This is how a human being can change:
There’s a worm addicted to eating grape leaves.
Suddenly, he wakes up,
call it Grace, whatever,
something wakes him, and he is no longer a worm.
He’s the entire vineyard, and the orchard too, the fruit, the trunks,
a growing wisdom and joy that doesn’t need to devour.
Next, Transpersonal Psychology and Transpersonal Perspectives on Health
Commonly regarded as the fourth expression of 20th century psychology, transpersonal psychology seeks to delve deeply into the most profound and inexplicable aspects of human experiences, including mystical and unitive experiences, experiences of transformation, extraordinary insight, meditative awareness, altered states of consciousness, and self- actualization…. As we turn from the end of the 20th century, a century of enormous change, and toward the beginning of the 21st century with its vast potential, it seems fitting and timely to bring imagination and intuition back into...
What began for me as a troubled relationship with my body fraught with misunderstandings, disappointments, abuse of power, and vast ignorance and insensitivity has developed into a relationship which is best described as sacred. For me, the terms “embodiment” and “sacred relationship with body” imply regard for the dynamic healing process I have experienced in my own relationship with my body, from which this study evolves.
Woodman (1980, 1993), through her research and work with women with disordered eating, incorporates all the elements cited by Lawlis, above, in...
Traditional discourse on obesity did not speak adequately to the depth or the intention with which I engaged in my own process of healing my relationship with my body. I did notjust go on a diet and adhere to externally imposed rules to acquire an externally ascertained body weight. My experience was deeply contemplative and in my terms sacred; as I learned about my chaotic relationship with my body, food, and weight, I also learned more about myself, my life, and my connection with all life.
While seeds were planted years before in the context of psychotherapy, I experienced the thrust of...
It is important to acknowledge the power of embodied writing and thinking to communicate experience in research. This section focuses on the value of body-based language, thought, and research to convey meaning and foster transformation.
In developing this dissertation I strive toward a writing style I call “embodied writing,” in which I utilize my whole being to discern the language most congruent with my experience of conducting and relating this research. Embodied writing is a creative process of opening to a stream of language that includes but is not limited to the...
Raw data for this project was organized into 10 components: (a) answers to the questions about process in the initial co-researcher application; (b) answers to pre-retreat survey questions (“What’s been most/least helpful?”); (c) individual stories told at the retreat (Tahoe stories); (d) notes from group brainstorming session (content and processes); (e) the group reflections on each women’s individual story (teaching sessions); (f) individual stories told to the group one year after the original stories (one- year follow-ups); (g) responses during one-year...
Most/Least Helpful Resources Survey Results
Based on the pre-retreat survey (Appendix F), the following tables summarize the resources women listed as being most and least helpful in their process of healing obesity. Table 2 consists of those items the co-researchers and researcher cited as most helpful to their healing process. Table 3 reports the least helpful resources in the co- researchers’ healing process. Both tables include the following information: (a) resource category, (b) the name of each resource (book, program, philosophy, author, etc.), (c) the number of women citing...
Least Helpful Resources Survey Results
Based on the pre-retreat survey (Appendix F), the following tables summarize the resources women listed as being most and least helpful in their process of healing obesity. Table 2 (previous post) consists of those items the co-researchers and researcher cited as most helpful to their healing process. Table 3 (below) reports the least helpful resources in the co- researchers’ healing process. Both tables include the following information: (a) resource category, (b) the name of each resource (book, program, philosophy, author, etc.), (c) the...
Group Brainstorming Results - Content and Processes
The results of our group brainstorming session during our Tahoe retreat are reported below in two parts: 25 content statements from our discussion, and 12 processes we identified as useful for further exploration. Both of these lists may offer productive focal points for future research. The content and processes results appear below in the order in which they arose in our discussions.
List of Content Statements
1. We’re a subset. We speak only for ourselves based on our experiences as well- educated, middle-class, Euro-American...
As introduced in Chapter 3: Method, for the one-year follow-up meeting I chose one process from our Tahoe brainstorming list to do together. In preparation for the follow- up meeting the co-researchers, the researcher, and the assistant, Sharon, were all asked to answer the following question in writing and to bring their written response to the meeting. Their responses, lightly edited, appear below. Sharon’s response is included here to offer a reflection from a woman outside the exemplar group for comparison to the group’s responses. We took a few moments of silence and then,...
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