Friday, June 29, 2012

Guest Blogger: Polly Mertens on Healing from Bulimia



Appreciation – Create a Shift in Your Life
Self-love is one of the keys to lasting eating disorder recovery in my opinion.   Yet I’ve come to realize recently that it is the feeling of appreciation (of anything, not just ourselves) that creates a shift in our lives.  When we appreciate something we align with that which we are.  We align with our highest Self, God, the Source within us.
I went on a spiritual quest years ago and spent a long time in nature just learning the feeling of appreciation.  I tapped into the feeling of love that Source is.  I learned that our true nature is love.  Love is at the core of who we are.  Each and every person, every animal, every plant or species is at its essence love.  Love it what binds us and love is Source.
When we are focusing our attention and feeling the feeling of appreciation we are feeling love.  We are being loving and our Source energy is love so we become aligned with who we innately are. If you want to overcome bulimia there are many tools and resources to help you break your habits of abuse, but I believe it is when we finally learn to love and be loving that we really find lasting eating disorder recovery.
Self-love
When I talk to women who are struggling with regaining their strength after years of binging and purging, just the mere act of stopping the cycle is a major breakthrough.  I realize that when you’re “in it” with your eating disorder it’s too much of a stretch to ask you to love yourself right then.  Self-love is pretty much the furthest thing from having an eating disorder.  After all, if you loved yourself why would you abuse your body, mind and spirit this way?  You wouldn’t.
I’d now like to offer than instead of trying to move up the emotional scale to self-love right out the gate after starting recovery that you instead take it gradually.  I have an idea that I hope will help you move your needle from self-hatred and self-loathing towards self-love more rapidly and with grace and ease.
Start by loving and appreciating things that are easier to appreciate (than yourself).  Start by loving things like babies, kittens, flowers and sunsets.  When you can focus your attention on something for as little as 17 seconds you activate a vibration within you that law of attraction will respond to and bring more thoughts like it to you.  When you have the vibration of appreciation active within you, you’ll begin to attract more things to appreciate.  The momentum will begin to create a shift in your life that will allow more things to appreciate into your life.
When you’re appreciating the things around you, in time you can turn your love towards yourself. If you spend a few days or a few weeks practicing appreciating the things in your day-to-day life you’ll have practiced the vibration and alignment with Source.  That feeling will be activated within you and with practice it will feel like your new normal.  Your new normal way of feeling will be loving. So when you activate or think thoughts about yourself it will be easier to be loving instead of hateful.
Negative self-talk can be so crippling when you’re trying to beat bulimia.  Overcoming your eating disorder I believe requires you to activate a new vibration.  A new pattern of thought within you that’s aligned with a higher vibration, a loving vibration instead of a negative, harmful vibration.  The way we feel is just our practiced vibration or focused thoughts.  If we can actively focus on loving the thing around us I think we can create a shift in our life that will make it easier each day to appreciate our Self.
How to feel appreciation
It’s the little thoughts, the little moments that if we recognize them and milk them for what they are – opportunities to feel love – we can find so many reasons to appreciate the world around us.  This is why I’ve often recommended a gratitude journal.  If you were to sit in bed at night before going to sleep and write in your journal five things you’re grateful for, you would spend at least the 17 seconds it takes to activate law of attraction and you’d put yourself in a positive vibration just before going to sleep.
To take it a step further, I encourage you to spend time in every day looking for things to appreciate.  For example:
  • I love this beautiful morning.
  • I love my husband…my children…my friend…my friends.
  • I love my home…my car…my clothes.
  • It feels so good talking with my best friend…
  • This food tastes so good.
  • I love writing….dancing…going to the beach…knitting…painting.
  • I love my dog….my cat…my bird….my horse.
Finding things that make us feel good and holding them as the object of our attention will activate pure positive vibration of love and align us with Source.  Focus on the things that are easiest to appreciate first.  Then turning your attention on yourself will be easier.  Have fun with it.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder I would encourage you to check out my blog, Inspiring Bulimia Recovery.  This blog is one of the best resources for support and self help methods to help you recover from an eating disorder. Find real bulimia stories, videos and blog posts all aimed at assisting you on your road to recovery. Discover where you can find additional support to enhance the tools we provide you with.  This blog is more specifically aimed at bulimia recovery but is applicable to all other eating disorders.
Appreciation from Abraham
I would like to conclude with this uplifting video.  The feeling of gratitude is palpable in this video.  Just listening to this exchange between Abraham and a guest your vibration is uplifted.  I listened to this a few times and it brought me to tears when I focused on the feeling of appreciation.  The benefit to you and the world by your vibration is worth the effort.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1VJMiniBP8A


From Guest Blogger, Polly Mertens: http://www.getbusythriving.com/