I know you all know that I love Golden Retrievers. I thought you would enjoy hearing about my new commitment. I am going to be taking Pepper to dance class. Go here to watch Carolyn Scott and Rookie dance. It got me all excited. Pepper is sassy. I am optimistic. It has been years since I danced, but my muscles remember. We also are set with our arrangements for next year’s ranch in Albuquerque. The dates will be May 2-4 if you want to set your reminders to get great flights. You can see the details by going here. We are also planning two seminars in New York City in January. One will be Friday evening, January 25 at the New York Open Center. The second will be one of our own private small seminars the next day in the city. See if you can come. We will have a sign up page by next week and will send out another notice then. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up early. These classes will begin the week of October 31, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Handling the Holidays: Thanksgiving is a special class to help you prepare for the holdiays in a centered and reflective way. We love this class. I hope you will join us. Step 2 Journal: Skillful Use is the next level of journaling. This is for those of you who know *how* and want to learn what to do with your data. This class shows you how to interpret what you have written in an exciting and pragmatic way. Step 3: Three Meals is one of our core classes. This is a skill-based class. If you want to learn the baby steps of a successful step 3, come join us. This class is ALWAYS fun. These classes will begin the week of November 7, 2007. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Brain Chemistry: Dopamine is the newest addition to the brain chemistry series. Learn about the mighty cousin to serotonin and beta endorphin. Learn how he sparkles and seduces and what to do to have him as an ally rather than a dragon Step 1: The Art of Breakfast is our foundation class to get you started. Learn all four parts of step 1 in a structured way. Learn how to progress through them with enjoyment. Let us support getting your program off to a fabulous start. Using the Resources of the Community is for those of you who are brand new and would like to find your way around town. Come sit on the top of our double decker bus for a guided tour. And even if you are not brand new, this is a really fun class to reconnect with all the treats of the community. The class schedule is on line. Click here to see what is planned. Please do not sign up for classes that are not yet scheduled. A number of you have asked me how the classes work. Check the class list page for more information on this. The classes are done online and you do not have to be at your computer at any set time. It does not matter whether you are in the US, Europe, the Far East or Australia, you simply respond on your own time. And although I advertise that the classes are one or two weeks, sometimes we are a little flexible and they may run longer. And please go read the questions and answers before you write to me. If you have trouble getting through the process, write the tech forum. Please feel free to pass this week's newsletter on to your friends and family. Don't forget to let me know what you like and would like to see me cover. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery® website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
October 29, 2007 ** Quote From Kathleen **
Being steady means being firm, unfaltering, unflappable and unwavering. Being steady means driving in cruise control. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
Amy, Step 7 I can understand how you feel. I didn't trust the steps either, at first. My sugar sensitivity made me impatient with the process and I sped through all of the steps in a matter of a couple of months, only to return right back to where I started...eating sugar, feeling moody and exhausted and foggy in my thinking. Then I began thinking of the personal sacrifices that Kathleen made to do her research and put all of these steps together to help folks just like me. I said that if she spent the time and energy to write all of this for us, the least I could do was to follow the steps as they were written. When I surrendered (I like control, so this was a toughie), to the process and only moved to the next step when I loved the one I was on and couldn't imagine life without it (as Kathleen recommends) my life began to change. I had more energy. I could think more clearly. I had a sense of calmness and well-being that no matter what challenges came to me (and there have been many) that I could handle them because doing the food was healing my mind and body. I am a more patient, attentive, and loving mother and wife now. We're here to back you up and support you as you move through your steps. Second chances in life are a rare opportunity, and this program has the potential to help you thrive as a father. It has done wonders for me and my family. ********************************************************************
**Radiant Kitchen**
As you may have noticed, we are starting the Thanksgiving reflection class this week. In keeping with that, the kitchen team has put together a very exciting new page for you with Thanksgiving recipes. Come and check it out, give us your feedback. Those of us who have been doing the program for a while KNOW that creating a program-friendly holiday can be not only fun but exciting. Our cranberry chutney is famous now. Try some of the recipes now so you know what will work for you in November. And for those of you who live overseas, what a wonderful time to share with us. ********************************************************************
**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. I wanted to comment on last week’s chat on being an introvert. Your sharing was incredibly helpful to me. It feels as if we are doing *team* to find solutions for all of us. This is why I look forward to chat so much. The dialogue shapes the whole community. It is also why I think of chat as the heartbeat of our work. Live conversations about topics that are important to you. Ummm, what more could you want? If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun. ********************************************************* ***********
**Radiant Recovery Store **
David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups**
Hey guys, my name is Jim, and I'm the liaison for the Radiant Men group. I'd like to invite you to join the list. It's a great place to learn about the steps, and we focus on issues that are unique to doing the program as males. We also like to have some fun. Stop on by! ********************************************************* ***********
**Feature Article**
Making Change Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. Every week, I get many letters from people who feel inadequate, overwhelmed, fat, out of control and unable to do the program. Or I get letters from people who feel buffeted by the stress in their lives. People have died, work is demanding, no time, no space, no capacity to 'do' anything but get by. And each time I say, These feelings are caused by being out of balance. The stress does not create the feelings, your biochemistry does. When you are balanced, you respond to stress differently, it becomes functional rather than overwhelming. You stand in the center of the swirl with a sense of calm and clarity about priorities and demands. And when you are not balanced, that idea seems totally off the wall. When you are in the middle of what I call sugar feelings, you will be reactive and feel done to. You will feel like a victim. You will feel like you can do nothing right. And of course it seems like these feelings are REAL because it is what you feel. And when you feel that way, you need something to help you hold them, so you get ice cream and soda. And you feel better for a little while. Life is manageable for a few minutes and you are seduced into thinking that this is comfort. But what you think is comforting you is the cause of what you are feeling. It is a deadly, seductive dance. When you are in that place, the idea of the 'program' seems totally overwhelming. No, you cannot give up sugar. No, you cannot manage to plan anything. I just don’t get it! You feel it is just too big and too unattainable. It is too much so you need to just give up and feel that nothing will work. So, here is the bottom line. This program can not only save your life, it can transform it. It can make you clear and steady. It can give you a platform for losing weight. But it cannot work its magic unless you do it. And you do not have to do it all at once. You do not have to be perfect or rigorous or disciplined. You can come, you can whine, you can stumble. But if you show up, you ask for help and you listen, and then you follow instructions, things will change. Sugar sensitive people are notorious for not listening. We think we know it better. We think that we are unique, a special case and the plain ole boring do the steps slowly and in order does not really fit our situation. That way of thinking has to go. If you want what we have, do what we do. We do the steps. We have breakfast every morning, on time. We journal. We eat meals on time. We have enough protein for our body. We take the vitamins and eat the potato. We eat whole grains and we do not have sugar. We are funny, focused and purposeful. And we are NOT different from you. We were there in that dark, horrible place. Every single one of us, including me, has been there. And it is a place we do not want to go back to. The way out was not magic. It was showing up and 'doing'. Doing breakfast, doing journal. Doing potato. One choice at a time. One day at a time. As I have said many times, 'Nodding will not heal you.' Agreement will not make change. Commitment makes change. You do not have to live that way any more. ©Kathleen DesMaisons 2007. Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together: Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster, puts it all together Naomi gathers the recipes. David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have. You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recovery® in response to your signup. A copy of this newsletter may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/weeklynewsletter.htm. ©2007 by Kathleen DesMaisons . All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your ezine or website as long as you leave the content unaltered and use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®. Please visit Kathleen's website at http://www.radiantrecovery.com for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction." Please notify me at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com to let me know where the material will appear. Banner Photograph by Patti Holden, Step 7 |
