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April 4, 2011 Hi {!firstname_fix}  Well this was a hard week. After all that with Ronan, my youngest dog, I was then faced with my oldest dog who had cancer starting to deteriorate. So I had to make the decision to euthanize her. This is her picture, having dairy queen before she left. Man, my heart has been heavy. It was a long week for sure. This is the down side of loving. Love deeply and feel pain. This process taught me more than I imagine. Grief is not depression. It is grief...and if we allow ourselves to feel it, without alcohol or sugar or behaviors that dull the pain, something different happens. We hurt, but the grief moves and flows through. I got an image of Josie being with my Mother who died in 1996. They were sitting on a swing facing the sea, and Josie was leaning on her the way she leaned on anyone who sat on my couch, LOL.I am ok now and intentionally waited a week before I shared this. I have caught my breath and feel like I have learned a lot.I feel settled and ready to move forward with all of this. These classes will begin Wednesday, April 6, 2010. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page:  Learning to Hold Pain (2 weeks) What to do when you feel that too much is pouring into your life and you feel you just cannot hold it any more. This is a class for finding solace and comfort when your life or your responsibilities feel out of control. I have delayed this class from last week. I couldn't quite live it and teach it at the same time.Step 1 (2 weeks) is our foundation class to get you started. Learn all four parts of step 1 in a structured way. Learn how to progress through them with enjoyment. Let us support getting your program off to a fabulous start. This is the ideal class for those of you just starting off. Step 2: Skillful Use (2 weeks) is the next level of journaling. This is for those of you who know *how* and want to learn what to do with your data. This class shows you how to interpret what you have written in an exciting and pragmatic way. These classes will begin Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page: Using Radiant Resources (5 weeks) is a free orientation 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. Brain Chemistry:Beta Endorphin (2 weeks) is one of our most popular classes. It will teach you the core of the science behind the program. This is the outline for a critical part of sugar sensitivity, why you act the way you do and what you can do to change it. I love this class and so do all the people who have taken it. Somehow BE rocks! Weight Loss: First Steps (2 weeks) is a class for those of you who want to lose weight and are looking for guidance in getting started with that process. This class shows you how the seven steps get you ready for doing weight loss. The class schedule is online. Click here to see what is planned. Please wait to sign up for classes until a week or two before, and 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. 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. Be sure to visit our Radiant Recovery website and Community Forum regularly. Warmly, Kathleen **********************************************************************
** Quote From Kathleen ** There is no failure in this program. As you learn to handle new situations, as you learn to recover from a slip, you will become smarter and savvier each time. Mistakes and bumps simply become opportunities to learn. **********************************************************************
** Testimonial of the Week ** I know for me, I like doing things in groups as opposed to by myself. We are all individual in that regard, though. I did read this week's newsletter. I was especially moved by the post in the "How I found Radiant Recovery" section. Moved to tears, actually. Even though this hasn't been my exact experience, I so identified with the poster. What it brought home to me is the nature of my sugar sensitivity and how I am without a doubt in the very best place I can be. I also read again with great interest Kathleen's article on "learned helplessness." It explains so much about my past behaviours and experiences. Here's an excerpt:
Yes, the feeling is very familiar to me!......lol. I have really been reminded of late, how much I need a strong connection to my recovery and that there is so much here that is available to me if I want it. Jan **********************************************************************
** Radiant Ambassadors** 
I've just found a 'Like' button on Amazon :)
That means that you can go into, say, Potatoes not Prozac and not only add a review to it, but also add a 'Like' to it too. There is also the option of sharing your 'Like' with your family and friends on Twitter/Facebook/by email.I've 'Liked' Potatoes not Prozac and will go in and like all of Kathleen's other books too. Feel free to join in! Selena selenas@blueyonder.co.uk Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
** How I Found Radiant Recovery ** I am Caryll and I come from Christchurch, New Zealand. I came across the PNP book on the library new additions list. I was attracted to it because I have taken antidepressants for years, had PCOP and four beautiful children but four not so beautiful bouts of PND after. I am 64 years old this month and want the rest of my life to be more upbeat than it has been. I have been eating breakfast for a while and had noticed that I need protein or I am heading for the carbs. For me bread has been my hit of choice. Since increasing the protein in my diet the cravings are less. I have just started the potato at night and find it very comforting. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. 
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
** Happenings on Facebook ** 
Stay tuned for more fun polls and other posts on the Page! Come find us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/RadiantRecovery and join the fun!. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Kitchen **
Let beets cool slightly and then drain, saving 1-3/4 cups of the beet juice for the gelatin mixture. Peel and dice beets. Sprinkle celery and scallions in a 1-1/2 quart ring mold. Add beets. In a small saucepan, combine reserved beet juice and gelatin, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in lemon juice and then pour mixture gently over vegetables. Chill in the frig until set. When ready to serve, run a table knife around the edges of the mold, dip mold briefly in hot water, then place a serving plate on top, and invert to unmold. Mix together sour cream or yogurt and cucumber, and then spoon into center of mold. 6 to 8 servings. For more great program-friendly recipes, check out our cookbook in the store. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Conversations ** I also like how chat is based on the main newsletter article these days. Chat this week was really powerful--just read the transcript. Are there any who have never experienced a chat? Just wondering. :) I highly recommend them. And you can be technologically savvy and say you were "at chat."I love how the concept of *conversations* has been emerging. By working with the article from the prior weekend, we are allowing the introverts time to think about the topic and bring those thoughts to the discussion. This takes it so much deeper. And it also allows us to distill things that I think we would have never caught. See my comments in this weeks article. If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you want to be a part of the latest and greatest or just have some plain ol' fun! **********************************************************************
** Our Online Groups ** On our Radiant Fitness group we talk about how doing the food can support our fitness program and vice versa. Some favorite topics are what to eat when doing intensive exercise when all that's out there commercially are sugar -filled products. We also talk about what to eat before and after morning workouts, and what to do for those folks whose training program requires a twice a day workout. We have runners, walkers, bikers, dancers, aerobicizers, yogis, and many more types of exercise enthusiasts on the list. One of the neat things on the list is people who are recovering from exercise addiction who are learning how to work exercise back in their life in a healthy way. If any of this fits you, well, come on over and join in. **********************************************************************
**After It All ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
Well, first we had the earthquake and the tsunami. And then my baby dog was in intensive care for 4 days and we weren't sure he would survive. And then I lost my Josie girl. I have felt buffeted. In the midst of all this, my friends here in the community were wonderful. And we had an extraordinary chat. Jeannie took some of my words from that chat and sent me this shortened poem. After the Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami Perhaps our willingness to sit with unthinkable tragedy is a gesture of saying, I am here with you. I will not add my fear to your pain; I will not run from your sorrow or my helplessness. It is an energetic thing, this sitting with the wounded. There is no right or wrong, just being willing not to run or shut down. Tonight, as the darkness comes, I will light a candle. I will sit with you in your pain. I will place a loving paw on your shoulder, and we will wait together for rescue or healing, or for whatever comes. Kathleen DesMaisons in Radiant Recovery Conversations Chat, 3/16/2011 My words came back to me as my loving people sat with me, paws on my shoulder. This sitting with in silence is not something I had experienced when growing up. I did a lot of *alone* and in pain just going through stuff. I am going to teach about this journey in that new class on holding the pain...we will talk about why pain is so hard for us, why we turn to alcohol or sugar or behaviors and why living in recovery gives us a different way. And we learn to simply sit with it and to know that the rescue that comes is not that old kind, the kind of someone who cannot stand to feel helpless so must *do* something and can give us no space to simply hurt. This week, I have been been hurting. This is grief, not depression. It is sorting out how to do regular life, to fulfill commitments, to show up, teach classes, act normal while my heart has been filled with sorrow. I have simply wanted to go to bed, or eat the ice cream that I gave to Josie, or have a glass of scotch, or go to the casino, or something. I didn't. I made broccoli and ate chicken and went to the gym, and wrote stories of a dog who loved every person she ever met. I read those words up there and thought about this healer who speaks through me...and how it feels to *hear* her from outside in, rather than inside out. It has been an extraordinary week. Thank you all for your kindness, your love and your muddy paws on my shoulder. (and come to chat, LOL) Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:
Gretel, our webmaster, puts it all together. David runs the Radiant Recovery® Store. Selena provides the weekly Ambassadors column. Tina tells us what's happening on Facebook. ©2010 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, 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 http://www.radiantrecovery.com 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 may also be found posted on the web at http://www. radiantrecovery.com/ |
