Sofia Bothwell

 There once was a young man who went to the spiritual Master asking the Master for help with his anger.  ''Where is your anger?'' Asked the Master. ''Show it to me.'' ''I can't show you my anger now. I don't feel angry now,'' replied the young man. This highlights the transient nature of emotion, as does the Buddhist saying ''Feelings are like clouds in the sky - they pass.'' I thought my own interest in Eastern Spirituality was separate from my work (both on myself and with others) around eating disorder recovery and emotional healing, but lately I've been considering that anyone who starts to heal emotionally, tap into their intuition and heal their addictions also invariably end up on the ''spiritual path'' for the want of a better phrase. Over the years as my interest in Eastern philosophy / spirituality increased, I realised there are some Western, genuine ''gurus'' doing mu...

 I have to say the old timers in positive thinking are the masters. My first introduction into positive thinking (I was raised by a very negative thinking father) was through the books of Norman Vincent Peale and Catherine Ponder among others.  Yes, they talked of God, and yes, I often replaced the word ''God'' with the word ''Love'' for that was my God. But, what they did, was teach me of the power of my thinking mind. To reverse it from negative to positive and thus reap the positive benefits in my life.  I was a young woman woman living in a rented room in London. My family (who were wealthy) were of no financial help whatsoever; nor were they of any emotional help, but that is another story (see my biography My Life My Way) My Life My Way So why now in these interesting times am I yet again drawn to talk about these great teachers?  Well, they lived in times, dare I say it, even more difficult than these. They spoke to people who had suffered and we...

 If we think of being overweight as being simply a food issue we are just ineffectively scratching the surface of the problem. Once we realise that ''eating when full'' is the cause of our excess weight, and then, in turn, realise that ''eating when full'' is what we do to suppress our emotional issues, we are really getting somewhere. We are getting to the truth of the matter!  The truth of the matter being, that unresolved emotional issues are really the leftovers of instances of abuse in our lives. That unresolved issue of fear, anger or boredom. That unresolved issue around your teacher, dad, priest or mother. This is why so many people are overweight and stay overweight all their lives. They simply do not want to ''go there.'' And because the facilities for ''going there'' are often expensive therapies, even ridiculed, little known therapies that are not mainstream yet, venturing into the unknown seems just too much t...

 The still small voice that is within each and everyone of us is also known as our intuition, our sixth sense, our gut instinct. That sense,  that something is intrinsically right or terribly wrong can be a delightful and powerful guiding light in our lives if we let it. People know when they follow their gut and things work out well. People have also experienced not following that whisper and things not going so good. So each and every one of us has had experiences of this, little spoken about, phenomenon. When I teach people the principles of healing their problems around food and excess weight, one of the first things I give them is the  ''Am I Hungry?'' download / handout sheet. A simple process whereby you ask yourself every time you think about food or eating - Am I Hungry?  Thus you are enabling yourself to become more familiar with your hunger and fullness sensations, and knowing when you are going for food when full. Once aware that you are in fact physicall...

In the arena of losing excess weight we have to acknowledge one thing - We are trying to make ourselves less. Less big. Now, how on earth could that be important, it is simply obvious, and certainly not worth any consideration. It is just a fact you want to be slimmer - end of! Or is it? In my own story of weight loss, delving into my subconscious to ascertain how and why I got overweight and had crazy eating habits, I discovered several things. One: There was a lot more to this ''losing a few pounds'' than first meets the eye. I had to look deeper into my subconscious motives. I discovered ''being big'' meant something. I had no way of ''being big'' in terms of being appreciated, supported or nurtured in the world I was growing up in. Being big meant being seen and I certainly was not seen. My parents hardly ever looked at me unless it was to scold me over some (often) meaningless issue, like ''Eat your peas.'' Two: Bein...

 Self-pity breeds jealousy, spitefulness, and an attitude of ''you owe me''. Maybe you know people in your life that are ''takers'' - well that also comes from their self-pity.  When one feels self-pity, it is because one feels deprived of something. What do you feel deprived of? The feelings of deprivation often are linked to food for compulsive eaters. The forced restriction of their favourite food is, straight away, a 'being deprived'  if I want to be slim.  With Healing the Eating Habit, we do not deprive ourselves of anything, in fact the opposite is true, for an attitude of allowing oneself your favourite foods, as long as you are genuinely physically hungry and it is that specific food you fancy, then go ahead and eat until satisfied. Satisfaction is of the utmost importance in truly healing an eating disorder. So reassuring yourself that you are no longer going to deprive yourself - When you are hungry, you can eat. And you can eat your f...

We live our lives under the influence of many, many things. From the TV, that is maybe on in your house from dusk till dawn, to the music you hear played in the supermarket as you do your weekly shopping. We think of these things as just background noise or entertainment, but really they effect our lives in so many ways, to the extent that I believe you would have a different life if you were not under the influence of these things. Quiet time is important, and freedom from the pressures you consider yourself to be under is also important. That is why I recommend breathwork as a skill that everyone should know about and experience. Simply deepening the breath and connecting the breath, opens the way for emotional resolving in a very rapid and holistic way. It provides peace and calm, and clarity as to how to move forward in your life no matter what. Start with an affirmation ''Every day in every way things are getting better and better for me now.'' Use this daily for t...