Hey all! I wrote an essay about my week at the College of Metaphysics and posted it over at SpiritualGal.com (<------- click the link to read the essay). That will tell you a bit about what I learned and did while there.
Anyway, I've lost quite a bit of weight in the past few weeks, as mentioned in the last post. Last night I received several compliments about my weight loss at my 12-step meeting. I have kept up a pretty good exercise routine since arriving home - I've been walking regularly, working out on my exercise bike and doing my yoga moves most days. Today I will not be able to walk because it's already well over 90 and sunny, but I lucked out the past few days and got out there before it got too hot.
As for diet, I temporarily slipped back to my old habits of mindless eating for the past two days. To be honest, it really bothered me because I thought I made a lot of progress while away with discipline and food (among other things). However, I see that these things need to be practiced rigorously on my own. Discipline doesn't just happen, it requires real effort. So today I am back on a mindful and somewhat strict eating plan as of today.
While up at the college, the meals were as follows: for the first few days I was there (during the spiritual focus weekend), we would eat at 7:30am and 5:30pm and have a little something in the afternoon. (The participants ate lunch at noon). I was not hungry during the day, mainly because I was too busy to think about food. The food up there is blessed and prepared with high vibrations and love, so it almost always tastes absolutely delicious. Then on Monday and Tuesday, I happily participated in their weekly fruit/veggie days. Throughout those days there would be as much fruit as we wanted, then a dinner prepared at 5:30pm with delicious fruit and veggie-based dishes which were out of this world. (I now have some ideas for yummy veggie and fruit dishes!) Then from Wednesday on, they were back to their regular 10:30am brunch and 5:30pm dinner, with fruit, coffee, etc available in between. I very much enjoyed the light eating and had no problems with hunger.
Anyway, I’ve realized that if I really want to lose the rest of my weight and be as vibrantly healthy as I am striving for, it will take effort and discipline to the point that it becomes natural to eat lightly and mindfully. So, that is what I’ll be working on for the next few weeks.
There is another event coming up that I’m attending next month. It’s called the “Still Mind, Present Moment, Open Heart” and is taking place in Oklahoma City on Sept 24th (a few days before my 34th birthday!), open for anyone to attend. I’ll be a server/helper there and will be spending that weekend down at the OKC school of metaphysics. I have a tentative goal of fitting into a certain size by then… 
So for now, I’m not going to be sticking to my High Vibration diet… however, one day, when I have completely mastered my dietary and food intake, I will live on that diet. For now, I’m going to focus on [among other things] continuing to shed excess weight through discipline, mindfulness, exercise and gratitude, and work on becoming healthier in body and mind. Since the week at the college, I have been extremely aware of all of my thoughts and thought patterns to the point that I am able to rise above many (but not all!) of them. Most of us live within our brain/ego thoughts, thinking they are the truth and believing all of the stuff that gets presented to us over and over. But it is not so. We can learn, through much mindfulness, discipline, concentration and meditation to not only get to know our thoughts, but to see our habitual thought patterns, weed them out as either true or false, and eventually not get caught up in them at all and rise above them. It’s a slow, arduous process that is worth it in the end!
Speaking of which, one of the things that happened to me during my week away (as mentioned in my essay), is that I became aware of many of my own limited and negative thought patterns, habits and behavior. It was SO difficult to deal with! I was freaking out some of the time and filled with fear and worry. I couldn’t believe some of the thoughts I was having! At one point I considered leaving. I think one of the reasons I was confronted with so many of my own issues in such a short period of time is because the person who runs the college (the chancellor, who is a powerful healer among other things) was sending me energetic healing (love and light) throughout the week. That particular kind of healing will not just ‘fix’ a person but fill them with awareness of their issues. That kind of healing (which I also practice although not on that level yet!) basically sheds ‘light’ on the darkness so that old issues and trapped emotions could be brought to the surface and overcame. It can be and often is a very tumultuous process but very much worth it. I stuck with it through the angst and opened up to some of the other students, which actually ended up helping them as well, and eventually my mind quieted down. I had very peaceful and still meditations on Thursday and Friday, my last two days there. I was sad to leave because the students and doctors there are so filled with light, positivity and growth, and are very mindful of themselves and one another and focused on things they could do rather than what they can’t. (There is no ‘can’t’ thinking up there). I’m working to put that into practice in my home life and know I’ll eventually start attracting people like that in my day-to-day life.
So anyway… that’s where I’m at now. Today I’ve had an organic banana and bowl of organic old-fashioned oats with cinnamon and raw pumpkin seeds. Yum.
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