Ahh. Returning to something you love after a hiatus can be challenging. It’s been one month since I wrote a blog post. Although I do truly love blogging I found it a little hard to sit down for the first few days and dig in to my old routine. Isn’t it strange that anything new or old you lose connection with can be hard to return to after the absence that separates you from someone or something?

I wanted a blog for so long and it took so much effort to create the “right” home for www.TotallyZen.com. Developing my ideas, doing the work, being professional, working with other like-minded individuals, creating the path in pursuit of my goals and follow through were all very important for this or any project to succeed. My vision, www.TotallyZen.com, was launched nearly two years ago.
I have been blogging weekly and have barely skipped a week .

Currently, I have been working SO HARD and HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!! Returning to another dream I once worked really hard at but temporarily abandoned without being fulfilled. The dream is being involved in the entertainment industry. Truth be known since I was three years old I dreamt of being a “star”. Did you know we are all just stars? Yes, universal energy compounded into one vital mass until our star power leaves our soul and we move on to another realm.

Anyway, I did not immediately pursue my childhood dream and for a while didn’t know what to “become” when I got older. Not feeling satisfied, I searched and searched and found my path of self- realization and actualization. Eventually, I become educated and excited about this journey and I realized I wanted to apply this knowledge to help others find their way more peacefully, happily and healthier through their own journey.

In the meantime, I realized I could combine this beneficial cause with another unfulfilled childhood vision. Hence, Totally Zen and Stephanie Churchill embody the helping, healing soul who may someday see her DREAM become a REALITY. I certainly have worked, sacrificed and not given up for a long time to be fit for this task. Then, just when I was not sure what my next move and I pondered how I was ever going to get to my final destination I ran into an unexpected opportunity.

No Joke Productions is an independent production company originally focusing on special FX and can build you any kind of set you want. Executive Producer and owner of No Joke Productions, Jeffrey A Cox, is a talented, driven, charismatic entrepreneur and has 19 years of hands-on production experience in the motion picture and television industry. In the last two years Jeff has been transitioning into full television production projects. His work is exceptional!

Jeff sees Totally Zen as I see it existing as in this world. As a lifestyle, health, wellness, natural living, conscious, engaging, adventurous, fun and energetic entity that brings its best to you! Helping you heal, grow, transform and evolve through sharing my experiences, knowledge and passion with you. Jeff and I work well together and have been spending a lot of time creating a development piece for television. It will be amazing to share this part of my journey that manifests my dreams and lets them come ALIVE!!!

Destiny is calling and I am working overtime.. Wish Me Luck.                  

]]> http://www.totallyzen.com/living-your-dream.html/feed 1 http://www.totallyzen.com/the-biggest-loser.html http://www.totallyzen.com/the-biggest-loser.html#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:59:39 +0000 Stephanie http://69.89.31.155/~totallyz/?p=51   

I don’t watch much television; so, I had never actually seen the show, The Biggest Loser. I was loafing around during the holidays watching a little tele and the show came on and I gave it a chance to catch my attention. I was emotionally drawn into the plight of the contestants.

I was fascinated and taken aback to see the massive size of these people most 200+ lbs. Obviously, this is extremely unhealthy for people to live at this weight level. Immediately, I started questioning how people can allow themselves to get to that point.

Did you know adult obesity has more than doubled in the United State between 1960 and 2004, rising from13 percent to 33 percent.”? About two-thirds of American adults are overweight and one-third are obese. *

The burden put on the healthcare system and the cost to the economy is staggering. The total cost is 117 billion dollars. A direct cost of 61 billion: workdays lost 39.3 million, 62.7 million in office visits, 239 million on restricted-activity days and 89.5 million in bed-days. About 59% of adults do no vigorous physical exercise. * Unbelievable!

Experts say that obesity is now a “lifestyle choice.” Modern medicine can cure so many diseases and illnesses that a person can and more people are taking the risk of dealing with a disease that might result from being obese.

Obese people are more likely to develop: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some forms of cancer, hypertension , high blood cholesterol, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and more.*

I can imagine the pain you must deal with on a daily basis. There is the obvious physical discomfort. But, I believe the worst pain is the emotional torture you must feel like: isolation, desperation and loss of control. A lot of this weight issue has to do with the emotional health and well being of a person. It must be devastating to be made fun of and feel different and ostracized from the general population. These are similar feelings you experience when you are dealing with any addiction.

So, how come people don’t, won’t, can’t find help or make the help work for them?

I guess once you reach a place in your mind or your body or even your spirit it is super hard to make significant changes. The amount of restraint and exercise a person must do to reverse a severe condition like this is all consuming.

Even though my own personal struggle with weight is small and petty in comparison to the contestants on the show; I have five to ten pounds that can come to me like wind but takes a mountain for me to move away.When I find them hanging on my body,  I  wonder, ”Why do I waste time and energy going round and round with the same old thing?” I have battled that small amount of excess many times before, and each time, I ask myself was “it” worth all that. I know it is not. Then why do I choose NOT to control my behavior or make choices that I know will hurt me?

I think it is representative of a lot of other addictions we have as a human culture, such as: alcohol, drugs, sex, dependencies on people and things. We have made our lives so comfortable it can be easy to find a “medication” for what ails us. It is true work to find out why we do things that are not good for us or hurt ourselves. Even after that, it can be a vicious cycle of undoing and redoing the very behaviors we have identified and taken steps to altering.

So, acceptance and patience might be the very thing that can “save us from ourselves.” Also, we might consider baby steps that allow for new ideas, attitudes and behaviors to set in and then, of course, the celebration of your victories with something as small as your very own appreciation of your own achievements.

*Weight-control Information Network, http://win.niddk.nih.gov/index.htm