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January 2, 2012 Hi {!firstname_fix} 
It feels as if 2012 will be a time of new beginnings for a lot of us. I have been interested in learning how to do watercolor painting for many years. Eight years ago I went to our premier art show and looked at all the paintings and who the artists were. Last week I was speaking with a friend and she mentioned she was going to take a class in January with the very same person I had chosen 8 years ago as my favorite artist. I decided it was a sign, and made the commitment. I asked secret santa for some paints and *gear* but I have to wait till I am back from New England to find out if she or he liked that idea, LOL. In the meantime, I bought a child's paint set and decided to play. This is my very first painting. It is a piece of Indian corn if you are perplexed.I am sharing this as a way to tell you that we can start something creative anytime, anyway. I will keep you posted as I learn stuff. I am playing now so I don't spook myself that I don't know enough to walk into a classroom. And it is good for me since I will be starting the step one class this week. The message is if you don't know how, learn, LOL. I also learned how to do a dog foot bandage this week. I have an 8 month old pup named Mitch who decided to try out putting his foot into David's 120 pound dog's foot bowl. Not a good plan. There was much blood and I knew it meant a trip to the vet. Why dogs do these things after hours is beyond me. My house cleaner, whom I love, happened to be at the house late because she came on a different day in order to take a vacation to New York City. So I just laughed and asked her if she would clean up the blood and off I went. On the return to my local vet, we decided that it would be good to keep the foot bandaged since he is such a wild child. She showed me the art of doing it so it stays on the foot and then as an extra, how to use a used IV bag to cover it so it says dry. Gee, I seem be learning lots of new skills. You may wonder why I am talking about non-food things (smile). Mostly because I know you will here those tips from hundreds and hundreds of loving, skilled people who hang here. And anyway, I figure you like knowing what my other life is like. And I know that many of you always look forward to the New Year's Law of Threes (smile)...and I didn't put it in the newsletter, but if you want to read it, you can click here to find it. These classes will begin Wednesday, January 4, 2012. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page: Radiant 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. I will be team teaching this class with Terri so you get to know me. This helps prepare you for the fact that I tend to write in short sentences and sometimes people think that means I am *curt* Radiant Napping (2 weeks) - I am starting this class tomorrow if you want to jump in. I will be sharing new information that I found in preparation for my new book. Radiant Step 2: Skilled (2 weeks) - is the second 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. Getting to Radiant Ranch (8 weeks) - is an ongoing 8-week class to provide skills, motivation and support in getting to Radiant Ranch. This class is especially geared to folks who are feeling that Ranch is too expensive for them and are baffled about how to find a way to do it. This is creative problem solving. This class will be team taught by a number of us who are very skilled at finding creative ways to make your dreams come true. This class will begin Friday, January 13, 2012. Please note a change in the usual start time since I will be in New England with Secret Santa until the 11th. Please click on the name of the class and it will take you to the registration page: First Steps in Losing Weight (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. 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 ** What you thought would kill you can heal you. All the tenacity of your addiction can be in service to your recovery. And life will never be the same. **********************************************************************
** Testimonial of the Week ** Hi John, I look forward to the newsletter every week. First, because Kathleen's weekly article is interesting and I want to read it a few days before Wednesday night chat to do a little reflection on the topic. I always check out which courses are being offered, sometimes just for curiosity, sometimes because I'm waiting for certain ones to be offered. I like reading the other articles, too. I'm on a number of step lists and the forum, but I do more reading than chatting. The step lists help me pay attention to the various step "value added" details for my program, and I pick up ideas here and there, depending on what threads catch my attention. Things I love the most: I love Wednesday night chat the most - especially with the added transcripts of both US and Euro chats. I love that Kathleen responds in the lists when it's important to do so. I love how well the step lists keep on topic. The whole website is well-managed, and "monitored" to keep it safe and inviting. I'm sure there are a number of other things that would come to mind if I thought about it a bit longer. Warmly, Lisa in NH **********************************************************************
** Radiant Ambassadors ** 
What sorts of things would you like to read about in the Ambassadors section?How to talk about Radiant Recovery? What resources are available on the Ambassadors list? Who we have contacted and any successes? Or something else? Write to me and let me know! Selena selenas@blueyonder.co.uk Come join us if you are excited about spreading the news. **********************************************************************
** How I Found Radiant Recovery ** Hi! I'm Loraine from Illinois and found Kathleen's book many years ago when I was battling very bad depression. I got up to Step 3, had trouble with Step 4 and skipped to Steps 5 and 7, then wondered why I was having a hard time. I've recently started all over again and am working on mastering Step 1 and will follow ALL the steps IN ORDER this time. I'm looking forward to learning what resources are available to me to help me with my journey. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Recovery® Store ** David manages the Radiant Recovery® Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son. I am back from a wonderful week with my family in Boston. I took my daughter, Madison, and we visited Dad and his wife, my brother and sister, my old friend from Junior High who I rediscovered on Facebook, and a number of other wonderful friends. I am all filled up and ready to rock with you in the store. 
If you are just getting started, make sure to get a starter kit for the new year. This would be SHAKE, a mixer bottle, a journal and any of the books. You can add in some great flavors...really, just come poke around the store for your *gear*. I would love to help you in any way I can.
Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better. **********************************************************************
** Radiant Kitchen ** Here's a re-post of a recipe posted by Emily on this list a while back, it is the recipe I use for pancakes and my family loves it. I usually make these with oat milk, I've tried with almond milk and it didn't have quite the same yummy flavor we all love. It works well for waffles too. Sometimes I'll add pumpkin puree to this recipe and it seems to want a little extra milk when I do that (sorry I never measure or I'd give amounts!) and it's really good that way too! Angela *** Hello there, As most of you know, I’m often trying new recipes and tweaking and playing. Rarely, do I hit on a just right recipe. However, I think I may have the perfect pancake recipe. Now, pancakes I find pretty forgiving in general and I’ve never had leftovers, but these are really good. The kids like them, DH likes them, even my highly SS in-laws like them. FIL asked for the recipe and asked me all about brown rice and oat flours! It seems universally accepted that these are my best pancakes ever. (adapted from a recipe on Gingerlemongirl. com with permission to post) Dry Ingredients: ¾ C brown rice flour ¾ C oat flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt Wet Ingredients: 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg 1 C milk (regular or non-dairy) 1 T canola oil Whisk the dry ingredients together and make a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until thoroughly mixed. I find that it helps if the batter sits for a few minutes before I start cooking. I love these with just butter on top. Laura loves sliced bananas and Alex loves strawberries. Enjoy! Emily For more great program-friendly recipes, check out our cookbook in the store and visit our online Radiant Recipes site. **********************************************************************
** Radiant YLD ** Well, of course this is the time of year when all those New Year's Resolutions pop right up. It is nice that many of us are feeling the pull to get on it too (smile). Make sure to read the chat from this past week. We were talking about our readiness. And when I am back from New England, we will be starting a YLD book study right in chat. Each week, we will do a section from the book. I think we are all really, really excited to do this. So if you are not a member, this is a great time to join. If you would like to join, come find us here **********************************************************************
** Radiant Conversations ** We have a new portal for the Conversations program. Come check it out here. Conversations is the place where we share ideas with one another. We don't usually talk about food in these discussions. We talk creativity, joy, laughter, transformation, fun, integrity, abundance, joy dots, holographic reality, calling the clowns, LOL...some of those we haven't done yet, but they are on the docket for 2012. Now, if you haven't started the program yet, Radiant Conversations might irk you. You might think we are not being serious enough and we need to get to work. The reality is that conversations is the hub of play, the great healer. If you want to know what drives our healing, come join us. If you would like to join us, you can do that below. Join YLD Weight Loss Now: click here - $99 Join Conversations 2011 Now: click here - $99 Join Both YLD and Conversations Now: click here - $149 Current YLD members wish to Upgrade to Both, click here - $49 Current YLD members who wish to Transfer to Conversations 2011 Only can do so for a $14.99 admin fee: click here If you are not a member, come and join us if you want to be a part of the latest and greatest or just have some plain ol' fun! **********************************************************************
** Our Online Groups ** On the Fitness list 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 just had a great thread on the necessity of sports drinks and how doing the food is better. 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. **********************************************************************
**Starting With a New Mindset ** Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
I thought I would share with you some reflections I have been musing on these past few days. I have wondered what it is that makes the difference between the folks who simply settle into the program and those who struggle so much. I remembered the idea of sincerity - an attitude of coming to a task with commitment and an open heart. I think sincerity is similar to what I have called beginner's mind in the past. Without it, we have to struggle until it hurts so much that we have no choice but to capitulate. In addiction parlance we call this hitting bottom. All that time, all that struggle wastes so much time, so much energy and throws off such sparks of negativity. I have mulled and mulled on this. Why do we do this to ourselves? And yes I know that addiction is about continued use despite adverse consequence. I know all that, but I have always felt as if there is something more. This week, I was out to dinner with a very dear member of my family. She is working through some hard changes. The life she had and thought would continue to her death is no longer there. What she planned cannot be. So she was talking about having to do the "whatever" - just stuff her feelings and make do. I said, "You have lots of choices, it does not have to be this way," and she was totally adamant that her life is over, the path is irrevocable and she has to be miserable. I was paying very close attention, and what stuck me most was the energy - the energy of being stuck, staying in pain and being unwilling to even try to see things in a different light. And I think many of you get caught in this same trap. It is more hidden, or more couched in "I can't" rather than "I won't" but the energy is the same. We have come to see that this is really addiction to misery. This is the I am so miserable but I cannot manage breakfast energy. I am hopeless, I never get it right, I don't have the money, I don't have the time, my husband does not support me, my mother makes fun of me, I have to exercise first, I don't like shake and I can't eat eggs energy. The question becomes something very different with a different filter. What is it you get from being miserable? Now that one is big. Choosing to make different choices, choosing to suit up and listen and follow instructions is what grown up people do. As I followed this train of thought, I realized why it is that our program is so different. We don't tell you what to eat when by giving you a sheet with allowable foods on it. We invite you to learn what we have learned, to ask questions, to make the program your own. We are treating you like a grownup, inviting you to be an equal participant. This can be disorienting and disconcerting. Or it can be liberating and exciting. Something is different here. Underneath the steps is a plan to guide you into a mature relationship with your body and your recovery. When I speak of what else is embedded in the steps, I am referring to the "code" I put into the process. Step One - listen to directions. Take time. Master the foundation. Learn numbers, explore what is right for you. Create a routine, plan, ask for your needs, make a priority. These are all the things that we can not do in our addiction. If you want to learn recovery skills, simply follow the steps one at a time. They are designed to teach you all this stuff. You don't even have to think about the code, you just do the step. So, for the new year, I would ask that you rethink your program. What is it you want? If you want what we have, the only thing you have to do is do what we do. The level of experience and expertise in this community is beyond anything I imagined. The folks in recovery are here at your service. Ask for help, listen carefully and follow instructions. 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. ©2011 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/ |
