Healing comes in many forms

It's late and technically I should be in bed already -but felt the need to write about the day.

It was a full day - it started with nutrition classes and ended with the Supermarket Scavenger Hunt. As luck would have it - I ended up on a great team and we won! Thankfully two of members have attended all lectures and did the supermarket sleuth tour already. Each team were handed a series of riddles and we had to unravel the clue and then find the correct item. We were given one clue at a time and it was a race to the finish. Once out selection was confirmed correct we were given our next clue. We did this during shopping hours - and were told that we needed to be considerate of the shoppers. Ultimately we're a competitive bunch - and as we were racing to locate our final clue, I found myself stuck behind a slow moving member of the opposing team and a shopper. For a brief second I contemplated bulldozing my way between them - but had a quick vision of being escorted out and opted to walk down the aisle and cut across the center instead. :-)

I had my second self defense class today - and did much better than last week. I think it helped that I went to chair karate as well last week as it helped me to get a better feel of the moves. We also had NIA today -it's amazing, each class is different and a lot of fun.

I am finding that I gravitate to the classes that have an element of healing in them. Gyrokinesis and NIA both were founded by people that used movement as a means to heal. I enjoy the self defense classes as it too promotes wellness as well a means to defend and protect ourselves. Both NIA and the self defense classes also incorporate vocalizations - I am finding that there is something powerful about yelling KIA or NO or YES.

Tonight I watched a film with a friend "Finding Angela Shelton" - http://www.findingangelashelton.com it's about a woman who goes across the US and meets women with the same name. A journey which unveils some fascinating statistics and highlights how many women are affected by abuse. It stirred up some memories for both of us - and provided us with an opportunity to share and develop some understanding of ourselves.

I realised shortly before coming to Structure House -that when things get tough for me I turn to work as a means of escape from what ever it is that I am avoiding. I am realising that over the years that every time I have a crisis of sorts in my personal life - I sought solace at work. Work is a constant - it's always there and there is always something that needed to be done. It is easy to focus on the "stuff" at work - and could always justify it taking precedent over everything else.

Although I felt that I had some sense of control at work, I am realising that I had allowed my life to get out of control, was continuously choosing to eat unhealthy food and doing very little for myself. I think I had given up and was secretly waiting for something to happen - I'm not exactly sure as to what I was hoping for - and am very thankful that I woke up and took action before anything serious had manifested.

This break is giving me an opportunity to institute positive changes in my life. There are some people here that have lost a lot of weight, some have been here for 6 months, some return annually, for others it was 5 years ago. All have different yet similar stories, sometimes I wonder what my story will look like five or even ten years from now - and while I have a vision of what I would like it to be, it is more important that I focus on today, living in the moment and cherishing each positive thing that I do for myself creates a pathway for me to be more fully engaged in life and the world at large.

I'm learning that healing comes in many ways by letting go of the "stuff" that I have carried for years I am discovering new ways to heal and grow. It's an exciting time of my life, one that I am truly thankful for.

Thanks for listening (reading) and your continued support, I really appreciate it!

Lots of love,

Norma