Healthy Weight Sadhana – Days 20 & 21 – Forgiving

Today’s post is long but oh so important and I ask you to PLEASE read it in its entirety.

I’m part of a Spiritualist church and am studying to become a certified medium, healer and minister. The course will take a long time to complete but it is a path that came to me more than I came to it and it feels right.

What else feels right for me right now is forgiving people. While I was taking a workshop to become a designated healer in my church the minister leading the class started talking about anger and forgiveness. He said that without letting go and forgiving we would not be able to fully harness the gifts we were developing as healers and mediums. This was not the first time in recent weeks that I had gotten that same message in a round about way from other people, none of whom knew that I harbored strong feelings of anger towards others.

What does forgiveness have to do with achieving a healthy weight you ask? Well actually it has much to do with it.

When we hold a grudge against someone or a situation that occurred in our life anger tends to tag along. Anger and weight loss don’t mix. Women and teenagers tend to gain weight easier when they hold onto anger as those who fall into those two categories tend to suppress their anger which leads to weight gain. Many women turn to comfort food to deal with anger. And what types of food often fall into the comfort food category? Foods that are high in sugar, salt, and fat. Foods like ice cream, fried foods, junk foods, convenience foods. This all leads to more weight gain.

Men, you’re not out of the woods either if you hold onto anger. At rodale.com I found the following:

“Men who score high on tests of hostility are more likely to gain weight, according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. And as time goes on, the connection between anger and weight gain seems to grow stronger. Women also tend to weigh more if they test high for anger, but the phenomenon doesn’t worsen with time the way it does for men.

THE DETAILS: European researchers used data from a British study that tracked the health and behavior of thousands of civil servants over the course of 19 years. A survey determined their anger level at the beginning of the study, and follow-up doctor visits measured their changes in BMI (body mass index, a measure of obesity). There was a clear trend for everyone to gain weight as they aged, which comes as no surprise. The data also showed that, for both men and women, people who’d scored highest for anger tended to weigh the most. Among men, this effect seemed to increase over time, so that by the end of the study it was the angriest men who’d gained the most weight.

WHAT IT MEANS: The relationship between hostility and weight gain could be due to several factors: Anger could make you less likely to exercise, eat a healthy diet, or do other things that keep you healthy. It’s also possible that anger leads to conflict, causing stress in your life and making depression more likely. Whatever the reason, this study implies that getting anger under control is important for staying healthy, especially for men. Anger has also been linked to an increased risk for hypertension, heart disease, and other life-threatening ailments.”

So what do we do? Let’s look at ways to combat anger that pops up in our everyday life first:

• When a situation arises that leads to anger, take a few long deep breaths. Long deep breathing relaxes and calms you. Count to four or count to ten either silently or aloud and if you like add a mantra to your long deep breaths, one that can also be said either silently or aloud. You could add the mantra, “Relax.” or “I am calm.”, it could be anything that works for you.
• If you have a long day at work and feel bombarded when you get home take fifteen minutes for yourself as soon as you walk into the door. Get into some comfortable clothing, wash your face with some cool water, take a few of those long deep breaths and then greet your time at home in a more comfortable and calm state having let go of your day at work.

Now let’s look at the ways we can deal with anger that has become chronic. I suffer from this.

• Let’s start with a powerful meditation for forgiveness:

The Forgiveness Meditation

Note that while practicing this meditation you can choose to focus on one or more individuals.

Remember before practicing any Kundalini meditation to Tune In by sitting in Easy Pose (cross-legged) bringing your hands into Prayer Mudra (palms pressed together at the sternum, fingers pointing upwards), close your eyes and roll them up to the Third Eye Point (the area between your brows at the root of your nose) and chant three times ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO.

Part 1

Sit with spine straight in a chair or cross-legged.  Rest hands on the knees.  Repeat in silence:

Practice for 3 minutes.

To end, inhale and hold breath for a few seconds.  Exhale and relax.

Remain in the same posture.  Mentally repeat:

Practice for 3 minutes.

To end, inhale and hold breath for a few seconds.  Exhale and relax.

Lie on your back.  Mentally repeat:

(Note that God here does not refer to any particular deity but to the universal energy that G.enerates, O.rganizes and D.elivers or D.estroys)

Practice for 5 minutes.

To end, inhale and hold breath for a few seconds.  Exhale and relax.

The power of forgiveness transcends time and space and allows us to move forward with ease and confidence.  As we forgive ourselves, forgive others and receive forgiveness, our hearts open to the light and love within.

To finish, come back into Easy Pose and bring your hands back into Prayer Mudra with your eyes rolled up to your Third Eye Point and chant twice, SAT NAM.