Hi {!firstname_fix}

Even though it is still early in June, it is starting to feel like summer. The nights are light for a long time. And it is hot in the afternoon. I put up a real clothesline this week. Put my sheets out to dry. They got to be a brilliant white and smell like something so fresh. I love it.

Dog training continues. We have progressed to a dinner-time game. Dogs wait in the kitchen. I take the bowls and hide them in the living room. They think this is great fun. Takes some skill too. If you are interested in what ideas are shaping my dog training stuff, look for Bones Would Rain From the Sky. This book knocked my socks off.

And lest you think that I am thinking only of dogs, and not the food, LOL, I am actively writing these days. I have taken my notes and reflections from Maine, and have moved into production phase. This means my dining room table is covered with papers and I am now organizing ideas.

Along the way, I developed the material for getting off of cigarettes. So I am adding a new class on this. I think you will be excited to see the approach.

Ok, and I am making a little change in the class fees....if you are on disability or low income (your household income is less that $1000 a month), you make take classes for free. This is an honor system. If you qualify, simply make a note in the notes box and we will not charge you.


These classes will begin Wednesday, June 11, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Brain Chemistry: Serotonin (2 weeks) is one of our most popular classes. It helps you make sense of why the potato works, why you have a problem in the winter and how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can play into this. If you munch in your mind, if you are depressed or edgy or feel sad, this is the class for you.

Step 3: Three Meals is one of our core classes. This is a skilled 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 Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Please click on the name of the class you wish to join and it will take you to the registration page:

Step 7: Journaling (2 weeks) is a new class designed for seniot people who want to go back and learn the nuances in your journal. This is about how to make it come alive, make it fun and an incredible tool for your journey.

Stop Smoking (2 weeks), a way off cigarettes, is a brand new, first run class on stopping smoking. Come understand why this addiction is so difficult and what to do to make it work. This is material I have not presented in this way. I was excited to work with the biochemistry and put together something that will make sense for you.

Using Radiant Resources is 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

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June 9, 2008

** Quote From Kathleen **

This is a process. You do not have a 'sobriety date' to mark that sugars are gone forever. You simply move more and more into healthy relationship with your body.

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** Testimonial for the Week**

Hi! I'm still working on climbing steps. Sometimes I think I'll never make it all the way up with one foot on each step, walking tall.

And then today I went out to lunch with my sewing group. Six steps to the door of the restaurant, or use the ramp. I chose the steps. And I walked up them like a lady!!! So, that is my encouragement to keep on going.

It amazes me that we can do such simple things and they have such an impact on our lives/health!

In September I want to go to a quilt show that is in several buildings, all up and down the side of a hill. Lots of steps, too. And I'll be on my feet all day.

The last time I went DH went with me in case I experienced back pain or other problems - which I did - he could help me. This time, I think I just may be able to go with the sewing group and take care of myself.

Recovery is wonderful!

Therese

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**Radiant Ambassadors**

Hi all!

It seems that mental health and nutrition are becoming more and more popular in the media nowadays. The Independent on Sunday is running a Mental Health Campaign. The Depression Alliance has written a review of PnP. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are looking for help in developing guidelines that will be used throughout the NHS. The Daily Mail has run an article on addiction.

I'm looking for some eagle-eyed helpers (smile). If you spot an article or hear of anything that is relevant to RR, could you let me know? It could be in a magazine, newspaper, on a noticeboard at work, on the news.

I am trying to find more and more opportunities to talk about RR and get it recognised and out there in the public space.

Thanks!

Selena

Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news.

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**Radiant Kitchen**

I have a couple of Thermos brand thermoses. If you go to the Thermos website you can get information on the different models of thermoses. Yes, they have different models--like car manufacturers LOL. For best results you’ll need one that is rated for keeping food hot for 24 hours. Neither of mine is rated for 24 hours. I only saw one on the thermos website that actually said it was rated for 24 hours. If it doesn’t say it’s rated for 24 hours, it’s not. (grin) Aladdin was another brand that was mentioned in some of the web research I did. I don’t think it matters what brand, just the 24-hour rating. I will probably buy another thermos with the 24-hour rating so I can try some of the recipes I found online. I tried cooking brown rice in my 10 oz. 5-hour rated thermos without success.

Both of my thermoses are wide-mouth, which allows a lot of the heat to escape, but makes getting the food out easier. I made regular oatmeal in my 10 oz. thermos yesterday (just to try it out) and it was too hot to eat straight from the thermos an hour later. When I made the steel cut oats at Ranch the 10 oz. size was perfect for one serving. It wasn’t piping hot, but it was hot enough to melt my butter. I made a double batch in my larger thermos to share with my roommate nearly every day. I wrapped the thermos in a towel to help retain the heat.

To make hot oats use ¼ cup whole groat or steel cut oats to approx. 1 cup boiling water. Temper your thermos by adding hot water for about 5-10 minutes. Then drain it and put your oats and boiling water in the thermos. Put the lid on and shake it to mix the contents. Lay it on its side so the contents will cook evenly. Cook overnight and wake up to hot cereal that is as easy to make as those instant packets.

My thermos cooking is still in the experimental stages. I found a cookbook that has a section on thermos cooking. I may have to get it.

Terri

Radiant Recovery Cookbook

Naomi's Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook

Sheila's Kitchen Recipes

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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself.

Someone asked me what you get when you join YLD.

• The fee you pay to join is a membership fee. Just like when you join a gym - a one time only charge that gets you a scan card to get in the door.
  
  
• Once inside there are certain things that come with membership like the chats and the access to the head trainer who is walking around the halls.
  
  
• You also get access to special classes that are only offered to YLD members.

Most important, you are involved in the most cutting edge discussions of the community. Chat is were we explore new ideas and look at applications to your recovery.

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.

 

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**Radiant Recovery Store **

David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son.

Here is a little quote from Brenda

DITTO! I love the store and have been purchasing things for several years. David is the best, and they do a great job stocking things that not only support our programs, but are fun, too. Such as one of my favorite things - my potato key chain, and all the fun flavorings! It is funny how much you guys love the flavorings.. Maybe it is like the office supply thing, LOL.

I can set up an individualized subscription service for you. One person just gets shake, another gets shake, flavoring, fish oil, pycnogenol and tuna. And some people try a new flavor each month. I love the challenge of this. And even more important, I love being able to serve you in this way.

Most exciting for this week is the NEW flavor of the month club for shake subscribers. A different flavor will be sent each month for $5.00 with no additional shipping cost. And if you receive your George's Shake subscription every other month, then you will receive two flavors at a time.

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

 

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**Our Online Groups**

A lot of new people have come over to radiantparents and are talking about how to do new behaviors with their kids. We are talking not just about food, but about new patterns of recovery in your family. If you are looking for great support for toddlers to teens, come join us. Actually, we have just brought back some of our parents of teens who are on step 7 to talk to us. Come hear their stories.

The problem solving is such a comfort and I love seeing the more experienced parents give so much help to new people.

Or come to the group page to see all our groups. http://www.radiantrecovery.com/list_serves.htm

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**Safe Place Meditation CD**
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

Many of you have asked my about the Safe Place Meditation CD. What is it? Why do we do it? What is its history?

I first started using guided imagery twenty five years ago when I was working in a prison in Rhode Island. I was working with a group of guys who were sex offenders. They had committed pretty serious crimes. It was profound for me to listen to their stories, to experience their wounding. It taught me to see underneath the outside stories.

These guys were not interested in doing talk stuff. They had been there and done that for many years. So we wanted to do something that bypassed all the cognitive stuff and just went down into heart healing.

The safe place meditation was the first meditation we taught them. It served as an anchor for all the other work. Basically, this mediation helps us to relearn the FEELING of safety. Many of us grew up in a household where we did not feel safe. We lost a connection to that feeling. So even though we may have acted like we were fine in the world, inside our hearts had ahole in them. This meditation starts to heal that.

The safe place meditation is the anchor for all the work we are doing. First you get settled and quiet. This in itself starts to shift you into a heart place.

The rhythm of the music entrains your heart and slows it down.

The image or sense of the light gives you a concrete way to visualize being filled and held by something greater than yourself.

The experience of breathing the light helps you to focus on your breath. Imagining the light breathing you gives you an experience of something loving taken care of you. Each helps you focus on your breathing and this quiets you and settles you.

When you are quiet, we ask an image of being in a safe place to come. This may be something totally unexpected. This is the first exposure to inviting your Psyche to speak with you. Images are the language of the heart.

The image gives you a concrete symbol to work with. Once you see it (or sense it), we ask you to experience how it feels to be there. We want you to feel concrete feelings on a sensate level. How it looks, how it sounds, the textures, the smells. And most important how you feel when you are there.

Noticing how you feel when you are there gives you a way to learn what feeling safe means for you. It gives you a way to experience the body sensation of safety. Most of us do not know this feeling when we start the process. We may have a memory of it, or we may have nothing to draw from. This meditation gives us that feeling.

And the feeling, not the content, becomes the anchor for all the other work. If you feel safe, you can begin to open up. I invite you to learn this tool with us.

©Kathleen DesMaisons 2008.

Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together
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.

©2008 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.