Lesson 1: Welcome & Introduction
I dedicate this course to the memory of my dear friend Ellen Gill Young (1955-2016), a true Heroine who taught me always to ask the question, "Can I love myself even with this?"
WELCOME TO THIS COURSE
My name is Marcella Friel, and I am your Mentor for this course.
I'm so honored to midwife you into the Heroine I know you can be; and I'm likewise grateful for the courage and willingness you have summoned to begin this path of healing.
I'd like to start by telling you about why I created this course.
WHY I DEVELOPED THIS COURSE
The calling to create this course arose in me when a client of mine said, "Some women use razor blades; I use food."
I was completely shocked, and at the same time not at all surprised.
In my work with women as a food and body image coach, I see how we twist ourselves up as we try to fix what we think is wrong with us. I see us berating ourselves, apologizing for ourselves, dimming the volume on our greatness ~ and while we recognize that we're doing this, we can't figure out how to stop.
I've seen over and over that the women who make the slowest progress with their goals around food are those who, despite the depth of their conscious awareness, haven't yet shaken the tenacious habit of self-blame.
Conversely, the clients of mine who have had the greatest successes and breakthroughs ~ those who have dropped the struggle, found inner peace, and dropped the pounds as well ~ have done so after realizing an epiphany of self-forgiveness. In other words, they let go of blaming themselves, apologizing for themselves, or beating themselves up, and instead came to love and accept themselves exactly as they are.
It might sound counterintuitive, but no diet, no workout regimen, no amount of self-care will create any lasting change until you too come to love and accept yourself exactly as you are right now.
That, right there, is the secret of The Heroine's Journey.
WHY I CHOSE THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY
Since the late 1980s I've been intrigued with the work of Joseph Campbell, a world-famous mythology master and inner astronaut of the human psyche.
Joseph Campbell studied human myths across cultures and time and then distilled his common themes into what he called the monomyth, or the one myth.
The monomyth is known in popular parlance as "The Hero's Journey," the archetypal transformational process that must occur for anyone who heeds the calling to live a more authentic life. Because I work primarily with women, I am adapting Campbell's theme to "The Heroine's Journey."
Over the next 21 days, the archetypal framework of The Heroine's Journey will give you profound insight into the roots of your struggles with food. As you become intimate with this framework, you will
Effortlessly reduce your food cravings
Feel naturally empowered to make conscious, self-loving food choices
Free yourself from the impulsive and distorted thinking that drives self-sabotaging food behaviors
Lose the physical and emotional weight that has been holding you back
Release your past and move forward into a transformed future
FORGIVENESS AS A HEROINE'S JOURNEY
Forgiveness is an act of heroism. It takes immense courage to forgive because, as you will realize in this course, it is so much more than absolving ourselves or someone else of real or perceived harms.
Forgiveness is, in the words of medical intuitive Caroline Myss, "the eye of the needle."
To truly forgive, we must first enter the dark. We must face those sides of ourselves that we have split off from, denied, or neglected. We must retrieve our spirit from the people, places, and circumstances it has unwittingly attached itself to. We must die to our identity as a wounded woman and release our story of what happened, who hurt us, and how we are flawed.
Only then are we reborn in the light of our true nature.
This is why forgiveness is so hard. It's not that we don't want to forgive; it's that we can't bear the brilliance of who we become once we do.
RECEIVING SUPPORT
One of the most important stages of the Heroine's Journey is enlisting the support of a Mentor and allies. I suggest you enlist a Sister Heroine Ally ~ or two ~ to take this course with you.
While I am here as your Mentor to guide you every step of the way, and you are welcome to contact me if you'd like further help, there's nothing like the support, accountability, shared struggle, and shared laughter of sisters walking the path with you. In fact, they are indispensable to any experience of genuine healing. So I encourage you to take this journey with others who you know would benefit from it as well.
If there's another woman in your life who says, "No matter what I do, I can't lose this weight," or, "I've tried a million diets, and I still can't control my eating," chances are she's a good match for this course. Bring her along!
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Most of the talks in this course are excerpted from a 5-day retreat I led in April 2017 at Shambhala Mountain Center, a meditation retreat center in Northern Colorado. In the interest of bringing the intimacy of that environment to you, I chose to edit the audios as little as possible. You'll hear other women talking and laughing in the background, and perhaps you will even identify with some of their comments as you go along.
WHO IS MARY SHEILA?
Throughout the recordings you'll hear me mention "Mary Sheila." I'm referring to my coaching partner, Mary Sheila Gonnella of Occidental Nutrition. Mary Sheila is a board certified holistic nutrition consultant, an Ayurveda practitioner, and an insulin-resistance expert. In our coaching work with clients, Mary Sheila and I address the entire spectrum of issues ~ from the physiological to the spiritual ~ that can cause women to harm themselves with food. If you would like to learn more about our work, feel free to contact me.
DISCUSSION BOARD SUGGESTION
I so look forward to meeting you ~ and so will the others taking this course! Please tell us a little bit about yourself. How have you struggled with food? What inspired you to take this course? What are you hoping to get out of it? What fears do you have about starting? What excites or inspires you when you think about changing your relationship to food? Please post your responses to these questions on the Discussion Board, so we all have a chance to get to know you.