End of Summer Thoughts: 2012

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Now that summer is officially over and a new season is on the horizon, I did what I usually do at this time of year--make assessments in my life. Following are some of my thoughts on how the Living PowerLife approach to happiness and health has changed me for the better. The overall theme for this post is finding Power by breaking through life-long barriers.

Before I could begin to think about the full effect of the Living PowerLife approach, I had to revisit two areas of my past. First, I had to examine where I was about 3 years ago when I first came to Boston, MA. Second, I had to acknowledge the actions and decisions that brought me to such a negative point. I will not spend a great deal of energy today describing where I was and how I got there. That has been shared in previous posts. These two links are where you can read about that time: Your Living PowerLife Springboard--Spiritual and Welcome! Bienvenue!.

That established, what I have to share today falls under three categories: physical, mental, and spiritual.

Physical: I will start with the obvious. I have lost weight. How much? I do not know. Enough to need an entire new wardrobe starting with my underwear. Part of deciding to change how I feel and live includes not focusing on how much I weigh. Been there and done that. 

Been there when I trotted to the doctor's office every month to stand on a scale while anxiously awaiting the pronouncement that would either label me a success--I had lost weight, or a failure--I had not. Gone are those days. Done that agonizing before deciding to eat every morsel of food. Done the psychological self-flagellation because I was not the size someone else had claimed for me. Gone are those days.

Instead, I stay in constant contact with how I feel in my body. I consider how my body functions every day when determining whether I am moving in the direction that I want. The results have been fantastic. I am stronger, have more endurance, and I am far more flexible than before.

My body has more definition because my muscle tone is better than at least 10 years ago. In a sense, I have turned back the clock through exercise, better eating/sleeping habits, removing stressful people and situations when possible, redirecting my thoughts and energy when necessary, and meditation. 

Mental: Again, I will start with the obvious. My mental attitude is better than it has been for at least 20 years. I can give you an example. Recently, my computer got a virus, AGAIN, that completely wiped out my hard drive. Even my tech guy who fixes computers for a living said what happened to my computer was ''weired''.

Now, I could very easily have gone down a self-defeating path of blame, anger, and pity. In fact, I am almost sure that I would have done so in the past. This time though, I made the conscious choice to focus only on what I could do. The results are I know even more about computers. Now, instead of having one, I will soon have access to three computers when everything is complete.

My mental attitude is crucial to being able to get and maintain focus while working out. I am an extrovert to the core. I love being around people, and get energized by engaging with people. This has often been my downfall in the past because I became distracted by what other people were thinking or doing too easily. I became engaged with other people too quickly. 

While I am still the ultimate extrovert, I have learned how to manage my inclination better. I am no longer distracted as much by the presence of others, and this frees more time and energy to focus on myself and what I need to do. The results are that I break new weightlifting barriers every month or so and I currently lift more weight than I did in my 30's.

Spiritually: This aspect is less easy to describe. My spirituality is the most private part of my life. My spirituality is also what grounds me and is how I get and maintain a positive outlook. For decades my spiritual life has been enriched through focused meditation (to be covered this fall), dream interpretation, and prayer. The difference now is that, through following the Living PowerLife approach to health, I no longer have the need to be accepted by a religious group.

My spiritual connection is not determined by others. My spiritual connection is determined by how I develop my relationship with God and the Universe. Coming to this realization is nothing short of a miracle in my life. You see, as far back as I can remember, I have struggled with being accepted by some religious group or another.

As far back as I can remember, I have been told that I was not good enough by religion. Not searching for inclusion has allowed me to redirect the energy that I was wasting on trying to be where I did not need to be, and use it to fully explore my spiritual life, code of ethics, and relationship to the rest of creation. 

In summary, while there are particulars in my life that I would like to improve (a larger bank account, for instance), I feel very good about the direction my life is heading, and look forward to my favorite time of year--fall.

From my PowerLife to yours,

Elandus

2012. All rights reserved.

Mid Summer Thoughts: 2012

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Now that summer is half over, I am taking this time to evaluate where I am in the goals that I set at the end of spring. These goals involve my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. In this post, I will describe how the process of obtaining my goals has been to date. The overall theme is leaving space.

Mid summer 2012

Physical: this area has been the most difficult to manage which surprises me. In summary, the goals that I set for the summer are: 

• Increase gym workouts from 3-4 to 5-6 days every week
• Increase gym time from 1 to 1.5 hours each day
• Eat at least 1 meal consisting only of raw food every day
• Increase massages from occasionally to 3 times a month

I increased my days and time because this was something that I planned to do all along. I changed my diet and increased the number of massages because I wanted to explore how they would affect my endurance and flexibility respectively.

To date, I have found getting to the gym and going through my regular routine an extra 2 to 3 days to be a challenge. This means that with the exception of 2 weeks, I have kept my goal. This has been difficult to accept because in body building, I have met every goal that I set for myself in the past. 

Even when I trained to run in a marathon, which at the time was the most I had ever challenged my body, I met every goal that I set. I am motivated, still. My mental attitude is fine. My health couldn't be better. Even though, I took a break 2 weeks in a row. My mind searched for reasons why getting to the gym and completing my workout had become more difficult.

Finally, while studying for my physical fitness trainer certification, I realized that the breaks were necessary for my body to recover. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have suffered an injury. I know this because my body showed signs of becoming stressed. For example, I noticed that the weights that I lifted felt much heavier than usual. I experienced soreness after working out. I also needed more rest during the day, and I wasn't  experiencing my post-workout boost that I so enjoyed. I decided that my body was telling me that it needed space to adjust to the changes. 

In other words, because my diet had even less fat, and I increased the level of exercise, my body needed to take a few days to refine processing food to fuel. Because I had not varied from changing my diet, in fact some days I had more than one raw meal substitute, my body had to catch up at the molecular level. This is a good thing, although a bit difficult to experience. This is how real change occurs.

To combat what I felt, I made sure that I got plenty of water, sleep (at least 6 hours uninterrupted every night), and if I had to, I got a little sleep during the day. I did not do that often, though, because I really hated sleeping during the day and this can interfere with sleeping at night. I also found that massage therapy was very helpful with my tight, sore muscles and stiff shoulder. 

Mental: I have been successful in mentally letting go of my belongings. I have also succeeded in letting go of a long held perception. This was not easy, still, but it was necessary for my peace of mind. As I continued to let go, I found that focusing on what I did at the gym was even stronger. This was letting me know, through practical application, just how much mental distraction drained my energy, and kept me from fully focusing on my goals. An important example to hold on to, is it not?

Part of letting go is creating the space for your mind to find a way to incorporate your new emotional reaction into daily life. This is where the function of dreams come into play. Dreams are valuable in helping your mind process new information and feelings. I share this very recent example to illustrate how this works. If the following does not make sense, I do hope that you will be patient with me. This is the first time that I have shared my dream in such a public way.

About a week ago, I had a dream that I needed to urinate in a major way. I was not at home and the stall that was available was very nasty--full to overflowing onto the floor with feces. There was no way that I could use the stall or toilet. Some of you may have had dreams like this when your bladder is full. This is one way that you deal with the conflicting realities of wanting to continue to sleep, while needing to wake up and relieve yourself at the same time. 

This dream was different because when I woke up, I realized that I didn't need to use the bathroom. At first, this was confusing because I had never had a dream like that when I didn't actually need to use the bathroom. Consequently, I searched for possible reasons for having this odd dream. Still in bed, I checked my physical state. Physically, I felt fine, and had not been dealing with any challenges over the past few days that would lead to me having the dream. When I checked my mental state, I then remembered that as I fell asleep that night a particular church from my past as a minister was on my mind. 

I remembered how much I believed back then that I needed to be recognized by the pastor and congregation to be valid. I wrongly linked having the stamp of approval from a religious organization to my credibility as a minister. During this time in my life, I put little energy toward understanding and fulfilling my call from God and a great deal of energy toward finding a place where I could function as a minister. That struggle now over, I remembered thinking about how good it felt to be free as I relaxed in my bed that night. 

Also on my mind was the time that I was first called by a group of people to be their pastor. I remembered the ceremony, where they officially claimed me as their pastor, and how much more that moment meant to me. To this day, even though we no longer meet, I still live to honor the faith they showed in my call to ministry. This is when the dream that I had the night before made sense. 

In my dream, I was finally accepting and coming to terms with the fact that for years--during seminary, after seminary--I spent far too much energy, one minute was too much, trying to walk into a stifling stall and sit on a crock of shit when I didn't need to. All I needed was to listen to what my heart was telling me, and live to become the person I was meant to be.

Spiritual: I really haven't given this one a great deal of energy because my decision in this area was made several months ago. All that was left was to consciously incorporate the decision into my life so that it became an attitude. 

Organized religion, especially for me, especially for women is, at best, counter to what I believe and to what I hear God telling me in my heart. At its worst, religion is toxic. Any doubt that I may have had about this was erased last fall.

I had the opportunity to go back to a religious institution and revisit people there from my past. What I saw and experienced was not pretty. In addition, I caught a glimpse of the person that I had to be to survive that setting as long as I did. In my life today, the people there, many were there years ago when I was, became just another clear example of how much organized religion is a negative force in our communities and lives.

The only further comments that I can add about this area of my life are these:

• If God is everywhere, why do we need to sit, stand, kneel, in a particular structure and hear the monologue of a certain type of leader to experience God's presence? 

We DON'T. 

Yet, some of us still do.

• If God is love, why is it okay for some people to condemn and blame others?

It ISN'T. 

Yet some of us do so even at the foot of the cross.

• If God is all seeing, how can it be okay to keep our mouths and eyes shut when people are used or abused?

It ISN'T. 

Yet, we ignore this on the way to our religious institutions.

• If God is all loving, what gives us the liberty to kill, insult, hate, beat, abandon, ostracize, gossip about, alienate... each other in the name of some religion?

It ISN'T. 

Yet religious institutions are founded on scapegoating--the exclusion of some to define membership.

Bottom line, I'm learning more about what motivates, immobilizes, mobilizes, stifles, or invigorates me. This means that I am becoming even more able to recognize the people and places I should avoid and those I should embrace. Sometimes the learning process is easy, sometimes difficult. Always, it is important.

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Update: 8/12/12

Today was the first time that I felt the post-workout boost that I have missed since starting the changes described above. Today was also the first day that I completed my training routine without excessive effort. 

These two things lead me to think that I have rounded a physical corner. In other words, my body appears to have found a balance between the eating changes and the training increase. I'm quite happy about this.

From my PowerLife to yours,

 

Elandus

Early Summer Thoughts: 2012

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At the end of spring 2012 after meditating and listening for my guidance, I made several decisions. My decisions involved several aspects of living into my Power: physical, mental, and spiritual. The overall theme of this post is stretching without breaking.

Early summer 2012

Physical: I decided to eat at least one meal a day that was made up of only raw food such as fruit, vegetables, oats, or nuts. I kicked up my gym time to include at least 5 days a week for a minimum of 1.5 hours. I increased my massages to a minimum of 3 times a month. 

Mental: I decided to stop thinking about some of the things that have been on my mind for at least 6 months. To stop, meant that I had to mentally let go of items that meant a great deal to me. Belongings from my past that cannot be replaced. Items from my history that can be replaced. This was not easy to do. In fact, though less and less, I still find this one difficult.

Spiritual: I decided to accept the fact that organized religion runs counter to my spirituality and in direct opposition to what God has called me to do as a minister. This has been an ongoing struggle for most of my adult life, and all of my professional life until now. I am at peace with ending the conflict, and I no longer want or need to be connected to a religious organization. 

At the beginning of summer--June, I began implementing my decisions. Now, as I move into August, I find the struggles that were most difficult at first, mentally and emotionally letting go of my past belongings, are not as prevalent. If I am meant to keep them, the Universe will show me the way. The decision that I thought would be the easiest to implement, bumping up my workout time, is becoming more difficult. 

Perhaps I am hitting a wall, or perhaps my body is responding in a way that in time will reveal a difference that I do not yet know about. Perhaps the combination of switching to raw food regularly and more gym time is taxing in a way that I don't yet recognize. 

The good news, once I get to the gym, I have no difficulty with my workout. I also have no difficulty staying on my old routine of working out at least 3 times a week. Consequently, I am not loosing ground. I am, however, finding motivation to be fleeting at times. Nothing to stop me, yet, but fleeting.

From my PowerLife to yours,

2012

Elandus

2012. All rights reserved.

Learning to PowerLife--Mental Attitude

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Chaka Kahn has gotten the attention of the media recently because her healthier life-style is working. In interviews she describes initially following a juice fast for several months, and then eliminating meat and dairy from her diet. She also shares what motivated her to start turning her life around from living with type-two diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure to a healthier way. Reporters quote her as saying that being responsible for rearing her granddaughter was her main motivation to change in the beginning.

Her journey toward better health is important to us for two main reasons. First, her story highlights the importance of mental attitude when working to recognize and claim your Power. Second, having a strong reason that your mind can hold on to is crucial to initial success when you are working to become free of life-long habits.

Try this simple experiment. Tomorrow as you start your day, tell yourself: I am beautiful. Life is precious. Everyone I meet can see my positive light. These are not meant to be platitudes, so please take them seriously. Know that the three statements are true in your heart without question or exception, no matter what happens throughout the day. Later, in the evening, make an assessment to see if you notice any difference.

The first time that I did this exercise I was shocked at just how different my day seemed. People smiled more than usual. I had several short, pleasant exchanges with strangers. In addition, at the end of my day, I felt energized and relaxed rather than overwhelmed and exhausted.

I was also surprised, as I made the conscious effort to keep my positive mental attitude throughout the day, at how many negative thoughts I had in a 24 hour period. I was surprised at how many times people with negative comments or behavior got and held my attention. This is when I understood on a practical level how important having and keeping a positive mental attitude was to living a healthier, happier life.

Living your PowerLife means refocusing your mind so that you can find and hold on to the attitude that lets you see what is positive, strong, and honest within you and every interaction that you have. Once you have refocused your mind, you can then recognize when you are facing negativity, weakness, and dishonesty in yourself and the interactions that you have with others. Knowing the difference on a conscious level helps all of us adhere to the people, places, and actions that lead to success while we avoid the rest. I will share some information about myself as an example.

For years I had the mental attitude that allowed me only to see friends or foes. Everything was about me, and I quickly assessed whether people were friends or foes based on my perception of them. If I determined that they were friends, I would relax and spend less time focusing on what they did or said.

If I decided that they were foes, however, I became vigilant and focused a great deal of time and energy toward understanding or countering what they said or did. I lived by what some people, including myself at the time, called the King of the Hill mentality. With this approach to life, there was only one king atop each hill and I was determined to be at the top. Sounds crazy right? 

Well, it was crazy and that mental attitude brought more craziness and drama in my life than I could possibly handle. You see, when we look for fights behind every curtain, that's exactly what we find; fights and people who like to fight. It wasn't until I felt that the world was against me, and I became weary of the fighting and the angry people that I looked inside for guidance on how I approached life. There were several things working against me and they all came from within.

First, in my mind, everything was about me; there was no room for the possibility that events beyond me were affecting what I was experiencing.

Second, I left no room for the possibility that I might be wrong; once I made up my mind, the deal was done even when everything that I heard and saw contradicted my decision.

Third, there was no room for the possibility that some people change; in my few minutes of assessment, if I decided someone was a friend, that stuck no matter what happened later to challenge my decision.

Fourth, I left no room for the possibility that people were not always honest; because I was honest almost to a fault, I believed what other people said with little question.

Fifth, I left no room for the possibility that not everyone had my set of morals; I lived believing that if I would not behave a certain way, the people in my circle of friends, family, and colleagues would not behave that way either.

The key word in the above list is possibility. I left nothing to chance in my mind at the same time that everything was left to chance. I was naive enough to firmly believe that I knew. I knew who was my friend. I knew who was my foe. I knew who loved me. I knew whom I loved. In retrospect, I had no clue.

I had no clue about who had my back and who did not. I had no clue about what might happen if I stopped and listened to my inner guidance on this issue. Beyond my immediate family, I had no clue about who loved me and who did not. In addition, I certainly did not know the person whom I loved at the time. The result; I was blown left, right, up, down like a leaf. My life was in the hands of chance or anyone who presented well, and that was not good for me.

In the Welcome post I introduced the concept of switching your thought process from binary to triad. I wrote that part of claiming and living your Power included turning away from thinking in yes/no, right/wrong terms solely, and toward yes/no/progression. 

When we think in binary form, we see black or white, good or bad, friend or foe. There are times when binary thinking is necessary. Sometimes an action is simply wrong, and this is so because of the effects the action has on others. Many times, though, binary thinking blinds us and keeps us from bringing what is possible to life. This is why I now think mainly in yes/no/progression terms.

This means that when I am assessing my life or simply making a decision about what to eat, I first ask, is this something that I want? If the answer is yes I then consider possible effects if I follow through. In other words, will the effects of what I have decided that I want to do put me closer to where I want to go in my life? 

If the answer is still yes then I follow through. This is where possibilities that I may not experience come to fruition. Doors open. People come into my life. I experience spiritual, physical, or mental growth that I would not have otherwise.

Conversely, if I decide that the effects will not bring me closer to my goal, then I examine why I want to do something that puts me at at odds with what I want to accomplish in my life. Again, what is just possible becomes real because self-exploration on the issue brings about a deeper understanding of what motivates me to act.

A quick example: An opportunity to learn to tango comes my way. I first need to decide if this is something that I want to do. The answer is yes. Next, I need to determine if taking dance lessons will move me in the direction that I want to go which is living a healthier, fuller life. The answer is still yes. I follow through and take the lessons, and what was once only possible becomes real. I meet people that I would not have met. My body is more flexible than before. I move with even more confidence and fluidity.

If the answer is no taking lessons will not bring me closer to what I want to accomplish, I explore why I want to do something that counters obtaining my goals. I do this through meditation, and possibly dream interpretation. In the process, what is only possible becomes real. I may learn that I am very uncomfortable with one to one interaction. On exploring this about myself, perhaps I learn that I was betrayed in some way that was connected to intimacy. This is all conjecture, but I hope you can see that my yes/no/progression approach to life creates win/win choices. Either way you win because you become a better person.

Let's begin exploring your mental attitude.

Take one week to keep track of every time you have a negative thought about yourself. Forget about what you think of other people  or what they may think about you. Right now, just keep track of the times that you tell yourself that you shouldn't, can't, won't, haven't, will never, don't have, won't have, can't stop, won't stop.... Write down what you say to yourself verbatim, and briefly describe the situation you are in at the time. If you are aware of other people around you, make a note of who they are and what relationship they represent to you.

Include your feelings as well. When you look in the mirror, jot down how you feel about your looks. What emotions do you feel when you see your reflection? Do you smile? Frown? When you look at a picture of yourself, what is your reaction? At work, try to keep track of when you admonish yourself, or tell yourself that you are not good enough, or compare yourself to another.

As with all of the things that you write, keep them private. This is information about you for you that will be important to having more insight into what motivates you and what gets in your way later on.

If you find this blog helpful, I ask that you let others know by using the google and Facebook links to tell your friends. Thank you.


From my PowerLife to Yours,

2012

Elandus

2012. All rights reserved.

Learning to PowerLife: Physical Springboard

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With the admirable efforts of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, and reality television programs such as The Biggest Loser, the fact that Americans are suffering from illnesses that are directly connected to obesity is more visible. In addition, we have become more aware of the emotional and physical struggles that overweight people experience in their lives. This is important for two main reasons: 

1. Messages of wellness and the importance of exercise coming from our leadership inspires us all to set goals. 
2. Watching the struggles of The Biggest Loser contestants from week to week highlights the fact that we do not gain or lose weight in a vacuum.

Consider this: How often have you set a goal for yourself, made a promise to someone, or just tried to turn things around in your life? How often did you keep going until you succeeded in obtaining your goal, keeping your promise, or turning things around? What worked for you? Now, consider this: How often did you stop before you succeeded? What did not work for you? 

There are times when we succeed, and there are times when we stop. Living your PowerLife means understanding some of the reasons why you succeed and why you do not. I will share some things about myself as examples for this.

There was a time in my life when I drank far too much alcohol. I drank when I was happy and sad. When I was bored, I drank. I drank alone and with friends. At one point, I drank every night and fell into a drug induced stupor that I called sleep. Then one of those nights of too much drinking while I was driving home, yes driving, I started seeing double. 

That's right. Before my drunken eyes, the two white lines that were marking my driving lane suddenly turned into four, and I had no idea which two were real and which were not. With the protection of God and my angels, I was able to make it home without hurting myself or someone else. That was the same night I promised to stop drinking. I promised that I would live my life without alcohol, and proceeded to search for the discipline to fulfill my promise.Ten years later, I was still drinking.

Another time in my life I smoked cigarettes. At my highest, I smoked one pack a day. Salem Menthol was my choice. When I could no longer fool myself about how harmful cigarettes were in general, I played a head game and switched to Salem Menthol Lights. Somehow the added word of Lights helped me shoot myself a line of bull about what I was doing to my body. 

Then one day I had a scary sign that I could not ignore. I was sitting cross-legged in a chair with my feet under me and I noticed that my upper body was slightly rocking, front to back, without me doing anything. This had never happened to me before, so I got curious about what was going on. My medical background kicked in and I realized that my body rocked in time with my heartbeat. That was some scary s#*t! 

I had just finished one of my many cigarettes and realized that the blood pressure in my aorta (the largest artery in the human body) must have been high enough to move my body forward slightly with each heartbeat. This time, I did not make a promise to stop--too scared, I guess--I stopped. The pack I had at the time was my last. I threw it into the trash. To this day, I have yet to smoke another cigarette. That was 30 years ago. 

So what made the difference? Why was I unable to keep my promise to stop drinking but able to stop smoking? Experts say that quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things to do. Yet, I stopped without meetings, counseling, or patches. At the same time, I did not stop drinking and the difference can be summed in one word: connection. With alcohol, I just focused on stopping without facing the reasons why I drank too much. With cigarettes, I took the time to examine why they were so important in my life.

Have you ever tried to get rid of something by focusing on what you want to eliminate? I have. I tried focusing on taking alcohol out of my life and all I could see was scotch, beer, wine,... You try this with a simple task now. Turn your phone off, if you can, for one hour. Whatever happens, DO NOT turn your phone back on. 

I will bet that the minute you turn your phone off you will become distracted with thoughts about what calls/texts you might miss, or what emails you will have waiting for you in an hour. You will probably think about your phone even more that you do when it is on. This is what happened with my promise, and I stopped before I reached my goal. I stopped because I was not connecting when I drank and why I drank to what I needed to do to heal.

By the time I realized that I needed to quit cigarettes, I understood the importance of making connections. As I worked to obtain my goal to stop smoking, there were times when I wanted a cigarette more than I could say. There were also times when I reached for one from habit. During these times, I had to consciously think about what I was doing and why. 

I had to explore why I smoked. I had to take into consideration the fact that I was harming my body. Each day I made the choice not to smoke. My choice was supported both physically, as I looked for and found different things to do with the time that I spent smoking, as well as mentally during meditation exercises where I explored my reasons for smoking in the first place.

In the Living Powerlife Springboard--Spiritual post, you were introduced to the disciplines of meditation and keeping a dream log. If you have not had a chance to read this post, I encourage you to do so to begin your comprehensive approach to living a fuller, happier, and healthier life. What you learn about yourself through meditation and your dreams will help to support your work as you change whatever living habits are getting in your way. In other words, meditation and dream logs will help you make the connections that you need to ensure that you do not stop before you succeed.

Your physical springboard needs to include food, exercise, massage, hydration, and rest. This post begins with food. Start a simple list of what you eat over the course of one week. Do not make judgments about, or allow anyone else to judge, what you eat. Write down everything that you eat and drink including water. For each thing that you eat or drink, answer these questions:

1. How were you feeling before you ate/drank?
2. Who, if anyone, was with you?
3. When was the first time you remember eating/drinking this in your life-time? 
4. What was going on around you?
5. Where were you when you first wanted to eat/drink that day?
6. How did you feel after you ate/drank.
7. How much/many did you eat/drink?
8. What did you eat/drink?
9. Where did you eat/drink (if this place is different from where you first wanted)?

This  may seem like a lot, but the information will be very useful during meditation and as you consider which foods are best for your body and which are not.

If you find this blog helpful, I ask that you let others know by using the google and Facebook links to tell your friends.

From my PowerLife to Yours,

Elandus

2012. All rights reserved. 

Welcome! Bienvenue!

If you are tired of carrying the mental, physical, and spiritual baggage that is keeping you from happiness, and peace this is where you belong.

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One of the ways that I succeeded in turning my life around is by switching my thought process from the binary yes/no, right/wrong, black/white, win/lose to the triad yes/no/progression. I will write more about the importance of this thought process switch in later posts but the following will get you on your springboard to you. There are three main statements that ground my philosophy:

1. The only relationship in this world that is completely mine is the one that I have with myself. 
2. The only thoughts and actions over which I have power in my life are mine.
3. The only person who can stop me from envisioning and obtaining my goals is me.

I recite this every day, and invite you to do the same starting now. Following these simple assertions, gave me the motivation to get out, train for, and complete my first half-marathon in 2009. With these three assertions, I found the strength to get back up after being slammed down by people whom I loved, and trusted in 2010. With these three, I learned to have power with solitude in 2011. 

2007

2009

I found the focus to lift weights and lose weight. I went from squeezing into size extra-large sweat pants to wearing loose medium. I no longer have bouts with my intestinal health, because I no longer carry the anger of other's as though it were my own. Today, my swagger is not based on how much money I earn, whether or not I have a lover, what groups claim me as their own, or which institutions gave me their rubber stamp. 

2011

My confidence comes from the fact that I have done the very difficult work that empowered me to envision and accomplish goals that I did not believe that I could before. Living PowerLife is where you can get the information, guidance, and support you need to do the same. In addition, by contributing comments that describe your successes and challenges, you can help give encouragement to others who are also struggling to live better lives.


You can find the person for whom you long. You can build the body that you treasure. You can live a life of power, truth, and wisdom. Reading this begins your journey back to you. The journey that will teach you how to switch your thoughts from binary to triad. The journey that includes you joining and helping to build a community of people who are living PowerLife. 


You are a miracle. I am a miracle. Yes, there are miracles in this world today. We just have to be open to making the changes that bring them about, and ready to see them when they occur. 

From my PowerLife to yours,
Elandus

Learning to PowerLife: Spiritual Springboard

First time here? Visit my New Visitors page to get started.

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Recently, Fox News published an article about a Texas pastor who made a commitment to lose weight in front of his congregation. At the time of the article, the pastor had lost about 50 pounds with just minor adjustments to his lifestyle. I mention the article here for three reasons: 

1. It begins to explore the connection between spiritual dis-ease and obesity. 
2. The author writes about issues that are seldom addressed in religious institutions such as gluttony, obesity, food addiction, and the neglect of one's body.
3. The article highlights the reality that the more intolerant the religion, the more likely its followers will be obese or engage in some other form of unhealthy lifestyle.

For many years, in my roles as chaplain, pastor, and social justice advocate I have seen how detrimental ignoring spiritual distress is to living a healthy, balanced life. In addition, throughout my personal life, I have experienced how spiritual distress affected my overall well-being in negative ways. 


For instance, when I was most invested in adhering to a religious dogma, when I was least able to tolerate religious traditions that differed from my own, when I was most eager to be accepted by individuals, or recognized by a particular group, my general health suffered the most. 


Part of why I suffered was because I valued other people's thoughts and beliefs over my own. Indeed, rather than developing myself, and listening to the source of the power that was meant only for me, I was constantly looking for the right group, right person, the special place that I could call my home. The consequences were major; I almost died several times.


In 1999-2000, I suffered a massive blood clot in my upper thigh. Before my body could recover, part of the clot separated and traveled to my lung. 


Around 2007, I was rushed to the ER, unconscious and near death because my doctor at the time prescribed far too much high blood pressure medication (I was taking high doses of three different medications). 


Throughout all of this, I suffered from asthma like symptoms because I had, and still have, a severe allergy to all dairy. In addition, at my worst, I weighed close to 300 pounds.

2005

My body was slowly dying, as I continued to allow my spirit to be stifled by people and institutions that meant me no good. 


In retrospect I was fighting to conform using my precious life force. I fought for acceptance in seminary. I fought for recognition in churches. I fought for respect within communities made up of people who were only interested in co-opting my gifts and talents their own aggrandizement. In addition, I fought to stay in a relationship with a person who was emotionally abusive to me. 

Everything in my life was a fight. On all fronts, I was fighting my own instincts and spirit to conform in places where I would never be accepted. The fight was killing me. It was not until I made the commitment to stop fighting to conform and start finding myself and who I was meant to be that I gained the practical application that is contained within this blog.


The connection between spiritual and physical health has been well document. Everything, from prayer, meditation, message, and chants, has been explored to help the healing process. What I do through Living PowerLife is make the link practical and give you the means to build a spiritual discipline that is not dependent on membership, group acceptance, or the truth of another. Instead, your spiritual discipline will be grounded in love for self, respect for others, and understanding that honesty is the key to fulfillment.


From reading the Constructing Your PowerLife Springboard post, you should now have a quiet place to meditate, pen, and two composition books (one to journal your thoughts and one to log your dreams). Now you will begin to practice meditation and prepare to learn about some of the things that have previously been a challenge to fully accessing your power.

NOTE: you may need help processing some of the feelings or memories that come up during meditation. If that is the case, do not hesitate to ask for help. This is your journey, but you do not have to make the trip alone. In the past, when things became more than I could process alone, I sought the same help. It is important to give yourself permission to rely on people who spent years preparing to give the kind of support that helps us get past being overwhelmed. 

Also, know that at any time you can email me.

MEDITATION
Go to your quiet place, and find a comfortable sitting position. Remove as much distraction as possible such as radio, TV, music, etc.... At first, it's important to try to have the same time every day, and set aside no more than 15 minutes. This helps you to:

1. Remember to meditate.
2. Build a life-long discipline rather than practice a short-term fad. 
3. Maintain focus because the time is shorter.

Close your eyes and feel your body. Feel where there is tension while you slowly breathe in and out. Release the tension that you feel in different parts of your body as you breathe out. Do this for no more than 10 slow, deep breaths. 


Once your body is as relaxed as it can be, focus on how you feel inside. Are you Excited? Nervous? Angry? Sad? Happy? As these feelings come up, try to note if any places or people--names or faces--come to mind at the same time. This is where you will make your first practical connection--the one between your emotions and particular places or people. Continue until about 5 minutes before time to stop. You will need to have at least that much time to bring your meditation to a close.


As you begin to close your meditative sessions down, switch your focus back to your body. Take slow, deep breaths again and feel your body as it sits. With each breath, notice your feet touching the floor, and your body pressing against the chair. As you come back to where you were, recite the following aloud three times: 

With God, the Universe, and me miracles happen. 

Open your eyes, sit quietly for a few seconds. Bring your breathing back to normal and jot down any thoughts, feelings, or impressions in your journal.

THINGS YOU MAY NOTICE

• Your mind may jump around from thought to thought. That is to be expected, so do not try to stop this process. 
• You may have difficulty identifying where your body holds tension. This is okay. As you continue, you will find this easier.
• Unexpected feelings or people from long ago may spring to mind. This is good. Remember to jot down these impressions in your journal.
• You may start to remember your dreams if you did not before. This is good too. Just keep your dream log and pen by your bed and write as much detail as you can as soon as you awaken.

DREAMS

I strongly recommend that you use your dreams. Dreams are your brain's way of processing emotions, and events in your life. They are full of symbols that mean something to you. This is why, when I try to gain insight into myself using my dreams, I always ask: what does this mean to me? Rather than: what does this mean to others? For example, if I dream about an eagle, I explore what eagles mean to me. What do I think about, feel, remember, expect... when I think of an eagle? From there, I continue to interpret my dream.

HOW TO MAKE JOURNAL AND LOG ENTRIES:

The format is simple. Just remember to date--month, day, year--each journal. Do this even if there are multiple entries for the same day. Write legibly so that you can read your entries later. Keep your journal and log private.


My next post will focus on obtaining and maintaining physical health.

From my PowerLife to Yours,

Elandus

 2012. All rights reserved.





Obesity in the church link