OA RISE | Recovery Inspires Shared Experiences: Recent Episodes
OA RISE | Recovery Inspires Shared Experiences
OA RISE (#88993) is a registered meeting of Overeaters Anonymous. Our mission is to provide inspiring speaker meetings of depth and authenticity while supporting World Service through financial contributions. We aim to bring the voices and stories of both circuit and non-circuit speakers into focus, encouraging our own growth as we spread hope through our stories of experience with other compulsive eaters.
Kim G. "Am I a Real Compulsive Overeater? Do I have the allergy of body AND the mental twist?"
“Become aware of your triggers and how to manage them. Protect your abstinence - Get and stay abstinent no matter the circumstances - Go anywhere in the world and live free of the disease. Retreat leaders will share their experience, strength, and hope with internal and external triggers plus guide you in writing an inventory and action plan you can implement right away!” (Deb)
An OA member’s experience, strength and hope in working the OA program of recovery. Sharing what he’s discovered to be the true definition of success.
When I got to OA all I wanted was to lose weight, then I thought all my problems would be solved. It’s turned out that the real gift of this program has been an awakening of the spirit from the inside out – a transformation that has given me a life I never knew was possible.
Come celebrate our freedom from food addiction. Together we can do what we could never do alone!! Let’s explore how we got to freedom, what we have tried that hasn’t worked as well, what we maybe know we need to try but are simply not willing to do, yet.
Get on your hiking gear and pack your Tools! Join an adventure through the 12 Steps as we uncover and discover what’s lying just beneath the surface of our food addiction and other compulsive behaviours. Have your AA 12/12 handy, as well as your favourite pen and notebook, and of course, an open mind for a new experience. This is an interactive workshop that will address how to apply the Steps in every situation, as well as personal stories of the transformative powers inherent within them.
Step 1 tells us that we are powerless and that only an act of providence, a miracle, will relieve us of the merciless obsession. The rest of the steps are all about seeking a miracle. We must form a relationship with our Higher Power. This meeting will be all about how we can build up our reserve of faith and grow spiritually. Bring your big book and your 12 and 12!
Led by a veteran Overeaters Anonymous workshop leader who was a chronic slipper herself for a dozen years before getting abstinent 20 years ago, our event is a Big Book workshop for Chronic Slippers — both those who are slipping themselves AND those who want to be of service to those of us who have slipped for years and are still struggling to get abstinent. Of necessity, we will be having a glorious conversation about love and forgiveness since people who struggle to get abstinent are usually struggling to forgive someone or something. Join us for all or part of our daylong workshop, and bring your Big Books!
Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Initially beginning a disciplined relationship with our primary love object, our food, seems similar to starting any other diet. Later as the body and mind clear and we grow along spiritual lines, we learn about mindful eating, portion control, and leaning into longing as well as joy. Then we are moving toward establishing a more moderate relationship with food and life becomes more balanced and food plans become more moderate. Do you agree or disagree? Want to learn more about this from longtime members? Join them to discuss and develop organic and sensual experiences to continue living a recovery-centred life with less fear and more joy.
Come celebrate our freedom from food addiction. Together we can do what we could never do alone!! Let’s explore how we got to freedom, what we have tried that hasn’t worked as well, what we maybe know we need to try but are simply not willing to do, yet.
Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
At many OA meetings, a lot of members hear ’the 9th step promises’ read before the close.
What a lot us don’t realize is, that there are a whole bunch of ‘Promises’ peppered all thru the 1st 164 pages of the Book from “Bill’s Story” to “A Vision for You”!
Join us as we find them & talk about where they are. The Amount of hope in these ‘Promises’ thru out the B.B. is absolutely amazing. Guaranteed!
Access the file mentioned in this meeting here.
We release the past so that we are free in this moment for all that is possible now…. We are a sponsor and sponsee, both OA long-timers, who have found incredible peace through forgiveness and working the 12 Steps of Overeaters Anonymous.
Access the file mentioned in this meeting here.
My eating disorder began at a very young age. I started eating to survive the day and once I started I found that I couldn’t stop. I’ve been coming and going to program since the 80s and couldn’t find recovery until 2005. My motivation to return to this last time was ONLY to avoid the need to purchase a wheelchair to provide myself with mobility. I’m still a compulsive overeater but today I can walk and talk and breathe all at the same time!
I have been a grateful member of OA since June of 2007. I learned very quickly that I must surrender to a power greater than myself if I wanted to be relieved of my binging and purging. My ways of controlling and relieving the control with day-long binges were caught in a Groundhog Day cycle from a very young age day in and day out. OA~ felt like a free fall at times, but it was so often cushioned by the love, compassion, and support of fellows who had walked before me. I was given the gift of desperation and with that the gift of abstinence. That said, my life has had many challenges and grief for which I have been so grateful that I had could utilize the steps and the tools of the OA program, as well as the rich community of lifelong fellows. I am delighted to have the opportunity to share about how surrendering just one day at a time has strung together 13 1/2 years of abstinence from bulimia. I had tried everything before I tried this as a solution. Little did I know that OA had so much more to offer me than relief from my obsessions and compulsions. Today I experience the beautiful Promises of this program and a life beyond my wildest dreams. Hang in there. There is always hope. No matter what.
We have two fantastic speakers for this Sunday! One has been an active member in OA for 34 yrs. She has performed service at all levels. She continues to go to meetings. Today she lives the program. She still works with a sponsor.
The second speaker has been in OA continuously for 32 years, although she suffered through a relapse in the middle years. She has done service at the intergroup level and enjoys sponsoring people through the steps.
The format: the 1st hour the speakers will each tell their stories (30 mins each). Then we will get into how we live the program on all 3 levels. There will be a reading from Seeking the Spiritual Path for the 2nd hour, and the 3rd hour will be for questions and sharing.
The “Body Image, Relationships and Sexuality Workshop” is based on OA’s new book by the same title. Once we are abstinent and have worked the steps, these three topics come into sharper focus.
Body Image: Many of us have struggled to accept and love our bodies. The good news is that we can indeed learn to stop verbal and physical self-abuse and become willing to love ourselves and our bodies in recovery. The happy result is freedom to move, live and grow!
Relationships: Bill Wilson said that relationships have been the primary cause of our unhappiness and nothing could yield more satisfying results than to learn how to “live in the greatest peace, partnership and brotherhood with all men and women…” (AA 12& 12, page 77.) Thankfully this is very possible and leads to a life beyond our wildest dreams.
Sexuality: Then, as we recover from body image and relationship issues, we delve further into one of the most intimate parts of our lives—our sexuality. Can we love ourselves, HP, and others fearlessly and express and receive that love while being true to ourselves? One definition of recovery is “learning how to be intimate with our HP, with ourselves and with others…how far are we willing to go when we choose recovery?” (Body Image, Relationships and Sexualtiy, page 47)
Yes…the age of miracles is still with us and we can be rocketed into the 4th dimension of the spirit in all three of these areas!
The Big Book says we are not a glum lot. Therefore our speaker feels that if you are using a food plan given to you by a doctor or registered dietitian or nutritionist and if you are under the direction of a sponsor that It is completely possible to spend the holidays not suffering or struggling but being happy joyous and free and often serene. You may spend it with friends or family spend it on zoom or maybe on your own no matter what it can be just another abstinent day.
Our speakers has been abstaining in OA for 44 years and maintains a 150 pound weight loss. She has served OA on the levels of inner group region and world service. She is excited to share that she was sponsored by the founder of OA and before that the woman responsible for much of the spiritual content in our bylaws and literature. She has gathered an exciting panel of extremely diverse abstaining members from southern California to share with us. Someone will share an authentic holiday experience. All seven will be available for questions time permitting. We will end with learning the amazing spiritual exercise of building Gods house. An experience not to be missed!
Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Speaker from Bozeman, Montana, with 34 years of abstinence.
I sponsor people through steps 1 through 9 who wish to recover from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviours. Halfway through completing step 9, we are promised lives with freedom, happiness, serenity, and peace. We are assured that “our whole attitude and outlook on life will change” and that uselessness, self-seeking, self-pity, and fear of people and economic insecurity will slip away. These are promises that we all long for and work hard to achieve. (page 84)
The good news is that even more awaits us if we continue to practice the simple spiritual principles outlined in Steps 1 through 9. I see these steps as training for the spiritual discipline necessary for the really big miracle to happen. That miracle…that promise…ensures us that we will be “placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected” and that the compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviours problem will be removed. That it won’t exist for us. (page 85)
This workshop will be focused on the spiritual program of action required for the “daily reprieve”…the miracle of the removal of the problem…that comes through the maintenance of a fit spiritual condition. (page 85) A fit spiritual condition is the Big Book’s code for working steps 10 through 12. This presentation will provide a detailed explanation (both verbal, visual, and by example) of exactly how to work each of these three steps. I will rely on the instructions provided in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous . I invite you to join me in this quest: Bring your Big Book, an open mind, and a willingness to participate. My workshops involve little lecture and much interaction. Together, we will explore and practice workable methods to gain the ultimate freedom we so desire.
Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Step One with speaker from Portland OR. She will share her experience, strength and hope on Step 1 both as a newcomer and as a member with time.
Step Two with speaker also from Portland, OR. She will share how Step 2 has evolved and changed for her over the course of her recovery.
Step Three with speaker again from Portland, OR. She will share her understanding of step 3 and how she practices it on a daily basis. Each speaker will provide time for Q&A and/or sharing.
So what does it mean to be a Real Compulsive Overeater? Each of us needs to diagnose ourselves. This workshop will demonstrate the two-fold nature of addiction as laid out in the first four chapters in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am a Real Compulsive Overeater if I can’t eat my alcoholic foods, alcoholic ingredients or participate in my alcoholic behaviours safely and I can’t be abstinent contently. Join four recovered Compulsive Overeaters as they teach the exact nature of food addiction & why if you identify in as a Real Compulsive Overeater you need the 12 steps to recover.
Something I had struggled with for a long time; and something that I watched my fellow OAers struggle with; or something we would simply abstain from; was the belief that something could and would, help us. It was eventually the one key element that changed the direction of my recovery and continues to light my way. I’m just a fellow OAer who has found recovery, found abstinence, and in my journey, I have found a higher power.
Letting go of our character is a spiritual process that leaves us open to receive the gifts and the message of this program. In this workshop, we will examine our defects of character-I call the defaults—that stand in the way of usefulness to HP and to ourselves. In a loving, safe and creative process, we will look at some of the blocks that keep us stuck and lovingly let them go when we are ready.
Access the files mentioned in this meeting here.
Am I willing to surrender one day at a time? Am I willing to live life on life’s terms even when NOTHING feels certain? How do I use the program, the tools and HP to get me through each day, meeting calamity with serenity? And if doing what always works isn’t working, can I be willing to do something different?
Sometimes in the rooms of OA, we hear that there are no “musts” in the program of recovery – but the journey from active compulsive eating to abstinence and emotional sobriety takes a sustained and dedicated effort. Our workshop will examine whether OA’s 12-step recovery process can take place without having some clear guidelines that seem a lot like “musts.”
Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Overeaters Anonymous describes itself as “a community of people who through shared experience strength and hope are recovering from unhealthy relationships with food and body image.” (oa.org)
We focus on working the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA, in the belief that “once the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.” (Alcoholics Anonymous page 64) We “give up old thought and behavior patterns that have failed us in the past, beginning with our attempts to control our eating and our weight.” (OA 12X12 page 7)
Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the 12 Steps of OA to those who still suffer. (OA WSBC 2015)
Yet all too often, we forget that “a healthy body weight” is an outside issue, best left to qualified professionals in the field of eating disorder treatment. We continue to shame and belittle ourselves and our bodies, sometimes using the term “Fat Serenity.” We forget that “In OA, we have no program of diets and exercise, no scales, no magic pills. What we do have to offer is far greater than any of these things – a Fellowship in which we find and share the healing power of love.” (Introduction to the 12 Steps, page 1)
For some of us in the fellowship, when we reclaim the term “Fat Serenity” as a positive spiritual concept, we truly begin to heal our unhealthy relationships with food and body image and achieve recovery, defined by OA as “removing the need to engage in compulsive eating behaviors.”