A Diet For Your Soul

Through a string of Twitter synchronicities, I stumbled upon a group of bloggers who are book blogging* through Martha Beck’s The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life.
Being that this is one of my all time favorite books, I couldn’t resist jumping in.

In the introduction, Martha writes:

“If you’re looking for ways to shed that potbelly or firm your buttocks, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere. As far as I’m concerned, your belly and buttocks are absolutely magnificent right now, not that I want you to send me photographs. This book contains instructions for a different kind of ‘diet,’ one designed not for the body but for the soul.”

While Martha is one of my mentors, and smarter than I’ll ever pretend to be, I have to respectfully disagree with one of her statements.  (Not that you aren’t magnificent.  Of course you are!  And, no, I don’t want pictures either.)

I believe this is the exact diet you DO need if food is your drug of choice to soothe your emotions.  Not only to shed pounds, but to keep them off permanently.  Once you have learned to nourish your soul, your body will naturally follow to that lighter place of “thinner peace.”   She is right that The Joy Diet is not a traditional “eat less, move more” instruction manual, but it’s funny how this works…

The practice of embracing Joy more leads to embracing Ben & Jerry’s less.

Here’s the run-down of the chapters.  We’ll cover one chapter each week.

• Nothing
• Truth
• Desire
• Creativity
• Risk
• Treats
• Play
• Laughter
• Connection
• Feasting

“Nothing” is my new favorite past time.  “Nothing” was the subject of this recent blog post!  Click here  : )

“Nothing” is also the key to tuning into your internal wisdom and developing the skill to trust your body. Your body knows what is best for you in terms of how to go about shedding those extra pounds.  To hear what it’s saying, though, you have to be still and willing.  To some of my clients, this is a really new concept.  It was for me when I started doing this work.  Doing Nothing will get you in tune with the voice of your body and soul.

Grab a copy and read along.  Only one chapter a week.  It will definitely help lighten your mental load.  It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if you lightened your physical load too.

* Jamie Ridler, who is hosting this blog fest, says that “The concept behind book blogging is that a group of bloggers work their way through a book, sharing their experiences by posting on their own blog and by reading what other participants are sharing. You can choose to share as much or as little as you like. The process is free, self-directed and shared in community.”