November 28, 2023 • 43 mins
Join us as Leanne continues to explore the complex topic of worthiness, diving into the paradox of feeling worthy when you DON'T feel worthy. Once again Leanne talks about the 5 Blocks to God’s love, originally introduced as a 'Self-Imaging' formula, and how these blocks, if not addressed, can hinder your experience of love and worthiness.
This time however, the spotlight turns to the second ingredient and God Block: Self-Care, as Leanne challenges 'conventional' views of health by emphasizing a 3-dimensional approach—mental, emotional, and spiritual care—as the foundation for physical well-being. She encourages you to redefine health and self-care, while inviting God into the journey and addressing the cultural misconceptions that often lead to harmful practices, and she paints a picture of shifting from the world's take on health...to a more all-encompassing, God-centered one.
It's time to toss out the one-size-fits-all approach, and figure out your unique recipe for health and well-being. But this time around: inviting God in as your Divine Partner.
HOST: @LeanneEllington
To learn more about Leanne, head over to www.LeanneEllington.com, and to share your thoughts, questions, feedback, or guest suggestions instantly, head on over to www.WhatsGodGotToDoWithIt.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
If you want to go on a journey.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
If you're skeptical, don't worry.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Not here to preach, going to keep it clean and
talk to me and recause where faith needs off nature,
get in touch with your creator with a bacon, love.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And jo She even speaks Hebrew. What's that?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
What's that? As well said talking transformation?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
What's that got to welcome back to what's God got
to do with it? And we are here to continue
this series where we are breaking down this really complex
topic of worthiness and really what I call the paradox
of worthiness, as in how do you feel worthy when
you don't feel worth? And this is the third episode
(01:02):
in this series where on the first episode called Unraveling
Worthiness breaking down the Five Blocks to God's Love, I
introduced you to what I call the five blocks to
God's Love and how I discovered that for me when
it came to actually feeling worthy of being loved and
not feeling like I had to earn it or like
when i'm this or when I do that, then I'll
(01:23):
be lovable. I mean loved right now as I am.
That was really hard for me to grasp it first.
It's kind of like something was blocking me from receiving it,
and this paved the way for us to get into
each of these five God blocks that interestingly enough, I
had been teaching to my clients as my five ingredient
self imaging formula for over a decade, which, like we
(01:44):
talked about, was through the eyes of the science of
the self image, and if you're curious about the science
of the self image side of things, I got into
the nitty gritty of that back in episode seven, the
Faith Brain Connection where self image meets neuroscience. But as
you're learning, and as we talked about the last couple
of weeks, those same five ingredients, when looked at another way,
(02:06):
or just looking at them through spiritual eyes, they weren't
just ingredients for me. They were actually where I was
blocking God's love and any love for that matter, from
really coming my way and truly receiving it. That was
the resistance that I kept bumping up against, and that's
what was blocking me from feeling the power or the
(02:27):
truth in this idea that I don't have to hustle
for my worthiness and that it's there right now and
it's always going to be there. But that's why I
now call them God blocks, because if you're blocking them,
it feels like that love is not even there. So
on one side of the coin, these five things are
like magic ingredients that add up to this recipe for worthiness.
(02:49):
But those same things, if you're not aware of them
and you stay blocked by them, they're literally going to
block you from love and block you from worthiness. Hence
why I call it the paradox of worthiness. But as
I keep saying, God wasn't blocking me, and my circumstances
weren't blocking me. I was blocking me my thoughts and
perceptions of myself. That's what was blocking what was available
(03:13):
to me. And how when I looked at those same
ingredients through my spiritual eyes, the things that I was
once relying on only me to feel responsible for or
you know, thinking I had to do it all through
my own might and own strength, I realized that those
were the things that were blocking me from again not
just the love of God, but the love of anyone
(03:34):
in this universe that wanted to give their love to me,
whether it was family, friends, relationships, you name it. But
the other reason that these five blocks kind of felt
so revelatory for me, and why I get so excited
to share this with you is because when I simply
became aware of those five blocks and I acknowledged them
and I cared for them, all of a sudden, they
(03:55):
weren't just these blocks that were no longer blocking me,
but instead, it's like what they transformed and became like
a powerful gateway or bridge to connection and to worthiness
and to peace, like so much peace. And it allowed
me to invite God in right there and ask him
to help me. And then my prayers just became things like, God,
(04:16):
meet me here, and help me see what you see,
and help me find unworthiness and help me unblock what's
blocking me from you and remove anything or unlearn any
lie that is not coming from you. And that's why
I believe it's so important to recognize your own God blocks,
as in, what's keeping you from receiving the love that's
(04:38):
available to you right now, and what's keeping you from
feeling like you're worthy of receiving love and worthy of
being taken care of or just valued beyond the size
of your genes or bank balance or relationship status. And
that's why I'm so excited to keep this conversation going,
because awareness truly is enough to start that transformation and
(04:59):
create those new neural pathways. So last week, in removing
the blocks self acceptance in God's Unwavering Grace, we talked
about self acceptance and the paradox of acceptance because it's like,
how do you accept yourself when all you've ever known
is self rejection and self criticism and shaming yourself? And
so we took a deep dive into that. And the
(05:22):
reason I started with self acceptance specifically was because I
think it's the hardest one to sink in, and well,
at least it was for me personally, and after teaching
these ingredients to my clients for over a decade, historically
it's been the hardest for them too. So if you
missed that episode, definitely go back and check that out.
But just like we did last week for self acceptance,
(05:43):
what I'm gonna do is I'm going to show you
this next ingredient in god block from three different viewpoints.
So first, I'm going to walk you through it as
one of the five ingredients that become kind of like
this recipe for worthiness within your self image. Then I'll
share how that same ingredient, the same thing, can actually
be a god block if you are blocked by it
(06:05):
or you just don't feel worthy of receiving it. And
then of course we'll look at what God has to
say about it. So let's dive in and let's take
a look at the second ingredient to your self image
and worthiness and the second God block, which is self care. Okay,
and we're going to self care next, not because it's
the hardest, like I said about self acceptance, but because
(06:27):
it's gotten the most overcomplicated in today's world. And so
the topic of health and self care is one of
the most confusing and overwhelming topics, especially for women. And
that's why I definitely feel like it needs to be oversimplified.
Now if you want to take a deep dive into
addressing your food and body struggles through the eyes of
God or through spiritual eyes. I did break that down
(06:49):
a lot in episode eight, which was called Holy Guacamole, Faith,
Food and a Restored Body image. But we are going
to keep that conversation going. And this is where I
want to introduce you to a new definition of health
and self care. Because most people think that health and
self care is strictly the physical, like strictly what you eat,
(07:10):
how you move your body, like that kind of conversation.
But if that's all we look at, I actually believe
we are leaving our health to chance, or we're just
leaving it on the table. And that's why I want
to invite you into looking at your health and self
care as this three dimensional conversation and figuring out what
it would take for you to care for yourself as
a verb and as a noun, but not just physically,
(07:33):
but mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, relationally, physically, all of it,
and not just thinking of it like that, I actually
mean flipping it on its head so that you start
with the mental, emotional, spiritual side of it and focus
on that side of your health and then bring that
with you into the physical. And I get it, like
(07:55):
this is totally backwards from what we have all learned.
But when you think about it, how well are you
able to take care of yourself physically when you aren't
in a good headspace or heart space? It's nearly impossible, right,
But most people I know have found that they don't
know what taking care of their head, heart and spirit
even looks like. And that's why this is such a
(08:17):
crucial conversation in my opinion. And this is also where
I truly believe we have to start with our mental
emotional and now you know what I mean when I
say social brain first, as in that part of the
brain that we talked a lot about when we discussed
the self image side of things. And yes, of course,
you know, I believe that we need to start looking
at this through the spiritual side of it and having
(08:39):
that be part of our health too. So that's one
side of it, right, like essentially starting on the inside
and making your way to the outside or the physical.
But I think a lot of people think that health
and self care is something to do if they have
the time, or if they have the bandwidth, or they
think that health and self care means, you know, manicures
(08:59):
in bubble back, which, don't get me wrong, are also
awesome and necessary sometimes. But if that's your take on
health and self care again, you're not gonna get what
you need. And that's why for my definitions of health
and self care again, it's figuring out what would it
take for you to take care of yourself as a
verb and as a noun mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, relationally,
(09:24):
and yes, physically like all of it and not only
starting there, but inviting God into this conversation from the
very beginning too, because this topic especially, I feel like
I was always trying to do it through my own
will and my own might, or I was tying up
my self worth with what I weighed and unconsciously outvoting
(09:44):
my health and self care altogether, which we'll take a
look at as well. But it was spilling into all
of the other ingredients too, so things like self acceptance
that we talked about last week, but also the other
ingredients that we're going to be covering in the coming weeks.
And I get it this in itself is a big
pattern interrupt for most people that think that their health
(10:04):
is just a food and fitness conversation. So that being said,
let's take a look at that, like do you truly
feel like you know how to take care of yourself?
And I've found that most people don't. Or they might
know how to focus on fitness or focus on what
they're eating for a little while, but as soon as
adversity strikes, they go right back to their default. Or
(10:24):
maybe you do know how to take care of yourself physically,
but like the mental emotional side of things or on
that level, you feel like you need some help, okay,
and again self care and health, it has to be
this three dimensional conversation and when it comes to your
self image, and that means knowing what you need and
what it would take to take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually,
(10:46):
all of it. In other words, it's really about taking
care of all of your brain and all of your
nervous system, which, in my opinion, if anyone is talking
about health but not even taking into account the brain
or the system, or not even talking about it, it's
like run far and run fast, right, But I digress.
All of that is to say, if this whole taking
(11:08):
care of your health and yourself side of things, or
this whole conversation is eluding you, or maybe it's something
on the back burner, or maybe it's something that you've
just decided like isn't in the cards for you, or
maybe you've given a ball together. This is where this
could also be a god block for you, And this
will make more sense once you get all of the
(11:29):
other ingredients in god blocks. There could also be some
crossover keeping you from getting this. So, like I said,
self acceptance, but we talked about we're gonna be talking
about self worth as well, because if your value and
identity is wrapped up solely in what you weigh or
what size you are, that's gonna end up being a
big problem for you emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically in the end.
(11:50):
And that's what I mean when I say there's crossover.
They don't always just stand alone. But this is the
perfect place to invite God in because if this is
a block for you, I invite you to distinguish between
this idea of self care and health as the world
and you know culture and really diet culture has presented
it to you, versus this idea of asking God to
(12:12):
meet you in your journey and your health and your body.
And again I mean the crossover of the other ingredients
as well. And yes, I do understand the complexity of
this and why this is the epitome of the paradox
of health and self care, as in, you know, how
do you take care of yourself when you don't know
how to take care of yourself? And honestly, the simple
(12:32):
answer is you just start right, You just start where
you are with what you've got, and you renew your mind.
So let's do that okay, And that's why I feel
like it's super important to meet you in the definitions
of health and self care that you might already be
living in or maybe you learned. I know I learned
them because in so many ways they are faulty or
(12:54):
skewed definitions of the word health. So it makes sense
if health and self care seems, you know, kind of possible.
So maybe you learn definitions based on you know, the
definition of health being like okay, hard work and suffering
where it's that whole eat less move more thought process
like you know, the diet mentality, or where your brain
has no choice but to rally up and gather what
(13:15):
I call head weapons, so to get to get yourself
through at things like control and counting and weighing and
measuring and obsession. You get the picture. And again, these
things can be tools, but like when we're using them
all the time, they become weapons of control. But I've
also found that a lot of people, especially women, are
chasing this definition of health where health is equated to
(13:38):
you know, for lack of a better way of saying it,
it's equated to skinny, or it's based around the focus
of getting or staying skinny or thin or lean or
any other kind of esthetic word. And for me, I
had it confused that if I chased skinny, then I
would finally be healthy. But what I didn't know then
was that leading with skinny or leaning with that. You know,
(14:01):
weight loss mentality is nine times out of ten going
to cause you to live in such an unhealthy way
and in a lot of cases create disorders and body dysmorphia,
and of course cause all of that toxic shame if
you've never addressed all of that underlying stuff. So what
if your definition of healthy actually started at a new
(14:21):
definition of healthy, as in things like how healthy is
your nervous system and how healthy is your brain? And
of course what if your definition of health started at
a spiritual, soul, heart level and brought that into the
physical and then you looked at your physical health through
those eyes. Right, Because when you are chasing skinny or
(14:42):
lean or whatever words you're using, and there's no shame
in it here. I learned it too, and really it's everywhere.
But when you are chasing the worldly view of health,
not only does that not work, or at least it
doesn't work very long, but little by little it ends up,
hurting you mentally, emotionally, physically, spirit all of it. Because
when all of your goals, or your worth or your
(15:04):
self esteem are based on your infatuation with skinny or lean,
or again whatever words you're using, your heart has no
choice but to rally and use weapons of mass destruction
to get through it all, mainly what I call heart weapons,
things like shame and blame and comparisonitis and perfectionism. And
trust me, it will never be enough. Like even if
(15:25):
you get to your air quotes perfect weight, but you
haven't addressed all of that other stuff, it will never
be enough, and you will it will never make you
truly happy. And that's actually taking you away from health
and self care. And so many people are doing the
opposite of taking care of themselves in favor of pursuing
being skinny or lean or fit or any other like
(15:46):
vanity based words that are consuming us from the diet culture.
I'm not saying like, you can't focus on what you
look like and vanity. You're human, like I want you
to feel amazing and beautiful in all those things. But
if you are leading with that as your way of
trying to achieve health again, not only does it not
work in the long term for your health. It's actually
(16:07):
the opposite of health and self care in many circumstances.
So now I feel like I'm kind of beating that
like a dead horse. But there is another side of
this that I want to mention about your health and
self care, and it's this. There is another side of
(16:29):
this that I want to mention about your health and
self care, and it's this. Your health, it's got to
be personal. Okay, you can't use someone else's formula or
prescription or recipe like you need your own one. And
it's got to be one that works with you and
for you. And I would really invite you to take
on this idea that it's got to be created by you.
(16:50):
And that doesn't mean that it has to be solely you,
but you've got to be the one taking authority and
ownership of it, right. And this is where a lot
of people they do outsource expertise to someone else, or
they ask somebody to tell them what to eat or
how to move, or how to work out or how
to think, and then they let everyone else but themselves
(17:11):
become an expert on them and an expert on their
health and their bodies. But the reality is is that
you have to become an expert on you because nobody
can and nobody will be able to become an expert
in your body and your brain more than you can.
And yes, please don't hear what I'm not saying, Like,
definitely seek wise counsel and mentoring and coaching. But as
(17:35):
long as you solely outsource that responsibility to somebody else,
you're never going to know how to take care of
yourself and you're always going to be left at the
disposal of a diet or handcuffed to you know, endless
needs for motivation from somebody else, and that in itself
is a losing gain. Like You've got to take radical
ownership of your own health and self care because nobody
(17:56):
can and nobody will do it for you. And now,
I know that might be a hard pill to swallow
because we think we should just look to other experts
for this, but I wish somebody had told me that
when I was younger, like it would a change the game.
And so, yes, take radical ownership and responsibility and seek
wise counsel, but make sure that you are owning your
own journey. And honestly, that's why all of my clients
(18:19):
and I we take the time to figure out what
their individual health and self care recipe looks like for them,
because just like you, they can't use a cookie cutter,
one size fits all approach. Like we all need to
figure out what this looks like for our own lives
and our own needs and circumstances and our shortcomings, all
of it, right, like knowing what works for you, knowing
what you're good at, what you're not so great at,
(18:39):
all the things. Now, self care is something I could
go on and on about. You can tell and like
sometimes I go off on my own tangents, but I
know that also self care has a lot of stigma nowadays,
or it's a big buzzword in the health industry. But
really what we're talking about is taking care, like your
self care when it comes to taking care of your physical, mental,
and emotional health like your brain and nervous system, but also,
(19:03):
as you're learning, including your spiritual health. And that's what
I mean by self care. And again it has to
be this three dimensional conversation, starting at the heart, starting
at the spirit, starting at the mind, the emotions, all
of that, and getting making sure that that's copaestic and
status quo and then bringing that with you into the
physical and it's got to be three dimensional, or else
(19:24):
you will leave your health and self care on the
table or just straight up never find it. Now, I
want to say this, if that feels like too big
of a stretch for you, or if just taking care
of yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you know, taking care of
your brain and nervous system and these actual definitions of
health that I'm talking to you about, if that seems impossible,
then that's what I mean when I say that the
(19:45):
same ingredient to creating your self care plan in the
eyes of love and worthiness, like that same ingredient might
actually be acting as a block in a block to
God's view of health and God's view of being taken
care of. And so, of course, you know, the word
nerd in me wants you to know that the etymology
or the word origin of the word health. In Old English,
(20:09):
health means being whole, sound, or well, and in Middle
English it means prosperity, happiness, or safety. And I just
love that because to me, that just says Leanne. This
conversation of health is first and foremost designed so that
you can be whole and sound and well, And it
immediately makes me ask myself like, hmm, is what I'm
(20:31):
doing right now for my health or self care making
me feel that way? And again, so much of my
life chasing skinny was making me the opposite of that,
but also the definition of health that means prosperity and
happiness and safety. Is it making me feel happy? Or
is taking care of my health and self care making
me miserable?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Is it making me feel safe and clear and secure?
Or am I constantly confused and overwhelmed or punishing myself
trying to pursue health, Like do I feel abundant? Or
am I living in the restriction and deprivation and rules?
By the way, the Bible says in Corinthians that God
is not a god of confusion, but of peace, And
(21:13):
another version says for God is not a god of disorder,
but of peace. And so that's another interesting way to
look at it, Like it's easy to see that if
I'm following the skewed version of health that the world
gave me, or you know, society gave me, if that
eat less, move more restrict deprived, punish my body side
of things or this idea that health was only about
(21:33):
how I ate moved or obsessing over my appearance. Again,
just think about your relationship with your health and food
in your body. Is it causing confusion and disorder or
is it causing peace? Again, God's not a god of confusion,
He's not a god of disorder, but of peace. And
so can we just kind of slow down for a
second and soak that in, Like, can you imagine what
(21:55):
your life would be like if you chase that kind
of health and self care, Like the kind where you
start at the mental, emotional, spiritual and take that into
physical health and self care, right, and the kind where
the physical health and self care actually takes care of
your brain and nervous system instead of putting it in
thread or fight or flight all the time, and the
kind that brings order and peace instead of confusion and disorder.
(22:20):
And again, if that feels like too big of a
stretch for you, or if taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
or taking care of your brain and nervous system, and
you know everything I'm saying, if that feels impossible, then
that's what I mean when I say that the same
ingredient to creating your self care and health plan, that
same ingredient might actually be a block, right, and a
(22:42):
block to God's view of health and God's view of
being taken care of. And so this is where I
just invite you to borrow God's eyes, and it's the
perfect time to just try on a new story, right,
a new story about your ability to be healthy and
taken care of like that, Because if you don't believe
that you are worthy of that, or that it's even possible,
(23:03):
that's a God block and you need a new story
and you must renew your mind. And so I shared
the new stories that I personally tried on in both
of those neurofaith episodes that I mentioned, one was the
faith brain connection where self image meets neuroscience, and one
was holy Guacamole food faith and a restored body image.
(23:24):
And I can'tnot say it without saying holy guacamoly. But
let's look to God's word and see what it says.
And in a way, I kind of feel like God
left us breadcrumbs for his definitions of health in the scripture,
including where it says in Proverbs seventeen twenty two. And
this is the NIV version A cheerful heart is good medicine,
(23:46):
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. A cheerful
heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up
the bones. Okay, So soak that in. But I also
want to share Proverbs sixteen twenty four where it says
gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and
healing to the bones. Okay, And so these two literally
(24:07):
talk about how our head and heart are what becomes
good medicine and health. But it literally talks about and
it uses the words a cheerful heart and gracious words
being good medicine and healing to the bones, but it
also says a crushed spirit is what drives up the bones.
(24:27):
And honestly, for me, you know, historically whenever I am
or was neglecting my health or down on myself about
my weight, and I can see that, oh my gosh,
like yes, my head, my heart, and my spirit were
totally off kilter. My spirit was crushed. So then I
would just rush into the next diet or try to
diet it away, or try to out exercise it. But
(24:50):
now I know that that's where I needed to start,
at the heart and the spirit and get that aligned
and then with that heart and spirit take action in
the field realm. Right, But it's more than that. And
you know, this idea of a renewed mind around health
and self care I really believe needs to start. It
really needs to actually like start with and include a
(25:12):
new commitment to honoring our bodies and looking to God's
definition of health more and the world's definition of health
a little bit less. Because one of the things that
I personally had to do was I had to wake
up to the fact that no one was coming to
save me from myself and my habits in that regard, right,
(25:33):
and that it was my responsibility to renew my mind
and sift through all the madness and the nonsense and
all the short term band aids and diets and toxic
extreme methods and go heal my relationship with my body.
But it wasn't just my body. It was my relationship
with food too. And when I say it was my job,
(25:53):
I mean, like, yeah, I had I have free will,
I had to stop. I had to look to God.
I had to look to renew my mind. Of course,
there's that distinction that we've talked about about not totally
relying on self and that self sufficiency. But I mean,
I had to wake up to the fact that, like, hey,
God's tapping me on the shoulder, like it was my
job to say, okay, I'm ready to take ownership. And
(26:14):
I love this scripture in First Corinthians six point twenty,
also the NIV version where it says you were bought
at a price, therefore honor God with your bodies. But
the ESV version of that same scripture says you were
bought at a price, so glorify God in your body.
Because to me it says, leanne, don't take advantage of
(26:36):
your body. And I look back at my life and
I'm like, oh my gosh, I just I took so
much advantage of my body. And I do sometimes picture
God in Jesus, you know, actually being a little bit
firm with me, and in a loving way, of course,
but because you know, when you think about it, the
truth isn't always easy. But as they say, the truth
shall set you free. And I know, for those big
breakthroughs in my life, sometimes I need a little like
(26:58):
soft tap on the show, but sometimes I need a hammer,
and I need a bit of a metaphorical shaking by
the shoulders. And that's what I feel like that scripture
was I love this, you know one Corinthians six nineteen
through twenty, where it says, do you not know that
your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is
(27:19):
in you, whom you have received from God. You are
not your own, You were bought at a price. Therefore,
honor God with your bodies. And again, this is a
stern but loving reminder of like Hello. At least it
was to me like, hello, Leanne, you are so fortunate
to have this body who is literally the temple that
is holding the Holy Spirit that lives in you. That
(27:41):
wasn't just there arbitrarily like it was a gift from God.
And to me it kind of made me say, like, Leanne,
are you going to kick a gift horse in the mouth,
Like you have this gift given to you from God,
so now it's time to honor it rather than treating
it like gum on the bottom of your shoe or
something that needs to be star punished or hated on
(28:02):
or just outright toxically shamed into oblivion. Like that was
a decision that I had to make, and once I
made it, it changed the game. And this actually intersects
really with the kind of conversations I have with my clients.
And obviously it's said and intended with so much love,
But I wish somebody spoke this directly to me back
(28:23):
in the day. But but I lovingly tell them that
and keep in mind too, like my clients have conversations
with themselves every single day, and they think like it's
a willpower thing, it's a discipline thing, like their self saboitaging.
But by the time they're on the phone with me
exploring if my stressless seeding program is a fit, they
now realize that the real issue here is a heart issue.
Like it's emotional, it's condition patterning, as in like it's
(28:46):
fired and wired in their brain. A lot of them
it has been for their life or for decades and
it never got unwired or rewired. And then healing that
it really is just a choice. But it's I only
got to be about making this choice, where like this
is no longer just about food, it is no longer
just about the weight. It's where they're no longer willing
(29:07):
to be a shrunken, disempowered version of them of themselves.
That's you know, sitting on the sidelines of their life
or not showing up as the version of themselves that
God designed them to be, and they are ready to
take back their power from it. And I lovingly tell
them that, you know, the first thing I look for
to know if a woman's really ready to heal it
is that they're radically committed to healing the real problem,
(29:30):
like not just putting band aids on it, not looking
to outdiet it, I mean, you know, solve it, close
the loop, put out the fire. In other words, like
they have to be at that point in their life
where they know that the cycle just needs to end
because you know, they've been living like this for far
too long. They've been locked up in the food and
body prison for far too long, and they're ready to
(29:50):
break free and take back their power. Like that's really it.
Like it doesn't have to be some deep, dark rock
bottom like some people think, but they do have to
get to that place where they realize that, you know,
the outdated systems and a food based approach and even therapy,
like all the things that didn't work, they didn't work
for a reason, and they're not going to go another
day without the roadmap and the strategy and the support
(30:13):
that they need because they demand to be out of
that prison. And it's like, you know, for them, it
has to be getting to that stage where you know
enough is enough. They've been around the monster long enough,
like they want to change it from the root, not
just the symptoms, and put it to bed for good
and really being at that level. And yeah, like that
might sound a little bit confrontational to some people in
(30:33):
a way, but of course it's in a loving way.
But I also believe in a necessary way. And I
wish somebody had asked me those questions when I was
at the height of my disordered eating and toxically unhealthy habits.
And so when I hear First Corinthians six point twenty
where it says you were bought at a price, therefore
honor God with your bodies, or the version where it
(30:55):
says glorify God in your body, it reminds me of
those firm but loving reminders and already aligns with my
own self imaging philosophies. So you're probably seeing why I
keep saying that the Bible met me where I was,
but also filled in gaps and completed the story for me.
But the Bible also says something else that's a bit interesting.
(31:16):
And this definitely connects to what we talked about, you know,
the air quotes food brain or the addiction brain in
that neurofaith episode. But this verse was actually a little
bit confronting to me. And it's from Proverbs twenty three
twenty through twenty one, but it says, do not join
those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
(31:36):
for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness close them
in rags. It's from Proverbs twenty three, twenty through twenty one,
but it says, do not join those who drink too
(31:58):
much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and
gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. And
when I first heard this scripture, I was like, whoa,
that is so judgy. And I didn't get it because
I was all like, wait a minute, I can have
compassion for people that are there, and I can still
hang out with people that are struggling. But then I
(32:20):
looked and I explored it a little bit further. And
first off, it says join, it says don't join them.
It doesn't say don't hang out with them. It doesn't say,
you know, don't love them. But I believe that the
reason the Bible warns us about eating or drinking too
much or gorging ourselves and being around other people that
do that too, is because it's often a sign that
food or drink has become way too important to us.
(32:43):
In other words, like it really is a sign of gluttony.
And we all know that, you know, one or two
chocolate chip cookies is awesome, but more than that and
you feel so bad, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, And
the same is true for eating or drinking too much
of anything. And so it's not saying don't eat or
don't drink, but too much you become a drunkard and
a glutton and become poor. And I believe that the
(33:04):
word poor here because again, you know, I'm a word nerd.
It's so multifaceted, and in this I personally believe that
God is really referring to poor health when we're not
defining it as this three dimensional thing. And of course,
the logic and reason side of it is pretty simple,
like we need to take care of our health because
our health will eventually deteriorate and our quality of life
(33:26):
will deteriorate if we don't. And so you know, God
gave our bodies to us and he wants us to
take care of them. And the Bible says you are
not your own you were bought at a price. Therefore,
honor God with your bodies. But if you are stuck
in the rut of chasing skinny or just totally neglecting
your own health and self care like I was for
(33:47):
so many years, you miss out on all of what's
available to you. Hence it's another block. So what if
instead of looking at the health and fitness industry, you
created your own new definition of health and ask God
to meet you there and even borrow his eyes. And
you know, the God that I know he loves you
(34:08):
and he doesn't want to see you harm your health.
But also the God that I know would have so
much love and compassion for you if you are struggling
to take care of yourself. But again, like this is
also where that hyperdependency on self comes into play too.
Like what if yes, you took intelligent action and ultimate
responsibility for your role in this, but also let God
(34:30):
in and surrendered this to God, like you know, surrender
your definitions of health and start looking at it like
this mental, emotional, spiritual thing and bring that with you
into the physical and you know, surrender your ideas of
allowing somebody to help you and not having to carry
the burden of it all on your own, and get
clear and committed to act and live as someone different,
(34:52):
Like you have to become and be a new creation.
It's it's not just a mind or body thing. It's
a brain thing. And of course you know it's a
a thing too, Like you've got to renew your mind,
recreate your identity as this new person and step into
that version of you. And as Ketrick said in that
self Reliance episode, sometimes you're waiting on God and sometimes
(35:14):
God is waiting on you. So where are you waiting?
Like waiting for things to get better on their own,
or waiting for someone to want it for you or
do it for you, or waiting for discipline or willpower
to magically show up, or waiting for the perfect time
or the perfect moment or for things to be perfect,
or waiting to start finding the beautiful, confident, powerful version
(35:38):
of yourself that you know you are but you just
haven't seen in a while, or you know, like I say,
waiting for the wait to just be what you want
to be and do what you want to do and
feel how you want to feel. And where are you
waiting on God? And where is God waiting on you
to take the call right? And what if now was
the perfect time to once again just meet God there?
(35:59):
Like where can you simply draw a line in the
sand and commit to renewing your mind so that you
can start honoring your body by looking to God's definitions
of health more and looking at the world's definitions a
bit less, Like I wish somebody had said this to
me or asked me these questions decades ago. And that's
why I'm really trying to drive this home to you.
(36:21):
And I think you're starting to get the point and listen.
I could go on and on with more, but bringing
it back full circle to this, God's love is filled
with new definitions of health and receiving the spiritual and
soul health that you are most likely truly desiring when
you get stuck going down the physical or worldly rabbit hole.
But if you don't deem yourself worthy of that kind
(36:43):
of love and health and care, you are outright blocking
that love from God. But not just God blocking it
from anyone else to truly give you the love that's
available to you, but you might not feel worthy of
receiving it, like it's like it's not even there if
you're blocking it. Right, And most people are walking around
neglecting themselves, like feeling disconnected from themselves, their emotions, their
(37:05):
spirit and actively focusing on the worldly definitions of health
that you're learning often take you away from health and
away from worthiness. And this is a major problem when
it comes to your self image and when it comes
to receiving the love that's available to you. And that's
why self care is both an ingredient to a self
(37:25):
loving and worthy self image. But that same thing, if
you don't believe it or feel it, it's outright blocking
you from receiving that love. And here's that big distinction
that I really want you to get and really want
you to remember, because just like I talked about that,
there's a paradox to worthiness, this is the paradox of
health and self care, right, like taking care of yourself
(37:46):
and your health when you don't know how to take
care of yourself and your health. So when it comes
to the ingredient of self care, as a part of
the recipe of your self image. This is where I
believe it's our job to take radical ownership of it.
This is where we put in the work as a
human because if we want something to be different, we
need to see and do differently. But when it comes
(38:08):
to the side of the coin where the concept of
health and self care is a god block or a
spiritual block, and it's blocking you from receiving the love
that's available to you, that's where I'm here to plant
this seed in your brain. What if the God block
side of it wasn't yours to break through? What if
it's where you invited God into it, Like what if
(38:29):
it wasn't your job and it wasn't your responsibility or
not at least not fully right. And remember what we
said about self reliance, Like what if this is where
you move into god reliance and God's guidance and that's
where you invite God into it and ask God to
help you and meet you there. And just to make
it super simple again like we did last week, what
if it was as simple as praying something like God,
(38:51):
please show me where I am chasing the world's view
of health rather than seeing it through your eyes, and God,
please show me what you see and show show me
your view, and just pray that over and over again.
And the reason I love that prayer is because the
first half, where you say, God, please show me where
I'm chasing the world's view of health, rather than seeing
(39:12):
it through your eyes, you're asking for revelation and wisdom
and awareness of what you're walking away from or at
least in the process of transforming. And the second half,
where you say, God, please show me what you see,
show me your view, You're asking for a new view
and a new belief and in turn, a new identity.
And I'm telling you, if you pray this over and
(39:32):
over again, he will show you. He will meet you
there and he will give you that revelation that you
are seeking. And how do I know this? This is
again where it's not just my faith talking, even though
that's a big part of it. It's also what neuroscience says,
and what we focus on expands. And as I teach
my clients what we give air to attention, intension, repetition, air,
(39:56):
it grows and expands and it becomes you like your
brain will learn and you will just become having that
as part of the way that you think. But you've
got to renew your mind and you must practice it. Okay.
So that's my invitation for you, and an invitation in
its own right, like what if you just gave air
and gave attention intention repetition to that prayer of God,
(40:18):
please show me where I'm chasing the world's view of
health rather than seeing it through your eyes, and God,
please show me what you see, show me your view.
That is my invitation to you, okay. So that really
is the big picture side of health and self care
that I just wanted you to get access to and
just start seeing. And of course that means with God's guidance, right,
(40:39):
and that yes, there is a part in it that
you play when when it comes to taking radical ownership
of your self image, right, and as you're learning there's
a science to that. But also the side of health
and self care where it's a God block and it's
blocking you from receiving that care. And yes, it's a
catch twenty two because it's what you need, but it's
also you know what's blocking you. But the big distinction
(41:00):
being that block is not yours to do anything about.
That block is where you ask God to show you
His power, and all you have to do is surrender
and ask him in prayer for request, like, God, please
show me where I'm chasing the world's view of health
rather than seeing it through your eyes, And God, please
show me what you see, show me your view. And
that really is the nutshell of all this and my
(41:22):
invitation to you just try on this new story, this
new perspective. And there is so much more I can
say about this, but we're going to just stop there
for right now. So that's it for the second Ingredient
and second God block, But we will be back next
week to talk about the next ingredient and next God block,
which is all about creating a new definition of self
worth by creating the currency of the soul and seeking
(41:45):
God's truth about your divine worth once again, not just
figuring it out on your own, but how to make
sure you're taking radical ownership of what you can and
cannot influence, but asking God to step in and do
a lot of the heavy lifting in your head, heart
and spirit. So I will talk to you, then we'll
(42:05):
be back with more What's God got to do with it?
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, So just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
(42:26):
with It? Dot com and scroll down to the form
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly. So What's God Got to Do
with It? Dot com You'll find all the ways to
do that. And if you like this podcast and want
to hear more, go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts to get your weekly dose
(42:46):
of What's God Got to Do with It? New episodes
drop every single Tuesday, and while you're there, be sure
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means so much. What's God Got to Do With It?
Is an iHeartRadio podcast on the Aby Brown podcast Network.
It's written and hosted by me Leanne Ellington, executive produced
(43:08):
by Elizabeth Bozzio, post production and editing by Houston Tilley,
and original music written by Cheryl Stark and produced by
Adam Barker
If you want to go on a journey.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
If you're skeptical, don't worry.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Not here to preach, going to keep it clean and
talk to me and recause where faith needs off nature,
get in touch with your creator with a bacon, love.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And jo She even speaks Hebrew. What's that?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
What's that? As well said talking transformation?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
What's that got to welcome back to what's God got
to do with it? And we are here to continue
this series where we are breaking down this really complex
topic of worthiness and really what I call the paradox
of worthiness, as in how do you feel worthy when
you don't feel worth? And this is the third episode
(01:02):
in this series where on the first episode called Unraveling
Worthiness breaking down the Five Blocks to God's Love, I
introduced you to what I call the five blocks to
God's Love and how I discovered that for me when
it came to actually feeling worthy of being loved and
not feeling like I had to earn it or like
when i'm this or when I do that, then I'll
(01:23):
be lovable. I mean loved right now as I am.
That was really hard for me to grasp it first.
It's kind of like something was blocking me from receiving it,
and this paved the way for us to get into
each of these five God blocks that interestingly enough, I
had been teaching to my clients as my five ingredient
self imaging formula for over a decade, which, like we
(01:44):
talked about, was through the eyes of the science of
the self image, and if you're curious about the science
of the self image side of things, I got into
the nitty gritty of that back in episode seven, the
Faith Brain Connection where self image meets neuroscience. But as
you're learning, and as we talked about the last couple
of weeks, those same five ingredients, when looked at another way,
(02:06):
or just looking at them through spiritual eyes, they weren't
just ingredients for me. They were actually where I was
blocking God's love and any love for that matter, from
really coming my way and truly receiving it. That was
the resistance that I kept bumping up against, and that's
what was blocking me from feeling the power or the
(02:27):
truth in this idea that I don't have to hustle
for my worthiness and that it's there right now and
it's always going to be there. But that's why I
now call them God blocks, because if you're blocking them,
it feels like that love is not even there. So
on one side of the coin, these five things are
like magic ingredients that add up to this recipe for worthiness.
(02:49):
But those same things, if you're not aware of them
and you stay blocked by them, they're literally going to
block you from love and block you from worthiness. Hence
why I call it the paradox of worthiness. But as
I keep saying, God wasn't blocking me, and my circumstances
weren't blocking me. I was blocking me my thoughts and
perceptions of myself. That's what was blocking what was available
(03:13):
to me. And how when I looked at those same
ingredients through my spiritual eyes, the things that I was
once relying on only me to feel responsible for or
you know, thinking I had to do it all through
my own might and own strength, I realized that those
were the things that were blocking me from again not
just the love of God, but the love of anyone
(03:34):
in this universe that wanted to give their love to me,
whether it was family, friends, relationships, you name it. But
the other reason that these five blocks kind of felt
so revelatory for me, and why I get so excited
to share this with you is because when I simply
became aware of those five blocks and I acknowledged them
and I cared for them, all of a sudden, they
(03:55):
weren't just these blocks that were no longer blocking me,
but instead, it's like what they transformed and became like
a powerful gateway or bridge to connection and to worthiness
and to peace, like so much peace. And it allowed
me to invite God in right there and ask him
to help me. And then my prayers just became things like, God,
(04:16):
meet me here, and help me see what you see,
and help me find unworthiness and help me unblock what's
blocking me from you and remove anything or unlearn any
lie that is not coming from you. And that's why
I believe it's so important to recognize your own God blocks,
as in, what's keeping you from receiving the love that's
(04:38):
available to you right now, and what's keeping you from
feeling like you're worthy of receiving love and worthy of
being taken care of or just valued beyond the size
of your genes or bank balance or relationship status. And
that's why I'm so excited to keep this conversation going,
because awareness truly is enough to start that transformation and
(04:59):
create those new neural pathways. So last week, in removing
the blocks self acceptance in God's Unwavering Grace, we talked
about self acceptance and the paradox of acceptance because it's like,
how do you accept yourself when all you've ever known
is self rejection and self criticism and shaming yourself? And
so we took a deep dive into that. And the
(05:22):
reason I started with self acceptance specifically was because I
think it's the hardest one to sink in, and well,
at least it was for me personally, and after teaching
these ingredients to my clients for over a decade, historically
it's been the hardest for them too. So if you
missed that episode, definitely go back and check that out.
But just like we did last week for self acceptance,
(05:43):
what I'm gonna do is I'm going to show you
this next ingredient in god block from three different viewpoints.
So first, I'm going to walk you through it as
one of the five ingredients that become kind of like
this recipe for worthiness within your self image. Then I'll
share how that same ingredient, the same thing, can actually
be a god block if you are blocked by it
(06:05):
or you just don't feel worthy of receiving it. And
then of course we'll look at what God has to
say about it. So let's dive in and let's take
a look at the second ingredient to your self image
and worthiness and the second God block, which is self care. Okay,
and we're going to self care next, not because it's
the hardest, like I said about self acceptance, but because
(06:27):
it's gotten the most overcomplicated in today's world. And so
the topic of health and self care is one of
the most confusing and overwhelming topics, especially for women. And
that's why I definitely feel like it needs to be oversimplified.
Now if you want to take a deep dive into
addressing your food and body struggles through the eyes of
God or through spiritual eyes. I did break that down
(06:49):
a lot in episode eight, which was called Holy Guacamole, Faith,
Food and a Restored Body image. But we are going
to keep that conversation going. And this is where I
want to introduce you to a new definition of health
and self care. Because most people think that health and
self care is strictly the physical, like strictly what you eat,
(07:10):
how you move your body, like that kind of conversation.
But if that's all we look at, I actually believe
we are leaving our health to chance, or we're just
leaving it on the table. And that's why I want
to invite you into looking at your health and self
care as this three dimensional conversation and figuring out what
it would take for you to care for yourself as
a verb and as a noun, but not just physically,
(07:33):
but mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, relationally, physically, all of it,
and not just thinking of it like that, I actually
mean flipping it on its head so that you start
with the mental, emotional, spiritual side of it and focus
on that side of your health and then bring that
with you into the physical. And I get it, like
(07:55):
this is totally backwards from what we have all learned.
But when you think about it, how well are you
able to take care of yourself physically when you aren't
in a good headspace or heart space? It's nearly impossible, right,
But most people I know have found that they don't
know what taking care of their head, heart and spirit
even looks like. And that's why this is such a
(08:17):
crucial conversation in my opinion. And this is also where
I truly believe we have to start with our mental
emotional and now you know what I mean when I
say social brain first, as in that part of the
brain that we talked a lot about when we discussed
the self image side of things. And yes, of course,
you know, I believe that we need to start looking
at this through the spiritual side of it and having
(08:39):
that be part of our health too. So that's one
side of it, right, like essentially starting on the inside
and making your way to the outside or the physical.
But I think a lot of people think that health
and self care is something to do if they have
the time, or if they have the bandwidth, or they
think that health and self care means, you know, manicures
(08:59):
in bubble back, which, don't get me wrong, are also
awesome and necessary sometimes. But if that's your take on
health and self care again, you're not gonna get what
you need. And that's why for my definitions of health
and self care again, it's figuring out what would it
take for you to take care of yourself as a
verb and as a noun mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, relationally,
(09:24):
and yes, physically like all of it and not only
starting there, but inviting God into this conversation from the
very beginning too, because this topic especially, I feel like
I was always trying to do it through my own
will and my own might, or I was tying up
my self worth with what I weighed and unconsciously outvoting
(09:44):
my health and self care altogether, which we'll take a
look at as well. But it was spilling into all
of the other ingredients too, so things like self acceptance
that we talked about last week, but also the other
ingredients that we're going to be covering in the coming weeks.
And I get it this in itself is a big
pattern interrupt for most people that think that their health
(10:04):
is just a food and fitness conversation. So that being said,
let's take a look at that, like do you truly
feel like you know how to take care of yourself?
And I've found that most people don't. Or they might
know how to focus on fitness or focus on what
they're eating for a little while, but as soon as
adversity strikes, they go right back to their default. Or
(10:24):
maybe you do know how to take care of yourself physically,
but like the mental emotional side of things or on
that level, you feel like you need some help, okay,
and again self care and health, it has to be
this three dimensional conversation and when it comes to your
self image, and that means knowing what you need and
what it would take to take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually,
(10:46):
all of it. In other words, it's really about taking
care of all of your brain and all of your
nervous system, which, in my opinion, if anyone is talking
about health but not even taking into account the brain
or the system, or not even talking about it, it's
like run far and run fast, right, But I digress.
All of that is to say, if this whole taking
(11:08):
care of your health and yourself side of things, or
this whole conversation is eluding you, or maybe it's something
on the back burner, or maybe it's something that you've
just decided like isn't in the cards for you, or
maybe you've given a ball together. This is where this
could also be a god block for you, And this
will make more sense once you get all of the
(11:29):
other ingredients in god blocks. There could also be some
crossover keeping you from getting this. So, like I said,
self acceptance, but we talked about we're gonna be talking
about self worth as well, because if your value and
identity is wrapped up solely in what you weigh or
what size you are, that's gonna end up being a
big problem for you emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically in the end.
(11:50):
And that's what I mean when I say there's crossover.
They don't always just stand alone. But this is the
perfect place to invite God in because if this is
a block for you, I invite you to distinguish between
this idea of self care and health as the world
and you know culture and really diet culture has presented
it to you, versus this idea of asking God to
(12:12):
meet you in your journey and your health and your body.
And again I mean the crossover of the other ingredients
as well. And yes, I do understand the complexity of
this and why this is the epitome of the paradox
of health and self care, as in, you know, how
do you take care of yourself when you don't know
how to take care of yourself? And honestly, the simple
(12:32):
answer is you just start right, You just start where
you are with what you've got, and you renew your mind.
So let's do that okay, And that's why I feel
like it's super important to meet you in the definitions
of health and self care that you might already be
living in or maybe you learned. I know I learned
them because in so many ways they are faulty or
(12:54):
skewed definitions of the word health. So it makes sense
if health and self care seems, you know, kind of possible.
So maybe you learn definitions based on you know, the
definition of health being like okay, hard work and suffering
where it's that whole eat less move more thought process
like you know, the diet mentality, or where your brain
has no choice but to rally up and gather what
(13:15):
I call head weapons, so to get to get yourself
through at things like control and counting and weighing and
measuring and obsession. You get the picture. And again, these
things can be tools, but like when we're using them
all the time, they become weapons of control. But I've
also found that a lot of people, especially women, are
chasing this definition of health where health is equated to
(13:38):
you know, for lack of a better way of saying it,
it's equated to skinny, or it's based around the focus
of getting or staying skinny or thin or lean or
any other kind of esthetic word. And for me, I
had it confused that if I chased skinny, then I
would finally be healthy. But what I didn't know then
was that leading with skinny or leaning with that. You know,
(14:01):
weight loss mentality is nine times out of ten going
to cause you to live in such an unhealthy way
and in a lot of cases create disorders and body dysmorphia,
and of course cause all of that toxic shame if
you've never addressed all of that underlying stuff. So what
if your definition of healthy actually started at a new
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definition of healthy, as in things like how healthy is
your nervous system and how healthy is your brain? And
of course what if your definition of health started at
a spiritual, soul, heart level and brought that into the
physical and then you looked at your physical health through
those eyes. Right, Because when you are chasing skinny or
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lean or whatever words you're using, and there's no shame
in it here. I learned it too, and really it's everywhere.
But when you are chasing the worldly view of health,
not only does that not work, or at least it
doesn't work very long, but little by little it ends up,
hurting you mentally, emotionally, physically, spirit all of it. Because
when all of your goals, or your worth or your
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self esteem are based on your infatuation with skinny or lean,
or again whatever words you're using, your heart has no
choice but to rally and use weapons of mass destruction
to get through it all, mainly what I call heart weapons,
things like shame and blame and comparisonitis and perfectionism. And
trust me, it will never be enough. Like even if
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you get to your air quotes perfect weight, but you
haven't addressed all of that other stuff, it will never
be enough, and you will it will never make you
truly happy. And that's actually taking you away from health
and self care. And so many people are doing the
opposite of taking care of themselves in favor of pursuing
being skinny or lean or fit or any other like
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vanity based words that are consuming us from the diet culture.
I'm not saying like, you can't focus on what you
look like and vanity. You're human, like I want you
to feel amazing and beautiful in all those things. But
if you are leading with that as your way of
trying to achieve health again, not only does it not
work in the long term for your health. It's actually
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the opposite of health and self care in many circumstances.
So now I feel like I'm kind of beating that
like a dead horse. But there is another side of
this that I want to mention about your health and
self care, and it's this. There is another side of
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this that I want to mention about your health and
self care, and it's this. Your health, it's got to
be personal. Okay, you can't use someone else's formula or
prescription or recipe like you need your own one. And
it's got to be one that works with you and
for you. And I would really invite you to take
on this idea that it's got to be created by you.
(16:50):
And that doesn't mean that it has to be solely you,
but you've got to be the one taking authority and
ownership of it, right. And this is where a lot
of people they do outsource expertise to someone else, or
they ask somebody to tell them what to eat or
how to move, or how to work out or how
to think, and then they let everyone else but themselves
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become an expert on them and an expert on their
health and their bodies. But the reality is is that
you have to become an expert on you because nobody
can and nobody will be able to become an expert
in your body and your brain more than you can.
And yes, please don't hear what I'm not saying, Like,
definitely seek wise counsel and mentoring and coaching. But as
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long as you solely outsource that responsibility to somebody else,
you're never going to know how to take care of
yourself and you're always going to be left at the
disposal of a diet or handcuffed to you know, endless
needs for motivation from somebody else, and that in itself
is a losing gain. Like You've got to take radical
ownership of your own health and self care because nobody
(17:56):
can and nobody will do it for you. And now,
I know that might be a hard pill to swallow
because we think we should just look to other experts
for this, but I wish somebody had told me that
when I was younger, like it would a change the game.
And so, yes, take radical ownership and responsibility and seek
wise counsel, but make sure that you are owning your
own journey. And honestly, that's why all of my clients
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and I we take the time to figure out what
their individual health and self care recipe looks like for them,
because just like you, they can't use a cookie cutter,
one size fits all approach. Like we all need to
figure out what this looks like for our own lives
and our own needs and circumstances and our shortcomings, all
of it, right, like knowing what works for you, knowing
what you're good at, what you're not so great at,
(18:39):
all the things. Now, self care is something I could
go on and on about. You can tell and like
sometimes I go off on my own tangents, but I
know that also self care has a lot of stigma nowadays,
or it's a big buzzword in the health industry. But
really what we're talking about is taking care, like your
self care when it comes to taking care of your physical, mental,
and emotional health like your brain and nervous system, but also,
(19:03):
as you're learning, including your spiritual health. And that's what
I mean by self care. And again it has to
be this three dimensional conversation, starting at the heart, starting
at the spirit, starting at the mind, the emotions, all
of that, and getting making sure that that's copaestic and
status quo and then bringing that with you into the
physical and it's got to be three dimensional, or else
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you will leave your health and self care on the
table or just straight up never find it. Now, I
want to say this, if that feels like too big
of a stretch for you, or if just taking care
of yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you know, taking care of
your brain and nervous system and these actual definitions of
health that I'm talking to you about, if that seems impossible,
then that's what I mean when I say that the
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same ingredient to creating your self care plan in the
eyes of love and worthiness, like that same ingredient might
actually be acting as a block in a block to
God's view of health and God's view of being taken
care of. And so, of course, you know, the word
nerd in me wants you to know that the etymology
or the word origin of the word health. In Old English,
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health means being whole, sound, or well, and in Middle
English it means prosperity, happiness, or safety. And I just
love that because to me, that just says Leanne. This
conversation of health is first and foremost designed so that
you can be whole and sound and well, And it
immediately makes me ask myself like, hmm, is what I'm
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doing right now for my health or self care making
me feel that way? And again, so much of my
life chasing skinny was making me the opposite of that,
but also the definition of health that means prosperity and
happiness and safety. Is it making me feel happy? Or
is taking care of my health and self care making
me miserable?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Is it making me feel safe and clear and secure?
Or am I constantly confused and overwhelmed or punishing myself
trying to pursue health, Like do I feel abundant? Or
am I living in the restriction and deprivation and rules?
By the way, the Bible says in Corinthians that God
is not a god of confusion, but of peace, And
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another version says for God is not a god of disorder,
but of peace. And so that's another interesting way to
look at it, Like it's easy to see that if
I'm following the skewed version of health that the world
gave me, or you know, society gave me, if that
eat less, move more restrict deprived, punish my body side
of things or this idea that health was only about
(21:33):
how I ate moved or obsessing over my appearance. Again,
just think about your relationship with your health and food
in your body. Is it causing confusion and disorder or
is it causing peace? Again, God's not a god of confusion,
He's not a god of disorder, but of peace. And
so can we just kind of slow down for a
second and soak that in, Like, can you imagine what
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your life would be like if you chase that kind
of health and self care, Like the kind where you
start at the mental, emotional, spiritual and take that into
physical health and self care, right, and the kind where
the physical health and self care actually takes care of
your brain and nervous system instead of putting it in
thread or fight or flight all the time, and the
kind that brings order and peace instead of confusion and disorder.
(22:20):
And again, if that feels like too big of a
stretch for you, or if taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
or taking care of your brain and nervous system, and
you know everything I'm saying, if that feels impossible, then
that's what I mean when I say that the same
ingredient to creating your self care and health plan, that
same ingredient might actually be a block, right, and a
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block to God's view of health and God's view of
being taken care of. And so this is where I
just invite you to borrow God's eyes, and it's the
perfect time to just try on a new story, right,
a new story about your ability to be healthy and
taken care of like that, Because if you don't believe
that you are worthy of that, or that it's even possible,
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that's a God block and you need a new story
and you must renew your mind. And so I shared
the new stories that I personally tried on in both
of those neurofaith episodes that I mentioned, one was the
faith brain connection where self image meets neuroscience, and one
was holy Guacamole food faith and a restored body image.
(23:24):
And I can'tnot say it without saying holy guacamoly. But
let's look to God's word and see what it says.
And in a way, I kind of feel like God
left us breadcrumbs for his definitions of health in the scripture,
including where it says in Proverbs seventeen twenty two. And
this is the NIV version A cheerful heart is good medicine,
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but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. A cheerful
heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up
the bones. Okay, So soak that in. But I also
want to share Proverbs sixteen twenty four where it says
gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and
healing to the bones. Okay, And so these two literally
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talk about how our head and heart are what becomes
good medicine and health. But it literally talks about and
it uses the words a cheerful heart and gracious words
being good medicine and healing to the bones, but it
also says a crushed spirit is what drives up the bones.
(24:27):
And honestly, for me, you know, historically whenever I am
or was neglecting my health or down on myself about
my weight, and I can see that, oh my gosh,
like yes, my head, my heart, and my spirit were
totally off kilter. My spirit was crushed. So then I
would just rush into the next diet or try to
diet it away, or try to out exercise it. But
(24:50):
now I know that that's where I needed to start,
at the heart and the spirit and get that aligned
and then with that heart and spirit take action in
the field realm. Right, But it's more than that. And
you know, this idea of a renewed mind around health
and self care I really believe needs to start. It
really needs to actually like start with and include a
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new commitment to honoring our bodies and looking to God's
definition of health more and the world's definition of health
a little bit less. Because one of the things that
I personally had to do was I had to wake
up to the fact that no one was coming to
save me from myself and my habits in that regard, right,
(25:33):
and that it was my responsibility to renew my mind
and sift through all the madness and the nonsense and
all the short term band aids and diets and toxic
extreme methods and go heal my relationship with my body.
But it wasn't just my body. It was my relationship
with food too. And when I say it was my job,
(25:53):
I mean, like, yeah, I had I have free will,
I had to stop. I had to look to God.
I had to look to renew my mind. Of course,
there's that distinction that we've talked about about not totally
relying on self and that self sufficiency. But I mean,
I had to wake up to the fact that, like, hey,
God's tapping me on the shoulder, like it was my
job to say, okay, I'm ready to take ownership. And
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I love this scripture in First Corinthians six point twenty,
also the NIV version where it says you were bought
at a price, therefore honor God with your bodies. But
the ESV version of that same scripture says you were
bought at a price, so glorify God in your body.
Because to me it says, leanne, don't take advantage of
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your body. And I look back at my life and
I'm like, oh my gosh, I just I took so
much advantage of my body. And I do sometimes picture
God in Jesus, you know, actually being a little bit
firm with me, and in a loving way, of course,
but because you know, when you think about it, the
truth isn't always easy. But as they say, the truth
shall set you free. And I know, for those big
breakthroughs in my life, sometimes I need a little like
(26:58):
soft tap on the show, but sometimes I need a hammer,
and I need a bit of a metaphorical shaking by
the shoulders. And that's what I feel like that scripture
was I love this, you know one Corinthians six nineteen
through twenty, where it says, do you not know that
your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is
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in you, whom you have received from God. You are
not your own, You were bought at a price. Therefore,
honor God with your bodies. And again, this is a
stern but loving reminder of like Hello. At least it
was to me like, hello, Leanne, you are so fortunate
to have this body who is literally the temple that
is holding the Holy Spirit that lives in you. That
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wasn't just there arbitrarily like it was a gift from God.
And to me it kind of made me say, like, Leanne,
are you going to kick a gift horse in the mouth,
Like you have this gift given to you from God,
so now it's time to honor it rather than treating
it like gum on the bottom of your shoe or
something that needs to be star punished or hated on
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or just outright toxically shamed into oblivion. Like that was
a decision that I had to make, and once I
made it, it changed the game. And this actually intersects
really with the kind of conversations I have with my clients.
And obviously it's said and intended with so much love,
But I wish somebody spoke this directly to me back
(28:23):
in the day. But but I lovingly tell them that
and keep in mind too, like my clients have conversations
with themselves every single day, and they think like it's
a willpower thing, it's a discipline thing, like their self saboitaging.
But by the time they're on the phone with me
exploring if my stressless seeding program is a fit, they
now realize that the real issue here is a heart issue.
Like it's emotional, it's condition patterning, as in like it's
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fired and wired in their brain. A lot of them
it has been for their life or for decades and
it never got unwired or rewired. And then healing that
it really is just a choice. But it's I only
got to be about making this choice, where like this
is no longer just about food, it is no longer
just about the weight. It's where they're no longer willing
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to be a shrunken, disempowered version of them of themselves.
That's you know, sitting on the sidelines of their life
or not showing up as the version of themselves that
God designed them to be, and they are ready to
take back their power from it. And I lovingly tell
them that, you know, the first thing I look for
to know if a woman's really ready to heal it
is that they're radically committed to healing the real problem,
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like not just putting band aids on it, not looking
to outdiet it, I mean, you know, solve it, close
the loop, put out the fire. In other words, like
they have to be at that point in their life
where they know that the cycle just needs to end
because you know, they've been living like this for far
too long. They've been locked up in the food and
body prison for far too long, and they're ready to
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break free and take back their power. Like that's really it.
Like it doesn't have to be some deep, dark rock
bottom like some people think, but they do have to
get to that place where they realize that, you know,
the outdated systems and a food based approach and even therapy,
like all the things that didn't work, they didn't work
for a reason, and they're not going to go another
day without the roadmap and the strategy and the support
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that they need because they demand to be out of
that prison. And it's like, you know, for them, it
has to be getting to that stage where you know
enough is enough. They've been around the monster long enough,
like they want to change it from the root, not
just the symptoms, and put it to bed for good
and really being at that level. And yeah, like that
might sound a little bit confrontational to some people in
(30:33):
a way, but of course it's in a loving way.
But I also believe in a necessary way. And I
wish somebody had asked me those questions when I was
at the height of my disordered eating and toxically unhealthy habits.
And so when I hear First Corinthians six point twenty
where it says you were bought at a price, therefore
honor God with your bodies, or the version where it
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says glorify God in your body, it reminds me of
those firm but loving reminders and already aligns with my
own self imaging philosophies. So you're probably seeing why I
keep saying that the Bible met me where I was,
but also filled in gaps and completed the story for me.
But the Bible also says something else that's a bit interesting.
(31:16):
And this definitely connects to what we talked about, you know,
the air quotes food brain or the addiction brain in
that neurofaith episode. But this verse was actually a little
bit confronting to me. And it's from Proverbs twenty three
twenty through twenty one, but it says, do not join
those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
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for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness close them
in rags. It's from Proverbs twenty three, twenty through twenty one,
but it says, do not join those who drink too
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much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and
gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. And
when I first heard this scripture, I was like, whoa,
that is so judgy. And I didn't get it because
I was all like, wait a minute, I can have
compassion for people that are there, and I can still
hang out with people that are struggling. But then I
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looked and I explored it a little bit further. And
first off, it says join, it says don't join them.
It doesn't say don't hang out with them. It doesn't say,
you know, don't love them. But I believe that the
reason the Bible warns us about eating or drinking too
much or gorging ourselves and being around other people that
do that too, is because it's often a sign that
food or drink has become way too important to us.
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In other words, like it really is a sign of gluttony.
And we all know that, you know, one or two
chocolate chip cookies is awesome, but more than that and
you feel so bad, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, And
the same is true for eating or drinking too much
of anything. And so it's not saying don't eat or
don't drink, but too much you become a drunkard and
a glutton and become poor. And I believe that the
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word poor here because again, you know, I'm a word nerd.
It's so multifaceted, and in this I personally believe that
God is really referring to poor health when we're not
defining it as this three dimensional thing. And of course,
the logic and reason side of it is pretty simple,
like we need to take care of our health because
our health will eventually deteriorate and our quality of life
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will deteriorate if we don't. And so you know, God
gave our bodies to us and he wants us to
take care of them. And the Bible says you are
not your own you were bought at a price. Therefore,
honor God with your bodies. But if you are stuck
in the rut of chasing skinny or just totally neglecting
your own health and self care like I was for
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so many years, you miss out on all of what's
available to you. Hence it's another block. So what if
instead of looking at the health and fitness industry, you
created your own new definition of health and ask God
to meet you there and even borrow his eyes. And
you know, the God that I know he loves you
(34:08):
and he doesn't want to see you harm your health.
But also the God that I know would have so
much love and compassion for you if you are struggling
to take care of yourself. But again, like this is
also where that hyperdependency on self comes into play too.
Like what if yes, you took intelligent action and ultimate
responsibility for your role in this, but also let God
(34:30):
in and surrendered this to God, like you know, surrender
your definitions of health and start looking at it like
this mental, emotional, spiritual thing and bring that with you
into the physical and you know, surrender your ideas of
allowing somebody to help you and not having to carry
the burden of it all on your own, and get
clear and committed to act and live as someone different,
(34:52):
Like you have to become and be a new creation.
It's it's not just a mind or body thing. It's
a brain thing. And of course you know it's a
a thing too, Like you've got to renew your mind,
recreate your identity as this new person and step into
that version of you. And as Ketrick said in that
self Reliance episode, sometimes you're waiting on God and sometimes
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God is waiting on you. So where are you waiting?
Like waiting for things to get better on their own,
or waiting for someone to want it for you or
do it for you, or waiting for discipline or willpower
to magically show up, or waiting for the perfect time
or the perfect moment or for things to be perfect,
or waiting to start finding the beautiful, confident, powerful version
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of yourself that you know you are but you just
haven't seen in a while, or you know, like I say,
waiting for the wait to just be what you want
to be and do what you want to do and
feel how you want to feel. And where are you
waiting on God? And where is God waiting on you
to take the call right? And what if now was
the perfect time to once again just meet God there?
(35:59):
Like where can you simply draw a line in the
sand and commit to renewing your mind so that you
can start honoring your body by looking to God's definitions
of health more and looking at the world's definitions a
bit less, Like I wish somebody had said this to
me or asked me these questions decades ago. And that's
why I'm really trying to drive this home to you.
(36:21):
And I think you're starting to get the point and listen.
I could go on and on with more, but bringing
it back full circle to this, God's love is filled
with new definitions of health and receiving the spiritual and
soul health that you are most likely truly desiring when
you get stuck going down the physical or worldly rabbit hole.
But if you don't deem yourself worthy of that kind
(36:43):
of love and health and care, you are outright blocking
that love from God. But not just God blocking it
from anyone else to truly give you the love that's
available to you, but you might not feel worthy of
receiving it, like it's like it's not even there if
you're blocking it. Right, And most people are walking around
neglecting themselves, like feeling disconnected from themselves, their emotions, their
(37:05):
spirit and actively focusing on the worldly definitions of health
that you're learning often take you away from health and
away from worthiness. And this is a major problem when
it comes to your self image and when it comes
to receiving the love that's available to you. And that's
why self care is both an ingredient to a self
(37:25):
loving and worthy self image. But that same thing, if
you don't believe it or feel it, it's outright blocking
you from receiving that love. And here's that big distinction
that I really want you to get and really want
you to remember, because just like I talked about that,
there's a paradox to worthiness, this is the paradox of
health and self care, right, like taking care of yourself
(37:46):
and your health when you don't know how to take
care of yourself and your health. So when it comes
to the ingredient of self care, as a part of
the recipe of your self image. This is where I
believe it's our job to take radical ownership of it.
This is where we put in the work as a
human because if we want something to be different, we
need to see and do differently. But when it comes
(38:08):
to the side of the coin where the concept of
health and self care is a god block or a
spiritual block, and it's blocking you from receiving the love
that's available to you, that's where I'm here to plant
this seed in your brain. What if the God block
side of it wasn't yours to break through? What if
it's where you invited God into it, Like what if
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it wasn't your job and it wasn't your responsibility or
not at least not fully right. And remember what we
said about self reliance, Like what if this is where
you move into god reliance and God's guidance and that's
where you invite God into it and ask God to
help you and meet you there. And just to make
it super simple again like we did last week, what
if it was as simple as praying something like God,
(38:51):
please show me where I am chasing the world's view
of health rather than seeing it through your eyes, and God,
please show me what you see and show show me
your view, and just pray that over and over again.
And the reason I love that prayer is because the
first half, where you say, God, please show me where
I'm chasing the world's view of health, rather than seeing
(39:12):
it through your eyes, you're asking for revelation and wisdom
and awareness of what you're walking away from or at
least in the process of transforming. And the second half,
where you say, God, please show me what you see,
show me your view, You're asking for a new view
and a new belief and in turn, a new identity.
And I'm telling you, if you pray this over and
(39:32):
over again, he will show you. He will meet you
there and he will give you that revelation that you
are seeking. And how do I know this? This is
again where it's not just my faith talking, even though
that's a big part of it. It's also what neuroscience says,
and what we focus on expands. And as I teach
my clients what we give air to attention, intension, repetition, air,
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it grows and expands and it becomes you like your
brain will learn and you will just become having that
as part of the way that you think. But you've
got to renew your mind and you must practice it. Okay.
So that's my invitation for you, and an invitation in
its own right, like what if you just gave air
and gave attention intention repetition to that prayer of God,
(40:18):
please show me where I'm chasing the world's view of
health rather than seeing it through your eyes, and God,
please show me what you see, show me your view.
That is my invitation to you, okay. So that really
is the big picture side of health and self care
that I just wanted you to get access to and
just start seeing. And of course that means with God's guidance, right,
(40:39):
and that yes, there is a part in it that
you play when when it comes to taking radical ownership
of your self image, right, and as you're learning there's
a science to that. But also the side of health
and self care where it's a God block and it's
blocking you from receiving that care. And yes, it's a
catch twenty two because it's what you need, but it's
also you know what's blocking you. But the big distinction
(41:00):
being that block is not yours to do anything about.
That block is where you ask God to show you
His power, and all you have to do is surrender
and ask him in prayer for request, like, God, please
show me where I'm chasing the world's view of health
rather than seeing it through your eyes, And God, please
show me what you see, show me your view. And
that really is the nutshell of all this and my
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invitation to you just try on this new story, this
new perspective. And there is so much more I can
say about this, but we're going to just stop there
for right now. So that's it for the second Ingredient
and second God block, But we will be back next
week to talk about the next ingredient and next God block,
which is all about creating a new definition of self
worth by creating the currency of the soul and seeking
(41:45):
God's truth about your divine worth once again, not just
figuring it out on your own, but how to make
sure you're taking radical ownership of what you can and
cannot influence, but asking God to step in and do
a lot of the heavy lifting in your head, heart
and spirit. So I will talk to you, then we'll
(42:05):
be back with more What's God got to do with it?
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, So just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
(42:26):
with It? Dot com and scroll down to the form
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly. So What's God Got to Do
with It? Dot com You'll find all the ways to
do that. And if you like this podcast and want
to hear more, go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts to get your weekly dose
(42:46):
of What's God Got to Do with It? New episodes
drop every single Tuesday, and while you're there, be sure
to rate and review to show your support. It really
means so much. What's God Got to Do With It?
Is an iHeartRadio podcast on the Aby Brown podcast Network.
It's written and hosted by me Leanne Ellington, executive produced
(43:08):
by Elizabeth Bozzio, post production and editing by Houston Tilley,
and original music written by Cheryl Stark and produced by
Adam Barker
4 Things with Amy Brown News
Host
Amy Brown
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