If you missed the How To Feel Good In Your Skin Teleclass from last week, or forgot to register in the first place, here’s your chance to listen in.

REPLAY TIMES:

Thursday, September 2nd at 8PM Eastern, 7PM Central, 6PM Mountain, 5PM Pacific, 1AM London, 10AM Sydney

Tuesday, September 7th at Noon Eastern, 11AM Central, 10AM Mountain, 9AM Pacific, 5PM London, 2AM Sydney.

Do you find yourself saying no to fun outings because they involve wearing a swimsuit or shorts? Do you look in the mirror and dislike what you see, or avoid the mirror as much as possible? Are you waiting to lose weight before you do what you really want?

Most women are accustomed to living with the pain and shame of body hatred. And yet, that body hatred causes a ripple effect of problems, from a general feeling of being unfulfilled to intense shame and depression.

In this 60-minute teleclass, Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. (founder of Body Love Wellness and leading authority on Health At Every Size) will share some of her top techniques for feeling good in your skin– the same ones she shares with her private coaching clients.

You’ll walk away from this call with surprisingly powerful, yet simple techniques for feeling at peace with your body.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to reconnect body and mind in a pleasurable way.
• The top mistake that women make when they’re trying to feel better about themselves.
• How to start loving parts of your body that you dislike now.
• Easy ways to heal from habits that no longer serve you.
• Powerful meditation/visualization practices that you can use anytime.

Whether feeling bad about your body is a new problem for you or you’ve been feeling that way as long as you can remember, you’ll get at least 3 BIG insights into how to heal from negative body image that you’ll be able to use immediately to feel more confident and comfortable in your body.

Note: Everyone who registers will receive a link to listen to the recording of the class, so you should still register if you can’t make it live!

Just enter your info in the boxes below, and you’ll receive the complete call details via email.

I am SO EXCITED to share this with all of you!

For a long time, I’ve only had two options for you.  You could either take advantage of the free offerings on my site, the blog, the podcast and teleclasses, or you could become my client and work with me one on one.

And while I positively love providing both of those options, I’ve been dying to offer a program that would allow my clients to connect with and support one another, all the while getting support from me.  In other words, I’ve wanted to create a group program that would be accessible to more women and would allow for all of us to build a community of like-minded women who are dedicated to empowering one another and breaking the chains of body hatred for good.

I wanted to create a group program that would support you in healing from the pain and isolation of body hatred and food issues.  I wanted to create a community of women who were really committed to supporting themselves and one another in feeling great in their bodies and moving about their lives as the radiant and empowered women that they were born to be.

For over a year, I’ve been working on creating the curriculum for a program that would give its members the tools to really love their bodies, heal from food issues, and more.  And it is finally ready!

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to The Empress Club.

The symbol of the Empress (in tarot decks and elsewhere) is usually depicted as a beautiful, powerful, plus sized woman.  She is an image representing abundance, power, Mother Earth, divine knowledge, sensuality, and much much more.

Because of this, the Empress is a fitting symbol of a group coaching program designed to support powerful plus-sized women in attaining their desires.

If you are ready to own your beauty, own your body, and own your health, then you are ready for the Empress Club.

Register here, or just keep reading…

Let me tell you a little bit about what you get as an Empress Club Member.  You will:

• Learn powerful tools to IMMEDIATELY change the way you relate to your body
• Get my unique process for healing from long held emotional eating patterns
• Get support from other women who know your struggles and will support you in moving forward
• Own your beauty like you never have before
• How to understand what cravings really mean and give your body the nutrition it needs
• Receive Health At Every Size based counseling — scientifically proven to positively influence health indicators more than diet programs
• Set healthy boundaries based upon your needs and desires
• Build your business or career by networking with other Empresses
• And so much more!

Now, you’re probably wondering how all of this works.  As in, “What exactly do I get as an Empress Club member?”  So here’s a breakdown of all that you get to participate in as an Empress Club member.

First, there are the calls.  You will get 12 food and body image group coaching sessions in a teleclass form.  Each session will be 60-90 minutes long. These classes will be in a workshop style, with a mixture of teaching and Q&A. These are calls where you’ll learn tools to support you in transforming your food and body image issues.  And, you’ll get my personal, in-depth coaching on your specific questions.  And you’ll learn a lot from the questions and successes of your peers!

Then, there’s membership in the exclusive Empress Club community site. You’ll be granted access to your own members-only protected site where you can get your questions answered by me and my team, share knowledge and inspiration with other members, and access the downloadable audios and other program resources. This is the place to share your experiences, get support, post pictures, network, and so much more!

Plus, we have the bonus Live Event, which I call the Empress Club Coronation.  This is a 2-day, private event, where you get your chance to meet the amazing women that you’ve connected with in the Empress Club in person.

Day 1 is a plus size shopping event, where we’ll head to Brooklyn to visit Re/Dress NYC and Lee Lee’s Valise — two wonderful stores dedicated to fabulous plus-size clothes.  There, trained stylists will help you create fantastic looks that look great on you.  Day 2 is our spa day, where you get to pamper yourself at Spa Castle, an amazing, multi-level spa.  We’ll talk body love as we relax and chat in jacuzzis, saunas and whirlpools.  Please note: Attendance at the Empress Club Coronation isn’t required, and no new material will be covered.  However, it is my personal wish that everyone be able to attend.

Plus, because I love my clients and love to over deliver, we’ll have some additional start up and follow up calls so that we can all connect and digest all that we learn.

Plus, now through September 7th, I’m offering a crazy amazing deal on this program.  So if you’re ready to sign up, or just want to learn more, just click the button below.  You’ll be taken to a link where you’ll get even more info about the program, and get the opportunity to sign up at this really low early bird rate!

I can’t wait for you to join me, Empress!

xoxo,
Golda
Body Love Coach
www.bodylovewellness.com

Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast here:

In the past, I always hated being a beginner.

Despite the fact that I love to learn new things, I never liked being really new at something.  I never liked feeling lost and confused.  I never liked the feeling that other people were catching on to something that I wasn’t getting.

When I decided to play bass at Ladies’ Rock Camp this summer, I knew it was a big leap.  I knew that in 2.5 days I was going to learn a bit of bass, form a band, make t-shirts, write a song with my band, and play at the Knitting Factory.  And that was pretty much all I knew.  I didn’t know anyone else at the camp.  I had never played bass before in my life (in fact, I had never played a stringed instrument ever).

But as I walked in to bass class on the first morning of camp, I decided one thing — for once in my life, I was going to embrace being a beginner.  I was going to embrace the power of having a beginner’s mind, of knowing nothing, and therefore being open to all possibilities. As Shunryu Suzuki said in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless.”

Beginnings (The Fool) From The Goddess Tarot Deck By Kris Waldherr

This same concept shows up in the tarot as well.  The first card of the deck, the zero card, is called the Fool.  But the fool isn’t truly foolish, he or she is just a newbie.  This card implies the beginning of a journey, within or without, the sacred nature of being open to possibilities, the primordial soup within each of us and the power of being a real beginner.

So why am I writing about being a fool and a beginner?  Because I’m hoping to illustrate (perhaps a little clumsily) the power of being new at something.

When we try something new, we often feel powerless.  We feel that we’re at the whim of our teachers, mentors, and counselors.  We feel pressure to get it right, to be prodigies, to not feel lost or admit that we’re lost.

But I think that being new at something can be really powerful.  The first time you wear a sleeveless top can be really powerful.  The first time that you ask a guy out can be really powerful.  The first time you pick up a bass and hear that sound ring out of your amp as it bounces around the room can be really, really powerful.  It can be really freaking scary too, but I agree with Shunryu Suzuki.  When your mind is compassionate, it is boundless.

So, my newbie friends, what are you going to be new at this week?

And if you want to try something really new, I’ll be making a big announcement about The Empress Club in just a few days.  It’s a group program designed to rocket you toward your food and body image desires.  We talked about it at the last teleclass . . . but there’s more to come.  So stay tuned!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today! Get it for your kindle too!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com

Due to a very full weekend at the Ladies Rock Camp, I’ve decided to repost this Body Love Wellness favorite.

And, by the way, there’s still time to join me for my teleclass this Thursday — How To Feel Good In Your Skin — Free 60 Minute Teleclass And Group Meditation. Just click here to register!

Listen to the podcast here:

Since I find myself spouting heresies every week at the Body Love Wellness Blog, I want to give you one more to chew on.

You Are Not Broken.

I say this because you are not an agglomeration of problems to be fixed and you are not in a race to see how fast you can fix them. I say this because you are really okay, right here and now.

I know that most of us go through our day connecting with what we see as our chronic problems. For many of you reading this blog, you have lived your life under the the spectre of your “weight problem”. Your “weight problem” colors everything you do, the way you interact with the world, the products you buy, the way you expect your body to function, the way you choose everything from your clothes to your lovers. And you think if you could just fix the weight problem, if you could just solve for x, everything else would fall into place, and you and your life would no longer be broken.

For others it’s not a weight problem. It’s some other problem that we’ve identified as being ours. It could be anything from infertility to cancer to crow’s feet. We all have certain problems that we magnify and see as the source of further problems.

We get lots of support in seeing our problems as the focus of our lives. Whether it’s an advertisment on television or a doctor’s advice, we’re constantly told that we need to get our problems under control, fix them, mitigate them, etc. We get the message that it’s our duty to elminate the problem so that we can then be happy and make everyone else happy. We understand that we shouldn’t rest until the problem is appropriately counteracted.

When we live our lives constantly focused on problems, we end up identifying with the problems themselves. As a result, we make poor choices and miss out on much of the good of life. (I can feel the chronic dieters out there nodding their heads as they read this.)

Only people who see themselves as having a weight problem would ever sign up for a diet program. Only a person who saw their weight problem as a major issue that had to get solved would sign up for getting weighed in at a meeting every week, eating prepackaged food for three meals a day, drinking diet shakes, starving themselves, making themselves vomit, etc. etc. If you don’t think you have a weight problem, you don’t do those things to yourself.

In other words, if you don’t see yourself as having a weight problem, you might actually be able to eat relatively healthfully, regardless of your size. You would be able to hear that voice inside your body that says, “I would like to eat that” or “I would not like to eat that” or “I’m hungry” or “I’m full.” You might also be able to hear your intuition more when it tells you things like, “I’d like to go back to school” or “I’d like to break up with my boyfriend” or “yoga is fun” or whatever your particular consciousness most desires. When you’re stuck in the problem, it’s hard to hear anything other than “I need to get this fixed right now in order to be happy.”

So, I will write it again. You are not broken. You are not a problem to be solved. Solving your “problem”, whatever you perceive your problem or problems to be, is not the key to happiness.

This week, I want you to identify whatever you think your big problem is. (For most of you, you’ll know it instantly.) Live this week as if your big problem was not a problem. Live as if it were already solved or wasn’t a problem at all. Notice what feels different. Notice if you feel better. As always, let us know how it goes in the comments below.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.

by Golda Poretsky, H.H.C.
www.bodylovewellness.com

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

So, I try not to get too political in these posts, but I’ve noticed a particular turn of phrase that conservatives keep using to defend the Bush tax cuts.  They say the following:

“Everyone knows that you don’t raise tax cuts during a recession.”

It’s a nasty and brilliant little trick.  Because (a) everyone doesn’t know or certainly agree that raising taxes (particularly on the top 2% of earners) during a recession is a bad idea and (b) it’s an insidious way of saying that anyone who doesn’t know this or disagrees with it is not very smart.  In other words, statements that start with “everyone knows” have a veneer of truth and give you the feeling that you’re stupid for trying to think other wise.

It’s just the kind of nasty and brilliant trick that your inner critic loves to use.

Your inner critic is that voice that tells you, “No, don’t wear that, you’ll look stupid,” or “Why bother exercising if you’re still going to be fat?” or “How could you possibly think that so-and-so likes you?”  It’s that voice that keeps you from moving forward, making changes, and moving beyond what you’re accustomed to.  It gets louder at certain times in your life, and quieter at others, but it often strikes at those moments when you’re moving beyond your comfort zone and trying something new.

For example, I’ve recently got into practicing yoga again, thanks to Abby Lentz’s wonderful DVD’s.  For nearly a week, I did the full hour Heavyweight Yoga 2 DVD every single day.  I hadn’t planned on keeping to that schedule, I just woke up every day and really wanted to practice yoga.  Around the 6th day, I had a particularly busy day, and I didn’t get to the DVD until pretty late at night.  I got through the stretching portion, which lasts about 20 minutes, and then decided that I had had enough for the night.  As I was resting for a moment on the mat, my inner critic voice piped up loud and clear, “You know that you’ve totally screwed up your schedule, right?” it said.  “You were on a roll and now that you think you can just do half the DVD, you’re never going to do the full DVD again.  You’re probably never going to use the DVD again at all.”  I tried to just acknowledge the voice and let it go, but it didn’t stop.  “You really screwed up,” it said.  “You can’t do 40 more minutes of yoga?  It’s not even a really hard yoga DVD.  It barely even counts as exercise.”

I know!  It was awful.  I had been feeling so good from all the yoga, I was ready to go to sleep, and here I was berating myself instead of congratulating myself on listening to what my body wanted by practicing yoga daily and then taking it easy when I was really tired.

But that’s the problem with your inner critic.  It knows just what to say to you to keep you in line, it knows how to shame you into keeping with the status quo, and it makes you feel wrong about your choices, actions and desires.  As a result, your inner critic can prevent you from taking important risks, making positive changes, and feeling good about all that you do.

But there are ways to deal with your inner critic.  So here are three tips to get you started!

1) Acknowledge It — Spend some time keeping a journal of what your inner critic tells you.  What does it say to you?  When does it get particularly loud?  What triggers it?  Does it sound like anyone you know?  After doing this for at least a week, let it go.  You’ve heard it, acknowledged it, and you’ve learned some of your triggers.  You don’t have to fear it because you’ve already heard it all.

2) Remind Yourself That Your Inner Critic Isn’t Always Right – Very often, when we start making changes in our life and having more positive thoughts about ourselves, that inner critic will come in and shut the process down.  For example, if you’re practicing the affirmation “I’m beautiful,” that negative voice may come in even louder and say things like, “That’s a joke!  Affirmations are stupid! You’re okay at the most, but definitely not beautiful.”  When this happens, we usually find ourselves agreeing with our inner critic.    But your inner critic isn’t right, it’s just been with you longer.  It’s a voice and an opinion that you’re used to.  So stop believing that the negative voice is telling the truth.  It’s not.  It’s just keeping you in your place.

3) Affirm, Affirm, Affirm –  Take some of your most negative thoughts and turn them around into affirmations.  For more help with working with and creating affirmations, check out this post.

We’ll be talking about dealing with your inner critic and more in my latest FREE Teleclass — How To Feel Good In Your Skin (coming up August 19th) ! For details and to register, click here. Can’t wait to “see” you there!

P.S.  I tried SO HARD to find an appropriate picture for this post.  So instead, I’m sharing with you the song “Downpressor Man” by Peter Tosh.  It’s not really about your inner critic (obviously) but it may have your inner critic on the run…

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda’s Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!

Have you picked up Golda’s book yet? Get your copy of Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal today!

© 2010 Golda Poretsky. All rights reserved.