Joy and Balance

If the Buddha Got Fat: A Mindful Path to Weight Loss and Abundant Health

Scott Mills, Ph.D.

In the West, we have adopted a feast (literally) or famine mentality to health.  We seem to either eat whatever we want to, whenever we want to or we starve ourselves to lose it all.   After experiencing both the life of luxury in his father’s palace and then the life of an ascetic starving himself away, Buddha came to what he called the Middle Way.   No where is a middle way more needed than in our relationship to diet and health.

As a life coach, I am very familiar with helping people make change in their lives.  And I know that the feast or famine approach doesn’t work.  Neither does relying on the authority of whatever latest health guru has published a diet suggesting you eat nothing but watermelon or everything but bacon.   As Dr. Dean Ornish has found repeatedly in studies funded by the National Institute of Health, Mutual of Omaha Insurance and other scientific bodies, we can decrease our weight and increase our health so that we feel more energetic, more flexible and stronger when we have the right tools and support.

One Breath at a Time: Supporting Mindful Change through Structure

Scott Mills, Ph.D.

One of the best ways to ensure failure is not to plan for success.   While I am a big fan of setting our intention and hoping for the best, we can do a lot more than that to make sure that the changes we initiate in our lives last. 

In my work with clients, we use what’s called an integral model of change.   It means that for change to be lasting in has to address four major ways that people are in the world: their heads and hearts, their bodies, their communities and their environment.  Preparing some ways to support yourself through your efforts and those of your friends and family can make the difference between a wished for change and a realized change.