Rebecca

Feb

14

I have been in rehab

Expanding / From the Heart / health Posted by Rebecca / 0 comments

Oy vey but you are a funny lot! My dear readers, you make me laugh when you write to me that you want me to “hurry up” and get to the point about how I transformed my life and, in the process, lost a ton of weight. You make me giggle because this “hurry up” notion is part of exactly what got me to feeling like shit to begin with (as revealed in my last article). And it’s not a fast-food mentality that is going to shift that “feeling like shit” pattern. So trust me, dear readers…there is a point to the time I am taking to share this process with you. If I tell you about it more quickly, then I am simply allowing you to continue at your “hurry up” pace and that’s totally self-destructive!

“It’s time to chill.”

That was the massive message I received once I fully embraced the truth of feeling like shit. I had to chill. The life I had created for myself was not one of calm and serenity but one of chaos and misery. I was a hamster in a wheel running nowhere, fast! I was a magpie flitting from one thing to another thing to another thing to another thing. I was so busy being busy, living in a mode of “reactivity” that I could not enjoy anything. Not really. I was an adrenaline junkie.

My addiction to adrenaline began in my early years with childhood trauma. I continued to use my drug of choice into high school where I was president of this, captain of that, editor of something else, and held down 2 full-time jobs each summer and one part-time job during the school year, and also pulled off top marks. When I reached university I was exhausted. My adrenal glands were fried at age 18.

But did I heed the warnings? Nope. As I crashed and burned around November of my first year at Western, my parents believed I had joined a cult or something. I was so “different” from the “me” that they thought me to be. I was morose, philosophical, and seeking answers to the meaning of life beyond the course work and drama of living in a dorm of 19-year old girls who just wanted to party. Taking a year off of University might have provided me with a new approach to life but sadly, it did not. I didn’t understand my addiction to adrenaline so I just kept seeking ways to find it.

Enter a succession of bad relationships, 70-hour work weeks, houses that were constantly in a state of disrepair, step-children, babies, poverty, sickness, car crashes, and chocolate. I sought out adrenaline wherever I could find it…and find it I did.

It took me years to figure out what the hell I was doing, to recognize the self-defeating way in which I was choosing to live my life. But it took me even longer to figure out how to stop the cycle once and for all.

With the help of a fabulous team (homeopath and Bowen therapist Donna Costa, psychologists Shapiro and Weisz, teachers Lori Wilson and Debra Tate, intuitive counselor Lisa Dennys, and coach Pat Mussieux), some incredible books (Paula Coelho, Mike Dooley, Marianne Williamson, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Neal Donald Walsch) and the support of some stellar women (especially my soul sister Marcelle), I finally stopped using adrenaline as my drug of choice. I admitted I had a problem. I felt like shit.

And I entered rehab.

Dear readers, I know you want “more” but there is it. Now take the time to ask yourselves: are you addicted to adrenaline? Do you run like a hamster in the wheel constantly moving from one thing to another? Do you ever take a breath or are you simply “too busy?” When was the last time you sat on your ass and did nothing – not because you were sick, but because you wanted to? Is your life calm and serene or chaotic and miserable? Be honest with yourself. You just may find that you, too, need to join me in rehab.

Jan

31

The truth I was unwilling to see

Body Talk / From the Heart / Weight Loss Posted by Rebecca / 0 comments

I must start by telling you that the response to my last article was pretty astounding. Many of you wrote to say that you “couldn’t wait” to hear what I had done that resulted in such a major loss of weight. Others wrote that you wanted to “see me” and asked for some photos. And still others wrote to say that you admired me for, once again, throwing back the curtain and revealing my true journey to you all.

Before I dig in, let me just say this: I tell you this story for one reason only – so that you may be inspired to set your life straight for your self, too. I believe I am here on this planet to remind women of their power, to help women recover and reclaim their power that has been lost / stolen / given away over generations of time, and also that which they have lost within this current lifetime. This series of articles is but one act in support of my life’s work.

So here we go…

You know those moments in cartoons where the character has a “light bulb moment” and they literally show the light bulb pop on over his/her head? Well, my First Day of this most recent leg of my journey began with such a moment. And the words that would have appeared in the wee speech bubble that accompanied the image of the light bulb would have been something like this: “Wow. I feel totally and completely like shit.”

Now I recognize that most “light bulb moments” are epiphanies of a seemingly grander sort but could you please, for a moment, put yourself in that place with me and recognize, as I have come to, that this really was an epiphany of massive proportion?

It was an admission of a fact that I had long avoided. It was the confession of a truth that I had buried deeply within. It was the Truth that I had been unwilling to see and now it was revealed.

There was no going back after that moment. I couldn’t “un-reveal” what I brought forth. The Truth was out. I felt like shit. Period.

And that was what happened on what I like to call my First Day in this recent transition.

I know. You expected fireworks and rocket ships. At the very least you thought there might be something steamy to discover about my process. But there you have it. A simple admission of fact is all it took.

And so I ask you, in these next weeks to come before I take you through the next step in my process, to ask yourself: “How do I really feel? How do I really, deep down, feel? Do I feel good about my life? Does my body feel healthy inside and out? Do I feel powerful and strong? Do I feel solid and secure in my self and my circumstances? And above all else, am I happy?”

Take the time to reflect. Write it down in your journal. Don’t think about what you might do to change things or even for a moment consider any “action.” Just sit with the questions and your honest replies and then we’ll move forward from there. Together.

Jan

17

THE topic I have avoided for 11 years

From the Heart / Weight Loss Posted by Rebecca / 0 comments

If there was one topic, one single topic, that I have managed to side-step, avoid, and otherwise ignore in 11 years of practice, countless articles, innumerable speeches and television appearances, and mounds of blog posts, it’s this one. However, I can avoid it no longer, my friends, since I am pretty much a walking billboard for the topic and everywhere I go you all just keep bringing it up!

It’s weight loss.

Yup. Two little words: weight loss. I think it’s time we finally talked about it. Honestly. Openly. And with respect.

Here’s the deal. I have no idea “how much” weight I have lost in the last 8 months since I don’t own a scale but I can tell you that I bought size 16 clothes in March of last year and now purchase size 8-10. (Now please do not write to me and tell me what that “equals” in pounds lost since, frankly, I don’t care.)

The only reason I even tell you this is because you are all asking me when I see you and I figured I could not avoid it any longer. I feel many of you have “suspicions” about what I “have done” to lose this weight and I am a bit tired of some of the rumours I have heard about myself so it’s time to set the record straight.

Here’s the truth about what I, Rebecca Liston, did NOT do that resulted in losing weight:

1. I did not set out to lose weight. I had no intention to do so. I don’t even own a scale. Never will. Period.

2. I did not and do not drink shakes, eat powders, or swallow any pills, manufactured juices, or supplements to lose weight. That type of thing is so completely against my idea of what is healthy and true that the very idea of it makes me crazy. Period.

3. I am not sick. I did not lose weight because I have cancer, AIDS, or any other illness or disease. I am not on drugs and I have not become an alcoholic. I am very happy and healthy. Period.

4. I am not following a diet of anyone else’s design or even remotely counting calories, fat grams, or proteins. I am not tallying “points” or binging on weekends. I don’t own a single book about weight loss and have no interest in weight loss, diets, or any of that at all. It never did, and still does not, interest me in the slightest (which is one reason why I never talk about it.) Period.

5. I did not visit a surgeon, or any other western medical clinic, to “tell me” what to do or somehow alter my body to make this happen. I don’t go in for that crap at the worst of times so why would I do that now? Period

Now you have it in black and white – all the things I did NOT do that resulted in me losing weight. So now, you ask, just what DID I do?

I’m leaving you with a cliff hanger here my friends because what I did do will take me several articles to explain in the depth that I feel you need to hear it such that you can take what I have learned and done and apply it to your own lives.

I will also tell you that in these next several articles, I will be telling you things publicly that I never thought I would say out loud. This is a deeply personal journey for me and, well, since you are all so committed to healing that you share your stories with me each and every day, it’s time that I return this honour to you.

So get ready for the tale to unfold as the months of 2013 unfold. The information I will be sharing with you will change your life…one choice at a time.