Oh, the wind is blowing in New Mexico. The bird feeders are swinging wildly. The birds don’t care, they are just munching away. My yard still smells like lilac. At dusk, it is like perfume in the yard. We have had a couple of cancellations for Radiant Ranch, so if you thought you couldn’t come, now you can. We will be starting these new classes the week of 4/18. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Step 5: Browning Your Family is one of our favorites. Learn the art of whole grains. Get lots of information that you won't find anywhere else. I picked the brains of one of the world's leading *brown* experts for this class. Resource Center Tour is another one of our free walking tours through the website. This one takes you through the resource center. Explore all the nooks and crannies and discover things you did not know were there. Radiant Store Tour is a free guided tour of the store. David will be leading this class so if you want to get to know the guy that makes it all work, come sign up. This is his first teaching experience, so you can show your support for the work he does to keep you happy. We will be starting these new classes the week of 4/23. Classes will begin on Monday this week. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page: Back to Basics 2 is the continuation of the regroup and get back on track class. Step 4: More Intriguing Than You Think is the potato class. Come learn everything you ever wanted to know about the timing, size, frequency of your potato. Learn about the best vitamins and talk all you want about them. This is a nice way to strengthen and refine your step 4. 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 I will be posting a new class schedule on line. Click here to see what is planned. 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 with one lesson each day. You do not have to be at your computer at any set time. 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 **********************************************************************
May 22, 2006 ** Quote From Kathleen **
Your journal is your friend. It will teach you all about your wonderful body. *********************************************************************
** Testimonial for the Week**
Jim, Step 7, Radiant Depression Team and Midwest Geo Hospitality Coach I feel much more calm and patient -- especially with my kids. I don't binge at night any more. I am becoming more productive at work. I am getting more clear about the life that I want. I am able to reframe negative self-talk. I started the program in January 2005 but stopped around step three. I hadn't gotten involved in the community, and when I recommitted to RR in September 2005, it made a tremendous difference. I also joined YLD at that time, and chats became a very strong part of my experience. I didn't spend a set amount of time on each step. I just did each step until it was steady -- even in the face of difficult times or irregular schedules. Also, around holiday time last year, I just held steady. I didn't try to make any changes. One of the things embedded in the steps is the idea that if one gets steady on any step -- even step one - - that steadiness has positive biochemical repercussions. Also, I have taken and continue to take many baby steps. Healing and learning new ways of being take time :) ********************************************************************
I love broccoli, even my kids know it is my favorite vegetable! Here is a recipe that is sure to win over your family to eating greens - you can tell your kids the broccoli are little trees. I adapted this from a magazine recipe. BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC LEMON CRUMBS
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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**
YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself. This is from Peggy, Step 7, Liaison Pregnancy and Nursing I thought I might chime in here too to offer some support and some of my history to see if this helps. I started doing the RR program also to lose weight. I am now on step 7 for three years. Prior to this I had lost and regained lots of weight. Like many of you, I gained weight during the time I was working to get to step 7, not because of the program, but because prior to the program I maintained my weight by not eating meals and health food to "compensate" for the junk my sugar addiction made me eat (smile). You know the little games I am talking about (wink, wink>). As I got to step 6 the good program foods had supported my healing and I was no longer eating the addiction foods. So, guess what, I lost all the weight I had gained during that time. So the task for me in step 7 is to lose the rest of the weight that I want to lose. Now here is the thing that I think is sooooooo interesting. All the fuss about how my weight was "causing" all the bad numbers in my blood work disappeared from my doctor's vocabulary when I went in for my physical 6 months later...all of the numbers were in the normal range and I still weighed 200 pounds. So for me, I now exercise regularly, have a great deal of muscle mass (the good part of my "extra" weight) and I am slowly losing the weight. This is doable for me now because my brain is calm, focused, able to plan, follow through, etc. For me to lose weight I needed to get ready. Getting ready was about changing my brain biochemistry so I could actually DO what I need to do. Having the intellectual knowledge of how to lose weight was there, the reading of books, taking classes, etc., this was necessary for me, but NOT sufficient. Healing was required for me to be in a place to actually be able to use all the information I already had about being able to lose weight. 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. ********************************************************* ***********
**David's Corner **
David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen’s oldest son.  I know a lot of you are taking classes and sorting out how to build your program. I keep hearing about how much you love the CDs. Put them in your car and listen over and over. Here are our best sellers:
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. ********************************************************* ***********
**Our Online Groups** Ann, Step 7, Liaison Radiant Elders, Bigones and Geo Hospitality Coach Big Apple Hello! My name is Ann, and I am the liaison for the Radiant Elders list. I have been doing the steps for three years and my quality of life has improved immensely. When I started working on the steps I was probably at the lowest point in my entire life. Now just three short years later I look forward to each new day. My health has improved and I feel twenty years younger than I did the day I started on this wonderful journey. I want to live a productive life into my eighties if the universe allows. At the beginning of the month I joined a gym for the first time in my life. One of my main supports in working this program has been the connection on the community forum and the email lists. Many of us on elders make a commitment at the beginning of each month associated with working the steps. Every day I look forward to reading and sharing with the other members of the group. It has been wonderful to have a group of people to share with that understand being sugar sensitive. Sharing ideas for SARP meals and how to keep our BE's raised and different types of "browns" are some of our topics of conversation. The elders is a chatty, friendly group of people working the SARP plan. Anyone is welcome to join our group and gain some support. ********************************************************************
**When Someone in Your Family Drinks** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. What are my options? What can I do to help? When someone in your family drinks, you have probably spent many hours agonizing over what to do to control it or change it. You may have argued, been irrational, been emotional, made deals, thrown liquor down the drain, made threats, drank with the family member or tried to ignore the whole thing. Some of these may have worked for a short time, but the problem comes back. At this point, you are probably tired or angry or scared or overwhelmed or all of these. You may feel alone, inadequate, and dumb because you haven't been able to "fix" or even help the person you care for so much. You and the person who drinks are caught in the web of an illness which, untreated, is both progressive and fatal. You've taken the first step to healing by acknowledging that there is a problem. Alcoholism on the one hand is a cunning, baffling, and powerful disease. On the other, it is a clear cut issue with fairly straightforward treatment options. How can I tell if someone is an alcoholic? If someone drinks despite negative consequences, they generally have a problem. The first indicator of alcoholism is denial--when the drinker and those around him or her simply do not see that alcohol is causing problems. The determination of where a person falls on the continuum of alcoholism can be done with the help of either a trained professional or a person "in recovery" (i.e. someone who has stopped drinking and understands the complexity of the disease). Someone who simply stops drinking and announces they "don't have a problem" generally remains in denial about his disease. If you feel that someone is an alcoholic, trust your feelings and act on them. Generally alcoholism gets to full-blown proportions before family members or friends recognize it. What can I do? Learn the facts. Alcoholism has four components: behavioral, chemical, emotional, and spiritual. Full recovery requires attention to all four. No recovery can progress until the alcoholic stops drinking. The alcoholic has one focus, and one relationship-- that's with the bottle. You can learn about the disease by talking to professionals (including me) or to other persons trained to work with addictions, by reading, or by attending 12-step programs like AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or Alanon (for families of alcoholics). Many bookstores have "recovery" sections which offer great resources. The more you learn, the better you can help. Recognize that alcoholism is not due to lack of willpower or moral failure. Treat it as a behavioral problem which emerges from a chemical sensitivity. Judging the alcoholic will only cause pain and resentment for both of you. Get help for your own feelings and you'll be a better ally to the alcoholic. Learn detachment! Attend Alanon or start you own treatment. You may feel that the alcoholic is the one with problem, but the truth is that this disease affects everyone around the alcoholic. Anyone in the system is caught in it. Your biggest gift to the alcoholic is to focus on your own healing. You didn't cause it, it's not your fault. You cannot control it and you can't cure it. Even if you start healing, your family may not, and may continue to drink. But you'll get healthier, and increase the chances that you can help more effectively. Encourage the one you love to seek treatment. Remember, you cannot be the one to help the alcoholic heal. At this point, you are too involved. Your best role is to get help to reinforce your own detachment and your own deeper understanding of the behaviors which support recovery. If you are concerned about violence, or about your loved one's safety (for example, he or she regularly drives under the influence), get professional help for yourself now! Learn appropriate boundaries. Usually, alcoholics are surrounded by people called "enablers." These people support the disease by protecting or lying for the alcoholic. An enabler will give the alcoholic her car after he has totaled his own because "he needs to go to work." An enabler will give the alcoholic money because her rent will be foreclosed. These behaviors make it easier for the alcoholic to stay in denial because they reduce the consequences of drinking. Your job is to help the alcoholic experience the devastating consequences of the disease. The best way to show your love for the alcoholic is to step out of taking care, of making life easy. Reinforce treatment options. Learn what things are available and how they work. Be informed, but do not prescribe. If the alcoholic shows interest in treatment, be prepared with information. The alcoholic may choose a path different from your preference. Be ready to support his or her freedom of choice. Do your own homework. Usually, people who love an alcoholic assume that the alcoholic is the one who should "do" something. It is good to support the alcoholic's recovery, but don't expect someone to do something that you are not willing to do for yourself. Modeling through your own recovery is the most compelling argument you can use to support the alcoholic's movement toward recovery. Learn how to support recovery. It is a slow process. Relapse happens. Often, shortly after an alcoholic achieves sobriety, the whole family system gets wobbly. The myth that sobriety would make everything all right is indeed a myth. Sobriety is the beginning of recovery, a process which takes a while and a lot of work. Recovery may heal families and relationships and it may precipitate separation. Keeping up your own homework will guide you in your healing. Be patient, be tender, be clear, both with the alcoholic and with yourself. This is a big disease. It takes real courage and commitment to start your recovery. ©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 |
