407 thoughts on “A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words – with a Few of the Words”

1. It’s not what has been written, it is what I see and feel in the two photos. What a contrast.

The first before picture shows a couple pretending that everything is okay (its not a criticism either, but an observation). And reading the list, makes me realise that the service you were providing to others was from a different energy. How harming could this be?…

   Whilst the second photo, shows a wowser of a couple. I can feel the power, the solidness, that you are a reflection to the world what true couples are about. But I also feel the lightness in your list of what you are now offering to others. How healing for others…

   Wow what a reflection…

2. “Life is not about how one looks but this is how we look after 6 years of living a self-loving way.” – thank you Jonathan and Rowena, you are spot on as life is not about how one looks but your pictures convey a thousand words and this is awesome to celebrate, share and inspire! 😉

   1. I agree it’s not about ‘how we look’, but the photos don’t seem to lie. Now we have two choices. We either look from shaded spectacles and accept the before photo as the norm. Or we look through clear spectacles and realise that there is another way to live.

3. In this blog another comment that is commonly seen in society is when we make/’Made work more important than our health” – how often do we make other things more important rather than of equal importance to us – be this work, health, family, relationships and the list goes on…Are these not all equal in importance for overall health and wellbeing of anyone? If someone focuses too much on ‘health’ and excercise, then is this imbalance then not unhealthy too? Balance and homeostasis are our foundation to come back to, but we can have a bad habit of pulling too much into either extreme rather than allowing ourselves to naturally be pulled back to center and balance.

4. Amazing blog that shares and reveals much overall. There is one sentence that stands out to me: “Gained our sense of worth from what we did and identified strongly with our profession”. This sentence is one that most people would look at and think ‘isn’t that a good thing?’ and in fact we are ingrained with this from a young age to identify with something we can do especially something we can do well, and then build our confidence based on that thing that we do well. From a much more wider perspective though, we can see that this does not encompass who we are and the quality that we naturally bring which has its own innate sense of worth and value and is not based on any outside factors. This is a key differentiation that is shared in this blog, that gives us permission to expand on ourselves a hundredfold.

5. It’s a great reminder that love takes care of everything.

6. This is a brilliant blog because for me it exposes the arrogance of our way of thinking that we and I mean all of us are so intelligent when actually we are not at all. We just have to look out to the universe to see where true intelligence is held. True intelligence is to live in a way that is non harming to ourselves and the universe and when we do not live this way it makes sense that there will be corrections as the universe is harmonious and currently humanity lives a long way off from that. When will we stop to consider that our weather is out of kilter, or that we as a society are so very sick? How bad does it have to get before we are willing to call a halt to our tunnel vision way of living.

7. In these sorts of before and after pictures it’s not just the body shape that changes. You both look more at ease and content in yourselves as well.

8. Bringing consistent care, nurturing, and love into our lives supports us in many ways as is highlighted in this blog.

9. The world has to back to front as when we want to change our life, perhaps it’s our weight, our fitness, our relationships, etc, we go outward towards a goal. What this blog shows is to go inward, deeper into love, and those things naturally take care of themselves.

   1. Beautifully said Melinda – it is like focusing on the inside and going inwards takes care of those very things that we thought the focus had to be on.

10. The changes you have made to your lifestyle is quite remarkable, because it is not just the outer transformation that has taken place, but an inner one too. Perhaps the outer appearance is simply a reflection of the inner change where the vibrance and sparkle can also come through.

11. Having been a patient of Jonathan Stewart when he was practicing kinesiology I can honestly say that I have watched the changes that both Jonathan and Rowena have made in their lives though the choices they have made they now live a completely different life. Their loving choices reflect out to the world that positive change is possible and so enjoyable.

    1. Absolutely true, Mary. To see that such change is possible and sustainable, is deeply inspiring.

12. What a great idea. I can also see and feel the quality and care in the after photo is outstanding, how they have managed this amazing transformation is brilliant to read and to appreciate their reflection.

13. Wow, Rowena and Jonathan, your after photos emanate deep care, love, and sass. So amazing to see your transformation and your blog will inspire so many people.

14. What I so love about this is that your second list is not what you strived to achieve, but what happened as a result of you making different choices simply because now you knew that self-love was ok and saw through your previous choices with deep honesty.

15. When we begin to re-establish a loving and honouring relationship with our body and being we soon discover that our well-being is governed by the quality of this connection and that our bodies reflect every choice we make. Love is our greatest form of medicine and what is beautiful to realise is that we all have access to living in connection to love, as this is all that we are, as such we are all in essence practitioners of medicine.

    1. Agreed – Love is our greatest form of medicine, Carola – these are simple but super wise words and they are not just thrown flippantly around for there is an understanding here that love is not just some emotional thing to use as a balm to sooth our hurts, but rather that love is a way of living that allows a deep connection to self and others and what is needed in each moment.

16. There is so much to experience from looking at your before and after photos and today I felt how open you both are in the after shot. In the before photo I could feel some protection from the world, and in your discovery of self-love and self-care, the protection feels like it has dropped away and you are much more open to the world.

17. Self-care is more than ok – it is vital for our health and wellbeing.

18. “Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour” I love this. When it comes to health we often put our focus on exercise, diet and sleep but completely forget that there is so much more to life than these daily necessities. How we are with people and whether we allow ourselves to express what lives within us and how we really feel is another huge contributor to our wellbeing and state of health.

    1. So true Esther, I notice when I’m not able to express my natural essence, my qualities including being cheeky, wise, or funny, then that inner emptiness (or lack of me) feels so unsettling I go looking for food or some other relief which won’t truly support me. I basically try to get away from that awful feeling instead of returning to be me again. Being ourselves is such great medicine.

19. The before and after pictures say so much on their own, that highlight the importance of asking what are we feeding with food?

20. There is so much gold in this blog. Today I am drawn to this truth “rediscovering that our self-worth is inside ourselves and not in the things we do”. To live this truth changes everything.

21. It’s really key what you’ve shared about how being overweight wasn’t simply a result from overeating but it was to do with much more; how you lived, approached work, what ‘fixes’ you went to to emotionally cope with issues etc. We can’t address global problems such as obesity in a 2-dimensional way.

22. What is here shared is the importance of the quality in which we do things. In the past many would not have faulted your way of living I’m sure, it seemed healthy and committed, but without the connection our essence and the full understanding of energetic integrity and responsibility no true change can occur. Yet when we do embrace it, as you both have and countless others including myself, the changes are more profound then we once could have imagined.

23. It is important to read and feel the words behind the pictures for in those words it’s people coming to their own understanding of what is their true shape and how to nourish their bodies and wellbeing.

24. From changing your way of being and relating, so much has changed as listed in all of your amazing health points. And your before and after pictures say it all – you are both absolutely glowing and radiant.

25. “Made work more important than our health, relying on caffeine, alcohol and sugary foods to alleviate our general state of anxiety and exhaustion and boost our energy levels” It is interesting to see how we made it normal to drink caffeine, alcohol or sugary drinks just to feel able to do something. Those substances are not natural nourishments for us and our body, more the opposite, so it begs the question of how we are living that we need that to get by?

    1. Very true Lieke, and I also ask the question, ‘How do I live so I do not need those substances?’ and the answer is ‘Be love’.

26. Being aware of our emotions and how we come to living in an emotional state including the effect it has on our bodies, has been highly empowering and liberating. As developing an honest, responsible and loving relationship with my body has allowed me to feel the debilitating effects emotions have on my body and being, in which drive was often engaged leading me to feeling exhaustion. I now, not in any perfection, understand and can feel the difference when I live from who I am, in connection to my body and being, as there is an effortlessness that is present and a settlement in which the need for emotions have no place.

27. Holding onto a judgement of another is enough to bloat us because the way that we are in life affects our body.

    1. So true, Elizabeth, it is not just physical things we ingest or absorb that will bloat us.

28. You both are the living examples that we can change our whole life through more loving choices as you both so beautiful expressed:”. . . It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.”

29. As I read your blog Rowena and Jonathon I am reminded that healing and health and well-being are very closely related.

30. The way we live determines our state of being. It is as simple as that. And this blog is testimony to this.

    1. Absolutely as are their bodies. As Serge Benhayon has always said, the body is the marker of truth, there is nothing that is needed to be believed here, the bodies show the changes in both health, size, emanation and quality of presence.

31. In the midst of a worldwide obesity epedemic, it’s something huge to hear that the weight that we gain has not so much to do with the food and everything to do with the energy we choose. It shows so clearly how we love to make life about the physicality at the expense of multi-dimensionality and our light.

32. A picture is worth a thousand words but nevertheless your words say it all as well. What an enormous change! I would never have recognized you as you are today as I met you when you had just first embarked on changing your ways. You are an inspiration for everyone.

    1. Thank you Kathleen. I look back at those photographs and I do not recognise myself. If I try and imagine how life would have been if we had continued the life we had been living it is a nightmare – I am sure Rowena & I would have separated or else somehow managed to have maintained an argumentative and abusive relationship, very probably lost our business, I would mostly be an alcoholic and I even wonder if I would still be alive. (This is written with Rowena’s agreement).

       1. Yes Jonathan, I can say the same about myself. It is certainly depressing to even imagine what I would be like today if I hadn’t made the changes I have made over the years thanks to the inspiration I have received from Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon that led me to understand that there is another way to be.

       2. Same for me Jonathan and Rowena, if I see how much love, joy, vitality and health I live now and where I was a decade ago… if I would not have made the changes I was able to make through the support of Universal Medicine I would surely be in a very miserable place right now.

33. What I read is that you went back to a simpler way of living emotionally and physically. Where once you let life dictate your normal, perhaps as if you were sitting in the backseat of your car, you decided to sit in the front seat and be part of the decision making process. It is a deeply healing and empowering transition.

    1. That’s a great analogy, Lucy, and the painful irony was that we believed we were not only in the front seat, we were in the driving seat not letting life dictate our normal but instead very much in charge of our life. How wrong could we be? And the state of our bodies reflected this, however much we denied the truth.

       1. Yes that is one of the greatest gifts we can be offered isn’t it jstewart51. Our body will never lie to us about where we are in the car and how long we have been there – however delusional we choose to be.. eeeek!

34. The pictures capture it, it’s hard to believe that people who are 7 years older now look 10 – 15 years younger and have a spark and a vitality that is so obvious. It just shows the power of loving choices and living the understanding that life is indeed medicine.

    1. Thank you Monica and both Rowena & I not only look younger we fell younger.

35. A beautiful transformation and the pictures say it all, this is an absolute reflection of your self loving choices, and how through our choices we can instantly know what best supports us through simply allowing a true connection to our body, and adhering to what is required.

    1. So true Sally, it is the connection to one’s and responding to its requirements that truly brings about change.

36. Identification with whatever is saying yes to a reduced version of life and of yourself. Such a concentrated focus does not allow us to contemplate the whole picture of anything.

37. Yet another article that shows how our health can be dramatically improved with making self-loving, self-caring choices. The evidence speaks loudly, that many of the health issues we have today can be suppprted, if not completely eliminated with the choice to change ones lifestyle.

38. “Instead, we were presented with a different way of being.”
    It is this, that is so very profound. As it is not like this way of living is unknown. What is key here, in my experience, is that with what Serge Benhayon so prolifically lives and presents, is that I finally felt like I had permission to live my truth.

39. I love that “discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour” was on your list.

40. Our bodies come back to their rightful, natural shape – and there are many beautiful differences – when we live, eat and work according to our true nature.

41. Your honesty is so refreshing that you went to the course to learn new skills but not necessarily to address your own health issues … and yet you went with what was offered and addressed your health issues along the way, and discovered a whole other level of self care. Your pictures show it all, you look alive and vital and you’re older – that is amazing. Well done for having the courage to change.

42. I can feel so clearly in these words how you have claimed your lives back. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” I too have made the same choices, also not from the desire to lose weight but to change the way I was living, a way that was definitely not working. The way I am living now where a deep love for myself and my well-being is my commitment is bringing so much vitality and joy into my life; this way is my true medicine.

    1. Well said Ingrid, it is our responsibility to be aware of the choices we are making and how we are moving our bodies, the words that are coming our of our mouths etc. Through a consistent commitment to this awareness the choices that harm or heal us become more obvious.

43. ‘Made work more important than our health, relying on caffeine, alcohol and sugary foods to alleviate our general state of anxiety and exhaustion and boost our energy levels’. How many of us do this, I know this was my habit too and just left me exhausted….there comes a day though when you just know you have to make changes as the body can give quite loud and clear messages in many different ways.

44. Wow, the before and after pics speak for themselves of the life-style choices that have been mentioned and just goes to prove that our health is truly in our own hands, and that where ever we find ourselves in life, we have arrived there with our choices.

45. Yes the amazing change you see in the before and after pictures cannot ever be from only dieting because you both shine and sparkle which was not there in the former picture. Your story shows that the way we look and are in our body is the result of a whole way of living and never just because of food alone.

46. The weight loss transformation seen here is astonishing but the way your lives have been enriched by your choices is palpable. You are living proof that diets and regimes don’t work – and that love does.

47. In your blog you mentioned, “comfort eating”. Comfort eating is such a trap for most people as it actively prevents us from feeling what is there to be felt and dealt with.

48. This is a great sharing Rowen and Jonathan for when our lifestyle becomes our medicine we truly understand that our health and our connection with self, others and the world is all in our hands.

49. You have to laugh at the irony of someone going to a course to broaden their own professional healing skills and instead end up exposing their own health issues. Kudos to both of you Rowena and Jonathon for being humble enough to feel the potential of committing to the ongoing process of healing yourself so you can support others to heal themselves from a far more honest foundation.

50. How true our life and the choices we make are our medicine. It is simple to understand then that we are an accumulation of all our previous choices, including the mental, emotional and physical ones that shape our lives.

51. This is incredible Jonathan and Rowena. The difference in the two photos are amazing, you both sparkle with vitality and joy in the after photo. This highlights how our lifestyle choices affects us hugely in all areas of our life. The way we care, nurture and look after ourselves is so important. Your blog is a brilliant example of this, thank you.

52. “Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour”, I love this, it shows that everything in life counts and contributes to our state of being.

53. Beautiful, Jonathan and Rowena. That which Universal Medicine offers us is magnificent, and it offers it in ever-deepening ways. After 10 years of implementing the philosophies presented, I’m finding there is still more to unpack.

    1. So true Victoria, the unpacking never ceases as the Universe ever expands.

54. It is quite a revelation that you were overweight from eating food that disagreed with your body, not from overeating. I can appreciate this, as I can get quite bloated from eating certain foods, even though they are considered ‘healthy’ by most. I also loved the difference between believing you were healthy and actually listening to your body to know what is healthy for you at that time.

55. Serge Benhayon absolutely inspires living life with innate joy and wonder while accepting the responsibility of true purpose and commitment to our belonging to the Whole.

56. Many people have been inspired by what Serge Benhayon presents which basically is a sharing of the truth he lives and it’s so easy to make him ‘special’. And then we see his family living the same, ok, we can still think ‘Yeah, of course, they are Serge’s family’ and then we meet a few others, and then some more, and more… it’s only a question of time we run out of excuses as to why we are not living that and it becomes super obvious everything indeed is our choice and we are creating the reality we call life. What inspires us is already within us awaiting to be reignited.

57. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE” – this is so powerful. Life is a group of moments and it simply makes sense that how we are in each moment affects how our life would look and feel like as a whole. Self-love chosen and lived consciously as much as we can with consistency as you do and share here so beautifully is indeed a great medicine we can all administer.

58. The before and after pictures say so much. Lifestyle definitely is medicine as is gradually becoming acknowledged by some doctors.

59. There is no ‘magic pill’ in life…but there is real magic in learning to be more truly self-loving. Jonathan and Rowena are evidence of this fact…as am I. I too have lost a significant amount of weight, not because I have been dieting, but because I have made more loving choices for myself. There are many other benefits too – but what it comes down to for me is that I am choosing to be ever more of who I innately am – and this is a wonderful thing.

60. Pictures really do speak a thousand words… what you both reveal now Jonathan and Rowena is The Livingness in action and glory – the simplicity of making self-loving choices and what that then brings about to our physical body (and to so much more.)

61. Being a fashion stylist, the first thing that I picked up on your before and after photos is that when you were living in choices which did not truly support you there is a certain sense of style which accompanied it. The clothes from the before picture conveyed a sense of lifestyle which feels more removed from life and more individualistic, and in the after photo the clothes conveyed a feeling of much more being in life. But more than just clothes, the before photo feels more lonely and the after photo the joy is very apparent.

62. ‘we can make more self-loving and self-nurturing choices in our day-to-day lives. Weight loss is often a natural occurrence when these choices are implemented in daily life ‘ And there is consistency, with no weight fluctuations as a beautiful, steady rhythm is embraced in life..

63. There are so many modalities, forms of treatment and therapies out there that promise and proclaim that they do so much or are beneficial – when the truth is when we find that it is these that don’t work it exposes that the actual need that is driving a quick fix or solution is the real problem. For there is much healing in simply accepting what is happening to ones body and moving in healing steps accordingly.

64. Your story shows how if we do live in a way that is not true it is actually poisoning the body energetically and that is physically seen in many different ways but most often in bloating and gaining weight. That is for a part why by letting go and choosing a more true way of living often also leads to weight loss as the poison is not constantly added to the body.

65. THIS is the REAL DEAL. No doubt about it! All those fads, dieting trends, beliefs about foods and what’s good and not so good and the best diets and all those other health crazes do not ask for any responsibility what so ever. They do not work simply because they do not deal with the root of the issue. Universal Medicine’s teachings offer a way of being that is naturally responsible and not just practically but to our every energetic intent as it comes from an understanding that all we do impacts on all no matter what. This is what makes living this way so simple and so powerful yet equally very empowering and gorgeous.

    1. So true, Joshua, address the root energetic cause and the physical cannot help respond accordingly.

66. Discovering that our self-worth was not found in the things I did or achieved was not only a huge turning point in my life but also very liberating from the insatiable drive that was running me, to succeed or achieve in order to feel a sense of worth and value. I now realise that who we are within is already valuable to no end, and when we live in connection to this quality we then understand that true fulfillment is available to us in every moment.

67. With the support of Universal Medicine and lifestyle choices I too have seen huge transformations of many that have rid themselves of the ideal and beliefs of dieting by choosing quality living. So often dieting relates to dropping the weight and looking at the physical aspect only, but what is often buried is the root causes that not dealt with lead us back on the merry go round of weight gain time and time again.

68. Fabulous testimony to Universal Medicine and to you Rowena and Jonathan! . . . “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” . . . I love it! Love the photos also as I have not seen you for years I may not have recognised you!

    1. In this respect the name ‘Universal Medicine’ carries the truth of what those words convey, a medicine for all which affects us all.

69. Many people loose weight but if we just look at the fact someone has lost, and in some cases, and incredible amount of weight, we don’t see what else has truly transformed or what hasn’t really. With Rowena and Jonathan they took a big dose of ‘this is who I am’ and have been letting it out ever since.

70. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” A gorgeous example of how one movement towards responsibility for one’s life choices can bring such vitality and love back to the body. Truly awesome thank you Jonathan and Rowena.

71. The choices we make in he way we live are reflected in our body. When we honour our body as a vehicle of true love then it reflects a lightness physically and energetically.

72. What an incredible story. Many people see losing weight as the ‘end goal’. Your story shows that the most incredible transformations start with a simple choice to be honest and loving with ourselves.

    1. Great point Leonne. I am discovering and witnessing more and more how our body shape is the end result of the choices we make, reflecting the degree of love we hold for ourselves. And as you say love being at the heart of all great and true transformations.

       1. Love is a the heart of all great and true transformations, and it is not outside of us, love comes from within, so it is a process of accepting that we are love and then letting it out….the more love we share the more we are given to share, and is how we evolve.

73. We can not define true health by the way we look, as it is the energetic state of being that truly dictates vitality and harmony in our bodies.

74. I love seeing this before and after because it is a testimony to the power of true medicine. Serge Benhayon talks about medicine as the way we live and this feels to me to be so true as how we live either heals us or harms us.

75. It is always great to remember that the way we live is actually our medicine, so if we live life in accordance to our being life is good medicine and when ignore the natural signs our bodies are communicating to us makes life bad medicine.

76. The before and after pictures speak volumes, energetically you feel so different.

77. ‘Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour.’
    Interesting that when we change our lifestyles the body can be more open and able to expressing the truth of who we are – from there, our uniqueness, lightness and playfulness can be naturally let out from within.

78. We are capable of enormous changes in ourselves when we connect to the divine spark that is within us. The more we live true to the impulses of that divine spark the more our natural beauty and gorgeousness shines through.

79. The pictures really do speak for themselves, you look more ready for life in the 2nd one, more responsible and more engaged. Serge Benhayon did the same to me – he asked me if the level of love and care I was bringing to another was equal to the amount of love and care I brought to myself… tumbleweed moment. It is not about weight loss but there are SO many positives to bringing more responsibility about the way we live into our lives.

80. Often when we see weight loss in people there is still a marker of holding back and not letting go of aspects of their life that we can still mask after the physical weight has disappeared. What has been interesting to observe here is the difference in the eyes and the facial expressions where there is a level of letting go for all to see not only in the weigh department but also of the beliefs and ideals that can keep us from sharing our true qualities with the world.

81. I can absolutely testify for these two, they are amazing, it’s interesting as I have found out on weight over the past year an it’s not from eating more it’s from holding onto something. It’s almost like I use it to protect myself, as a guard, when all it’s doing is dulling me.

82. You have shown that weight loss is not just about losing weight and that losing weight alone does not change our lives. It comes down to the quality of living and the choices we are making that really make the big difference

83. ‘It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.’ Well said, thank you for your sharing your amazing transformation – you both are living miracles of what’s possible when we make our life about love.

84. Self love may seem to be a narcissistic impulse. And the truth is to a certain extent it is as it suggests – all about self. But the problem with understanding true love, which actually has no self in it at all, you must first be able to apply its living principles towards oneself, so that you actually live it. For true love is a vibration, and an energetic vibration, not something you can give to another, or share, or actually keep for yourself, and it is by virtue of truly living its qualities that you inspire another to connect to the same quality of being that innately resides within themselves, although perhaps dormant and yet to be activated. And so, self-love is actually the mental process that is the bridge between love-lessness and true love, for it is the putting into action certain ways of living that create the movements that in themselves then make it possible for true love to be connected to.

85. As the beginning of this article explains, Universal Medicine never talks about weight loss. What it talks about is self love, and if the end result of applying the overarching principle of self love to one’s life is the loss of excess weight then that is fantastic, but it is actually not what self love is ultimately meant to “achieve.” Rather the point of healthy eating has a much deeper purpose to the esoteric student. For whilst it is definitely about honouring true physical needs of the body, it is ultimately about creating a body that is more sensitive to feeling the energetic fact of life, and about creating a body that can hold the vibration of fire, or God’s light.

    1. Absolutely Adam, and as the sensitivity is heightened, that is what we have to choose to be OK to feel again. The food that dulls that sensitivity often bloats us. Holding more fire in the body supports us in every facet of our lives so well worth saying yes to that fire and support next time the choice to dull it comes round again.

86. To me it is all about really connecting to that amazing delicate and tender body of me that in turn made me take truly care for it. Without this connection I would still be in the same disregarding relationship with it I lived before I found Universal Medicine.

87. Everyone has a natural body shape – this is something that I had never considered before Universal Medicine. The current understanding is that food is the greatest enemy to our body shape but I have come to realise that it is every thought, belief, ideal and unresolved hurt and issue that has informed my shape and weight. They are sitting all over our bodies. This has exposed the evil in much of what society feeds us about who we should be, how we should be and the credentials we should aim for. There is much here to be considered.

88. The biggest thing that supported me to lose weight was learning to not absorb other people’s emotions. I used to walk around like a sponge taking on all sorts of things like another’s sadness etc. I learned from Universal Medicine to observe and not absorb and once I understood this the weight just naturally fell away and has never been an issue since.

89. Being committed to being ourselves.. what would the world be like, if we lived like that, instead of the versions of ourselves that we think we need to be, or the commitments that we’ve made to everything else outside of ourselves, and put above actually being ourself?

90. ‘Self love is okay’ – and fundamental to how we relate to ourselves, and others.

91. This article opens the question as to how much does our lifestyle affect our health? From what is shared here, greatly. So, therefore how much can each one of us support our communities and medical facilities by simply supporting our bodies? We all are responsible for the dire straits we find our health services in.

92. This point you raised stood out for me: “Arrogantly believed that our way of living in general not only supported our well-being but was beneficial for us”. It is amazing how opinionated and defensive we can be about our harmful ways even when our bodies are very clearly giving us messages that the way we are living is not working.

93. Life is about constantly evolving. It is a stark contrast to how I used to live a life of comfort choosing what I wanted and allowing the pictures to sustain my way of living. My life did not flow – it was a mess in all areas as Rowena and John have contested. How soon did that change when I took hold, and continually do as this is evolving and a for-ever-deepening relationship with self, of how, I loving want to be treated, and, what is needed around me to restore the same ill-consciousness and behaviour. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR lifestyle has become OUR MEDICINE.” It is worth choosing to have a life about evolution – constantly seeking what is next and enjoying how life can flow beautifully inline with the plan on what is needed next.

94. It’s a completely different way of life when self loving choices become our foundation, instead of trying to lose weight to alleviate low worth or meet a body image ideal, or being “healthy” based on what an outer authority deems this to be. Each body is unique and the process of listening to and supporting ourselves via the body and what it communicates can lead to a true state of health and wellbeing because it’s from the inside out.

95. Those pictures are worth a thousand words – the message couldn’t be any clearer; it is truly amazing what happens when we become honest and take responsibility for our choices: only then can we change how we live and how our life is.

96. There seems to be much more to healthy weight than just the food we eat. The emotions, the unresolved unexpressed issues all build up and affect how we feel about ourselves and this in turn would affect what we reach for in the food we consume. From speaking to one or two people they have expressed that how they feel about themselves does impact on their body and the weight they carry and I wonder from this if there is much more to weight loss than just the obvious calorie surplus or deficit.

97. Rowena and Jonathan there is the most profound change to be seen in your before and after photographs – there is no doubt that the choices you are making have significantly changed your health and wellbeing. A deep and lasting self healing.
    “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.”

98. I love re-reading this, what a change! a true miracle.

99. Making life all about work has been a big factor in my life. I made my life about work to seek the recognition and approval I so desperately craved from those around me. I can still fall into this behaviour feeling racy with a tendency to push through and then find myself not eating properly but I am becoming aware of it in my day. With awareness I choose to respond differently by taking a rest or I take myself outdoors and go for a walk.

100. I found for me the link between my weight and the emotions I carried from things that had happened to me. I would carry a lot of things that had hurt me or shocked me in the past and they were still very much alive in my body from day to day. As I began to look deeper into these my weight became steady, in fact it’s pretty much been the same for the past 3 years. Before Universal Medicine I would have fluctuations of weight up and down and I would never keep to the same weight for long periods. Weight loss hasn’t been in my mind or what I intended but I saw weight changes from how I was with myself. How I treated myself, the care and consideration I offered myself at any point. I was amazed what my body was carrying in it from the years gone by and I wouldn’t have even been aware of this without Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.

101. Committing to life and introducing a foundation of self-care and self-love allows the body to discard that which does not belong to it, creating space for our bodies to return and align once again with the natural flow of the universe.

102. You should do a 2017 after photo that will once again blow everyone away like these photos have! You have both just kept on transforming and committing to life and are a constant inspiration to so many.

     1. Good point Aimee – there are alway further, amazing and profound changes in students of the Universal Medicine community from when their photos were taken previously, even if only a year or so ago. An indelible record and confirmation of the power of true love and the Ancient Wisdom Teachings when lived on a daily basis.

     2. Thank you Aimee and yes it would be good (and fun) to do an update as so much has evolved.

     3. This is a great testament that true health, vitality and beauty is not dependant on targeting the external appearance and photo-shopping, it is the way we live, our relationship with ourselves, with people, with life and the world we live in.

103. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” Such a simple way of expressing such profound changes that are evident in the photo and felt deeply.

104. There is certainly more at play than what we are willing to see when we overeat, eat comfort or junk food. When we are willing to address the underlying cause of our eating behaviours our body weight then begins to adjust naturally. When I feel the urge to overeat I know there is something I have been and am avoiding.

105. What is beautiful about Universal Medicine is how much absolute change you can register on an after-image in the knowing that what brought you there was not following an image on how you have to look like.

106. I am struck by the openness and willingness you both had to stopping the never ending trail of self improvement when you felt the truth of who you are. No need to find solutions only the possibility of taking responsibility for one’s own choices, very inspiring thank you Rowena and Jonathan.

107. There is no such thing as perfect and I can completely relate with what you have shared about life and the way we live being a form of medicine, this is so true and also what I have learnt from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. It is not about being ‘fixed’ or striving to a place where we can be ‘better’ both of what I tried to do and of course it doesn’t work its like pushing yourself upstream in a river .. very hard work that goes nowhere because it is not true and goes against the natural flow! With weight yes food and drink of course have an impact on our body if we eat unhealthy foods the whole time especially sugar and alcohol this will definitely have an effect on our weight but we can also become bloated and overweight from taking on other people’s emotions, absorbing life instead of observing it which while I am writing this still know I have a little bit of work to do in this area. Great to see the after photos of you both, WOW the difference is HUGE and really lovely to hear the personal things you have shared of what has unfolded for you both like finding Jonathan’s sense of humour and a dramatic improvement in Rowena’s health. Gosh it also goes to show how people in the so called ‘health’ industry do not lead healthy or truly loving lives themselves, this again I can relate to from my past. With Serge Benhayon this is the complete opposite and so inspirational he truly lives a life that is dedicated and committed to deeply loving and taking care of himself the whole time as he knows how he lives has an affect on another. Now that is what I call living responsibly!

108. a marvellous testimonial.

109. “Relinquishing comfort eating, (caffeine and alcohol) in favour of addressing the underlying emotions and to feel the effects of the foods we eat”
     By comfort eating we create a downward spiral as we dull ourselves more and more and cannot feel anymore what is truly beneficial for our body to be vital, healthy and joyful.

     1. So true Judith. We attempt to resolve the our issues through consuming things that depress our vitality and put us into a yo-yo situation. Where one substance dulls us we look to counter it with a stimulant, a glass of wine followed by a cup of coffee being a good example, all of which sends our delicate physiology into a spin. The Gentle Breath Meditation is a superb tool to use to stop the downward spiral and over time, enables us to prevent our selves going into it in the first place. A true God Send in all meanings of the word that powers up our ability to take responsibility of our actions and heal very entrenched habits of self destruction.

110. When we focus on what we do to as our main source of self-worth we are utterly dependent on the outside world feeding us our sense of self which is if we are honest in today’s world is quite unreliable and inconsistent.

111. My favourite parts of this transformation are the discovery of Jonathan’s sense of humour and the dramatic improvement in Rowena’s health. The playfulness, joy and vitality of your relationship is a testament to all you present here.

112. Every time I see you two, you are looking more younger, more healthier and more full of joy. You are both shinning examples of what our life can be like when we commit, take responsibility and listen instead of overriding our bodies. What more can be said, the pictures say it all.

113. A great example of weight loss that have gone deeper than the physical level. How often do we add self -care and see-love to the diet menu?

114. I love the transformations you have both experienced… extraordinary beyond measure. You are both living evidence of the power of choosing a way of being that is in itself medicine.

115. Wow what an amazing transformation. Just look at the pictures, the body doesn’t lie, just feel the difference it makes to us when we consistently take responsibility to make choices guided by our bodies.

116. Recently I have become aware of just how much of our weight issues and bloating can be related to emotions such as when we absorb energy from others or try and protect ourselves and not even so much about what we eat. Since attending Universal Medicine I lost well over 20k without directly trying and have stayed at a very healthy weight consistently for many years. This is because I have dealt with and healed a lot of emotional issues and do not react or take on others people’s stuff in the way I used to. What I eat and how I exercise has also changed as a consequence of my awareness and loving way. In the past I used to try and lose weight by directly tackling what I was eating and that never worked and anything I lost came straight back on and sometimes even increased. Huge thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for showing me such a very simple, joyful and healthy way of living that works!

     1. There is so much to be appreciated here on realising how emotions can harm and how often it is the core ingredient of the hurts we carry.

     2. Great point Nicola, it is not only the physical ingesting of food that can take up space but also the ‘weight’ we carry can be from emotions we absorb.

        1. We even have sayings that show we know this such as “that’s heavy man!”

117. The results of your choices speak for themselves, self care is all to easy

118. Those pictures are very telling and quite revolutionary. In the latter one it’s easy to feel how you are both feeling.

119. Our bodies reflect the care we have for ourselves, and although we are convinced it is about the food we eat, perhaps the food comes second, and first is the care (or lack thereof).

120. What an amazing transformation. Its wonderful to feel how by making these consistant choices not only your bodies have changed but your whole way of being.

121. This is such an inspirational blog, we can get caught up in the illusion that we are doing the right thing, but when we look at our health in truth and from our body, we can see the truth that is being presented. One thing I have come to understand is no matter what, our body does not lie and it tells us the truth of where it is at. I have found it to be so supportive in listening to my body and by listening I have begun to take more care of myself and to self nurture, self love and self honour myself. This has transformed my life at so many levels. I have begun to connect to a deeper level within allowing my body to surrender and feel the deeper level of stillness. The power that you feel within when you feel the connection to your stillness is amazing.

122. There is so much in this blog. So many of us ‘think’ we are doing all the right things, yet are not at all because we are living from ideas about what healthy looks like rather than feeling from inside. Most of us also lack the key ingredient to start to make these huge changes in our lives. That is love from within and knowing who you truly are

123. Re-discovering your sense of humour and joy in life is one of the greatest healings on offer – to ourselves and everyone around us!

124. What I really appreciate about what you are both saying here is that the changes that happened for you did not just come out of nowhere. You worked on it and took responsibility for yourselves. This is what so many people don’t do.

125. This is science right here. This ought to be studied. There is nothing crazy about what’s going on here…it is pure common sense, that could not be simpler if we tried..yet instead we’re researching thousands of different diets and forever searching how to find ‘enlightenment’ and continually dissatisfied with the outcome, because lo and behold…it’s all stuff we are looking for outside of ourselves. The answers are within us…the proof in in this pudding!

126. My favourite part was the discovery of Jonathan’s sense of humour! How cool is that?!

127. ‘Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour’ I highlighted this line because amongst all the modern-day miracles that have happened to Students of the Way of the Livingness – not just by some random act but due to their choices – discovering a sense of humour is one that I have noticed happens to very many of my fellow Students and yet one which hasn’t be documented much. I have discovered my sense of humour too – or more accurately, I’ve re-discovered it. It’s a joy to feel the playfulness and silliness again!

128. What a beautiful and inspiring blog. Something many people can relate too. Often most of us don’t know why we put on weight when we don’t actually eat so much, like you say! “Nor were we overweight from overeating. All of it was and is because of lifestyle choices.” But the truth is, it is not what we eat it is the choices we make in life that bloats us and foods that don’t agree causes the weight gain, not necessary how much we eat.

129. What amazes me is that there is no perfection, no end goal yet at any moment in time there is the opportunity to appreciate real evolution. Knowing you both I can really appreciate the fact, as the difference in these two photos is marked, yet today 4 years on you both look completely different once again a true transformation. The before and after and after and after photos show clearly our cycle as we return to living from our Soul.

130. Your fotos showed it all and your powerful words supports what I can see with my eyes. Thank you so much for not holding back and to show the world that it is not about losing weight instead that there is so much more.

131. You are the real deal Jonathan and Rowena, as you say the pictures don’t lie. You are a testament to your commitment to love and truth above all else.

132. Love looking at your photos Jonathan and Rowena, this is undoubtable evidence of how effective Universal Medicine is and of course the undeniable power of love.

133. The before and after pictures say it all about the effectiveness of Universal Medicine and how adopting a responsible and self care lifestyle dramatically changes everything

134. The pictures really do speak a thousand words. In the first picture you both look like very sweet, nice people. (Maybe not so healthy, which is ironic considering you had a complementary health business). But in the second it is like boom, there you are. You can see who you really are and that all of that was hiding in the first image.

135. The transformation is so significant, and foundational that you would think the world would be knocking down your door to find out how… Universal Medicine has the way.

136. Amazing Jonathan, this is an incredible transformation… living proof that it is possible not just to lose kilo’s, but to do so from a foundation of love as you describe is very rare. For most the starting point is ‘l’m not ok till I lose weight’… and so a sense of self worth is based on whether there is excess weight or not. What you have offered is to start from being amazing, on the inside, and then allow your choices from that place to allow your body to gradually reflect exactly that.

137. These pictures truly are worth a thousand words. There is so much more to photos I know, but to see the transformations it is truly unbelievable. You are living proof and evidence that one can totally turn around how they are living, purely by lifestyle choices and building a life from love.

138. I so agree Jonathan and Rowena, a picture does tell a thousand words! I met the two of you in Vietnam at possibly the very first Universal Medicine Retreat and seeing photos of you now I do not think that I would recognize you, if I hadn’t seen the photos first. Great sharing, and if this is not evident based proof of what taking care of our selves in a loving way can do for our health and well-being, I don’t know what is.

139. I love the way you have shared your transformation, the detail is important and you leave no room for the reader to mis-interrupt what you are sharing. The photos are not just incredible because of the obvious weight lose but because of the way you feel and shine into the camera in the second photo and how grey and dull you both are in the first shot, man its very cool to see the difference.

140. You both blow my socks off! Your transformation back to your true selves is nothing short of amazing. Having met you both now, you have continued to deepen your connection with yourself and each other since this blog and are a glowing reflection for all those around you. Your commitment to working on your stuff and looking at your choices is so evident in your photos.

141. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena. The changes displayed through those pictures show a vitality emerging from a whole new way of living and as you say, living your medicine through daily lifestyle choices is the most potent form of medicine there is.

142. What I get from looking at the two photos is a feeling. The first feels like you are both in hiding, attempting to hold back all that you are, I can relate to this in photos of me in the past, I was almost burying myself under issues and food choices, there was layered hardness all over me. The second feels like you are letting your truth shine, I can feel a natural vitality and glow. Letting people in and letting yourself out. Your bodies no longer feel like a prison, they feel like they are with you, free to flow, move and enjoy life.

143. The life that you write about in the past is one that many can relate to, considering themselves a little overweight, thinking that you are looking after yourself, being grumpy. Many people feel like that everyday. And yet, life can feel so much more vital, connected, aware, clear and joyful. Many of us in society have set the bar low on what feeling good, healthy and well means, true health comes from reconnecting with our bodies, how they feel and honouring it.

144. It is very powerful to let go of comfort eating. I know from experience that it keeps poking its head up, so to speak and it can take any form, it don’t always have to be the obvious caffeine or sugar loaded treats. “Relinquishing comfort eating, caffeine and alcohol in favour of addressing the underlying emotions and to feel the effects of the foods we eat”…For me I am still working on not relying on food to numb and delay issues that arise, it has however been deeply empowering to feel that I now deal with a lot of emotional issues, feelings, worries that come up rather than look for something to ignore them, food often used to be used for this reason. That is powerful.

145. Every time I see you two you have grown in more love, and when I say that I mean the sparkle in your eye has deepened and your bodies are more and more open. What ever you are doing keep it up as the love you two share with each other and the world is palpable.

146. Well said Rowena and Jonathan – ‘It is worth noting that from an Esoteric perspective, there is no ‘perfect body weight’ to achieve, only a shape that is most natural to you, and which can be allowed to be and take shape, as a harmonious and loving relationship with yourself is embraced and then embodied.’

147. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena, for sharing your story. It is truly inspiring to know that when we consider the way we live to be our best medicine our whole being and those around us benefit immensely.

148. “Instead of compromising by finding solutions we now seek resolutions.” and this is the best take in life as solutions are just mere band-aids to disharmonies created in the body, Universal Medicine presents us the way to live honoring our bodies and a level of self-care that results in a joyful, vital way of living.

149. There is a phone app where you can take the face of people and make it look ‘fat’. When I look at the photo of Jonathan and Rowena and how they were, it is as if the image has been tampered with – like there is no life or truth in it. And that is because it is not who they truly are. They are a couple who now have let go of so much stuff they were holding onto. We see overweight people as big eaters, but what if we looked at it from the perspective that our bodies can hold onto energy depending on how we are living. What I see so clearly is that it is the energy that has changed, and therefore the bodies naturally come back to the truth of who there people are – physically and soulfully.

150. You are totally correct Simon V. So many behaviours that were ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ but which in truth were abusive to ourselves and others have just ‘faded away and simply through sustained, simple, loving, daily choices’, and as you say, ‘How amazing and miraculous is that?’

151. Two points, first that this blog is as amazing as the day it was written and all the points about habits that are barriers to self care and great choices that support naturally returning to health and wellbeing are all just as important and relevant. The second thing is about sometimes being grumpy and irritable. Well I would surmise as is my own experience that for the authors, this has changed remarkably since the time of writing and even such ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ behaviours have faded away and simply through sustained, simple, loving, daily choices. How amazing and miraculous is that?

152. Yes, and what is equally wonderful are the further side effects that are not so obvious such as stress and mental sufferings being replaced with ease and joy.

153. It is wonderful when the side effects of taking the medicine of lifestyle choices has such obvious and increasing benefits to how you feel. Being over weight is a known factor in numerous illnesses and diseases.

154. Yes, real medicine happens when we take responsibility for ourselves and seek help rather than abnegating power to someone or some thing to fix us.

155. When we truly get that it’s not about weight loss but about the choices we’re making in our everyday lives, then we’re beginning to take our real medicine.

156. Out of the list of things that you have detailed that has helped improve your well being, the one point that is rarely nominated is the importance of a sense of humour

     1. So correct Joe – one cannot be harmonious, loving and joyful without humour.

157. Our ‘choices’ can change everything in our lives and this sentence summarises this beautifully “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” Changing my perspective and learning that life can be medicine has created this appreciation and purpose in life that I had no ‘idea’ I had, it feels so wonderful to be more engaged with my body and life generally.

158. I really enjoy these points, simple and clear and what I discovered when I first encountered Universal Medicine
     “Self-love is ok
     Looking after yourself deeply is part of life
     We can make loving choices that not only help oneself, but also all others in the process” I attended a course after one Esoteric Sacred Healing session both were and continue to be deeply profound.

159. This is indeed not about weight loss – when I look at the pictures of you two I see yes you lost weight but what really stands out is your emanation of light and joy that was totally suppressed and not visible in the first picture and busting out in the second one. That is truly inspiring.

160. Rowena & I were so committed to, and in, the ‘what is not’ in the expression of kinesiology that it was only because of our desire for the truth, and through Serge Benhayon’s clear, completely non-judgmental, patient and loving presentation of the ‘what is’ and the ‘what is not’ that we were able to see and feel the difference. However much we may have desired the truth if it had not been for him and how he was we would not have chosen the ‘what is’ but would have kept following the kinesiology and the ‘what is not’.

161. I love the few words 🙂 so clear and I love the bold words in the last paragraph 🙂 you are such an amazing couple and such an amazing example of what is possible just by adressing the what is not and discovering the what is and make loving choices…beauty-full. Thank You for sharing.

162. And now in 2016 you both look more vital and shine even more your natural beauty, this livingness really is the best face care programme!

     1. Yes the Way of the Livingness is without a doubt the best self-care programme there is!!!

163. Great to re-read this blog. “We can make loving choices that not only help oneself, but also all others in the process.” Knowing that everything is energy (Einstein) it makes sense that all we do to support ourselves also supports everyone and everything around us all. Making self-loving choices enabled a nail-biting habit of fifty years to gently dissolve away. I too lost some weight – all without trying.

164. Yes, Julie, this blog was definitely not intended to be one about weight loss. For both of us the loss of weight was a ‘side-effect’ of our choices, which was a really pleasant surprise.

165. I love the fact that you have not made this blog about dieting and loosing weight, and clearly state the lifestyle changes you have made which have contributed to the weight loss. I know from my own experience of dieting that diets don’t work and only lead onto being unhealthy in other ways with no vitality. What you have shown is that it is possible to be vital, loose weight, be committed to life and have more energy.

166. Wow, what a transformation! Jonathan & Rowena, I too have found that my weight has normalised as a result of making lifestyle changes and dealing with my hurts instead of trying to suppress them with dulling foods.

167. I agree Cathy. It is not by correcting what we eat but why we are eating what we eat that makes the long term changes to our body weight and shape.

168. It’s so true. Life IS medicine – you just have to choose the right kind. And I can confirm from my own experience that weight loss is merely a by-product of making more self-loving choices from listening to the body’s responses to different food types. When you are prepared to unearth the emotions behind comfort eating and to deal with and heal them, then comfort eating just isn’t a choice you need to make anymore.

     1. I agree Cathy. It is not by correcting what we eat but why we are eating what we eat that makes the long term changes to our body weight and shape.

169. The difference in these two photos is astounding! It is clear for all to see from your original photo you have chosen to evolve instead of staying stagnate in your old ideals and beliefs.
     This a true testament of the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
     Thank you Jonathan and Rowena for being such an awesome power couple!
     With out no lie every time I see you you grow in more light and love. What ever you are doing keep doing because it is clearly working!

     1. What a gift is has been to meet Universal Medicine and re-discover one’s innate and natural glory. I never felt I would ever feel so alive, joyful, vital and as committed to life as I do now, and to be in an ever deepening relationship with my beautiful husband. Serge Benhayon is such an awesome teacher of energy and life, always ahead of the game, showing us where we are going. Thank God I took notice.

        1. Here, here. Whenever I have thoughts of how things would be if we had not taken notice they are nightmarish. It is such a blessing to have met Serge Benhayon.

        2. Absolutely Rowenastewart – through your blog and your comments and the way you live now – it is a joy to see the graceful open woman you are – holding so much love in your body for yourself, your relationship and for others. A true inspiration and reflection.

170. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena, you certainly are the picture that says a thousand words, beaming with love and joy, so beautiful to behold.

171. Two beautiful people reflecting the self-loving choices that they make every day for all to see – thank you.

172. What an amazing transformation in you both – living your medicine, your way or rather The Way of the Livingness.

173. Wow guys, the words certainly support the photos if the photos weren’t enough already. What a miraculous turn of events and all of it without any magic. Very inspiring indeed!

     1. Ah, but there is magic. The Magic of God.

        1. Absolutely Jonathan, the Magic of God is the amazing gift we can all ‘use’ to become more and more of who we are, a beautiful process to commit too. Seeing your picture next to your comment and knowing you and Rowena personally I can see you and Rowena are even more shining and living the truth of who you are now and this makes it very clear it is not about the weight loss but about our beauty inside that is coming through the more we choose the love that we are.

174. The evidence of what you share and how you have lived cannot be denied. What an inspiration.

175. “… if it was not working with me, it’s because I was not strict enough.” This is such a great point Alexandre, how we invest in something or someone outside of ourselves (someone else’s ideal or belief) and when it does not work we blame ourselves. What Serge Benhayon presents is to reconnect to our ‘inner most’, our own innate knowing, and to trust that – ourselves – and not someone or something else. Then when something is not working we can discern for ourselves whether it is us or the ‘thing’ that is not correct in the moment. How empowering is that?

176. When I first went to a presentation with Serge Benhayon called the Heart Chakra, I had no expectations whatsoever. I was a believer of Macrobiotic thinking it was working and if it was not working with me, it’s because I was not strict enough. My emotions were all over the place, I was very needy of a relationship thinking this is where I would find happiness. What I found there was something very profound, a reconnection to my inner most. It may not have happened over night but, I felt something very strong from the beginning. I started making more self loving choices in terms of what I was eating and drinking, my sleeping habit, the way I was spending my time off. I rediscovered more stillness in my body, I learnt to not get caught into dramas in life, to make more simple choices. Over the years I have built a stronger rhythm which helps me to make choices everyday in my life. I am still learning but what a journey!

177. “When we attended the Universal Medicine workshop in 2006 it was with the sole intention of furthering our professional skills. Instead, we were presented with a different way of being.” This is such a key point about Universal Medicine as while professional skills are being taught there is also the fundamental teaching of integrity, and the way that we are away from work has every same affect as how we are at work – how amazing for you two to both develop this and take both your professional and personal lives to a completely new “lighter” quality

     1. You are totally correct that the fundamental teaching of Universal Medicine is integrity in everything and it was a critical factor in our choice to renounce kinesiology.

178. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena you are proof that there is indeed an other way to live, a joyful and fully expressing one. Very inspiring.

179. You both look so full of Joy and lightness in your more recent photo than in the previous and to be honest I would have said it’s two different people in the two sets of photos! It’s incredible that lifestyle choices can have such an impact on our bodies and it’s not just food!

180. Very beautiful, and I like the way you just described what you have came to with living in a loving way.

181. ‘…our lifestyle has become our medicine…’. This is a beautiful summation of exactly what Serge Benayon and Universal Medicine presents.

182. What a testament to the love and living wisdom imparted by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. And what a testament to your dedication to a lifestyle based on true love, Jonathan and Rowena. This is a truly amazing transformation, I would not have picked you for the same people. The two photos feel completely different. Its beautiful to see and feel the joy and light radiating from the second. “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” A picture speaks a thousand words.

     1. Agree Barbara, a true testament to their dedication to the integrity of their own lives that naturally will and does affect their every day, be it professionally or personally.

183. Wow, this is complete turn-around for both of you, who by the way look so gorgeous and amazing now, such a testament to how you live and what you have both chosen for yourselves. You must be a huge inspiration to your friends and family as well. Thank you for sharing.

184. I have myself lost weight without that being the aim and only when I look back I realise that I was bloated, puffy and carrying excess weight which was not healthy. As you say “Life is not about how one looks but this is how we look after 6 years of living a self-loving way.” I had never been on diet in the past so when I began to make ‘self loving’ choices, it was some what of a surprise that extra weight began to disappear away. My weight has no relation to how I feel inside but the outside does express the choices that I have been making. The shiny hair, the healthy nails, the sparkling eyes and the slimmer body are an outcome of these choices.

     1. “My weight has no relation to how I feel inside but the outside does express the choices that I have been making.” I am not so sure about this Samantha, at least for me. At the time of the first photograph I did not truly feel great about myself. In the same way that I was in denial of my state of health I was also in denial of the level of stress and disharmony in my life. Now not only have my choices changed but also how I feel about myself. The more I come to accept and love myself and make choices to support that so my body increasingly reflects this as the second photograph shows and later ones continue this unfolding reflection.

185. This personal story demonstrates how when we listen to our body and support it through our choices, it naturally leads the way in terms of our weight, health and well-being. It has an intelligence that is constantly communicating – and we choose to listen, or not. A great story of people who have made the choice to listen to and honour their bodies – and doing this together makes this very inspiring.

186. I so agree with what you express virtually at the start of this awesome blog “There is no perfect body weight” For years I went on different diet regimes everyone of them gave me a goal weight to attain which seemed almost impossible. I only once hit the target – but felt starved in the process. No mention of looking at our innermost way of living or bringing in self love or self nurturing. I clearly understand how Just changing eating habits alone is not enough – it is a complete lifestyle change. It is as you say in our everyday living. The weight coming off is secondary to everything else. Thank you both for such a beautiful sharing.

187. Looking at the photos its hard to believe that its the same people, what a wonderful and amazing testimony to you both, and to the courses and work offered by Serge Benhayon and the loving awesome practitioners of Universal Medicine.
     Not only the weight loss and physical transformation, but also the joy and presence thats clearly shining in the second photo, having connected to the amazing people you are, and we all are.

188. Thank you for sharing your journey, it is beautiful what self love, self worth and self nurturing can do to support a healthy body. It really is about choice and committing to our own healing process. Allowing our body to talk to us and tell us what is loving and supportive and what is not. Like you share once we work on the self, the weight automatically changes to what is true weight for our body, there is no forcing or dieting required, just being true to oneself allows the energetic changes.

     1. “Allowing our body to talk to us and tell us what is loving and supportive and what is not.” This is so powerful. As children we know this as we just live it. How amazing it would be if we maintained this throughout our growing up? This is what Universal Medicine and the Ageless Wisdom is teaching and presenting and we, the Students of Universal Medicine, are re-learning and returning to.

189. I did have a little chuckle when you said you lost weight without really meaning too … Now that’s a first for many to hear … “You what? Lost weight without really meaning to!” When you focus on the inner most you and let go all the things you are not then amazing things start to happen – not just physically but in all areas of ones life!

     1. The fact that I lost weight without intending to is a reflection of just how much I was in denial of the reality and truth I was living in and in fact was in a complete illusion. As you say, ” When you focus on the inner most you and let go all the things you are not then amazing things start to happen”, this is most certainly true. In fact miracles happen.

190. Jonathan and Rowena – the pictures say it all! As I read your list, I noticed that these changes relate to many areas of your life and provide clear evidence of how embracing esoteric medicine is a holistic way of life. Wonderful!

191. I have attended a few Universal Medicine courses in the last couple of years and It is so beautiful to see people come, consider the presentation and relate it back to their life. The presentations of Universal Medicine are simple, practical and they work! People like to go and listen because what is presented makes sense. People really value speaking in an open way about the things in life and making sense of the things we take for granted. I am truly blessed to know and attend Universal Medicine events.

     1. Your comments about Universal Medicine are so true Harryjwhite. The simpleness, practicality, the relevance to everyday living and the fact what is presented works makes it stand head and shoulders above any other approach to health and well being.

     2. Absolutely Harry, what is presented at the Universal Medicine courses is naturally that it feels like we all already know and have just forgotten, and therefore they give us a brilliant opportunity to reconsider our lives

192. Rowena & Jonathan you are truly inspirational and yes it is the energy you choose to live in. WOW. 🙂

193. I love how you have written this article together! A testament of your connection- and yes wow the pictures say it all- not just in the looks but in the feeling- innocent, surrendered and the fire in your livingness- check you two out!!!

194. Yes, this is so correct Esther, I have found it very liberating as it has removed the feeling having to live up to a certain perceived perception that has been imposed upon by another.

195. ‘It is worth noting that from an Esoteric perspective, there is no ‘perfect body weight’ to achieve, only a shape that is most natural to you, and which can be allowed to be and take shape, as a harmonious and loving relationship with yourself is embraced and then embodied.’
     This is totally a different way to look at my body as opposed to everything else the world tells me to. In fact it takes the critical look from the outside away and allows me to simply feel how I am with my body and how I feel in my body.

196. Yes, I completely agree, Lucy. It would be a great mantra to promulgate and for the general public to take up and live by rather than depending on doctors and others to be responsible for their health rather than themselves.

197. This is an incredibly powerful statement “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” Surely that has to hold the key to supporting our medicos in their overwhelm not to mention our global economy?!

198. Self-loving choices have simplified my life and brought some unexpected changes such as a huge reduction in my state of frustration and anger and I discovered that there are many occasions in a day to smile at life.

     1. The power and ripple effect of self-loving choices cannot be underestimated.

199. What I love about Rowena and Johnathan’s weight loss is that the weight stays off because their lives are based upon self-loving choices and not about the weight loss. How beautiful is that!

200. I love pictures and these pictures say it all! It goes to show that when we are honest with ourselves and make self-loving and self-nurturing choices in our day-to-day, miracles happen. Inspirational.

201. As you say, Penny, the most important point of the story is not about the food but the energy one chooses to live in. Although it is fabulous to have have lost the weight when Rowena & I embarked on this change of lifestyle we were not aspiring to loose weight, it was but a side-affect of of our choices to live in truth.

202. What is so important and powerful here is that you are showing it is not about food but about the way we choose to live and even more than that the energy we choose to live in. You are the greatest reflection for choosing love as our only way.

203. Initially taking responsibility for one’s life can feel overwhelming as there seems so much to be responsible for. However, the paradox is that after awhile it becomes simpler as one chooses what to be responsible for rather than having it imposed. The choices become refined and the overwhelm lessens until there is no overwhelm as long as one keeps discerning.

204. I wish your story could be front page of all the national newspapers! This is amazing Jonathan and Rowena you are both great living examples of what can happen when you take responsibility for your life and start living rather then merely existing. A joy to see.

205. Wow, you both were gorgeous people back then but now, wow you are still gorgeous but so, so much more than that, and gained a sense of humour to boot. Love it.

206. WOW those pictures really do tell hundreds of words… the change in you both is extraordinary. You are both so naturally beautiful… it’s like it was being covered up before.

     1. I feel the same, the after photos were always there but hidden under the choices made in our lives

207. ‘Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour’. I love this. It shows that we can’t reduce our body shape to the intake of food, there is so much more in life that influences what body shape we have taken on, or naturally grow into, depending on how much we allow our true self to shine.

     1. So true Esther, one’s body shape and weight is dependent upon so much more than just our food and physical activity.

     2. This is why dieting never works for people. It is not just about food but our everyday choices, our reactions to life, the way we move, work, sleep, eat, think, etc. the list goes on. It is all about the way we choose to live that reflects our health and vitality.

208. This is an amazing transformation Jonathan and Rowena. Knowing you both now how you feel and look bears no resemblance to your pictures before Universal Medicine. Remarkable and deeply inspiring,

209. Jonathon and Rowena this is an awesome blog and testimonial to both yourselves and Universal Medicine. We are all indeed ‘work in progress’ and are reminded of that fact everyday by our imperfections and our life’s lessons that are constantly presented to us.

210. Thanks Jonathan and Rowena, the photos speak for themselves not only have you lost weight but you both look so much more alive

     1. Absolutely Joe, I agree 110% – they both do look much more alive.

211. Wow! This gives a whole new and truer meaning to what weight loss is all about!

     1. It does Joshua I totally agree. I can see a lot of money is being made from the many so called miracle weight loss programs but what Johnathan and Rowena presents is that by simply loving and caring for ourselves and making loving choices our body naturally returns to its natural shape. Absolutely incredible and how simple it is?

        1. Feels so effortless and freeing Chan. We don’t have to try to lose weight or change our figure to suit how we think it needs to be. It is simply just being love

212. Jonathan and Rowena what gorgeous light lives you reflect ! It really is remarkable isn’t it how joyous life can naturally be when we make different choices. The more loving choices then lead to more loving choices and so it goes, leading us into more joy, more harmony and more love.

213. Jonathan and Rowena, this is an awesomely inspiring transformation, not just from the pictures, but the total turnaround in health, vitality, and yes sense of humour 🙂 – would love to see the ongoing pics.

214. Jonathan and Rowena, this IS SO inspiring!

     1. I agree Pernilla. Also because you have embraced this journey in togetherness. You both have such a sense of really supporting each other through life and the changes were consistent and steadfast and joyful. A wonderful reflection for us all to honour.

215. Thank you, Jonathan and Rowena, for sharing your amazing transformation. I can feel how liberating it was for you to let go of your previous life choices including a very successful career, and come back being simply your gorgeous selves.

     1. So true, Fumiyo. It has been so liberating with life feeling so much more spacious and lighter. As time passes we find this is just increasing and becoming simpler.

        1. Incredible Johnathan, you both are so inspiring and your photos of before and after Universal Medicine speaks volumes.

216. Wow, beautiful to see the changes in you both since you made the choice to live more lovingly. I loved reading your life changing story.

217. Wow what a difference, its amazing. I love how even though you first attended strictly to improve your professional skills, you were offered a way of being that applies and underlies everything. This is the beauty of the way of life, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present.

     1. My experience was similar Joseph. I attended a Serge Benhayon talk because I was seeking a deeper meaning to life, but not overweight and pretty satisfied with my shape. Almost from the beginning, my body let me know it no longer wanted dairy, gluten or alcohol, and I began to feel even healthier and with more energy than before. It was only when my trousers fell down (literally!) that I realised I had dropped 2 dress sizes. This is indeed a beautiful way to live, not because of how I look, but because of how I feel.

218. Yes, re-discovering my humour has definitely been a great gift. The physical weight was only the reflection of the weight of illusion of what I had been living and carrying – that was so serious.

219. Wow. For me this is ‘evidence based medicine’ because I can’t ignore the evidence staring me in the face when I look at this last picture of you both! I love how losing weight was a ‘side effect’ and not the end point. Truly remarkable and inspiring.

     1. I love what you express Liane, the evidence cannot be denied!
        Rowena & Jonathon, you are truly inspirational.

     2. Not only is it ‘evidence based medicine’ but it is ‘universal medicine’ because it is accessible to us all. Now ‘that’ is also “truly remarkable and inspiring”!

        1. Great comment Angela Universal Medicine indeed and I deeply appreciate it is available to us all.

     3. This is remarkable and I agree with you Liane. The evidence is undeniable and truly inspirational. I love that the weight loss was not an effort or trying but something very natural once we truly embrace self care and self-love. Our body never lies, true health and vitality oozing from Jonathan and Rowena’s second photo.

220. The difference is incredible! I don’t even think its the weight you have lost but how you now present yourselves… You take a little bit more time and how you look oozes the care you are now taking for yourself. Its beautiful to see. I love how this was written together, with ours and we instead of theirs or mine as well. A small insight into the way you guys live with each other. I also love this bit- Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour haha.

     1. What is also amazing is in the before photo they were working in the health care industry, and leaders in their particular field, I remember a friend who was in that field also seeing the change and being so inspired that she came to check Universal Medicine out, I am not surprised seeing these photos!

221. Thank you Rowena and Jonathan for this great sharing , a picture does tell a thousand words but in this case you could write a book.

222. Rowena and Jonathan, the change you have made by making more self loving choices is awesome. Your love for yourself, for one another and for the readers in sharing your experience is so deeply felt in this article.

223. Wow such a change in you both, felt from the inside out. You are both such a testament to living the fullness of you by living more honestly.

224. Thank you Rowena and Johnathan, I loved your story , the pictures are just lovely to see, your loving choices bring a smile to my face. Just beautiful .

225. Gosh, you both look and feel amazing! It is so true that how we live is our medicine and you guys are living proof of this.

226. Wow! Thank you Rowena and Johnathon for sharing your very inspiring post and your amazing pictures, which as you say ‘A picture’s worth a thousand words’.

227. “To loving self first, naturally you then love others more so”. This is so true Leigh. By connecting with myself I no longer look outside of myself first for love and as a result in all of my relationships there is now such a greater connection of love.

228. Jonathan and Rowena, the very different way that you now see life and how to live it is such a gift. As you so definitely portray, life is not about being better or even thinner. It is about truly caring deeply for ourselves, our bodies. And once we make this commitment everything changes. I can plainly see in both pictures that you love one and other dearly. In the after picture though the openness to one and other and the depth of your love is far more evident. A true testament to loving self first, naturally you then love others more so.

229. “Being present brings greater responsibility for the choices I make and the quality of love I am and reflect to others” is a great point you make, ch1956. It is the ‘being present’ that brings the awareness of the choices that we can choose and from which our lifestyle becomes our medicine.

230. Jonathan and Rowena – you are both glowing. I loved your Comment ‘Our lifestyle is our Medicine’ – It is the choices loving you back. Being present in every moment as a way of loving self, is something I had not experienced before my attendance at a presentation by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine – it has changed my life. Being present brings greater responsibility for the choices I make and the quality of love I am and reflect to others. Thanks for sharing your experience, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

231. Amazing transformation in the before and after photos, and all due to taking responsibility and making more loving choices. A great example of how ones way of living becomes their medicine.

232. This was a pleasure to read. I love how you wrote that your choices and your lifestyle had become your medicine and this is abundantly clear from your before and after photos…. What a gorgeous transformation… and finding Jonathan’s sense of humour an awesome bonus!

233. This is beautiful to read and to see- and not only as you mentioned , because of loosing weight. It comes with humbleness and love, the changes you have made in your life.

234. Wow, the contrast between the before and after is simply massive. The amazing thing, is however, that it is not that hard to feel and look better. It depends on your choices. So simple. It is in the reach of everyone.

235. Wow the pictures show such vitality in your eyes. The changes you have made are a result of your strong resolve: “It is through OUR choices and endeavors that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE” and “the weight loss is just a side effect” what next for Rowena and Jonathan?

236. So inspiring to read and see what taking responsibility for ourselves and health by lifestyle choices. Interesting how weight loss is then just a side effect. The radiance of the two is what strikes me most. I look at two people so alive and aliveness in their bodies, that is for me the biggest inspiration.

     1. I used to believe that knowledge was the most important and inspiring thing. However, I have come to realise how false that is and what is far more important is how one lives. Our bodies reflect that and can be an inspiration without having to express any knowledge.

237. Beautiful testimony that expresses that Universal Medicine is not about improving but truly changing ones state of being from the inside (innermost) out, that it is about being love in a very practical everyday way and that improvements are a natural side effect from becoming more and more loving. That is the esoteric factor in contrast to just the latest lifestyle trend motivated by misery and hope striving for whatever ideal.

     1. That is a great point, Alex, about the motivation of the latest the latest lifestyle trend. They are attempts at ‘quick fixes’ that may get short-term results but achieve no long lasting true change. With Universal Medicine you are presented with the Truth and if one is open to being honest and truthful one achieves huge changes that are long lasting.

     2. Thank you Jonathan, Rowena and Alex, I totally agree our innermost or divine aspect when reconnected to bring all the loving aspects back to our Livingness!

238. Jonathan and Rowena this is nothing short of WOW and that was nearly 3 years ago. The simple (but not necessarily easy) self loving choices as presented by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are so powerful that they work and looking at you both in these photos and hearing your story, it’s obvious that they do.

239. Wow! It is so true what you have written here, to start to put yourself first rather than work, stop eating foods that your body can’t handle and start to feel and deal with your hurts and the issues that come in in life have made the biggest difference in the way that I look and feel too. Serge Benhayon presents tools to life that actually supported me to feel truly healthy, it’s real and it is lasting. You guys, me, so many others are benefiting incredibly from these presentations. Our health is benefiting enormously.

240. Wow – what a transformation! You are both glowing, looking vital from the inside out and it also looks like you feel more confident with who you now are. Both of you are living testaments of how making loving choices for ourselves can lead to a life of improved well-being, honesty and joy. Thank you for sharing you inspiring story.

241. Great blog, thank you and very powerful with pictures. I like the way you have expanded form the notion of weight loss and have explained how that becomes a side effect from developing overall quality of life. I wonder how many people who have come across Serge Benhayon or Universal Medicine in its many forms, have lost weight, become healthier, improved relationships, found more vitality, improved their work capacity and in many others come to live more their potential, when actually at the core of what is being presented is self care, nurturing and love?

242. A great and concise account of your experiences with Universal Medicine. A case of “getting a lot more than you bargained for”.

243. What strikes me is how much more yourselves you actually are now. It is strange isn’t it how we can go through life and not even be ourselves, but be a kind of shadow of our true selves. Claiming back our inner truth and living that, as you both have done is just so inspiring.

     1. So true Elizabeth. When I look back I am so aware that I was never truly present in anything I was doing and the irony is that at the time when I believed I was being most fulfilled and present, in particular when practicing kinesiology, was in fact when I was least present! This is because I was so identified with what I was doing – sold out to it – I was lost to it and in truth ‘it’ was me.

244. A wonderful story of honesty and integrity. You are right – the pictures are worth a thousand words!

245. Thank you, Jonathan and Rowena for sharing your story with us. It shows how profound true healing can be when we are willing to go deeper and look at our hurts and deal with our issues.”It is through OUR choices and endeavors that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” To find this real motivation for change is gold.

     1. As you say, Elena to find true motivation for change is gold. For us this was that we were presented with Truth completely objectively with no attempt to coerce or persuade. It was there for us to choose or reject – our choice.

246. Love this blog Jonathan and Rowena and the title because the title is so apt, as your before and after pics say it all really…for example although you both look ‘fairly happy’ in the first pic, you can ‘feel’ the joy and light oozing from the second picture. What stuck out for me during reading is exactly what I discovered when I began attending presentations and courses by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, and in which has transformed my own life, and that was:
     •Self-love is ok
     •Looking after yourself deeply is part of life
     •We can make loving choices that not only help oneself, but also all others in the process

247. I love this blog because it offers such a refreshing view on weight lose and lifestyle choices.
     Rather than ‘quick fixes’ you have both chosen to connect more deeply with yourselves and the rest has unfolded in many ways.
     Jonathan & Rowena you are truly inspirational and these are the stories that should be told in magazines and on television.
     You have proven that lifestyle choices are indeed medicine.

248. So true, Monica, that it is, “about how we feel, what we choose and how we live” and then from that the end product, how we experience life, follows.

249. I love that you’ve taken it to looking at the underlying things going on, for many food and how they eat is often an end product, and yes it can compound the misery so to speak, but in many cases we eat because we’re upset or not expressing how we feel or looking at what is truly going on. And the approach you’ve lived where you’ve been willing to be honest about what you feel, take responsibility for it and choose differently changes everything, then it’s not about the end product, food or losing weight, it’s about how we feel, what we choose and how we live.

250. Surprising things happen when we go to weddings. The same thing happened to me but although I had the same shock I did not do anything about it until some years later (except put on some more inches). It was not until I was presented an alternative way of being, when I started to look at my life choices and to make different ones, that the inches fell away -as a side effect of that.

251. A large percentage of the worlds population live just how you used to live, myself included, in that state we are numbed to how we actually feel and if we weren’t we would probably do something about it sooner. I didn’t even realise how over weight I had become until I had to be measured up for a suit for a wedding and got the shock of my life when the tape measure said I had a forty two inch waist when the last time it was measured it was thirty four.

252. Rowena and Jonathan, having experienced the loveliness of meeting you both first hand, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw your “before” picture. And I can say that your “after” picture does not do justice to your radiance. What a transformation.
     Of all the valuable points on your list of changes, the one that struck me most, and made me laugh was this “Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour”. I love it.
     How much misery do we live on a day to day basis, with our natural joie de vivre cemented under a layer of drabness?
     Here is to your physical transformation and the restoration of Jonathan’s humour.

     1. Thank you Rachel. A great point you make about living on a day-by-day basis in misery. It is in the same way that I was in denial of my excess weight and ill-health, I was so entrenched in what I was doing and believing I was ‘doing good’, and I was in denial of my lack of joie de vivre and sense of humour too. It has been a great re-discovery and an ever deepening one.

253. Wow, what a transformation! Nothing short of totally inspiring to read the story behind it all.

254. You are such incredibly gorgeous inspirations – thank you Rowena and Jonathan

255. Yet another amazing transformation for all to see. Your blog shows how it’d not about making “healthy” choices but loving ones.

256. It is quite hilarious that the most successful weight loss centre that I know – Universal Medicine – never speaks about losing weight or even considers it important. Weight loss happens when there is more love, harmony and joy in your life and it then happens by itself.

     1. Lovely point Christoph that weight loss occurs when there is more love. Rowena & my weight loss was definitely a ‘side-effect’ of the self-loving choices that we made after our introduction to Universal Medicine.

     2. Amazing point Christoph, not once has weight even been mentioned as a goal or something to be achieved by Universal Medicine, it just so happens to be that through making choices to accept more love in the body we begin to take our natural shape

257. There is nothing quite like seeing the results of a transformation… pictures do a marvellous job and these are really quite amazing. I enjoyed your article, in particular the humour you have plainly re-discovered, and also how life has shifted from solutions to resolutions… really getting underneath a problem to understand the why and transform that, rather than to put sticking plaster over an issue that remains unresolved and simply pops up somewhere else (normally masquerading as a different issue, but in essence it is the same).

     1. It is so true, Simon, that solutions are but sticking plasters creating the illusion that we have got things ‘sorted’ but in fact the cause is buried deeper and we have even more to sort out than before.

     2. That was my favourite point: ‘discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour’ – the fact that it was lost speaks volumes as to where you were at previously and where you currently stand. Perfect medicine.

258. True evidence here of healing and transformation that occurs from commitment to caring for ourselves deeply, and the understanding of what that really means in everyday lived terms….thanks for this article….

259. In some ways I feel I have never made a change – I always wanted to be honest and when somebody (Serge Benhayon) came along who is truthful I just listened to him. He showed me that my body, when I listen to it, can be truthful. I have made the same changes as you but all I have really done is listen to my body.

     Once I really felt how much alcohol hurt my body I stopped drinking. But it wasn’t an effort. Once I really felt how much eating something disagreeable hurts I reduce or stop it. Over time a lot of changes accumulated but all I really did was listen.

     1. Very beautifully expressed Christoph. I had not thought about it in that way but because I had also always wanted to be honest, to be in true integrity, and could recognise that in Serge Benhayon. The choice to give up kinesiology, and all that that entailed for me, felt like “I never made a change” too.

     2. I love this comment Christoph. The power of learning to listen.

260. I love seeing the difference in both your faces, your smiles (as do the rest of you both) radiate joy. Good medicine = taking responsibility.

     1. So true Geraldine, taking responsibility does equal good medicine and vice versa. As Christophe says below, it really is about choosing to listen, truly listen and then respond to what we hear. Once we afford ourselves that simple grace, the rest comes naturally. I have huge appreciation of Serge Benhayon for opening the space to allow me to hear myself.

261. I love the bit about “Discovering Jonathon’s sense of humour”. This reminds me of how when we deal with the hurt and disharmony we live in, what emerges is the natural self. It’s right under there behind the clouds of issues and emotion we carry, however as these clear, the self emerges in its glorious fullness and we begin to enjoy who we are again, and equally others get to enjoy us also. I find events with the Student body of Universal Medicine feel like a celebration, because when we all get together and connect in our pure, natural fullness, the atmosphere cannot help but be celebratory!

     1. So true, Melinda, that as we heal the unresolved hurts and let go of emotions and issues there is a natural lightness and joy underneath. The Student Body gatherings definitely help that lightness to become the natural way.

262. Thank you, Sue and yes, more recent photos do reflect the ongoing unfoldment. It is quite incredible what the difference can be between what we think is healthy and the truth. Listening to the messages of our own body, rather than some external, intellectual concept of health, can be such a powerful way to discern what will support one.

263. Seeing you now, your enjoyment and vitality sings out in your ‘after’ photos. Such a massive difference to the ‘before’ photos. Rediscovering your playfulness on your road back to you – gorgeous! Two years on, newer photos may show an ever-increasing unfoldment? The meaning of ‘healthy’ has changed a lot for me too, a forever deepening process. What I once used to think of as healthy I now know to be anything but. Listening to my body and acting on its messages has enabled me to find more energy and vitality also.

264. Thank you, Elaine. Previously we valued what we did as proof of our ‘value’ rather than ourselves for who we are and with that joy and lightness.

265. Thank you so much for writing this blog and stating so clearly how the changes you made came about. The photos show not only a slimmer couple but a more vibrant and vital one. It is obvious you are caring for yourselves with a depth of love and attention that is totally different in the second picture. It feels that you value yourselves so much more than before and I love how you say that you have discovered Jonathan’s humour in the process. How easy it is to get too serious about life and how much lightness and joy humour can bring.

266. Jonathan, Rowena – this is an incredible difference, and what is also so surprising is how in the ‘before’ pictures many, me included a few years back, would consider that health. It’s only with the ‘after’ photos that we can all see the marked difference and what true health and vitality looks like. Most certainly a living inspiration.

     1. Also the more recent photo, as seen on the avatars, are even more inspiring, solid and graceful showing things never stays still and constantly evolve.

        1. Thank you David, and so true, our markers of what was healthy then certainly were a bit warped! As our day-by-day choices are refined, honed to how and what our bodies are asking for, our markers of health are constantly evolving and our health and vitality is increasing. I am constantly amazed by my energy and health these days, having been so ill on a constant basis before, but always kidding myself I was leading a very healthy life!

     2. David what you expose here is great, the fact that we think we are being healthy and living well until such time that you get to meet Serge Benhayon or Universal Medicine. You are not told that you are not living well but recognise that other choices are possible and then again the pictures speak a thousand words.

     3. Yes David, that’s what I have found quite mind-blowing after coming across the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. It has completely re-defined what ‘healthy’ is. We – as the student body – are finally presenting what true health and vitality actually is. And gosh it’s beautiful – and very sexy! I love what Rowena wrote – It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE. Well said both of you.

267. It is so true, Tim, making choices that truly support our bodies makes a huge difference. Our bodies are a marker, a reflection, of all our choices and the ‘Before & After Photographs’ on universal medicine.net is an amazing presentation of this.

268. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena. The transformation is amazing. Your photos show the difference in what is possible when we start to make choices that truly support our bodies. It is very inspiring to compare the two photos with the June pictures showing a couple that have so much more vitality and joy.

269. Thank you Rowena and Jonathan for sharing your journey back to love. I was also caught in other modalities that just buried issues further into my body and since attending the presentations and workshops presented by Universal Medicine and being inspired to make more loving choices on a daily basis my life has changed considerably. My weight has stabilised and my body shape is leaner due to letting go of all the excess baggage and emotional issues I had been carrying around. A big THANK YOU to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for offering the inspiration to make these changes and lighting the way by your own lived example. Life is indeed our medicine.

     1. Thank you Beverley and yes our bodies do change shape when we let go of all the emotional baggage. After all if we have been busy burying the issues with other modalities, they have to be stored somewhere! It is remarkable how quickly the body responds once the emotional issues have been felt and released, some major changes happened in just a few weeks, others too a bit longer but it has been a constant progression back to wellness.

270. Wowsers! Thanks so much for this amazing transformative story that is still unfolding no doubt. Not only am I glad Jonathon’s sense of humour was re-discovered, but that such an honest commitment has been made to your own healing. I loved the line, “It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.” Awesome stuff and what a shift in lifestyle! I can’t wait to share this blog with my family.

     1. Thank you, Peta, and it is still unfolding. Being honest and truthful is the foundation that enabled the change and by doing so living becomes the medicine.

     2. I agree with you Peta, Wowsers! You both committed to making more self loving choices and the results speak for themselves.

271. Having met you at the very first workshop you attended, and known you since, I agree that you are very different people now. It is beautiful to see and feel the amazing unfoldment back to who we truly are by simply choosing to be more self loving with ourselves.
     I love looking at these before and after photos, and equally meeting you both in person, you feel so gorgeous to be with now.

272. Our choices make our reality and this is brilliantly demonstrated in this blog and the pictures. By caring for ourselves the body follows suit and when we don’t the body knows how to tell us so.

     1. This is so true Leigh, “by caring for ourselves the body follows suit and when we don’t the body knows how to tell us so.” At no time were either Rowena & I making the self-loving choices that we did with the intention to lose weight – our bodies purely reflected the change in choices that we were making in our lives.

273. Wow! I met both of you in 2012 and so to read this article and see the before and after pictures has blown me away. What an incredible transformation and what an inspiration of steadiness and loveliness you both are. Thank you.

     1. Thank you Fiona, yes we are different people now and all because we paid attention to what was presented in a simple two day workshop and went home and put it into practice. You are correct, it has brought about an amazing steadiness and loveliness that we always knew was within, but couldn’t yet find the key to unlock it. Thank goodness for Sacred Esoteric Healing Level 1, it turned our world around and I will be eternally appreciative of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, whose infinite patience supported us to be who we are today.

274. I have really enjoyed seeing the transformations of you both, the many others and myself over the years as an student of the Way of the Livingness. Growing in joy and shrinking in waist line. Not the aim but a bonus of a bi-product.

     1. So true Kevin, definitely not the aim and I love the way you put it, growing in joy and shrinking in waist line! It is also a great privilege to witness the transformation in you too, such a joy to see people looking bright eyed and bushy tailed year in, year out, rather than tired and worn out.

275. Thank you Jonathan and Rowena for sharing your story. I first met you in 2007, just a year after the first photo, and you already looked and felt very different. Since then I have witnessed your transformation and it has been truly remarkable. Your second photo says it all. By choosing self-love you have become more and more vital, happy and gorgeous, and have dropped so many defences to reveal the natural lovely people you are. I love you both very much.

     1. Thank you Rebecca. And it is the dropping of the defences that is the most incredible part, as this was unforeseen and yet as you say, has revealed our natural loveliness. As the defences have dropped, so the diet changed and the waistband followed suit and now, 2 years on, we have easily maintained our weight, not from obsessive focus on dieting, but a continual focus on dropping the defences. Great comment.

        1. Great point Rowena and Rebecca, yes the defences having dissolved now means you let people feel your loveliness, and so you are able to let people in, so they can really connect with your essence and true beauty.

276. The transformation is nothing short of amazing, you look years younger and a lot healthier, more vital and the lacklustre has gone. Thank you for sharing.

277. This first picture makes me giggle – it’s so far removed from the beautiful people you are. Regardless of the weight, you look and feel sluggish and disinterested – a far cry from the truth of who you both truly are and how you stand in that love today.

     1. Thank you Jenny, its true we look like Lego people who can’t smile very much because our cheeks are too chubby! Its difficult to relate to myself as I was then, as I do feel so much more bright and lively. I have much to appreciate and what is so amazing is that I also see this happening to many other people too, like beautiful butterflies emerging from fat little caterpillars!

278. wow, what a transformation, you both look amazing.

279. Ah, you both are gorgeous! I feel a tear come up – how inspiring is your story… It really should be front page news! Let everyone see the effects of self love!

280. So incredible to see the changes you both have made. I wouldn’t have even recognized you both in the first set of pictures. But more importantly is the inner changes that you expressed which so naturally lead to the external transformation. Awesome, you guys.

281. WOW! Thank you Jonathan and Rowena, I am truly inspired by your transformations into your natural and gorgeous selves. Who wouldn’t want some of this self-loving, self-medicated living love medicine!

282. This is so, so gorgeous. A beautiful representation of the truth. Thanks folks. You rock. xx

283. What a beautiful transformation. I have only met you Rowena, in the “after” Universal Medicine way of being. It was a suprise to see the “before” photograph. The change in both of you goes so far beyond weight loss. You look years younger, so gorgeous and vital. Thank you for the inspiration.

284. Ha ha! This is so great R and J… I am laughing because I knew you back in 2004, when I chose to see you Rowena as a practitioner. It’s unbelievable how far you have come. I have seen and felt the changes in you both along the way which have been inspirational. It was you who introduced me to Serge and Universal Medicine, so even though our choices back then weren’t so great, we sooo both knew there was something else for us to discover. And boy, did we discover something!
     To see you both today, so light, play-full and glowing, and to be walking alongside you now is simply awesome. Thankyou for your inspiration and truly loving ways.

285. This is beautiful. What I see immediately when I look at the second photo is how light in every way you both are. So inspiring and brought a huge smile to my face. It just shows what our choices can do.

286. Rowena and Jonathan, I can only add to the many WOW’s above! WOW! My experience with weight loss has been similar. While I have consciously tried to loose weight before and always struggled to keep it off (or not let it get out of control), I have found in the last 2 years since Universal Medicine the excess weight I was holding in my body has slowly come away – without ‘trying’ or ‘struggling’ or having to forcibly exercise ‘control’ over my eating (something I have never experienced previously). It has been a simple and loving process that has simply been about re-learning to truly connect and listen to my body and to eat and look after it accordingly, and just as your photos have so beautifully reflected, the picture really is worth a thousand words. .

287. What amazing transformation and a beautiful loving choice for you! It shows in your whole being. You are such inspiration for others on similar journey. Thank you for sharing your experience. It almost seems unreal looking at the two pics, I have looked @ them a few times myself!

288. Wow, really cool post. This really shows the life giving benefits of what we are learning through Universal Medicine, and how when we make what we learn at the presentations our own choices, it becomes Our Medicine. If this post went public, ie mainstream, people would be knocking down the door to get in.
     It’s beautiful to see both of you looking and feeling SO beautiful, as you naturally are.

289. I have looked at these two photos countless times since it got posted – mainly in disbelief that the two people on the 2006 photo are the same couple that I got to know over the last 3-4 years – it just looks so unreal to the point: it is not impossible. Yet I know that you are beautiful examples of how very possible it is to change when ‘armed’ with commitment to self, commitment to love and commitment to ALL.

290. Wow. Jonathan and Rowena, what a lov-in-ly transformation.The loving choice you both made to re-connect to the beauty within has given your body the permission to express it fully.This is an awesome reflection to all of us and the world.

291. My husband and I have had a very similar experience and both lost heaps of weight to level at a natural healthy weight.
     What is even more amazing is that in the last 8 years we have become about 15 years younger!

292. Yet another wow Rowena and Jonathan – it is quite extraordinary and also so great to see the before/after photos which really put the/your gradual unfolding towards love over the years into perspective truly showing just what is possible when that commitment to self and to love is made and how that works as a couple – awesome and thank you.

293. This is, and you are, so beautiful. I love your comment that your lifestyle has become your medicine. Likewise that “Instead of compromising by finding solutions we now seek resolutions” is deeply inspiring, there is much to be learnt in that statement alone! I know which couple I would prefer to be treating me! Much love, Stephanie.

294. Wow… Thank you both so much for sharing this. The most fabulous thing I feel from the changes you’ve been through, is how you both now radiate such joy. Truly inspiring!

295. You both look so amazing and feel more comfortable or more of yourselves in your own skin if that makes sense. It was a beautiful post to read, thank you.

296. Now which practitioners would I prefer to go to? The washed out Rowena and Jonathon 2005 version…or the vitality filled Rowena and Jonathon 2012 model? Yep… I’ll take the upgrade. This is a lovely example of just one of the ‘by-products’ of making loving choices inspired by Universal Medicine.
     Reminds me of when my wife and I recently bumped into an acquaintance we hadn’t seen for about 3 1/2 years and when she saw us she was gobsmacked, couldn’t believe how much we had changed and how vibrant we looked and asked what we had been doing (to which we initially burst out laughing).

     1. Love it Rod, I know which practitioners I would rather see: the lighter, healthier, lovelier looking ones for sure.

297. A great post that presents so simply (and obviously) how our choice to self-love can turn our lives around. My husband and I (particularly my husband who is 25kg lighter since choosing to listen to his own body) have experienced something very similar. Thank you for sharing your story and showing the world how choosing love and care for ourselves truly does work.

298. Wow! and so beautifully written and expressed. Thank you Rowena and Jonathon.

299. Thank you Rowena & Jonathan, thank you very much. Simple, honest, truthful & loving expression of how it truly is. Love the photo as well what an awesome reflection. Love to you both Kirsten.

300. Rowena and Jonathan, it is an absolute joy to share with you all you have re-embraced in your lifestyle, I love it when you state the way you live is your medicine, thank you for the inspiration.

301. I just can’t believe the difference! It’s amazing and you explain the process really clearly. I have similar pictures but like you say it was not the intention to lose weight but to live more truthfully. Its just a really awesome side effect!

302. Fabulous inspiration Jonathan and Rowena… much love!
     Hope to see you both soon.

303. Great post which simply shows in more ways than one how making self-loving choices can be truly transformational! I reckon a before UM and after UM photo gallery of Unimed students would be very interesting and show many examples of people who have gone through similar transformations as a result of living in a way that is more self-caring and harmonious.

     1. Great idea Eunice for a before UM and after UM photo gallery. Very confirming for our loving choices.

     2. Transforming ourselves and showing the world through photos – now that’s a great idea.

304. You both look amazing, younger, full of life, with love and joy shining through the latest picture! The best advert I’ve seen for taking responsibility for one’s life.

305. They are Gorgeous! And they know it…!

306. Fantastic post, thanks for sharing. Simply amazing results!

307. Thank you for sharing this Jonathan and Rowena, I love this with your photos to highlight your changes before Universal Medicine to now.
     I have enjoyed a similar experience – when first attending a workshop with Serge Benhayon in June 2008 there was a very deep shift within me regarding food choices and the “being on a continuous diet mentality” (since age 14) which also meant getting onto the scales very every other day to continually suffer with my own comparison with myself over how I was progressing – all it showed was the destructive never ending cycle of loose some, gain more, loose some more, gain even more.
     So much changed energetically during that Heart Chakra workshop.
     For the first time in very many years I began to eat with more awareness and self love for true well being and some changes in my vitality… the food literally gave me up, not me fighting to give it up and during the next few months my body just began to re-shape itself and I realized one morning that there was room enough for two of me in my trousers! For the first time in 9 months I stood on the scales and discovered 6 stone (approx 38 kilos, 84 pounds) had just melted away.
     No dieting, just self love and a deeper level of self care and feeling how certain foods upset my body. Even more amazing is how my “post-menopausal waistline” shape (thickened) has disappeared and has now returned to how it was at age 25.

     1. I love how you put this ‘food literally gave me up’, as you took more self loving choices. I have found the same, things I had struggled with for a long time, wheat for instance after attending Universal Medincine courses, I just naturally felt to talk more care and it fell away.

        1. I can relate to this comment Monica. And the best thing is once something truly falls away you do not miss it or crave it.

308. Wow! So awesome… to ‘feel’ the change in you both and isn’t it great to be so honest with ourselves… allowing the true ‘letting go’ of what we are not, to take place without ‘trying’. Thank you for this sharing. Love Mary-Lou.

309. A great illustration of how the outside reflects what is happening inside and how when there is more of you inside it often creates a by-prodcut of less of you on the outside. Thank you for sharing a photo of how there can be a healthy buoyant lightness that is full, not at all a thin wastedness. This may sound funny, but it feels like you even smell lovely and clean and fresh – inside and out.

310. Wow, the June picture of you two says it all! You look younger, vibrant, glowing and happy, happy individuals but also happy in your togetherness. Thank you Rowena and Johathan for sharing the before the esoteric; ‘just getting through life’, to now; ‘you living the love’. Awesome!

311. Transforming and inspiring.

312. WOW! You look like completely different people and your smiles clearly show you are feeling really great!

313. Wow – how obvious it is that our bodies reflect the quality of choices we make for ourselves. Thank you for clearly showing how the body responds to such loving choices. The proof is truly in the pictures.

314. Wow – how obvious it is that our bodies reflect the quality of choices we make for ourselves. Thank you for clearly showing how the body responds to such loving choices.

315. WOW!!!

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