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Community Corner

Beautiful in Every Body

Juggling the Feeding of Wants & Needs

It was one of those aha moments. The woman came in to work with Kerri Ogren, owner of Coaching 2 Create, because she was unable to lose that last ten pounds. For her, it was about the carbs. She was seriously craving carbs, which was a problem since she was on a low-carb diet.

Through discussion, meditation and other tools of her trade, Ogren guided the woman through her memories of food. A very prominent and fond memory for the woman involved baking bread every weekend with her mother. Turns out, it wasn’t the carbs she was carving. It was the emotional connection to that memory, and what it meant to her life and how she saw food. Aha.

Using her skills in life/spiritual coaching and coursework in psychology, arts and literature, Ogren has made a career of working with the emotional cravings that sometimes impede the way we nourish our bodies.

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It is Ogren’s contention that the underlying reasons why we eat, too much or too little, have to do with our connection to food and emotion; emotion that is suppressed rather than expressed. “You can be stuffing down negative emotions or craving positive feelings or memories,” advises Ogren. “Awareness is really the first step.”

"Why does the media feed us images of models who are 5’11” and 117 pounds,” asks Ogren, “when the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds? The diet industry also fills people with fear; fear of not belonging or fitting in - unless you lose weight.”

Ogren has developed a program she calls, Beautiful in Every Body. “What’s best for you personally is not what someone else tells you about everyone else, but what the connections are in your own life. This is where you need some tools to put the issue of weight into perspective.”

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About Town was provided with the agenda for the Beautiful in Every Body program, which includes the following weekly, 90 minute sessions: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall; I Eat, Therefore I Am; Here Comes the Judge; The Food Whisperer; The Art of Heart; and Love Me Do.

Ogren uses group discussion, meditation, journaling, questionnaires and creative exercises to excise emotions and determine more healthful ways to move forward. At the end of the program, she also provides participants with a CD of the meditations and a work book full of practical applications for every day.

“It’s a matter of creating awareness around why you’re eating. Obsessions can’t live with awareness.”

Here’s the Deal

Coaching 2 Create: Beautiful in Every Body, 860-294-1308; 101 River Road, Canton: www.coachingtocreate.com. Classes begin July 6.

There will be a FREE preview of the Beautiful in Every Body program on Wednesday, June 29 at 7 p.m. Participants who sign up for the program that evening, will also receive a free certificate for a one-on-one session with Kerrie Ogren.

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