It’s been a little over 3 months since I started a recovery group with an amazing group of women who read my blog. The women are located all over the United States, with some in far flung countries overseas. My experience with these women has been uplifting and inspiring – they are true believers in their ability to create their recovery and their ideal lives.

Underneath An Eating Disorder
Who they are underneath an eating disorder is exceptional, talented, beautiful women. Sometimes, we build layers of fear, shame and doubt around ourselves so that we can no longer see the unique people we are underneath. Peeling away the layers allows that uniqueness to shine. To witness the uniqueness of an individual – what makes them different and special – is a healing experience for all.

Another Inspiration – Christine Kane
At the 3-month mark, we were joined by Christine Kane, who came to speak to us about her own recovery and her journey to creating a beautiful life. This all came about in an interesting way. First of all, most of us in the group had been reading and enjoying Christine’s blog. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it – it’s well written, insightful and uplifting. In addition, many of us had been enjoying Christine’s music and loving the energy it created within us.

Law of Attraction
One day, after e-mailing Christine and also getting a link to her music from one of my group members, I decided to ask her to come and speak to us — knowing how much she had inspired our group already. She generously agreed – and when I told the group, one of the women said that she had always envisioned all of us at one of Christine’s retreats. Well, of course we all loved that idea! The best thing about that was knowing that law of attraction was at work in bringing Christine to our group. Several members had focused on something and we manifested it, which is exactly what we are working on in the group!

Our Call With Christine
I may not have mentioned that our group meets by phone – across many time zones. Some of us have shared pictures and all of us have shared what’s inside our hearts – bringing a quality of closeness that one could hardly expect from a group meeting by phone. After having 3 months to bond, it’s hard to know what it will be like having a guest speaker join us for the first time. Well, Christine joined us like a long lost friend. After her first few words, she magically entered the group as if she’d been with us since the beginning. I believe this is a special talent of hers.

Recovery Story
Christine shared her story of recovery with us – it was more on the non-traditional side, like mine. Having tried therapy, she decided there were better ways for her own recovery and went the route of acupuncture, body work, life coaching and working with her own thoughts. She described her recovery as not overnight, but a step-by-step journey where she walked into a place of strength. Her message was for us to develop an awareness of our own voice, power and strength.

She also mentioned that Bach flower essences as being very helpful, in a gentle subtle way. I had heard from another reader in the past that Bach remedies were helpful in recovery and as a long-time fan of Bach’s Rescue Remedy for stress, I went out and got two Back flower essences to try myself. I’ll let you know how it goes!

One of the most vivid stories she shared was having a friend make dinner for her that she enjoyed so much that it made her cry. How often in our lives have we actually enjoyed our food, felt nourished by it and the subsequent self-love that comes with nourishment? In her description of this, I could feel how moved we all were and how we could totally connect with the emotion that comes with such a breakthrough. When eating is filled with fear and rules, it’s quite a breakthrough to feel the other side – freedom, enjoyment, absence of fear.

The Catalyst
The catalyst for recovery that Christine shared was first, her awareness of having a problem with bulimia. It seemed like the awareness allowed her to start linking together experiences that led to her recovery. The second and very profound catalyst she shared was reading the book, If You Want To Write, by Brenda Ueland. This book brought insight into the importance of being creative – she knew she wanted to be a writer.

The rest of what Christine shared with us was a deeply heartfelt message of how to find your own path – and that the path isn’t always straight – and we don’t always know where to go next. What is clear is that Christine tapped into her courage so that she could continue to grow and in her growth, inspire those around her.

Bulimic Thoughts
Sharing her concept of bulimic thoughts, Christine tapped into the “all or nothing” thinking that happens so often in eating disorders. All of us could relate to having those thoughts. For me, it was feeling like every little thing that happened was THE definition of my life – so if it was a good thing, I was good. And five minutes later, if it was a bad thing, I was doomed to be bad forever. Every event linked to forever in my mind. I lost the sense of my power and the vast amount of time I had to live my life, make new choices. It’s definitely helpful when you realize that this is a pattern – a habit – and it can be changed.

Working with and changing these thoughts is something that we love about Christine and what she shares so well in her blog. She also shared talking to her thoughts – telling them that she saw them, knew they were there – and that their days were numbered. This is a great technique and funny, in ways, is related to the setup in the Emotional Freedom Technique, where you first acknowledge your thoughts and tell yourself that you love and accept yourself anyway – and then move on to tap out the negative thoughts and tap in the positive. Byron Katie also has a great technique for working with our thoughts. What Christine shared with us showed me that when we want something enough, inner wisdom starts to work in our lives – and she definitely tapped into it.

Thank You, Inspiring Women!
I am always amazed and grateful for the incredible, powerful people that I am blessed to come across. The women in my group are inspiring and the more they realize that, the more they heal. And we are all grateful when an inspiring woman like Christine shares her presence with us. We were transported into her life while she spoke – walking with her – feeling her transformation and connecting with her in spirit.

A woman with this much presence over the phone is sure to be powerful in person! I am setting an intention to meet Christine in person someday soon. To see her perform, to attend a retreat, whatever the reason may be. In the meantime, I signed up for her newsletter so I can find out when she’s going to be in my area. You can sign up by clicking here. If you get a chance to see her in person, you will be so glad you did!

After The Call
I got a lot of e-mails from women in the group, who just loved what Christine shared with us. Many had already bought her CDs and were talking about how uplifting they are – going for runs, listening in the car or at home. We know that the energy Christine puts into her music is the kind of energy we want to see more of in the world.

For more on Christine, visit her website, take a tour of her blog, checkout her music – and if you are looking for a great retreat, sign up for her newsletter so you can find out what she’s doing next. Christine, we are blessed that you are making your own special mark in the world!

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