Greetings! 

 

You have decided to take some pretty big steps towards improving your relationship with your physical self. There is so much more to you than how you look, and yet, for several reasons (many of which you have little control over) it can be hard to feel valuable, worthwhile, or sometimes even just OK unless we believe our outsides look a certain way.

 

Choosing to participate in this group program will help you examine the relationship you have with how you look. You will have the opportunity to improve the way that you feel inside the body that you have. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing things to change the way that you look. There is nothing inherently wrong with gaining or losing weight. It is quite likely that your body will shift in this process (not counting the fact that body weight fluctuates 5-6 lbs throughout the day, anyway). Regardless of the size you wear in any given year (which also varies store-to-store), you can feel comfortable with who you are and how you show up in your life. You may already be well on your way towards that. And now you will have a small community to help you keep progressing.

 

As you get to know your fellow group members, you will find that though each of us shows up in a different body size/shape/color/age, we all have very similar insecurities, concerns, and fears. The work you do in your own time, using the activities provided each week will provide you with insights, new perspectives and in some cases, difficult-to-look-at opportunities to change the difficult thoughts and feelings that have plagued you.

Take time with the readings you receive each Thursday. Some may give a very specific call-to-action, whether an exercise, an activity or an experiment to try. Other weeks, the reading may be a jumping off point for journaling, meditating, or discussing with someone you trust prior to our group meeting. When we come together each Sunday, we’ll talk about what we discovered, what we are wondering about, and what we hope for ourselves and each other.

 

Our Sunday meetings will also, and even more importantly, be a place to explore how we relate to one another. The feedback we give and receive in these group relationships will give us invaluable information on how to improve our relationship with ourselves.

 

Each week, you’ll hear the following, to remind us of the confidentiality agreement in the group and the safety we are there to create for each other: 

 

As we show up for ourselves and each other today, we re-commit to keeping what we hear amongst ourselves. We will listen respectfully and without judgement, and we will expect our fellow group members to welcome us respectfully and openly, as well. We are here because we believe, even if faintly at times, that we are worth much much more than our external appearance. We are getting closer and closer to accepting the physical packages we are currently in, so that we can live more fully and presently.

 

Thank you in advance for showing up. Your contribution is more beneficial than you realize.

 

~Kathryn

Humans are social animals, and mental problems involve not being able to get along with other people, not fitting in, not belonging, and in general not being able to get on the same wavelength.

~Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score