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Please note: Universal Medicine courses are not weight loss courses, they are about the possibility that 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 as can be seen from the photos Rowena and Jonathan Stewart have sent in below. 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. |
In April 2006 we attended a new complementary health workshop to broaden our professional healing skills, but not to address our own health issues. What we really met was…
Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon and discovered that:
- 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
BEFORE Universal Medicine
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AFTER Universal Medicine
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The Words Behind the Pictures
The evident changes in the pictures have not come about from the intention to lose weight. Nor were we overweight from overeating. All of it was and is because of lifestyle choices.
In 2006 and in the years leading up to it we had, as successful complementary health practitioners, been making informed and rational choices to support our health and well-being that was above the average of society in general. But we were in denial of the truth that we:
- Were overweight from consuming foods and drinks that our bodies could not tolerate
- 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
- Arrogantly believed that our way of living in general not only supported our well-being but was beneficial for us
- Were very judgemental, stubborn and argumentative
- Tried very hard to fix Rowena’s health issues of painful periods and endometriosis, migraines and bouts of depression (which we both experienced) with kinesiology, but which in truth only resulted in burying them further into her body
- Gained our sense of worth from what we did and identified strongly with our profession
In the 6 years that have passed it is not that we have eaten less nor striven to lose weight. 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 has led us to make different choices not only about our food but how we approach our work, sleep routine and life in general.
This has resulted in:
- Relinquishing comfort eating, caffeine and alcohol in favour of addressing the underlying emotions and to feel the effects of the foods we eat
- Taking responsibility for our emotions, actions, choices and communication
- Being willing to face our unresolved hurts and issues, instead of burying them
- Discovering Jonathan’s sense of humour
- Putting our health first, learning how to love, nurture and care for ourselves and consequently how to love others in the process
- A dramatic improvement in Rowena’s health
- Rediscovering that our self-worth is inside ourselves and not in the things we do
- Losing loads of weight without meaning to
- Beginning to have an inkling of the true meaning of joy and harmony
- Being committed to just being ourselves in whatever we do
This, and more, is a work in progress. We can still get grumpy and irritable but by learning to be honest the disharmony is less and less frequent. Instead of compromising by finding solutions we now seek resolutions. Life is not about how one looks but this is how we look after 6 years of living a self-loving way.
It is through OUR choices and endeavours that OUR LIFESTYLE has become OUR MEDICINE.
We have learnt a great deal from what Serge Benhayon has presented in the workshops, presentations and books but mostly from the example LIVED by Serge and the whole of the Universal Medicine staff and students. Thank you Serge for inspiring us to choose a far more joyful, harmonious and loving way to live.
by Jonathan & Rowena Stewart, England
Further Reading:
Before and After | UniMed Living
Everyday People in Livingness
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
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…
“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! 😉
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.
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.
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.
It’s a great reminder that love takes care of everything.
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.
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.
Bringing consistent care, nurturing, and love into our lives supports us in many ways as is highlighted in this blog.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Absolutely true, Mary. To see that such change is possible and sustainable, is deeply inspiring.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wow what a difference! The photo says it all, and that is not only about the clear weight loss but more about the joy that is clearly there. Perhaps you could provide us with an 2018 update?
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.
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.
Self-care is more than ok – it is vital for our health and wellbeing.
“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.
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.
The before and after pictures say so much on their own, that highlight the importance of asking what are we feeding with food?
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.
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.
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.
They could make a picture from you every year. I can see you changing every year more. Now not so much the weight anymore but the radiation in your eyes and body. Always love to see you as students of Universal Medicine in the UK and learn together.
Many people believe that their way of living absolutely makes sense and is even healthy, but if you feel their bodies, you know what is the truth.