feeling discouraged?

Try mEDITATING ON AN ORANGE

An Encouraging Word, Vol. 3

an occasional note from Jean Fain

 Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

 Published April 23, 2006

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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When clients need encouragement, I often suggest favorite writings and recordings on mindful eating.  One particular client, who was feeling discouraged by an upcoming  class reunion where she’d be surrounded by thin and beautiful people, found inspiration and perspective in the encouraging words of the Vietnamese monk and meditation master, Thich Nhat Hanh.  

In becoming more mindful of her internal cues for hunger and satiety, she’d been reveling in the freedom of eating sans counting (calories, points, carbs…), but soon after RSVPing to count her in for the big event, she got hijacked by her old dieting mentality.  “Maybe I should lose a few pounds,” she caught herself thinking. Despite a healthy weight and a clear understanding of what she was experiencing – fear and loathing of America’s anorectic beauty standards -- she was reflexively singing that impossible refrain of our national dieter’s anthem: “Starting Monday. I’ll be good starting Monday.”

The venerable monk’s refreshing “Orange Meditation,” a classic mindful eating meditation, brought her back to her senses:

“There are some people who eat an orange but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united. When you practice mindful breathing, you become truly present. If you are here, life is also here. The orange is the ambassador of life. When you look at the orange, you discover that it is nothing less than fruit growing, turning yellow, becoming orange, the acid becoming sugar. The orange tree took time to create this masterpiece. When you are truly here, contemplating the orange, breathing and smiling, the orange becomes a miracle. It is enough to bring you a lot of happiness. You peel the orange, smell it, take a section, and put it in your mouth mindfully, fully aware of the juice on your tongue. This is eating an orange in mindfulness. It makes the miracle of life possible. It makes joy possible.”

Veteran dieters, like this particular client, find mindfulness meditation so powerful because it rescues them from the pain of future dreads and past regrets and grounds them in the present reality.  Also, guided meditations like Hanh’s help clients replace harsh, self-critical, habitual ways of thinking with warmer, more encouraging and helpful thoughts.

For additional encouragement, consider attending the following events:

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Save the date!

Introduction to Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training with Jean Fain

May 11, 7:30-9 p.m. Temple Kerem Shalom, 659 Elm St., Concord, MA.  All welcome.

This free introductory workshop is a preview of an exciting, sane approach to a variety of eating issues, from compulsive overeating to yo-yo dieting. For more information, call (978) 369-1223.

For those who can’t make it, the lecture, including a powerful guided meditation, is now available on audio CD. www.jeanfain.com/cd_purchase.htm

Meditation in Psychotherapy

June 9-10, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Boston Park Plaza Hotel, 64 Arlington Street, Boston, MA.

A conference for healthcare professionals sponsored by Harvard Medical School. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Herb Benson, among other influential thinkers will discuss how the principles and practices of meditation can enhance psychotherapy. I’ll be closing the conference with a mindful eating meditation as part of a panel titled “Using Meditation in the Treatment of….”  For more info, call (617) 384-8600 or go to:

http://cme.hms.harvard.edu/index.asp?SECTION=CLASSES&ID=00262525&SO=N

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On a different, but related note….

Mike Prager, a journalist pal of mine, is co-writing a book on what helps people get a handle on their eating issues.  A recovering food addict who’s maintained a healthy weight for 15 years with the help of a 12-step program, he and his coauthors are conducting a survey on the different approaches to resolving food-related problems. He asked that I spread the word. If you want to participate in the survey, here’s the link: http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB224ZPJB64R6

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In addition to seeing clients in private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. More information about Jean Fain’s services and weight-loss CDs is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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(Click the Newsletter link below to read other volumes of "An Encouraging Word.")

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