing practices, meditation, and bridges to presence are ways to switch the egoic mind’s radio channel to stillness. This book is filled with dialogue to change from negative to positive as well as instruction on how to meditate.

Changing our lifestyle by making time for stillness, slowing down, realizing less is more, reassessing our relationship to the media, and making time for our heart’s desires was an interesting chapter. I particularly enjoyed the thought about reassessing our relationship to the media and instead slowing down and making time for what will really calm us, which is things like gratitude, compassion, meditation, and breathing practices.

Keys to changing our lifestyle:

  • Make peace and less stress a priority
  • Meditate daily
  • Do things more slowly and with more presence
  • Minimize multitasking
  • Unplug and walk in nature, listen to music, cook, play, or garden
  • Remove ourselves from negative situations and people
  • Eliminate soul-stripping or unnecessary activities
  • Be selective about television and the media
  • Consume fewer material goods

So realize the ego is often referred to by the term “false self” for a reason because it’s phony or false. Choose to eliminate that stress channel and tune into stillness by being present in the moment by letting go of that stressful thought the moment we recognize it. Stop. Take a deep breath. Switch the channel. Whatever our attention is focused on gains power. This book also notes Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., author of The Biology of Belief which is a good choice to read. Keep in mind to slow down, be present, and follow our joy. Get the entire book here.

Until my next post, why not check out my YA novels about mental illness, memoir writing, or even my Native American mystery series on Amazon, or follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Bookbub , BookSprout, or AllAuthor.