Women, Food & Forgiveness

It works out better when you rest

As I was reveling in the early-summer dragon of a thunderstorm yesterday, I was contemplating how desert rain is one of Mother Nature's great mercies.

Every scaly creature in this sandy landscape sends forth a silent halleluja when a good rain falls.

And don't we all need that mercy sometimes?

Especially when things in our lives feel fragile ... uncertain ... different from our earlier years.

When I faced such circumstances in the past, I used to hunker down, grit my teeth, and frantically try to figure out how to keep it all from falling apart.

Now that I stand at the cusp of my Crone years, I hear my soul saying, "Let the Universe work it out, Dear Daughter ... under grace ... in the perfect way ... at the perfect time ... "

And I go get some rest.

And you know what?

Things invariably work out better than I can imagine.

This desert wisdom is exactly what I'm offering at my in-person retreat August 1 - 5, "Becoming Ageless As We Age."

We'll spend the mornings doing deep work to bless and release the past, so you can truly leave it behind and get your energy into present time.

As the afternoon rains roll in you'll have generous time for naps, bodywork sessions, and carefree soaking in the warm healing mineral waters of the sacred Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Southern Colorado.

Where summer rains clear into the most stunning sunsets imaginable.

Come let the desert rain rejuvenate your spirit.

Registration closes June 22, and I've got just two spots left.

If one of them is surely yours, click the button below to register.

Got questions? DM me to jump on a short call, and I can help you decide if it's a fit.

Marcella Friel Food and forgiveness mentor Marcella Friel helps midlife women lose emotional and physical weight with EFT tapping. Love your body and forgive yourself.

The Nutrition Wellness Summit is open! Day 1 featured 9 speakers all talking about healing cancer and heart disease with nutritious foods. These talks are available for another 24 hours, or you can purchase the summit to keep them forever.

Here's the lineup.

If you or someone you love is struggling with cancer and/or heart disease, these talks are a must listen. Please share widely:

Antonio Jiminez. MD, ND - Nutrition for Cancer Prevention and Recovery
You’ll learn about the 7 principles for healing cancer and the importance of full spectrum nutrition and use of key nutrients to heal our bodies and bring them back to homeostasis.

Christy Kesslering, MD - Metabolic Nutrition for Cancer Prevention & Recovery
You’ll learn about the connection between our mitochondrial and metabolic health and cancer.

Veronique Desaulniers, DC - 7 Essential Steps to Prevent and Reverse Breast Cancer
You’ll learn about the 7 Essentials System process for breast cancer prevention and recovery.

Patrick Quillin, PhD, RD, CNS - Foods to Prevent & Beat Cancer
Discover Dr. Patrick Quillin’s top foods to help you prevent and reverse cancer and the foods you should avoid if you want to beat cancer with nutrition.

Columbus Batiste, MD - Plant Based Nutrition & Being SELFISH for Heart Health
You’ll learn about the S.E.L.F.I.S.H approach to heart health and how a plant-based diet, plenty of exercise, and reducing stress make up the best prescription for retaining good heart health.

Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN - Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease with Nutrition
Learn what are red flags that may indicate you have a heart disease risk and the lab tests you should have done to help detect any underlying heart disease risks.

Philip Ovadia, MD - Metabolic Health & Heart Disease
You’ll learn about the risk factors for heart disease and to use nutrition to optimize your metabolic health and prevent heart disease.

Nathan Bryan, PhD - Nitric Acid & Its Connection to Heart Health & Chronic Illness
Discover what is nitric oxide and why it is important for heart health and overall health.

Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, CNS - The Mediterranean Diet & Heart Disease
You’ll learn about the Mediterranean Diet and how to use a low-glycemic version of the diet to help you prevent and reverse heart disease as well optimizing your overall health and wellbeing

Join the FREE 2024 Nutritional Wellness Summit today! Join 78 of the world’s most trusted experts in health and nutrition for the latest breakthroughs in how to eat to live healthier and longer. Save your FREE spot in the 2024 Nutritional Wellness Summit now!

https://open.substack.com/pub/griefgritandgrace/p/create-calm-in-your-aging-body?r=1dbsl5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Anxiety, wrinkles, crackly joints: how can the simple self-love practices of Ayurveda help moisten and soothe these and other nagging symptoms of aging? Listen as my beloved colleague and Ayurveda educator Mary Sheila Gonnella of Occidental Nutrition gives you practices you can start right away using ingredients in your own kitchen.

Create Calm in Your Aging Body Listen now (34 mins) | Ayurveda educator Mary Sheila Gonnella shares timeless principles for hydrating our body and soothing our spirit as we age

Years ago, a wise friend said something to me that just about changed my entire life:

"If you grew up in an environment where your needs were not met, you'll become resentful in adulthood of having to take care of yourself."

Wow did that hit a bullseye for me. 🎯

It helped me feel so much kinder toward my perceived failures at "adulting."

It also gave me huge permission to ask for support when I need it.

How about y'all?

If you feel resentful about, say, having to go grocery shopping and make healthy meals for yourself ...

Or if you fall prey to the "f**k-its" and blow the healthy food off altogether ...

If you're convinced that you could never feed yourself the way you know you need to ...

Or if the thought of it all just overwhelms you, then guess what?

You’re not alone.

We all use food at times to avoid painful feelings and unmet needs.

Understanding and addressing those needs can make all the difference between a life of serenity and dignity or addiction and misery.

Come join me this Saturday at The Un-Dieters' Club, where we can use EFT Tapping to release that resistance to getting your needs met, so that you too can start treating yourself like the queen that you are. 🌞

Well well well -- Prince Harry is into Tapping. Good for him!

Harry’s unusual therapy explained that got him out of ‘fight or flight’ mode Requests for tapping therapy have said to have skyrocketed since Prince Harry admitted to using the technique during a television documentary

Join me Saturday, June 8, for this month's Un-Dieters' Club.

We’ll explore a topic you might not hear elsewhere: the hidden needs driving binge eating and other self-sabotaging behaviors.

Think about it:

What unmet needs might be driving your binge eating?

And why are they important to recognize?

Without understanding your true needs, you’ll never address the root causes of your food behaviors.

You'll continue careening from one diet to another, spending more money you don’t have, and blaming yourself when it all crashes and burns yet again.

You then start believing your old tired story that healing is impossible.

Join me as I guide you through EFT Tapping to acknowledge, validate, and nurture those long-neglected needs, so that you can break the self-sabotage cycle and finally let the food be food.

I’ve helped so many women find freedom and peace in this process, and I’m excited to share it with you. Come join me: https://www.womenfoodandforgiveness.com/un-dieters-club-june-8-2024

The foods we eat have the power to both heal us from chronic disease and protect us from it in the first place.

If you're ready to make better food choices and embrace the practice of FOOD AS MEDICINE, watch the FREE 2024 FOOD HEALED ME Series that started on May 20th.

Over 16 days, you’ll hear stories from 16 people who used food to heal themselves from life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s, and heart disease.

Get ready to be inspired by 16 incredible people who overcame what many of their physicians told them would be impossible and are now living lives healthier than before.

Save your spot to watch this completely free online event:

Food Healed Me Series - Nutritional Wellness Summit Join the FREE Food Healed Me Series and be inspired by 16 incredible people who have used food as medicine to heal them from chronic illnesses

You women of a certain age might remember ... DES, Thalidomide, the Dalkon Shield ... you might have been a medical casualty of those atrocities, as Allison Post was ... if you've never connected the dots between what happened then and what's happening now, then this conversation will be just the listen you need.

Healing from the Aftermath of Medical Mistreatment Visceral bodyworker Allison Post chronicles her journey home to herself after surviving the most infamous medical experiment on U.S. women in recent history

https://www.facebook.com/stories/100996445407319/UzpfSVNDOjk3NzA3NzExNDA5MzIxMg==/?view_single=1

www.facebook.com

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by midlife courage coach Sheree Clark for her upcoming May Talk Series for Midlife Women, May 12 - 31.

Sheree invited 27 experts (including me) to share some golden nuggets of wisdom that can truly change your life.

These pithy conversations cover some highly unique topics, all of them less than a half-hour long:

Teeth and Your Emotions
Rethink Your Drinking
Why Pet Care Matters as You Age
Abusive Relationship Recovery
Celebrating Your San Juan Nordic Club, Colorado
Interesting stuff, right? Come join us! https://pg605.isrefer.com/go/mts2024/mfri/

https://griefgritandgrace.substack.com/p/in-our-60s-never-married-no-kids
I had enough emotional maturity to know that I lacked the emotional maturity to raise children in a good way. I understood implicitly that, however “selfish” childless women are deemed to be, it would have been far more selfish of me to bring children into the reeling PTSD chaos of my younger years.

In our 60s, never married, no kids Did we miss something?

https://www.dralamountain.org/program/o-baa524online-becoming-ageless-as-we-age/

If you want to feel vital as you age but instead are haunted by fears, regrets, and body aches as you enter your later years, it’s time to detox your self-limiting beliefs and discover your innate, miraculous capacity for regeneration at any chronological age.

In this online weekend retreat, I will guide you in using EFT Tapping and other somatic practices to:

🌟 Release internalized messages about aging that have kept you stuck in your “too late” story
🍀 Dissolve accumulated regrets and create a new vision of possibility for your life
💜 Learn the tools that rejuvenate your spirit as your body inevitably matures
🏆 Summon the courage to contribute to your world as a woman of dignity, experience, and wisdom
Aging is inevitable. How you age is up to you. And it’s only too late if you don’t start now. Come join me May 17-19 online through Drala Mountain Center

[O-BAA524]ONLINE - Becoming Ageless as We Age - Drala Mountain Center This online weekend retreat will guide you in using EFT Tapping and other somatic practices to release internalized messages about aging.

What's it like to run an online EFT business? Listen to this conversation between me and my EFT training mentor Rob Nelson of Tapping the Matrix Academy, where I share my insights and learnings on the 10th anniversary of being Rob's first grad:

Interview with Marcella Marcella Friel was the very first graduate of Tapping the Matrix Academy. She became a Certified EFT Practitioner on May 14, 2024 and has been in practice ev...

https://griefgritandgrace.substack.com/p/chapter-13-your-life-is-the-supreme

"How do we prepare such a meal? We begin with giving up our preferences for one kind of experience over another. We stop craving happiness and rejecting sadness and instead recognize, with an equal eye, that both have their merits and their drawbacks. We stop fighting ourselves and acknowledge what is. In the Zen cook’s language, we work with the ingredients in our pantry. Perhaps we open the cupboard, and all we see is sorrow, struggle, and loss. We can appreciate those bitter, pungent, and astringent flavors as wakeful contrasts to our incessant craving for sweetness, which lulls us to sleep and makes us allergic to discomfort and growth."

Chapter 13: Your Life Is the Supreme Meal It’s easy to be grateful when you have a feast before you. But what about when your bowl is empty?

Five years later, these nuts-and-bolts tools of self-forgiveness are more relevant than ever....

Chapter 11: "Can I Love Myself Even with *This*?" When you forgive, you lose both emotional and physical pounds.

How can we eat natural foods in an highly unnatural processed food system? This excerpted chapter from my book "Tap, Taste, Heal" gives you some very do-able answers:

Chapter 8: Eat Food, Not Concepts How to eat natural foods in an unnatural world

ANNOUNCING! 📢

Five years ago today--April 16, 2024--marked the publication of my book, Tap, Taste, Heal. In celebration, North Atlantic Books is hosting a giveaway of the book through the month of April.

Here's my longtime student Beth Stelluto Dunaier kvellling over how this book helped her kick her diet soda addiction. Pick up your free copy by clicking the link in the video description, and you might be next:

How EFT Tapping Helped Beth Break Her Diet Soda Addiction If you, like Beth, want to release your addiction to diet soda and other foods that don't serve you, click here to claim your free* copy of my book, "Tap, Ta...

A soothing talk for those who feel heart-sick on Valentine's Day.

The life-changing power of self-love What's left when all other love disappears

If Valentine's Day makes you heartsick, this conversation will soothe your lovelorn soul and renew your faith in what's possible for your life.

The life-changing power of self-love What's left when all other love disappears

What if your bingeing is the solution and not the problem? Find out starting TOMORROW at The Food Solution Summit 3.0, featuring yours truly in a lineup of superstar presenters, including Autoimmune Expert Terry Wahls, Ayurveda Master Deanna Batdorff, and former redwood-tree-sitter Julia Butterfly Hill:

What if Your Bingeing is the Solution and Not the Problem Claim your FREE spot in the The Food Solution summit 3.0 today! https://thefoodsolutionsummit.com/mfriel This interview series is FREE! You’ll hear from func...

Thinking of food as medicine still remains controversial in the medical community, our schools, and even among our loved ones. You probably know someone who struggles with making healthy food choices, in part, because few of us truly understand food’s impact!

However, food will always be our number one ally when it comes to our overall health and wellbeing. And the more we know, the more informed choices we can make, and the more power we’ll have to care for our health.

Join me for The Food Solution summit 3.0 and transform your health with food! It’s FREE! Click here:

Join The Food Solution Summit Today! Learn from food experts about the foods, herbal allies, spices, and mindset solutions for maintaining blood sugar balance and optimizing your health.

It’s true: You are what you eat. And that adds up to how you feel, move, and live in your body.

Also true: We’re up against a lot. Some foods are so addictive and comforting, it’s really difficult to avoid them, even when they’re downright harmful to our health.

However, knowledge is power! The more we learn about food and the more we understand about our bodies, the more power we have to make mindful choices when it comes to what we eat each day.

Join me and 21 other food experts at The Food Solution summit 3.0, and start partnering with your most potent health ally: YOUR FOOD! Click here: https://thefoodsolutionsummit.com/mfriel

I recently had the privilege to speak with Ayurveda expert Andrea Hayley-Sankaran about how we can forgive ourselves as we struggle with illness, whether temporary or chronic.

If you're looking for tools and insights on how to find self-love inside your health struggles, this lively conversation is for you.

Tapping Expert Marcella Friel ON: How to Forgive Yourself When You’re Sick In today’s episode of the Eat, Live, Feel BETTER podcast, I sat down with Marcella Friel, a food and forgiveness mentor who helps health-conscious women lear...

It takes courage to rebuke the juggernaut of automaton conformity and create a life of your conscious choosing. This might help:

Escape the trap of conformity Create your conscious life in the first hour of your day

Don't go it alone if you're struggling with grief, depression, loneliness, and anxiety at holiday time. There is another way....

When holidays are not merry Mining the traumas of Christmas past to find the mother lode of comfort and joy

SURVIVING THE HOLIDAY MEAL USING EFT

If you don't trust yourself to curb your overeating and eat sanely at the holiday meal, this mini-training will give you step-by-step guidance on how use EFT Tapping and other tools to both moderate *and enjoy* your food, so that you can wake up the next morning with your gut (and your self-esteem) intact.

Surviving the Holiday Meal Using EFT (and Other Tools) Learn more at https://www.womenfoodandforgiveness.com/If you don't trust yourself to curb your overeating and eat sanely at the holiday meal, this mini-train...

Enough said!

TAPPING TUESDAY

If you check out of your body when you eat, this EFT Tapping video is for you.

EFT Tapping: "I Numb Out When I Eat" To learn more about how Marcella’s work can help health-conscious women like you love and forgive yourself, your food and your figure, order her book, “Tap, ...

I'm pretty lax when it comes to the "eat-this-don't-eat-that" mindset.

But I put my foot down HARD when it comes to diet soda.

Here's why:

15 Reasons You Should Never Drink Diet Soda If you're on the fence about kicking your diet soda habit, keep reading for 15 science-backed reasons that will convince you to ditch diet...for good.

If you think that you're being "nice" by taking care of others first and yourself last, you might be sorely mistaken--and packing the pounds on to boot.

Stop betraying yourself and harming others with your "nice" behavior. Listen to this short talk from my Women, Food & Forgiveness Academy to stop being so nice and start being genuinely kind instead.

Don't Be Nice; Be Kind Instead If you think that you're being "nice" by taking care of others first and yourself last, you might be sorely mistaken--and packing the pounds on to boot. Stop...