Sentence Stems
Posted: August 21, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA, Iwannabeaskinnybitch | Tags: 12 Weeks, 12 weeks to self healing, 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: The Gift of Pain, alcohol, Candess, Candess Campbell, candesscampbell.com, choices, client, consuming, feelings, food, journaling, muscle, relationship, self, Self-aware, sentence, sentence stems, stems, stress 3 Comments“A sad feeling can last a few minutes, and then you return to joy once you feel the pure feeling and let it go. Much as you would flex a muscle and let it go, you can feel the feeling and just let it go.”
– Candess M. Campbell – 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Transforming Pain through Energy Medicine
I sat with a client recently who’s working on developing a practice of journaling in order to deepen her relationship with herself. She laughs when she is saying something painful and tends to be disconnected from her feelings. She seems to be incongruent. I’ve given her some sentence stems to use. Sentence stems are beginnings of sentences to use to begin a free-writing session. I create these sentence stems specific to the issues that have been buried. This particular client uses alcohol, shopping, and staying busy as a way of not getting connected to herself; not becoming self-aware.
I’ve journaled over 30 years of my life and it has been an incredible experience of growth, insight, creativity and humor. You would be surprised at what surfaces in a 20-minute timed writing.
In the process of working with a Sentence Stem, you set the timer for 20 minutes, or 10 if 20 seems to long to start with. You use a fast writing pen and keep writing. Whatever comes to your mind you write, even if you have several lines of “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what to say.” Generally, you will start by being chatty, then go into resistance, “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t like this,” and then you deepen into the underlying issue. You may notice that you touch on something and then change to writing your grocery list, but at least you know where to return to access the underlying issue or feelings.
Often when we overeat or over drink, or eat at the wrong time, we are covering up feelings. If not feelings directly, we may be over-consuming to manage the stress from all the activity we do to bury the feelings.
In my book 12 Weeks to Self-Healing: Transforming Pain through Energy Medicine, I write a whole chapter entitled Feel your Feelings.
Today, before you make a choice to eat or drink something you know is not healthy, give yourself 20 minutes to journal first. Notice how you feel afterwards and see if it changes your need for the food or drink.
Here are a few sentence stems to start with.
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If I listened to my body, I would . . .
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What I desire most in my life is . . .
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If I were fit/healthy, I would . . .
Comment below and let me know how you did!
Iwannabeaskinnybitch!
Training Day!
Posted: August 10, 2014 Filed under: Energy Medicine DNA | Tags: athletic trainer, bench press, bitch, Candess, Candess Campbell, Chris Leavitt, gym, Health, iwannabeaskinnybitch, juice, massage, Meetup.com, Million Dollar Listing, muscle, nutritionist, plank, Self-Healing, skinny, Spa, spirituality, wannabe, weight, weight gain, weight lifting 2 CommentsDay Ten (This was Friday)
Okay, I confess. When my bookkeeper comes on Friday morning, the day I don’t see clients, while having my morning coffee I like to catch up on recorded TV shows. This morning before going to work out with my trainer Luke, I caught up on Million Dollar Listing: Miami. When I was watching Chris Leavitt’s open house I got an idea. The wife of the owner of the building was a nutritionist so he served the best juice he could find instead of the usual cocktails. He had yoga instructors teaching and demonstrating yoga on the terrace. The focus was on how to relax when you are stressed. He even had a woman who calculated the antioxidants in their systems.
Well Chris is the quintessential health nut. He spends a lot of time and money to take care of himself from what he eats to what he wears. He has luxurious spa days and . . .
What I realized is I would be a lot more careful about what I put in my body and have a much better attitude about my body if I spent less time in my head and working and thinking and more time having spa days. I can see it now. I have just had a massage and I am laying in a warm towel with a good book and the attendant brings me a pure, fresh water with lemon. I could get used to this.
Okay, but now I am off to the gym. Hope there are not planks today, but if there are, I am closing my eyes and going to the spa!
Friday Afternoon
Second day of training proves to be great! I am learning so much. Not only am I becoming aware of my body, but also how it is I don’t support my health. For those who already know me, I am a compulsive creative! I spend too much time in my head!
Luke, bless his heart adjusted the incline of the bench when I did my weights this time. It made it easier for me to sit straight up after my set. This is until I build up my back strength. But while lifting the weights, rather than focusing on my chest, I am creating a workshop in my head for my Meetup.com group, Spirituality & Self-Healing. This is where Luke would demonstrate some weight training exercises and offer a package deal where he will go to the home of his customer and train them! I caught myself and was able to get back into directing my mind to muscle.
candesscampbell 