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Of all the quibbles that may carry on in these modern days of Thanks&Giving surely we can find the time to reflect a bit deeper and capture renewed meaning this Thanksgiving Day.
-Wishing all a Very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
_____________________
For, after all,
put it as we may to ourselves,
we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread.
The sun, the earth, love, friends,
our very breath are parts of the banquet….
Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host,
and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?
-Rebecca Harding Davis
Happy NEDAwareness Week 2009!
This is an exciting week full of events and highlights the message to “Get Real” about Eating Disorders as an illness not a choice and to continue raising awareness, prevention and advocating for those affected.
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to view two powerful films: Swept and Beauty Mark and reside in the New York area you are in luck. Pace University along with NEDA will be Turning the Lens on Eating Disorders showcasing both films and will have the artistic panel of actors, directors/producers as well as ED educator panelist, Sondra Kronberg available for Q&A.
Both films offer up a great opportunity for further discussion and understanding and reach beyond the somewhat palate-less offerings unfortunately being held in most areas.
So kudos to you NYC for taking creative initiative and stretching limits! Sara and Stephanie I’ll be there in spirit– you both are inspirations!
One Body Workshop: A Benefit for A Chance to Heal at Dhyana Yoga
There are limited spaces available for this fundraising workshop. Reserve your spot today!
February 22, 2009 1:30-4:00pm Dhyana Yoga – 68 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia PA
Suggested Donation: $40 Register at achancetoheal.org or call 215-885-2420 – spaces are limited!
Fundraiser, Body Image Workshop, and Yoga Class in One!
Join Harin Feibish, LCSW and Stephanie Haefner for a relaxing yoga and body image workshop. Workshop attendees will explore how our body image and self-esteem are affected by our culture’s definition and interpretations of beauty in an interactive workshop. Empowered with this knowledge, attendees will discover how to be in your one body and heighten body awareness through a series of yoga asanas and meditation led by Stephanie Haefner.
A Chance to Heal is holding a seminar for educators in the Philly area concentrating on supporting healthy Body-Self Image issues and there is still time to register:
A professional educational opportunity for those who influence 5th-12th grade girls and boys.
Students are bombarded with negative messages influencing their resilience and self-image. Media forces encourage critical inner voices that predispose students to problems with drugs, alcohol and/or body image. This symposium will empower you to support positive thinking and confront these messages head-on.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 (Snow Date: February 19th) 3:30-5:30pm
Yarnall Auditorium: Germantown Friends School 31 W. Coulter Street, Philadelphia PA Registration: $10 – Register Now, Seating is Limited! Professional CE Credit Available for Educators and Registered Dietitians.
This time of year is well known for the Girl Scout Cookie Sale that embarks within most school communities, shopping malls and many an entrance at one’s local grocery store– I still do love the Thin Mints, kept in the freezer (yes, I’m weird!) and an extra box in the pantry, perfect with strong coffee or milky chai– yum!*
This year’s annual also brings an additional treat for those involved with youth groups, GS adult members/parents; and girl advocates in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area at the 2009 Girls Developer Summit whose conference theme: True Respect Starts on the Inside encompasses all day sessions ranging in topics from Internet Safety, Dating Violence, Nutrition, Positive Parenting/Family to Eating and Body Image Disorders, carried by keynote speaker and award-winning youth development author and advocate, Courtney Macavinta.
For registration and further information click here for brochure, phone: (800)788.4919 or contact Mariela Rua at mrua@gshom.org.
*GS has a new Daisy-Go-Rounds cinnamon flower cookie this year too!
Mieluinen Koti- Armas Tytär
(Welcome Home Dear Daughter)
–JRR Tolkien
Take, and welcome joy within you:
Showers, flowers, powers,
Hatfulls, capfulls, lapfulls,
Treasures, measures, pleasures,
All be yours to enjoy!
-Celtic Devotional
__________________
Even though both our daughter’s are well beyond the fantasies of a “real” Santa, the story of the Tomtem, mythical Finnish elves, (and these days what I would give for a Tomtem to help cook and clean!) and snuggling up to endlessly open each envelope within Tolkien’s Letters From Father Christmas, the magic and our imaginations still shine with wonder and grace for the season– no matter what.
The Spirit of the Holiday is quite powerful if you take the time to remember and reflect on what truly is important and meaningful. Such a simple and beautiful gift to give oneself, but not always easy to do.
‘Tis the season of gift giving and ever-expanding commercialization of Christmas as we modern people know all too well. This busying and running here and there has robbed the “sacredness of the season” as I refer back to the wise words of John Matthews:
….we ask and are being asked, “What do you want this year?” There are certainly things that we would quite like, things that we hope will be brought for us, but these are not the same as our wants. True wants are not small things satisfied by prettily wrapped parcels: they are the immense needs of inner space that can be overwhelmed by all our little wants and yearnings. To consider our real needs– the things we lack in our lives – is often too frightening, opening up an abyss of need that calls our very existence into question… Our real wants eat holes in us: never resting, never loving, never greeting, never finding, never seeking, never ever being satisfied deep down. These ravenous wants define our treasures so truly. They create a Christmas list that no store could supply: time to stop and really enjoy, in a space of quietness and contentment… Space to give and receive love reciprocally. The grace to seek and find our spiritual joy. Freedom from the tyranny and burden of other’s expectations, of what others think. Acceptance of ourselves as we truly are.
This season our wish is for our youngest daughter to really begin believing, once again, within her own inner gifts, her endless possibilities to live a full and happy Life, without ED. That she can accept herself as she is, feel safe, trust herself and others, allow her body and mind the time it needs to heal; and acknowledge her own true needs.
It again, seems so simple.
I also wish for all of you to give yourselves the gift of time to listen to your own true needs, find an inner abundance of Peace and Love, and allow time and space to fully ENJOY this holiday season!
–shanti
* Many Heart-Felt Thanks to all who have emailed and written with your thoughts and support! We feel very blessed to have such caring individuals in our lives– especially at this time– THANK YOU! Marielle the gift-basket was so incredibly generous and such a surprise…. words can’t begin to convey our appreciation. -XO*
A wonderful non-profit organization created by Gail Schoenbach For Recovery and Elimination of Eating Disorders – F.R.E.E.D. will be holding a Mother-Daughter Workshop in conjunction with the Eating Disorders Association of New Jersey Saturday, October 18th from 9:30AM-2:30PM at Summit Medical Group.
The workshop’s aim is to “engage women and girls as they explore and challenge their beliefs about themselves, their bodies, and body image”. Freelance journalist, blogger and author, Courtney E. Martin who wrote Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters will be the keynote presenter along with therapist, Suzanne Rubinetti.
F.R.E.E.D.’s mission is to:
- Provide financial support for treating eating disorder (a major hindrance for sufferers and their families in obtaining treatment/recovery resources as well as follow-up care — F.R.E.E.D.’s priority and focus on this issue is to be commended).
- Increase public awareness and provide educational resources.
- Advocate for the acknowledgement and acceptance of Eating Disorders as a serious and urgent disease.
Ms Schoenbach’s own battle with ED and body image issues took place in silence for years until she began the slow process of recovery, and it was during this healing time that she found a passion and drive to create F.R.E.E.D. and her additional adjunct G.R.Schoenbach Foundation which holds annual fund-raising events and campaigns to continue her committed work.
Organizations like these are inspiring, so if you live in the New Jersey area, are a mother with a daughter with/without an eating disorder, go partake in “day of empowerment”, sharing, support and learning– it will do the body&mind good!
–shanti
I love fall!
I love our annual trip to the apple farm, the continued but slowing scramble to farmer’s markets until they close shop next month, the cool nights and the warmth of a wood-fed fire pit surrounded by the deep and intoxicating smells that this season brings along with it. The cornstalks soon to be put out along with the vibrantly hued pumpkins, the trees’ deciduous leaves now changing in accord… it’s a sensory orgasm!
Last week seemed a bit more hectic, balancing home, family and a personal work-life in conjunction with extended family and friends for our annual Late Summer-Fall Equinox potluck. But all the work and preparations reminded me how vital it is reconnecting with others whose lives are busy like ours, whose children are growing and/or grown, and gather for one evening to celebrate the change of season, share a bountiful meal, taste new creations, revisit old favorites and maintain some deeper meaning within our lives.
A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to see BANA (Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association) holding it’s Global Dinner Table Conference (wonderful titled theme!) and extending efforts to educate and connect within the Ontario region with spokeswoman, advocate and eTalk journalist Ms Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau presenting a powerful personal journey through recovery from bulimia. Now as a healthy mother, wife and proponent for eating disorders she stated quite beautifully: “healing means reconstructing your notion of self, and who you are, and your connection with the world”.
BANA is one of a handful of grassroots organizations that actually carries out valuable, useful support and services instead of only allocating funds-donations and collecting data, along with having a vital partnership with the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) that is broadly interconnected with hospitals, medical communities, local demographics, schools and universities to align more effectively with clinicians and the broader public to reach those in need and provide support for families.
Another organization of note that has recently joined earlier this month at the “global table” is BEDA (Binge Eating Disorder Association) which can be additionally pivotal towards connecting those whose diagnosis is either “undefined” “unspecified” or completely overlooked towards the resources they need, and continue providing the educational and preventative services as well as highlighting probably the most common form of eating disorder more broadly present.
It’s aspiring to see such organizations take root and develop, gathering together as a unified front to fight an illness that has left far too many for too long uninvited or unheard to now join at “the global table” to come together!
“O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not,but sit
Beneath my shady roof, there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance,
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers. “
– William Blake
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