294 thoughts on “Before and After My Self Love Program – Forever Unfolding the Real Me”

1. The changes we make by just starting to love and accept ourselves do bring miracles as you have shown in this blog Cherise.

2. It is awesome how our body responds to Love.

3. Cherise, you certainly shine the light on what it is and how to be the real you – a self-love Program everyone will want to know.

4. Being nice is one of the most unloving things you can do for yourself, and for everyone around you.

5. This is so widespread with young women today, and girls in school, and I know I used to have the similar beliefs, ‘I certainly didn’t think I was worth making time for, or deserving of, loving care for myself or my own body.’ It is crazy that we, parents and the education system, bring up a society of people and children with these false and deleterious beliefs, this has to stop.

6. You give a great example how we learn to cope with life and the many mechanism and distractions we can call upon to make this work. But nothing compares to the love we can give ourselves and the confidence that comes with it the more we allow and apply self-love to be our daily care.

7. It’s so crazy that we go into protection which is disconnection, when our greatest form of protection is connection. Cherise your photos say it all, amazing.

8. Wow Cherise, your before and after photos show the evidence of the changes you have made to your life. The whole world now gets the gift of you.

9. ‘Missing out on a deeper love’… that is so beautiful Cherise to tenderly admit for it speaks to everyone who seeks love from the outside. We might say we’re ok, that we’re loving life – but we know something is missing. What is missing is us simply being with the amazing love we are, a love that comes from the inner most essence of our being.

10. Knock diets out the window and embark on the ticket home back to you… when we start to truly love ourselves, our body responds and we return to our natural body shape.

11. Wow Cherise, its wonderful to see the difference between your before and after photos and hear about how you made the changes that have lead to this. I think we should all be a self-love program.

12. Another beautiful and confirming testimony to the power of self love and how such a simple and basic tool should never ever be overlooked as a key foundation for how we feel in ourselves and in life.

13. A remarkable story and article in many ways, simple self love can change you like that? Who knew it could be so simple and yet so what is not normal. I remember my thoughts hammering me and not knowing which way to go. I would put on a brave face where I could and I always remember thinking, is this it, is this what life is about? At this point I would do something or something would happen and these thoughts and feelings would not be there and you would just get on with living. Then something small would occur and everything would come flooding back and it would always feel a little worse each time. It felt like I was constantly running from this ‘flood’. Universal Medicine and the practitioners within it support me to make a change. It wasn’t about changing what I was feeling but more about bringing clearer what I was already feeling but couldn’t make sense of. The world itself confused me and yet I knew I knew something but I was so confused from how I was going about things. My life turned around because of the way I choose to live, no one turned it around for me but they certainly supported me to see clearer what I already had in view.

14. I love how a self love program helped you discard the “nice you”, In applying the principles of self love to my life and beginning to love who I am, I found that I wasn’t actually who I thought I was, and that I wasn’t a muted, quiet, shy, nice person, but I’m actually very strong, focused and I can easily speak the truth when needed… how cool is that?

15. What a gorgeous transformation Cherise, inspiring!

16. This is so incredible Cherise; to change your commitment completely from perfecting your ‘outward smile’ to truly loving and looking after yourself is amazing, and as you’ve shared has such an impact on your life and body without having to go on diets, detoxes or hard going physical or emotional programs.

17. It’s funny how we can pride ourselves on certain qualities, which might be quite lovely and real, whilst at the same time feeling like crap – I remember that place too, and I thought that’s how life would always be; that that was just it. Well actually, I knew there was more but didn’t know how to get there. Finding a Universal Medicine practitioner, and from there Universal Medicine presentations, was the key for me too. Sometimes we can be so locked in a mind-set we need clarity from outside of us to open the door. Universal Medicine holds the key as far as I’m concerned. It’s the only organisation / philosophy I’ve come across that delivers the good when it comes to common sense, practical tools for understanding life and how to truly live it.

18. Beautifully said: “Living from self-love is bringing love to life rather than seeking it from life….” this indeed is all the difference to what it means to live esoterically, living from the inside out and bringing to life who we truly are.

19. Such wisdom, thank you Cherise. I too used to believe that I needed to protect myself from all the hurtful things in life – but now see that when we do this we are living in that hurt constantly. We are hurting ourselves. Learning to love ourselves is a very beautiful step to take in life and in my experiences transforms all relationships – because we have transformed our relationship with ourselves. Living from self-love is ‘bringing love to life’ rather than ‘seeking it from life’ – and this makes all the difference.

20. Wow – your photos speak more than a thousand words, especially your eyes! There is such a playful and cheeky sparkle in the most recent photos. You have me pondering my relationship with myself and how deep I am willing to go with this. Sometimes it’s only when we have everything we thought we wanted that we are able to see that it’s not ‘it’ after all. I am beginning to see that living in a consistently joyful way is actually possible and that a truly successful life is the result of our willingness to live from the impulse of our soul.

21. I have also been making more self-loving choices for some years now, and sometimes I find myself making self-sabotaging choices and indulging in its consequences and think to myself ‘I should be doing this and that and the other, instead of …’ and forget that it is about connection first and foremost. You remind me here that it is not about bettering myself, but unfolding of what is already here.

22. Cherise you bring so much wisdom through what you have share of your journey back to being who you truly are. Even with how you returned to a more natural weight breaks all the concepts we hold as a society around dieting and weight gain/loss. You have highlighted how health and well-being is a direct reflection of how we are with ourselves, the love we hold for ourselves, and of the choices we make in our lives and the willingness to be honest and understand why. There is indeed a deeper quality of who we all are waiting to be lived, and you are a testament of how, through self-love, this way of living is possible. Very inspiring – thank you.

23. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to love ourselves and let go of the patterns of judging ourselves so harshly and bring understanding so that we can feel what changes we can make to support ourselves.

    1. Your so right MW, if we don’t go to this point of appreciation we are still playing ball with the lack of love tyrant.

24. Why do so many of us want to hide and not be noticed because we have an issue with being seen by others for who we truly are and all the qualities and magnificence that brings?

25. It is so gorgeous to see the transformation in you after you chose to love you more deeply and commit to growing and living you in full. Supporting and nourishing our bodies is a deeply inspirational way to move through life that benefits not only ourselves but all who get to see another way to be.

26. So many of us, especially women try and keep up a facade that everything is okay with us when this is not the case at all. We hide behind a wall of pretense so no wonder there is anxiety. The only way through this is to do what you have done Cherise, which is to connect with your true essence, let go of hurts and allow yourself to simply be yourself. You are a true role model in this.

27. Losing 30kg in 3 years – that is a big drop. And you say it was not about losing weight, but about accepting and loving yourself, then the weight came off. All those who have weight issues should definitely pay attention here.

28. Self love works miracles. It’s not a fad but a foundation and it’s something we can all work on, no matter what our life experiences.

    1. It is a solid foundation indeed Nick, the strongest I have ever experienced.

    2. Spot on Nick, it’s the only foundation that love can grow from. with out it we are forever trying to get out of the quicksand.

29. I can remember throughout my teenage years and early twenties looking desperately outside of myself for something to fix the deep sadness and loneliness within me. Nothing worked not even getting married and moving into a new home which I hoped at the time solved what was going on within me. Looking back the tension in my body was enormous because I knew inside me there was another way. It took an illness and disease to put a stop to how I was living and then I found Universal Medicine where I was introduced to another way, The Way of the Livingness. The Way of the Livingness offered me a way to be with myself, to connect to myself and to love myself through the choices I made in my life. It began to change my life and it continues to do so as there is always more to deepen in my relationship to myself.

    1. We learn from a young age that if we do not like our circumstances we need to change them on the outside, but nobody ever teaches us that it starts with the connection to our inside, discarding everything that does not belong there and the outside circumstances will change accordingly.

30. ‘I had created a picture of what and who I should be and fooled even myself with the quiet, ‘nice girl’ persona.’ Cherise I can so much relate to this especially with how I fooled myself and sometimes still choose to go to this quiet, ‘nice girl’ persona. I would say when I do so I just avoid the responsibility to speak up and or act in a way that is (self) loving.

31. The before and after photos totally confirm everything you have written in your article, amazing work

32. There is an aspect of us that has it all backwards! To cope with our hurts the most obvious measure is to shut everyone out with some false hope that that will protect. I have done this, and I’m more than sure that many many others use this tool too. But, ultimately, this just hurts us more because our bodies are designed to connect and let each other in, to be open and communicate all we are to our fellow humans. To deny our bodies and beings this simple and innate quality is to starve ourselves of the very thing we want most in the world. To be and feel loved.

33. “In keeping myself closed to others I thought I was protecting myself from getting hurt or rejected, but in actual fact I was hurting and rejecting myself most deeply” We think we are protecting ourselves from being hurt by the outer world, when in fact we are not loving ourselves and thus imprisoning ourselves behind a big wall. This lets no love out and no love in – no wonder lack of self esteem is such a big issue n today’s society. We let one or more hurts in our life dictate the way we are with everyone in future – not a great experiment. As I have opened myself up to everyone, the rewards are amazing.

34. WOW! What a difference Cherise! A testimony to the power of ones own choices

35. I so recognise this saviour consciousness, the need for people to ‘get it’, to be a certain way and to change so that I can feel safe to express all of me – my true self – which in truth is making it about me which is self-serving and not about others, which is not brotherhood at all. Thankfully, I got to feel how imposing this is for others, and at the same time got to realise that everyone has their own wisdom and power to make different choices, which as you mentioned Gyl, this allows for far more space for life to unfold naturally.

36. Very inspiring lady you are Cherise. What is true for us all is that we are all learning how to love ourselves and how to be in this world just being our true selves.

37. What an inspiration you are Cherise.

38. How come that we ever have stopped loving ourselves and created a life in which we are dependant of the recognition and award from the outer world?

39. Only recently I realised and very subtly it was how much I love people which is ironic because for most of my life I have wanted to avoid people. People were too much, too overwhelming and I would feel wiped out after being in the company of others. So how come the change? The change has been a gentle unfolding of love for myself, how I feel about myself which has had a knock on effect of bringing a confidence within me. I still get tired after being with people but I have tools that support me to feel energised and myself again. It is work in progress but I know I have always loved people and the connection to others; it is about developing a deepening relationship to myself so that I can be the ‘real’ me with everybody with no holding back.

40. So many diets seem to be about denying yourself certain ‘treats’ which is often seen as punishing. Yet you lost weight from building self worth, self esteem and self love underneath. This seems to have addressed the behaviours that led to eating things that didn’t support your body. This is clearly worth investigating further bearing in mind the trajectory for overweight and obesity in our current world.

41. When we make the choice to stop showing the world the ‘face’ or ‘front’ that we have created and show another the depth of our essence, our Soul; we are graced with the beauty of receiving their beauty of essence in return. We are able then to bring our understanding, true compassion and love to another and equally see past their ‘front’ to their depth of essence too. Is this not what life is all about? Connecting to and being one with the essence of God that we are all an equal part of and support us all, as one big group, back to the love that we all come from.

42. Its always beautiful to read someone opening up to themselves, discovering the beauty within… and then being able to see that so clearly in the pictures.

43. Cherise, the pictures say it all, you are so open, sparkly and bright in the after one, amazing transformation.

44. Self love is definitely not selfish, it is the first steps towards true love.

45. After, after and after.. there is no limit or measure to the depth we can take ourselves in the name of claiming our own relationship and healing our hurts and choices. Blowing out of the water the idea that there can be any perfection or end point to arrive at, we are presented each and every day with yet a million more moments and thus opportunities to be and live the true essence that we are and not hold this back from anyone around us nor from anything we do even in the simplest of moments on our own. It all counts and every movement we make in truth and harmony of how divine and beautiful we are builds a true foundation for us to understand ourselves, life and everything that comes our way; we don’t just build a trust but begin with an absolute knowingness of who we are and this absoluteness comes with the purity that we are from the initial starting point.

46. These gorgeous before and after photos say it all Cherise. Deep inner confidence and joy emanate from you after your ‘self love program’

47. Re-visiting this blog is as inspiring to read as the first visit Cherise.
    I can relate to weight melting away as soon as I stopped the years of yo-yo dieting and I began to appreciate and accept myself too. For 8 years I have been a student of the Ancient Wisdom Teachings as presented by Serge Benhayon and my vastly lesser weight remains unchanged, yet my body continues to re-configure its shape as deeper past hurts are dealt with.
    “the weight literally came off as I began to accept myself and as I began to learn to love myself and treat my body with the love it always deserved”.

48. Cherise I too found that weight loss was a by-product of me making more loving choices around what and how I ate. The ‘what’ was about noticing which foods left me feeling bloated or low in energy and slowly eliminating them. The ‘how was about paying closer attention to if I was really hungry or if it was a case of feeling stressed, tired or in need of comfort and making choices to support myself rather than eat to mask what was really going on.

49. What a difference in your before and after photos, and the idea of putting yourself on a self love program is a great idea. The outcome of it is clear to see.

50. I too can relate to how it is to be living in a shield of protection and hardness. I too wish this wasn’t the case, as it has kept me measured and hidden for years. I have found it challenging to let go of this wall of protection, especially in an environment that is threatened by it. Your photographs are proof that it is worthwhile persevering with it.

51. I love how you gave yourself permission to trust your body again and that you note this hasn’t been the case since you were a young child. Its chilling how we are knocking kids out of their ability to trust their own feelings from a very young age.

52. I love seeing you emerge from the protection and tension that used to be your normal. You are beautiful inside and out, and that deserves to be shown to the world.

53. This is such a delightful sharing. The power of self-love and appreciation. I know I could do with more of that and having met you in the more recent years than what you speak of as your before here, I am totally inspired by you, Cherise.

54. Reading this blog this morning I cannot help but feel that we are constantly being presented with a choice to either avoid our hurts or deal with them and open up to life. You chose to deal with your hurts with an amazing result and really what you have presented here is the way forward for humanity.

55. What a change, Cherise. As you say it is not just about weight loss but about shedding all the old ideals and beliefs about yourself and removing all the protective patterns and ways you had been living to reveal the gorgeous you underneath. Totally awesome and this is possible for everyone.

56. What a transformation Cherise. And the fact that you weren’t focusing on losing weight but instead your focus was on loving you shows how powerful this program was.

57. This line today “I was missing out on a deeper love, a love that could never be given to me by someone else, it could only come from my own heart” brought tears to my eyes. We are all so missing out on this deeper love and we are searching HIGH and LOW for this missing ingredient and getting incredibly distracted and hurt in the process because we don’t know what we are looking for. Enter the Benhayon’s and Universal Medicine who are showing us that the key ingredient missing is living from our own inner-heart.

58. Thanks for writing this Cherise, it is so true that in shielding ourselves from others in order to protect ourselves actually causes us more harm than we could ever suffer from being open and seeing what life brings. I have learned we are meant to be amongst people, as we are all from the one source and life is nothing without letting people into our lives. I really feel the truth in this and loved reading how you have made changes that support this knowing.

59. Such an inspiring story Cherise and so beautiful to feel that you truly appreciate, and rejoice in, your amazing transformation. Thank you for sharing your before and after self-love program.

60. Putting yourself on a self love program looks like it was a major life changing choice for you. It is amazing what can happen when we choose to take care of ourselves and be aware of our hurts and issues, rather than just keep on numbing and doing anything and everything to not feel them.

61. I love your before and after photos Cherise, as I can really see in the before photos how withdrawn you are, how unsure you are and how your shoulders are held in protection. Thanks for sharing.

62. We claim to live in a peaceful society, but have we really registered the undercurrent of the aggressive and hostile environment we live in when no one feels comfortable to actually be themselves? When we are at war with ourselves to fit in with others, how can that truly be a peaceful or harmonious society?

63. What I am feeling and also observing in myself and others around me is that we often don’t allow ourselves to feel the fact that we are loaded with self-loathing and want to think that we ‘love ourselves’ because we pander to our desire and are quick to reach for reliefs. Self-love requires us to get to know the ‘self’ we are loving.

64. Going on a ‘self love’ programme is confronting. Before we can step in to self love, we must discard every thing we’ve used as false protectors self abuse, dis-regard, manipulation and pretence. It is a journey founded on absolute honesty that rewards us when we finally come home and can simply be true to ourselves.

65. Cherise, that’s such a game we play with ourselves, we hold ourselves back from others so we don’t get hurt, yet we hurt ourselves the most in this process and we loose out big time as well as others. It doesn’t work although most of us give it our best shot. When we come back to taking deep and loving care of ourself as you have done, it changes everything and I love the distinction you highlight in this. It’s not to better or improve ourselves, but to confirm the beauty that is in us already, that is there ready and waiting to come out. And most of all that’s what I feel reading your blog, that the beautiful woman that is you is now visible for all to see, and that is gorgeous and deeply inspiring.

66. It is lovely and inspiring to re read your sharing Cherise and keep on track by bringing commitment and love into my own life! Thank you.

67. Pingback: Sharing the Joy – The Truth about Serge Benhayon

68. Letting others see who we are – why is this such a big problem in our world? When we were small children, did we not run around, laugh, cry and be playful in a way that did not hold concern for how we looked or what others thought. There was a point in life where we learnt to shy away and take on the perceived or vocalised ideals of others and from this exact point we shut down our natural and absolute sense of transparency in life. But the beautiful part is that it is never too late to choose us again, choosing to firstly see ourselves for who we truly are – love, beauty, tenderness, fragility, sensitivity, fun and grace – and then choosing to make sure everyone else gets to enjoy and be enriched by who we are equally. There’s nothing to hide but the true power of transparency has been clouded under ideals and images for far too long.

69. A truly inspiring blog Cherise, powerful indeed the transformation you have made through the loving choices you committed to. Even dropping 30 kilos is a miracle in itself and that this didn’t come from strict dieting it came from you accepting and loving yourself.

70. A Self Love Program is such a great idea – I love it – what a great foundation to build the whole of your life forward on.

71. Cherise, this is so incredible the transformation you have undergone. The key was you looking for another way. Surrendering the old and living the new. Love first and foremost – to self and then it will flow to others. It has worked for you and this has also worked for me too.

72. ‘I had a picture of what would bring happiness and love to my life, a list of things from the outside, the home, the husband and children.’ Who doesn’t have this picture? I know I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to achieve it. Now I know it’s just not real. Learning to feel enough is probably the cheapest and most truly attainable thing we could ever have access to.

73. What I have learnt from doing similar programs is the absolute difference some self love makes to your choices everyday. One example is that I often allow the petrol tank to run almost dry….like I really push it until I’m probably running on a few drops. This choice alone helps keep me in this unnecessary tension/worry about whether or not I’m going to make it. This anxiety has a direct impact on me as a whole and causes me to make other choices I probably would not normally make, in order to counter the anxiety I’m feeling.
    Because of the ever expanding self love I’m building in my body, I now have a better understanding around my choices and can see the impact they have more clearly. I’m getting better at not letting the tank run dry, and more frequently making the choice to have enough petrol so I don’t need to worry about. There are so many good examples of the impact self loving choice make.

74. ‘I prided myself on my ability to listen intently, be responsible, provide care for my family and patients at work…’ I could write the same story about my life. Always making sure others were looked after but inside I was a complete wreck, all the while refusing to know about it and convinced myself it was normal. So very happy it was brought to my attention that actually, to feel bad about yourself is in no way normal, even if the majority feels the same…it is not normal.

75. The difference in you Cherise is amazing! And what’s so beautiful is that the program you and your practitioner went on was not a million dollar escapade or anything super complicated or weird for that matter. Just straight up connecting to your body and starting to appreciate the whole package. It’s simple enough for anyone to do, and with all the support out there available to us, it’s a wonder we don’t all take the opportunity.

76. It is beautiful to feel how when we start to love and appreciate ourselves we build a deeper relationship with ourselves and thus have a strong foundation to go out into the world and build true connections with others rather than using tools like food or TV as distractions from what we are missing within us.

77. Beautiful blog Cherise, it is very self harming to choose to leave ourselves for the love of others, which never fulfils. True love for ourselves is giving us the permission to open up and to be all that we are.

78. I love to read you report on your journey back to the love that you are Cherise. And the inner beauty you have built is also clearly seen at the outer and now available to everybody you are with.

79. Jenny James I relate so well to what you shared as I also used to think like that ,only to discover that I in fact had to come back to realise that in fact it was myself that I had to learn to self love . Still work to do in that area though . thank you for sharing .

80. So true Mary-Louise! However it wouldn’t be popular for obvious reasons.

    1. No probably not too simple a solution and no money to be made on introducing people to self love.

81. “I was shy and I reserved my feelings for a limited crowd of family and close friends, but even then I was closed off from allowing anyone to see and fully discover the ‘real me’.” What would that feel like to let others in to see me and for me to allow self acceptance and full self appreciation, whatever their response and to not need the recognition and approval of another from the outside to make me full?

82. The before and after pictures say it all, the healing effect of taking responsibility and making self care choices

    1. The ‘health effects’ of taking responsibility for ourselves are enormous, when we choose to not hold back who we are and our true authority on life coupled with the wisdom of our physical bodies we begin to beam brighter and more lighter than ever before .. well, since we were young children with the joy, light and love in our eyes that is natural and more precious than anything we could ever want or do. Healing ourselves comes from taking responsibility, for our choices, our hurts and literally every move that we make to express the fullness of who we truly are.

83. It is a joy to read this blog, Cherise and the pictures really tell your story. It is amazing that we live without so long disconnected from our essence and then magic happens when we reconnect.

    1. Thanks Anne, it is interesting to recognise this magic in reconnection when it is more simple to choose, now than ever before, for anyone. It’s also fascinating to remember the ways in which we have lived or chosen that are in complete opposite to the essence that we emanate, that is, how our bodies, our minds and our talents in life were used to our detriment and bringing harm to us and those around us when in our essence our bodies, choices and movements plus our skills are about healing and bringing the love back to not only us but everyone that we connect with.
       We are true healers when we choose to heal ourselves as we then naturally reflect and bringing healing to everyone.

       1. The power of healing is in us all but we often do not appreciate that. Our disconnection promotes individuality and we lose the opportunity to reflect to others. Imagine the world full of fully responsible people who reflected this to others. I appreciate having found Universal Medicine and an opportunity to live in such a healing way.

84. The pictures say it all here Cherise! I love the self-love program you have shared and have been on a similar program myself – I can definitely vouch for its benefits!

85. Everyday I am realising more and more that life is about ‘discovering the real me – and sharing this unreservedly with others’. Thanks for confirming this fact in your gorgeous blog Cherise.

86. Self-love and self-nurture are the choices that I have been actively committing to for the past few years, and every now and then I come to a point where I feel as though I am failing at that – but your sharing reminds me that it is a forever unfolding, and those points are actually the prompt for me to know that I am ready for more. Thank you, I was just having one of those moments and self-doubt and self-loathing were just round the corner.

87. That’s a great point, sarahflenley. This really is a fantastic testament that our ‘normal’ can be so much more than what we have allowed ourselves to settle for.

88. Cherise the part that resonated most for me was ‘In keeping myself closed to others I thought I was protecting myself from getting hurt or rejected, but in actual fact I was hurting and rejecting myself most deeply.’ I had decided how I needed to be in the world in order not to get hurt, however in order to do this I had to hide the real me, from both other people and myself.

89. I always love reading your blogs Cherise. An absolute inspiration every time I read one.

90. Yes Jaime – this is essential, it must be at the foundation of our education

91. Well said Cherise – ‘I had a picture of what would bring happiness and love to my life, a list of things from the outside, the home, the husband and children. But as I ticked these things off my list I was realising this wasn’t it. I was missing out on a deeper love, a love that could never be given to me by someone else, it could only come from my own heart by choosing true love for myself; by learning how to love myself and choosing to live the real me.’

92. Thank you Cherise for this blog. I can relate to so much of what you are saying. The topic of self acceptance has popped up in my life a lot in the last few weeks, and it is amazing what we do to distract ourselves from feeling the sadness that there is when we haven’t claimed the love that we are. I have recently noticed how I try to keep myself busy with work, projects, friends etc so that I can get a sense of self worth from them all. But in the last few days Ive had the gift of not having a lot going on so that I can see how much I rely on these external activities to hold my self worth up. This revelation is great, although confronting, in that it is showing me that there is a need for me to deepen the acceptance and love I have for myself so that what I do is not just about distractions and gaining recognition, but about true service.

    1. What a gorgeous revelation Eleanor, to be this open and honest with ourselves is a true blessing as we release the needs and false perceptions that keep us thinking that who we are needs confirming from others. Our self worth is living and accessible from our own acceptance and appreciation and these qualities have no end-depth, consistently expanding and consistently integrating to be the new ‘normal’ way and then the only way that we live.

93. A beautiful sharing Cherise and an inspiration to all of us who want to make changes in our lives.

94. Cherise, I loved reading your blog. I remember the feeling of hiding myself away from the world and protecting myself from getting hurt felt the easiest thing to do. I now realise how much energy I used to do that, and how living freely with no protection is so much more loving for ourselves and others.

    1. Yes, the energy required to ‘hold back’ and indulge in an illusion or image filled way of living is exhausting! When we realign ourselves to our natural way of being in this world, with our stillness lived and emanating from our bodies we become more vital and have the energy provided to do and to deal with anything that comes our way.

95. Our before and after is continuous, never stopping when we allow our ever unfoldment and dedication to student-life to be our way. What supports us to not rest or relax on our successes or development is our understanding that there is no end point to the expansion of ‘being ourselves’ that is indeed possible; from here we also know that there is no end point until all of us as one humanity have equally reached an equal expansion back to being our full selves together.

96. A great blog Cherise, your before and after are truly inspiring.

97. I totally agree that discovering the real you is absolutely the best weight loss programme ever, because it doesn’t require anything of you – and that’s simply because the weight isn’t and never was the issue. It’s the relationship with ourselves that’s disconnected, so we feel empty and use food in an attempt to fill it. When we start to change the relationship with ourselves, we no longer need to fill ourselves as we’re already full, so the weight is no longer needed as a shield or protection and it just gently dissolves.

    1. Correct Cathy, this is a natural process of letting go of what is not true to us and reclaiming what is, both physically and overall. We are divine in nature and our bodies naturally want to reflect this out to the world, all we have to do is give it the permission and support to be natural.

98. There’s great wisdom here..”the weight literally came off as I began to accept myself and as I began to learn to love myself and treat my body with the love it always deserved.” Thank you Cherise.

    1. This way of making choices comes with a continual refinement I have found, although we feel what is right for us on one day this may not be the case a week later and so our ever opened and willing heart is a paramount part in refining the ways in which we honour who we are.

99. This is really inspiring for me Cherise – I’m only just understanding the difference between self-care and self-love and how much deeper self-love is and how essential it is for a healthy relationship firstly with myself and then others.

    1. Thank you Deborah, I was only just pondering on the difference between self care and self love and how when self love is not present we can’t just simply jump to it! Self care is often a foreign concept for so many people and is a bridge to deepening our choices and care to be that of truly loving. To come from not even caring for oneself to even being willing to care for yourself and your body is such a massive thing and something to appreciate for sure.

100. Patricia Dawish, I can relate to where you have been. It is so liberating to start and feel the real me. The UNCONDITIONAL LOVE we all receive to support us along the way if only it could be bottled and spread over the universe so people can feel how beautiful we all are. Thank you for your blog. Yes to have Cherise as one’s nurse how blessed the patience are to have her nurse them.
     With love Dorothy.

101. Cherise, What a beautiful account of your journey to find the true beauty that is in you. So much of it I can relate to where I have been plus there is still work going on in that area for myself as well. Thank you for sharing that as you now look so beautiful. What joy for the patients to have you as their nurse. With love to you. dorothy

102. Cherise, knowing you now I cannot imagine you withdrawn and anxious as you described yourself before your self love program. For me, you are an absolute inspiration as a woman, your very tender and delicate way I have observed and your playfulness and sweetness – very very beautiful – the full package. It’s brilliant that you share with us your transformation.

103. Cherise many, including myself, will relate to your before self love self. Thank you for sharing the steps you took to bring love into your life and start to live again.

104. Your transformation into yourself is so inspiring Cherise. “I was missing out on a deeper love, a love that could never be given to me by someone else, it could only come from my own heart by choosing true love for myself; by learning how to love myself and choosing to live the real me.” I can feel how much I have resisted the truth you present here and how easy it is to stop resisting and start loving me.

105. Your willingness and commitment to come out of hiding and share all of you with the world is inspiring. Thank you, Cherise.

106. It is so beautiful to see the changes that can come from taking time to heal the hurts that hold you back from having a solid foundation of self worth. A love for yourself that influences the choices you make. It has been a perfectly timed read Cherise, many thanks.

107. Jonathan your words have highlighted something here, regarding the fact that we are actively rejecting ourselves when we are not being loving. Saying it like that makes it so much more real.

     1. To actively ‘reject’ ourselves is a painful, hurtful choice and one that we carry with us into everything that we say and do from that point onwards. There is nothing loving about rejecting the absolute divinity, grace, beauty and heavenly love that we are.

108. What an inspiring sharing Cherise. Just looking at your photos you look so gorgeous with that wide smile that you have now and so very much your true self compared to the earlier photo. Having protected myself from the World for many years I can understand why we do it, but as you say it causes more harm than good.

109. What you share here is very inspiring for all to read Cherise, your self-love program supported you to let go of any hardness and protection you were carrying. Now we see the real you – a beautiful, joy-full and radiant woman.

110. Cherise I can stick the same label on myself: “In keeping myself closed to others I thought I was protecting myself from getting hurt or rejected, but in actual fact I was hurting and rejecting myself most deeply”. I didn’t know I was hurting myself with this protection until coming to work with Serge Benhayon. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story.

     1. Thanks Dianne, and I agree .. I didn’t realise how much protection I had built until I became so aware that I didn’t want to build nor have it anymore. When I see myself creating protection in any way, shape or form these days I feel the hurt instantly and am unable to love myself or others in the way that I know how to ~ by just being love, and this is what hurts so deeply because love is all that I am, know and come from. And so it is a choice to always return to it.

        1. Thank you for expanding that Cherise. I love how you share that when you get hurt, and don’t acknowledge it, you can’t love as you know you can. It is really paying attention to how you feel all of the time and bringing enough honesty to be able to acknowledge that feeling hurt by something doesn’t need to send you spinning off. It just needs a deeper level of love from you to you.

111. This is true Emily and when we as people shield or protect ourselves we can do it in so many different ways … withdrawing in life is the obvious one but being extraverted, comparing ourselves to others, making yourself better than or less than another, giving your power away to a situation or authority outside of you are all equally as hurtful to everyone. Anything that keeps us thinking we are not equal in brotherhood is a form of protection.

112. Thank you Cherise, I love how you can say that the choices to self care and honour your body are not to ‘better yourself’ but because you have already recognised there is something amazing within that is worth cherishing and nurturing. Many people go on diets and exercise regimes, or use cosmetic surgery all coming from a place of insecurity or low self-worth, and believing/hoping this may be the magic fix to make them feel better but if the harsh self-critic and self-hatred inside isn’t addressed as well, nothing will truly work. I have found that those beginning steps to self-love and self-care bring a confirmation that there is something inside worth looking after.

     1. Yes, I agree Annie. You cannot deal with the outside without addressing the inside at the same time. Quick fixed just mask the real issues and it always comes up in another way. My experience is that when it comes back it is usually accompanied by more self loathing because you know you have been avoiding and complicating what could have been a simpler issue.

113. I really loved your blog Cherise, so beautiful to come out and live the real and loving you.I can so relate to the playing small and the not wanting to be seen. I came to realise that it was controlling but I didn’t know all the other things that underlie that behaviour. Thank you for sharing.

114. Interesting how some of us use hardness and aggressive behaviour as our protection and others choose to withdraw and become as invisible as possible. It all comes from the same place – a lack of commitment to self, to life and love. So beautiful Cherise that you have turned this around and shed your skin so to speak, not only for yourself but also everybody else.

     1. This is interesting katechorley because it really is all the same ill behaviour. We can shut people out by building brick walls that come in an array of colours and styles but the pivotal point is that there’s a brick wall in the first place! And what is it that we don’t want others to see ~ could it be the absolute beauty, joy and divinity that we are that we hide away? and if so is there a good enough reason to hold this truth back when it is harming ourselves so deeply. Perhaps we don’t want to get hurt by another, if we let love in and then it is taken away? But maybe this too is a great trick, for once we are met with true love and know it is who we are not what is given to us it can never be taken away. Let’s not hold love back or out I say!

        1. I agree Cherise, when we know what love truly is, that it is who we are and that it is endless and eternal we can stop our games of playing small and step into the divinity we naturally are.

        2. Absolutely, and the more we expose the games we have invested in and have played the more we see them as nothing more than games to hide our true selves away from others. This also greatly empowers us to know we have choices to make and these hold a purpose to live the true us and not the game players we have been. Claiming the power we truly bring in this world by living truth for all to see and feel.

115. Yes absolutely, it’s the incredible contrast which is so inspiring and this is without any sort of enhancement whatsoever.

116. Yes Jaime, I was talking to a student recently about the amount of school work they have along with all the extra after school activities and I asked if the teachers discuss diet, sleep patterns or taking breaks whilst revising. The answer was no, which is ridiculous when these three elements alone would make a huge difference to a students ability to do well in the exams or not.

117. The photographs of you Cherise in your cute baby pink dress are gorgeous. It feels to me like you have found exactly the right colours to honour you which is in stark contrast to the photographs of you before Universal Medicine where you are wearing black which drains you – such a beautiful unfolding.

118. Cherise, it is madness that self care is not second nature to us when it is such a vital part of our lives. Our education system seems to focus solely on exams grades and as a result many of us cannot even relate to what it is. The presentations of Universal Medicine are extraordinary in their teachings of what true self care is. Your blog is a beautiful example of how powerful it is.

119. I really enjoyed having your photos to illustrate your loving choices Cherise – a truly transformational uncovering of your natural beauty.

120. I like when you wrote, ‘I absolutely love going to work and being with other people’, how many people can say that.
     I used think that work was the problem and that I didn’t like people but that in fact is not the case and I have found out that it was not the work, but how I was with the work.
     I now enjoy going to work thanks to the help of the Esoteric Practitioners and work with a lovely team of men and women.

121. Yes, Cherise is a really good writer.

122. Thank you for sharing Cherise, your willingness to let go of hurts and healing them and your choosing more responsibility and love to be more of you is very inspiring to all.

123. This Self-Love program you wrote about feels so lovely. Thank you for sharing your truly beautiful before and after.

124. Thank you for your reflection Cherise, it’s a great reminder to look back and appreciate my similar journey of an unfulfilled life to one of vitality and purpose which delivers a complete inner joy and connection and thus a Love of life.

125. It was completely inspiring Cherise to read and see the transformation that you have made in your life, with the simple choice of choosing to self love.
     When we choose this everyone around us gets the benefit and reflection that this is possible for themselves.

126. I get this “I had a picture of what would bring happiness and love to my life, a list of things from the outside,” I know I did this of sure, it felt like some sort of element of control or measure of my life, to see if I am succeeding or not. Obviously if something does not come to fruition we often feel low and a sense of failure. And as you say all of this is coming from placing our hopes and self worth on what is occurring outside of us. It makes compete practical and simple sense to connect and live from the inside. Beautiful revelation.

127. I can so relate to what you share with us here Jonathan – Its taken me some time now to come to a similar acceptance that if I do not love myself how can I let anybody else get close to me with barriers up (protection of not wanting to get hurt/rejected) and a sign saying no entry I’m not ready yet to accept the love that I am.

128. The difference in the photos says it all, from the sadness that was in your eyes, to where by your willingness to make self-loving choices has led you to claiming the natural joy that you are, and beauty is shining through you now for all to feel and see.

129. Thanks for sharing your self love program with with us Cherise. It’s beautiful to see the changes you have made to your life.

130. Low self esteem plagues many people so thank you for sharing the antidote, the power of self-love. Your story is so down to earth and so compelling I am sure others will want to know how you relegated low self esteem into history.

     1. Great reminder to start giving myself a daily dose of appreciation again. Some days my behaviour feels so unacceptable that I find it hard to keep appreciating myself.

        1. Yes, appreciation is the antedate to hardness. When we are in appreciation we are absolutely and adorably loving with ourselves and who could be hard on us then!

131. I loved to read this blog again Cherise, and see the shining gorgeous woman you are. It was also the same for me, when I attended courses by Universal Medicine, I also began to love myself and to trust in myself again, which has changed my life, incredibly so.

132. Your blog Cherise is super inspiring. I am experiencing that there are so many layers of believes and patterns to look at, once you commit in letting go of what is not who you are. When I let go of the things that are not me, I feel more space to see more of what is me. Thank you for sharing your idea of having a Self Love Program, it feels so honouring and playfull.

     1. Truly beautiful. Thank you cheriseholt. Reading your comment has left me holding myself in love instead of being hard on myself for not moving forward fast enough on account of previous choices.

133. Your story and photo’s are so powerful Cherise, especially to see the changes you have made in just three years. If I did not already know of the teachings of Universal Medicine and the Esoteric Healing Modalities and had only read your story I would be asking ‘Self-love program, where can I get some of that?’ ‘What is it? Tell me more’……

     1. Maybe there are many in the world still asking this, and maybe your program should go out into the world Cherise, in a practical way for all to heal from.

     2. I too had a totally different picture of what self-love was in the past – a picture that actually had nothing to do with true self-love but was more based on meeting outside expectations or ideals. I find that the pictures / photos of you Cherise, and many others making the same loving choices, totally smash these pictures that come from the head, and bring it totally back to what is reflected from and in the body.

134. Playing small is a quite aggressive behaviour, that’s at least, what it feels, when I do it to my body.

     1. Playing small is such a classic go to behaviour….so many people are hiding from how gorgeous we really are. You got me checking out how playing small feels again Felix…aggressive is not a word that would often get used in this context, but I can feel what you mean…bit of a revelation here!

     2. Ouch Vicky and Felix your comments feel uncomfortable as the truth is often not what we want to hear.

     3. Exactly as you say, Vicky, with the adding of aggressive, controlling, manipulative, irresponsible and abusive to ‘playing small’ we have a truthful choice to play small or not. It allows us to feel how selfish playing small is, where we want to fool ourselves it doesn’t harm us or others.

     4. Beautifully said Cherise. Once you have had a taste of living the real you, the futility of holding back is thrown into sharp relief. As you say though, with this revelation we need to bring understanding to ourselves, as critique and self judgement, in my experience, only send us further back the other way.

     5. Well said Felixschumacher, playing small is like the body attacking the beautiful light that we are.

        1. Very sneaky and devastating!

     6. There is a very big hurt to feel when it comes to playing it small, being controlling or manipulative. It hurts deeply to really feel the game that we play with others and it hurts equally so to uncover the game that others play with us, in not just letting you be. It reminds me that it always comes down to our own responsibility to bring an honesty and commitment to our own lives and the choices we make. We can only work to ensure we don’t play any games, only speak truth and live love to the very best that we can.

     7. Yes Vicky when we feel the manipulation in holding back and playing it small it is very revealing. And it also reveals the layers of hurt that we hang on to. But as Serge Benhayon presents – we are so much more than our hurts.

        1. Yes and not only are we so much more than our hurts we are not at all our hurts! They can be indulged in or used to create or stay in the dramatics of life but quite frankly they can be let go of much more easily than we give ourselves credit or the permission for.

     8. So true Cherise – no beating ourselves up, but simply stepping into love and the lightness of being love that we truly are.

     9. Wow, I never felt this behavior like that,. What a revelation this is for me. I have mistakenly thought it was somehow serving others.

     10. I have never seen it this clearly as “control or manipulation that can be directed at another, others or a situation when we play small”.

     11. Cherise you bring such love and understanding to what it is to acknowledge and admit the ways in which we seek to protect ourselves from hurts, damages ourselves and all humanity, but without damaging ourselves and others further through judgement or condemnation. I’m learning being responsible is the joy of who I am. Whilst being irresponsible – though clouded in the illusion that this is me choosing to be me- is just dark and dismal!

     12. “Playing small” sounds so harmless doesn’t it? I suppose we can even believe it helps others. Within the comments here I can see it’s about manipulating situations by placing on a mask and not being true, but I can also understand why we do it and from an early age. Learning to be true to ourselves in an often hostile and very unaccepting environment can take time. Healing our hurts is a great starting point.

135. Thanks Cherise you have presented a great example of the benefits of making self loving choices, you are a great role model.

136. Re-reading your blog has encouraged me to put myself on a new program of more love Cherise, paying attention to the details, thank you for your gorgeous inspirational description of the choices that allowed you to shine.

137. Cherise, you are living testament of what it is to make self loving choices and live life honouring the connection to your body. Your story is very inspiring, thank you!

138. Cherise an absolutely amazing description of what it means to truly nurture and care for ourselves by committing to love unconditionally. Your photos show your beauty radiates from within. Thank you.

139. Wow Cherise, what a transformation! And what a confirmation of the power of self love and what is possible when we connect to who we truly are.

140. These photos do say it all – the change is amazing, you are absolutely glowing in the after photos. I can’t wait to see more of you over the next few years if that’s what you can achieve in 3 years.

141. An amazing transformation Cherise. The photographs certainly confirm the story you tell. You look and feel amazing!

142. A great inspiration and confirmation that practicing self-love is so worth it! I have to admit it felt like a bit of a nuisance to me to begin with, but once you feel the ease and the joy it brings to the body and into your life – you don’t want to live any other way.

143. What a transformation Cherise, it’s really beautiful to see more of who you truly are shining out from your later photos.

144. The thing about pictures of ourselves is, photos don’t lie…. everything can be felt and seen. There is no denying the difference in your before and after shots Cherise. I can feel how very comfortable you now are in your skin, as the saying goes and how radiant you are because of your self love program and of your acceptance of the true beauty you naturally are and always were…and now you can allow ‘you’ to shine. Thank you for sharing Cherise,I have already shared your story of transformation with a family member.

145. The difference in your photos is so undeniable Cherise. I have watched your transformation back to yourself first hand and it has been an absolute joy to behold. You remind me of the true potential we all have. Thank you.

146. What an amazing program Cherise, one that would put the weight loss/diet industry out of business!

     “the weight literally came off as I began to accept myself and as I began to learn to love myself and treat my body with the love it always deserved.”

     Joy-full to read. Thank you Cherise!

     1. Thanks Suzanne, and it is a continual process of acceptance and acceptance of even more love that I deserve.

147. Always an inspiration Cherise, and there is always something to inspire others in what you write. That we can let go of the hardness and the shield is a seeming miracle in itself, but what happens then as we let go is truly beautiful.

148. I have begun to realise how much my hurts fill my interactions with others. And I feel how true it is what you have said that by living in protection you reject yourself. Thank you for your inspiring blog.

     1. It’s so true Laura, the more I see the protection I have carried the more it deeply hurts to try and hold onto it ~ especially when I see the energy that it takes to keep up the wall, the sea of hurts when I can actually see them and then let them pass out again with the tide.

149. A really beautiful and inspiring article.

150. Thank you Cherise. How beneficial it would be if all students at school had a program of self-love included in the timetable. I had never heard of or considered self-love until I attended presentations by Serge Benhayon. A simple self-help manual that you can write for yourself.

151. Cherise you are an amazing example of what commitment and trust in yourself can achieve. Through your self love program you have been able to tap into the love deep inside you and let that shine from inside out. Enjoy your continuing unfolding.

     1. When people commit to ever deepening their self love and appreciation for themselves I too have observed there is a shine that definitely comes from the inside out, beautifully said Christine.

152. I love seeing how more beautiful, confident and gorgeous you are becoming every time I see you. What a shining light you are for all who may feel fearful about being themselves in the world.

153. Every time I read these words I feel joy…”It’s a miracle to me that I have let go of such a shield of protection and hardness and given myself the permission to expand and unfold the natural and joyful Cherise… the natural and joyful me!” It is truly wonderful to have gone on such a journey and feel the huge difference. Like you say you have not turned into something new but embraced all that you ever were deep inside.

154. It feels so beautiful to feel and meet the real you, thank you for sharing with such honesty and grace. Many of us are not living the real us and you have shown how painful this can be and we may always even be aware that is our deepest pain.

     1. Thank you Karoline, it hurts us deeply when we are not ourselves and to also see another whom we hold so much love for to also not live their real inner beauty for all to see – this hurt isn’t something to hold onto however, but a call to always choose ‘us’ over anything else and inspire all others to do the same for themselves. This is the inspiration that Serge Benhayon has undoubtedly and unwaveringly reflected to me.

155. Lovely you shared your transformation with us !

156. Thanks for sharing this Cherise, it is really beautiful to feel your unfolding and returning to who you truly are.

157. Beautiful Cherise, the results of the choice to self love and accept yourself is revealed in your after photo. What an amazing transformation. There is so much joy and love beaming from your face. Thanks for the blog and reminding me to deepen my self love.

158. Cherish you are such a beautiful inspiration. Self love is true medicine. 😊

159. Thank you Cherise; making the choice to self love and transform your life under the guidance of an Esoteric practitioner, has shown you as one of the many who have had truly amazing results. We are blessed as a community to have Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.

     1. Great comment gregbarnes888. We are truly blessed as a community to have Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine to show us the Way of the Livingness.

160. I loved reading your blog, it was as if you described me, shy, a very good listener, quiet and nice girl but not living the joy I felt inside, it took me till I was 48 years to start to love me again and this is a forever deepening process with the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. Thank you for sharing your pictures and self love program Cherise.

161. Beautiful story Cherise. The transformation is amazing once you “..began to accept myself and as I began to love myself and treat my body with the love it always deserved.”

162. As I read this awesome article again your words “I was missing out on a deeper love a love that could never be given to me by someone else – It could only come from my own heart.” Most of the time that was what I was ‘searching for’ in all sorts of places – little realising that’ love’ was within me all the time – I would certainly recommend a “Self Love” program – the results are amazing. Thank you Cherise.

163. Incredible to see the difference Cherise. What an awesome self love program ! You look amazing, there was a huge difference with the after photo- the presentation was a lot different, you weren’t as shy or withdrawn and what a smile ! I can relate to the beginning of this blog how you described that your feelings were reserved for those that are close and that no one really knew the real you. Rings a huge bell

164. Gorgeous Cherise, thank you for sharing your blog. I love the sound of the ‘Self Love‘ program you put yourself on. What a difference in the photos. You demonstrate how taking care and self love changes the way a person approaches life, this certainly must have huge influence in altering potential dis-eases in the body.

165. The photos say many words but the ones you have written Cherise are the cherry on top. The ‘after’ photos show someone who is comfortable in her own skin, which is amazing when looking back at the ‘before’ photos. Clear proof that feeling that love that is within ourselves, which to me comes as a feeling of warmth when I allow myself to be still and feel, is well worth uncovering.

166. What a self loving thing to do, to put yourself on a self love program, very self honouring and the results are beautifully reflected in the photos.

167. Very beautiful Cherise, It’s a very familiar story you tell, I can feel how self love is changing my life, it is beautiful to be me, and be with other people. It’s a great support to know that everything is in us already.

168. Woohoo awesome celebration of reclaiming your true self. Very inspiring to feel the depths of your ever expanding levels of self nurturing. Reading this right after eating something I shouldn’t have and feeling bloated! I feel inspired by your words to not judge myself for this but to be honest about what I was feeling that meant I reached for a comfort and to allow myself more self acceptance. Thank you 🙂

169. Your joy and beauty shine out from the love that you are Cherise. You have written your story in such a simple and inspiring way that makes your way accessible to all. Thank you!

170. The joy I see and feel in your after pictures is infectious. Thank you, Cherise, for sharing your story.

171. Beautiful Cherise – my feeling is the whole world needs such a self loving program. Thank you so much for your open hearted sharing.

172. I find your article so inspiring Cherise and so joyful – where you express “Discovering
     the real me – and sharing this unreservedly with others” beautiful.

173. Awesome article Cherise, to go on a self love program and find you are that love, is a marker we never forget and only appreciate more and more what a way to live.

174. Thank you Cherise, truly beautiful blog, as are you! How amazingly you have embraced yourself in such a short period of time. Self care and self love are all there is to claim ourselves.

175. How your life has changed Cherise. What struck me most about what you have written was that you have the ‘willingness to grow, to understand and discover more about life and I have made a commitment to living in full, the real ME.’
     A lovely reminder for me, with the willingness and focus, I can deepen my love with myself each moment of each day.

     1. Thank you Ulrike & Melissa, I am continuing to feel and deepen what it means to live the ‘real me’:to step into being and living more of my self – my true self – and that this process really does feel to have no end point to it … My willingness is expanding to accept that the more ‘me’ I am, the more ‘me’ I am willing to learn about and learn from and the more ‘me’ there is to uncover.. it’s a precious time to feel and celebrate.. and if there’s no end point, I am guessing the celebration has no end point either!

176. What a transformation Cherise, I can truly feel the love and joy shining from your face. Amazing not just for you but also for those around you to see and feel the difference – very inspiring 🙂

177. An inspiring transformation Cherise. Self love really is great medicine.

178. Thank you Cherise for reminding me of the beauty we all carry inside us that we sometimes can choose to bury with lack of self-love and negative thinking.

179. Cherise, I love your Before and After Self Love Program it is very inspiring. Just apply a little self love and deepen it everyday and what a difference it makes!

180. I absolutely loved this, the way you describe “choices to support me to live what feels natural”. It reveals that self love and love in general is natural and thus it is available to us all if we choose it. The way you live is so incredibly inspiring Cherise because you are living proof that the choice to live in a loving way is natural, healing and incredibly powerful. Thank you.

181. This is such an inspiring account. It is evidence that self-love really is the best medicine.

182. Really beautiful to read your story Cherise. Very inspiring. The joy that’s beaming from your eyes in the recent picture is such a contrast to the older one. Self-Love is the best medicine.

183. Such beautiful sharing Cherise – not only can I see the change in you but feel the change. I also recognise how I would cover all what I truly felt by smiling, infact hiding behind a set smile of sadness/anxiousness and a knowing that life as it was was not “it”.
     Attending presentations by UM/Serge Benhayon and having sessions with the practitioners have so reawakened me to feeling all of me as you say “giving yourself permission to expand and unfold”. So thank you for sharing Cherise.

184. You are Amazing Cherise. You inspire me every time I see you and I just love spending time with you and deeply cherish our deepening friendship. You make me melt just looking at your pictures. You are gorgeous. Self-Love program seems like the way 😉

185. A lovely, open, honest and inspiring sharing, thank you Cherise. It is beautiful to not only read, but also to see how you turned your life around in just three years.

186. Great story Cherise and another person who’s life has been transformed by the inspiration of Universal Medicine and its practitioners. I was the same as you with the way I used alcohol and food, I wanted to stop for sometime but it was only through learning about self love that gave me the ability to pull this off.

187. lovely to re-read this, it is very inspiring and just what was needed to appreciate and accept how beautiful I naturally am inside – where it all counts!

188. ‘I have let go of such a shield of protection and hardness and given myself the permission to expand and unfold the natural and joyful Cherise’ – That’s amazing Cherise; what a turnaround your self-love program has made to your life.

189. Yes Cherise – this is so inspiring. The ways we can find to hide ourselves or make ourselves small are endless – but so are the ways we can accept and nurture ourselves – so I have discovered.
     There is always a point of choice – to accept more of us or to hide more of us.
     Your blog captures beautifully how each step you’ve made towards more love has supported you to step up in all areas of your life.
     Brilliant and inspiring.

190. Thank you for sharing your deeply inspiring story Cherise Holt. The before photo you look sad and your eyes looked empty. Yet the ‘after’ photo shows you alive, and your eyes are where it is really reflected that you have turned your life around.
     I love the bit where you say you have “shed accumulated layers of hurt”. I know for me dealing with my deep buried hurts meant I could get back to the real me that was buried alive under these layers. Life became worth living and thanks to the inspiring life and work of Serge Benhayon I really do love every aspect of my life.

191. Lovely to read your blog and share in the celebration that is you reconnecting with yourself. I really enjoyed the last sentence: “It’s a miracle to me that I have let go of such a shield of protection and hardness and given myself the permission to expand and unfold the natural and joyful Cherise… the natural and joyful me!”

     I have had a similar experience and it is miraculous in a sense, it feels magical and part of that I feel for me comes from the magic of reconnecting and committing to self love. In the past I didn’t think I could, but I have, and that is something to celebrate. Thank you for sharing.

192. Thank you Cherise for this beautiful sharing. And thank you too for the photos they so clearly show your transformation through choosing self love. There is undoubtedly a depth and a naturalness in the more recent photo which is a joy to behold.

193. Cherise, wow what beauty shines through, I loved reading your blog and the expressing of your appreciation ‘I am forever grateful for the inspiration that the practitioners of Universal Medicine have gifted me.’ It is exactly that, a gift just like your blog. Thank you.

194. Cherise. What a transformation from where you were, to where you are now. You are a true inspiration to all.

195. Thank you Ryan, you have just supported me to really appreciate that not only do I feel like completely different (almost opposite) people in each photograph, the way in which I live now is equally opposite to the way I once did – thanks to the inspiration that Serge Benhayon always reflects to me, and the choices I have made to live another way.

196. Thank you for sharing, I would have to agree that self-love was quite the foreign concept for me when I first began to bring it into my own rhythm. Yes it was also about feeling and accepting my own tenderness and then making every day choices, however small, to nurture myself with this tenderness. Such a contrast to the hardness I used to always direct at myself.

197. Cherise, the light coming from your eyes in the ‘after the self-love program’ photos really says it all. You’ve shown how just by simply looking after yourself lovingly and getting to the foundation of why you used alcohol, your true self emerges like a butterfly.

     1. Gorgeous example Michael, and you illustrate just how simply and delicately we unfold that which we truly are when we begin with self-love.

     2. From caterpillar to butterfly via a ‘self love program’. A true before and after to activate our potential.

198. Cherise, you feel so beautiful at thirty, inside and out, and I always love the blogs you write. This one makes real sense to me. Contrary to you, I have lost a lot of weight and am rather thin, but I know I could start putting on a little weight if I totally committed to the self love programme. When I do feel love and appreciation for myself I start to be aware that my body is expanding and filling from the inside, and if I make that consistent, then I can feel how I would sustain myself and start to fill out physically; and not from adding more calories or eating a lot more food. You have shown us the truth of this.

     1. Equally inspirational Joan, I love understanding that the weight loss or gain is not the actual issue and focussing on it as such only serves to distract us for a while. Love is totally felt from within us first and our bodies will naturally reflect this on the outside, when they are fed with loving and supportive choices they can’t look any other way.

199. Thank you for this beautiful blog Cherise, I especially related to the part where you say ‘in keeping myself closed to others, I thought I was protecting myself from getting hurt or rejected, but in actual fact I was hurting and rejecting myself most deeply’. By me putting up barriers to others I mistakenly had the feeling that I would be safe from getting hurt but in doing so only the made the hurt worse. Your story is very inspirational and its awesome to see the differences in the photos.

     1. Thank you Tim, it really does hurt more to build barriers as opposed to ‘letting love in’ – a process that must begin with ourselves first and foremost; we deserve to feel the openness and the love from ourselves and the acceptance of who we naturally are.

200. This is a beautiful blog, Cherise. So lovely to see and feel the changes in you from the choices you have made on your self/love program. An inspiration, thank you.

201. This is so lovely Cherise, beautiful to read about and see how the self-loving choices that you made are reflected in how you feel, how you are with people and how you look, very gorgeous!

202. What a fabulous transformation, Cherise. As you say, although the physical weight loss is significant that is not the most important change, it is but a reflection of the inner change – taking down the shield and allowing the beauty within to shine out as can be seen in the last photograph. Thank you for sharing.

     1. Thank you jstewart51, I love that the shield you spoke of is down! I have spent such a long time thinking that I was somehow protecting myself through holding back and living with self-abuse and in all the time I never actually needed a shield at all – only an acceptance of myself and the permission to not hold my beauty back from myself and from the world. There is so much more joy in my life.

203. Such an inspiring article Cherise. Its obvious from your photos that you have gone through an amazing transformation through choosing to commit to the Self Love program, and the vitality and joy in you now just jumps off the page.

204. This is beautiful Cherise – it’s so plain to see the effects of your self-love program in the before and after pictures. Thank you for sharing the journey, and the inspiration.

205. The after pictures match the beauty in your words and it is inspiring to feel and read where you were to where you are now. Thank you for sharing how power-full the choice to self love is.

     1. Thank you Leigh, the choice to self-love is absolutely powerful as there is an authority and equal grace that is felt in your body when you honour yourself for who you are, and choose to not accept less.

206. Wow Cherise what a transformation, extremely inspiring, thank you.

207. You are so inspiring Cherise

208. …I can especially relate to the photo where your eyes are saying ‘don’t look at me’ and you feel so ‘withdrawn and sad in your everyday life’. I spent most of my years this way (I am 41) but the last 3 have been VERY different with the support of Universal Medicine helping me learn to self love. It occurs to me, now, that I was ashamed and didn’t want to be seen as I was, because I was existing in a state that was so pitiful and an opposite representation of who I truly am!

     1. Thank you for sharing both of your comments with me Jo, in your own experience of feeling the shame of how you were living I can absolutely relate – I can also see that the hardness, shame or guilt that we place on ourselves does not help in supporting us to make true change, it is tenderness and love that supports our true nature to blossom and anything less than that just does not belong in our rhythm.

209. Cherise, I can see my own very similar story in the story your photos tell! It is amazing to see in the pictures how you were before; living without self love, and after when you are so obviously transformed from the inside out! Your skin, your body and especially how you look out to the world from a strong place; from a wise and loving self which has always been there but was painfully not being lived! Thank you.

210. So beautiful Cherise. Thank you for sharing your unfolding back to the beautiful Full you.

211. This is gorgeous Cherise as you are. It’s very beautiful and inspiring to see and read of your transformation; particularly if you have been withdrawing from life which I can very much relate to.

     1. Thank you Shevon, the ‘withdrawing from life’ that we have both mentioned here is a way of living that can easily be ingrained and be coupled with many feelings of overwhelm or of given up.
        I am consistently developing this commitment to me, to allow myself to simply ‘be’ with myself and then with others, and I still find I sometimes want to withdraw in situations, when I do it stands out to me like a sore thumb! and is a tangible feeling that feels tight in my chest and downright self-abusive. A way of living that just does not hold a place in my new foundations and therefore all I need to do is nominate what I am feeling and make the next choices to reconnect to my loveliness and hold myself and my body with the tenderness I deserve.

212. Beautiful to see the before and after photos – they do speak volumes; the way you hold yourself, your eyes, even your skin radiates and glows. Wonderful to hear you voice the changes too. Thank you.

213. Truly beautiful Cherise, thank you for sharing. I agree with Amina, you feel so content with yourself and at ease. No fake smile!

     1. Thank you for your observations, I agree that the ‘content’ feeling that is beaming off the page is certainly a feeling of knowing who I am and accepting myself and my place in the world. I couldn’t fake smile with that, even if I tried!

214. Wow, truly inspiring, thank you.

215. Stunning Cherise. I can see the openness now in your eyes and feel the commitment that you have made not only to making more self-loving choices but of bringing you to all. It’s been beautiful to see.

     1. Thank you Jennifer, it is certainly a commitment to yourself and once made, magnifies in to more supportive and self-honouring choices and all throughout your life.. it is an everyday evolution for me.

216. Just a couple of years ago, if someone had told me that ‘self-love’ was a visible thing – that it could be seen by self AND others, I may have scoffed… as if. But here you are, living proof. Thanks for sharing the truly beauty-full Cherise with the world.

     1. I also may have looked at a before and after presentation and thought it to be about the physical appearance, perhaps the weight loss or the bigger smile on someone; but truthfully, self-love is an expression that someone lives with daily and a photo can barely capture nor contain the wonderful joy that is beaming from the person. Proof of a self-loving way of living indeed!

217. Cherise wow, I just love these before and afters as a picture tells it all, there is no refuting that what you have undertaken has had a massive impact in a positive way for you. You literally glow off the page. It’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

     1. Thank you Vanessa, our bodies indeed reflect the truth of the quality we are living in and that is so evident to me when I look back at my photos, there is no point (or self-judgement) in hiding from the unloving choices I may have once made when there is always the next opportunity to make new and loving ones. A much lighter way to be.

218. You are so beautiful Cherise. Thanks for sharing and inspiring. It helps me to realise the possibilities for my own healing, and shining true beauty.

219. So Awesome Cherise! You look and feel amazing, thank you for sharing you.

220. Amazing, Cherise – I can’t believe how much you have changed and how well and vital you look and feel now. A credit to you and the universal medicine of Universal Medicine.

     1. I have just enjoyed re-reading this blog and the beauty of the transformation to the depth and sparkle in Cherise’s eyes, (and whole self) in the ‘after’ photos – you sum it up so well Gabriele: ‘A credit to you and the universal medicine of Universal Medicine.’

        1. Thank you Kate and Gabriele, I am deeply appreciating my ‘after’ photos and the depth (that has no end!) in my own eyes. I take my own moments to appreciate this when I look in the mirror every day and in recently having my photos taken again, I am appreciating further that there is always an after-after, and again, with no end to the depth we can bring to our own loving relationship with ourselves.

        2. So beautiful – ever deepening, more vital and vibrant after after photos here we come!

221. Simply gorgeous Cherise… truly divine. 🙂

222. Ahhh Cherise, absolutely beautiful and you describe your unfoldment so easily it feels possible for anyone to make those changes.

     1. Thank you Shevon, it truly is not only possible for anyone to make self-loving choices for themselves, it is a way of living that everyone absolutely deserves; to feel and appreciate the magnification of the love that grows for yourself when you do just that.

223. Cherise, wow the brightness in your eyes and smile says it all, you are truly glowing. Making simple little changes to be more caring of who you are certainly goes a long way.

224. Cherise you are an inspiration.

225. Thank you for this beauty-full sharing from the amazing Cherise you are.

226. I just loved reading this article Cherise. The photos speak absolute volumes. So so so awesome.

227. Wow, thank you Cherise. From ‘doing life’, to being full of life…

     Amazing, and a credit to Universal Medicine and the Esoteric Modalities – that have supported your own dedication to loving you, once again.

     1. Thank you Victoria, Universal Medicine and the Esoteric modalities that I have chosen to support me have provided so much through their quality and the very integrity that the practitioners practise with. I am sure that I can barely begin to express just how appreciative I really am for having made the choices to include them in my own health and wellbeing program.

     2. Doing life or being full of life…. It’s our choice. Beautifully expressed Victoria.

228. This is an inspiring story – thank you for sharing Cherise. What a turn around in only 3 years.

229. What a beautiful transformation in such a short period of time Cherise. You are an inspiration, and it is not about the weight. It is the depth in your eyes and the openness in your face and across your heart. You are a blessing to your profession. More nurses like you please!

     1. Thank you Rachel, it has been about my depth of self-connection and the relationship that I have committed to living with myself; this is what shines through in my body as the weight loss has simply happened as a result of my not needing to numb my sensitivity anymore.

230. Thank you Cherise, I love your honesty.

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