Venus rising on a deep blue night with the words Radiant Recovery superimposed on it
Man picking lettuce
April 26, 2020, 
 
Hi {!firstname_fix}, 
    We continue with our time of sheltering. My local church plays Amazing Grace on the bells every morning at 8 AM. "I once was lost and now I am found" always comforts me. Our Moving From Fear class continues as we work our way through knowing how to make sense of what is happening these days. We have mostly focused on how to move from fear to joy. We have learned about activating joy in the deepest parts of our brains. I think maybe that place connects to our souls, but I haven't really said that yet in the class. Perhaps today's lesson will include that musing.
    It has been a time of deep reflection for me. I have continued to "find" old stuff that was put away and not looked at for many years. These have included tracing an eight generation review of dog history just for the sheer fun of it. It was funny to track eight dog generations in my head. I can do that for dogs, but for people, I can only do six. But I don't think we do a "coefficient of inbreeding" for the humans, LOL. The dog breeders in our community will laugh at that. You know I have WAY too much time on my hands.
    Even more fascinating has been the family story my children and I started a number of years ago. We wanted to look at what was going on with each person in each year. Most of us knew what happened to our own story in a given year but hadn't really connected to the other stories.We have been meeting on ZOOM each Sunday, but found we could get back to the year by year review if we put the spread sheet up on the web in Google. I can tell you it has been pretty amazing. The grandkids want to know about our lives too, LOL
    You might not think that just a few phrases could capture a year, but put JFK shot, earthquake or Covid in and you can see how everyone was shaped. It has really affected me. I think being able to look at my life as a whole has been enormously satisfying. It is hard to explain.
    My article this week is about joy dots. It will give you a sense of what we have been doing in the class.
    I hope you are all staying safe. Remember this is not a lockdown. We are sheltering in place to keep our friends and neighbors as safe as possible. And of course, to stay safe ourselves.
I am sending you all light and love.  
   
 
Support for Your Program
Journals
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS
                                                                                         Conversations are grouped into topics so you can search for something you are interested in and join in, or you can start a new topic. This discussion is held on a list at our host service at io groups which is where we landed after leaving Yahoo.

People are talking, bring your questions and ideas!.It is nice place to get started if you are new to the community and are wondering what to do. Join it now.

 

GROUPS
The groups list is up on the web site. Just sign up for the group you would like to join. Read about the group before you ask to join. If you are starting or returning, join the Step One list.
 
CLASSES
We are still doing the one class on transforming fear. There is no charge for this class and you are welcome to join us.  https://groups.io/g/radiantreflections
 
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
If you prefer talking on Facebook, come over to one of our three groups there. Radiant Recovery®, Radiant Recovery® International or Radiant Recovery® Germany  
 
WORKING WITH KATHLEEN 
Coaching is a special offering for people who are serious about enhancing their programs and would like to have ongoing coaching. Kathleen personally runs the coaching groups.This is not a class but is a process to support your progress. We have added a special chat for people in coaching. It meets twice a week to accommodate those who are in Greenwich Mean Time and those who are in USA time.
    Coaching includes several options now: Return to Radiance Coaching for those who have done the steps in the past and then drifted and would like to get back on track. Skilled Coaching is for people who are steady on the steps and ready to work on Step 7 life skills.  
    If you wish to join sign up for coaching and then we can talk about which section to join.
 
Sign up for group coaching
 
    I also provide individual coaching called Signature Coaching.  It can help you step out of the craziness of sugar addiction, return to steadiness and clarity after slipping away, slow down and focus on your recovery, or deepen a steady rhythm of recovery. This particular option is especially helpful if you did the steps a while again and then kinda meandered away. Or if you are facing some intense times and would. like skillful support.
    This is a 3 month process that includes doing an in-depth assessment of where you are in the process, designing an individual plan for you and then meeting once a week via phone or Zoom to work on your progress.
     This is the way to step out of feeling overwhelmed with where to start and what to do. Because it is so individualized, we can work on what is right for you at this point in your journey.  People tell me that coaching helps them feel safe and focused. We work with your style, your rhythm. This is a unique opportunity to release your fear and let go of shame.The guidance can shorten and ease your process so that in 3 months you will do what you might take a year to do on your own. Signature coaching is also an excellent way to tackle any special needs you may have. like wanting to get sober, or dealing with insulin resistance, or special medical concerns.
 
Sign up for Signature Coaching
Read More
 
"As you keep your journal you can discover there is a direct correlation between what you are eating and how you are feeling."
 
Testimonial of the Week

 

And something I thought I would never have the time for or use - meditation. I hear you on the work and kids, but I've worked my way up to 5 minutes now and it's like putting "Calm" into the bank. It sort of works all day I think - not the 5 mins I actually do.

 

Mosiac
 
Cheese Blintzes
Cheese blintzes
I am posting about Cheese blintzes because they are such a comfort food. They are a wonderful food for morning brunch. Do not think your "program food" has to be dull or boring and restrictive!
 
Read More
 
 
Radiant Recovery Store
David Smiling
David, my oldest son, runs our store. He makes sure your orders go out quickly and works with you to find the best things suited to where you are in your process. 

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

 

Come visit our STORE. Call 505-345-3737.
YOUR BODY SPEAKS Journals

I wanted to let you know that we now have the BLUE journals back in stock. Thank you for your patience! I will send them out the same day you order.

Get Your Journal
 
Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think
Your Last Diet Book Cover

During this period of sheltering, many of us are way less concerned about weight issues. Some people may be gaining some weight because they are home and eating more and exercising less. We will be talking about these things in chat.

Here is a wonderful quote from Mosaic. I think we can all relate. It is so wonderful to be free of this.

 

I am so glad you are laughing! You must be healing! My daftest bit was thinking that if I got on slower it might say a lower number, and leaning over 10 times trying to get the dratted thing to say something different. Not to mention cutting my nails and taking my contact lenses out, the last actually quite helpful as I couldn't focus at all.

 

'Course, with my manipulations, if I ever shifted it down half a pound, I'd go round pleased all day, or if it had the cheek to go up it would be all gloom and doom.

 

I'm so glad that's all over. Isn't it totally amazing what the steps will cure!

 

 There is a lifetime membership fee of $99 to join YLD. This means if you go away for 5 years to try all sorts of other things that don't work and come back, you still have a membership and a great welcome!

 

If you would like to join us in YLD, come find us here.  
 
Cottontail in my yard
 
Shifting Perspective
 
Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD
 
We have spent the last weeks talking about the power of "joy dots" to change how we perceive a given situation. I asked the class if they might think about the differences among affirmations, gratitudes and joy dots. This is what PattiK wrote. She said I could share it.
 

 

 

For me, affirmations are work. I find them to be flat,dried out,stale,obtuse,clouded and stingy to the mind, and that is where they live.   

I think gratitude is a distant cousin of forced happiness, neither of which hang around when bad stuff happens and both of which are concepts that reside in the mind.

 

For me,  joy dots have been and continue to be,

fun

they make my heart  race for a split second of a split second

joy dots slice through a heavy, like hurricane wind through a willow

joy dots dance on the face of time, a moment set apart, in which eternity winks at me

joy dots are a gift from my soul to myself, an invitation to feel again

joy dots trick my eyes to fix upon them, then immediately offer up a feeling to render sweet

joy dots  wake- up the washed out weight of fear, so pleasure can get a foot-hold, deep in my heart

joy dots remind me that I am not dead, poking me, poking me, poke, poke, poke

joy dots knock on the windows of my mind but they can only enter through my chest

joy dots can place me momentarily side by side with my deceased Grandmother, I can feel her strength and I can smell her Sunday perfume

joy dots play face to face with despair, I can't see it but I can feel it, in the way a raindrop disappears itself into the smooth of the ocean wet

joy dots do not cancel pain, they just allow me to dance around it, or with it, like a good friend has come to visit and we embrace to touch

joy dots are almost always, always, the way out of my mind and into my subtle whisper dance with God

joy dots ask for nothing in exchange for the gift of feel, yet I suppose they leave a blue stamp on my brain flesh,

indicating a feeling or two have passed through here today

and the pathway remains

unobstructed

 

And of course, you may always email me at Kathleen@radiantrecovery.com

 
 
©2020 Kathleen DesMaisons. All rights reserved. You are free to use or transmit this article to your blog or website as long as you leave the content unaltered, use this attribution: "By Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. of Radiant Recovery®, and notify kathleen@radiantrecovery.com of the location. Please visit the Radiant Recovery® website at for additional resources on sugar sensitivity and healing addiction. 

You are getting the weekly newsletter from Radiant Recovery® in response to your signup. A copy of this newsletter will also be found posted on the web.