Sunday, February 28, 2010

Why Drinking Water?

Speaking of water, grab a glass. In order to speed your descent if you want to keep drinking whatever you are drinking now, for every four ounces of any of the following you are currently imbibing (soda, coffee, wine, beer, juice, protein shake - and whatever else you are currently drinking on a daily basis, drink 4 oz. of water before and drink another 4 oz after. A lot of the above mentioned beverages are dehydrating. You are doing something good for your body with every sip of water. Imagine you are pouring water on a dying plant and notice how the plant begins to perk back up once it has a little water. Your body needs water. It is good for you, and it should be enjoyable.

If you aren't a water drinker, then start slowly. If the idea of 4 oz of water makes your throat tighten up, try a teaspoon, or a tablespoon, or one ounce. As you sip it, think about how much your body loves water. Your body is about 70% water. The more you drink water when you are the thirsty, the lighter and cleaner you will feel inside. What you drink it out of makes a difference. The next time you are out shopping, satisfying your ancestral hunter gatherer instincts, go on a search for a beautiful water glass. My current water glass is hand blown glass. It is incredibly light weight and fragile. There are tiny blue and green fish etched into the glass, swimming in an arc around the glass. Just picking it up feels good. It is a pleasure to look at. I make an effort to "flood" myself with a good feeling every time I pick it up, with every sip I take.

What do I mean by "flood" myself with good feelings? Well, for me, I get this feeling when I yawn that tingles near my ears along my jaw. I imagine I am pouring that good feeling all over myself. It is the memory of the hug from someone who loves me, it is the feeling I had when I opened a gift I really wanted, but hadn't expected. it is the moment my husband kissed me after he proposed. The good feelings throughout my life are still alive in my memory. By remembering them, and feeling then now intentionally flooding myself with the memories, I am associating that good feeling with a think I didn't like to do.

Drinking water is becoming something enjoyable for me. I used to dread it. I had read a lot of weight loss books that recommended drinking lots of water to lose weight, and I came to associate drinking water with punishment, obligation, failure, deprivation and self loathing. I have had to put a lot of extra love and good feelings into reprogramming how I feel about drinking water.

Another thing I started to do is imagine the most beautiful images of water and connect it with the sound of a lovely voice singing softly, "Aahhh" like it has a ray of sunlight shining down on it and by drinking the water I am pouring that good beautiful sunlight into my body. It is healing me. It is quenching my hunger. It is giving me real calm steady energy. It is flushing any disease from my body gently and lovingly. I am telling my body, I love you and I will care for you a little better every day. Just thinking those thoughts makes my mouth water, so I will go grab a glass - care to join me?

The light is shining through the glass, "Aahhh" pure pleasure.

1 comment:

  1. The suggestion to find a beautiful/appealing drinking container is a great idea. My water bottle at work is losing it's appeal to me and I never thought it could be because I'm looking at it as an obligation. I think it's turning out that way. Time to shake things up!

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