Do you love your body for the Divine creation that it truly is? How do you treat your body? How does your body treat you? A body that is loved cares for itself—mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
In Inner Tapestry, we examine many ways to nourish the whole self. Over the next several issues of the journal, Annie Kelleher and I invite you to participate in a Divinely inspired approach to nourishing your Body Mind, heart and soul. We call this approach, Eating… The Angel Way (ETAW).
You first learned about ETAW in the June 2009 issue. To refresh your memory, Annie, a gifted spiritual medium and energy healer, had reached a point in life where she was spiritually and emotionally “in tune” but physically out of whack. Like many others, Annie and I have spent a lifetime trying to figure out what and how to eat.
We all know we “should” eat right; but most of us are so confused by media health reports that we have no idea what this really means. This was true for Annie and I at different points in our lives. Annie speaks for many when she says, “I wanted to feel nurtured and nourished, and to experience my body in a loving, self-accepting way.”
This is the heart of Eating . . . The Angel Way.
In this first installment we offer more of the ETAW story, briefly sharing Annie’s initial encounter with Divine Guidance and Karen’s role in helping Annie fulfill the Angel’s request to share the Ten Angel Way Guidelines with as many people as possible. Here, we will develop more fully the concepts brought forth in the Guidelines and answer readers’ questions. We invite you to send your questions to us or to share your experiences by sending your emails to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Annie: Asking for Guidance
A few years ago, sick of feeling sluggish and tired of being completely confused about what I “should” eat, I opened my refrigerator and myself to Divine Guidance and asked the entities and energies I sensed all around me: “Would You please tell me what to eat?”
To my complete astonishment, They did.
Initially, like most people, I think, I questioned the validity of the messages I began to receive in my morning meditations, in the shower, while I was preparing meals, and even while I was in the grocery store. Although I had been working for several years as a professional medium and intuitive reader, I was still surprised.
However, when I researched whether or not a specific message – such as “Eat a rainbow every day” – was substantiated by scientific or nutritional information, I always found that it did. When I was brave enough to implement the messages, to eat the way these entities – who identified themselves to me as “Angels” – suggested, I began to feel much healthier, more relaxed, and more intuitive.
Trusting Guidance Received
I must admit that I experienced a great deal of hesitation to making dietary changes that I knew, from past attempts with various types of behavior change, would require a significant investment of energy. I’m the type of person who is resistant to any outside authority that suggests how I should do something. I wondered, “What would be the 'payoff?' for making the changes the Angels suggested?”
In the process of meditating on these messages from the Angels, it became clear to me I did not have to give up "being in charge" to an outside authority. Indeed, I would be free to choose what I wanted to feed myself. The Angels weren’t suggesting specific foods, eliminating entire food groups, or dictating times of day to eat. They were suggesting “how” to approach nourishing my whole self.
It was up to me—my choice—to trust the guidance I received in order to understand “why” the Angels suggested this approach. So, ever so slowly (also suggested by the Angels), I began to incorporate what the Angels called “Guidelines” into my life. As I began to feel the benefits of following these Guidelines, I received further guidance that I should share them with other people.
If I’d been initially resistant about my own diet, I put up even more of a fuss about talking to other people about their eating habits. I protested because I knew nothing about nutrition except as it possibly applied to me. I had no authority to speak on this topic. However, when information about diet and nutrition began to come through in readings I was doing professionally, I realized the Angels were serious about sharing the information.
Still feeling uncertain, I turned to my good friend and fellow writer, Karen M. Rider, because she had the educational background to do the research that I felt necessary to ground the Angel’s Guidance in a sound and practical way.
Karen: Intuition Meets Science
When Annie asked me to look at a "set of nutrition guidelines she received from Spirit," the scientist part of my brain kicked into gear, first. Fortunately, my scientific mind quieted and my heart opened. This was important because I otherwise might have bombarded Annie with so many questions she’d have gone running for cover! I already had great trust in Annie’s intuitive abilities. Now, I had to trust in my own and balance that with the science that had made up so much of my formal education. I agreed to review what she received from the Angels.
Without having checked a single expert source, I was immediately struck by the nutritional accuracy and clarity of the Guidelines. More than that, I told Annie, “If I had these guidelines in my hand 20 years ago, my recovery from eating disorders might have taken much less time.” I also felt strongly that I could teach these Guidelines to my young daughters, instilling in them a lifelong appreciation for the physical body that is home to their spiritual essence.
My education and experience is in behavioral health research; I set out to see how well the Guidelines held up to current, wholistic and scientifically reliable dietary advise. I was able to find support for the Guidelines in several sources: in interviews with leading health scientists, nutritionists and integrative medicine practitioners; in discussion with energy healers; in recommendations promoted by government and non-profit health agencies; and in health science books and journal articles. Annie and I will share these sources with you as they relate to your questions and as they illustrate the meaning and practical application of the Ten Angel Way Guidelines in your life.
The Angels’ Intentions
The teachings of the Angels are rooted in love and an appreciation for our bodies that many of us don’t have for ourselves. One of the first messages Annie received was how saddened the Angels are that most of us don’t appreciate our physical form. The Angels assured her repeatedly that being able to manifest in the appearance of a body is not at all the same thing as the experience of life in a physical body. They would like all of us to appreciate ourselves completely, as the beautiful and unique manifestations of the Divine that we are.
The Angels’ Guidelines are intended to bring us back into that place of loving delight for our bodies and our need for nourishment that we had when we were infants. Bombarded as we are by advertising and approved images of what we “ought” to look like, most of us find ourselves at war with a very necessary part of ourselves – our appetites. We’re told that our appetite is something that has to be “controlled” at best, and distrusted, at worst We are encouraged to pursue a culturally approved ideal and made to believe something is wrong with us if we don’t fit that ideal. We have forgotten that our appetite kept us alive when we were at our most helpless, spurring us to signal caregivers that baby needed to be fed. Without a healthy appetite hard-wired into place, infants would die.
The Angels only hope is that each of us will remember what most of us have forgotten: that we are unique manifestations of the Divine. The Angels’ intention is to help us heal the wounds inflicted upon us by culture and those we inflict upon ourselves when we choose to conform to cultural ideals. They wish to help us see that in order to heal our world, we must first heal ourselves, including our relationship with our bodies, and the ways we nourish ourselves –BodyMind, heart and soul.
The Ten Angel Way Guidelines
The Guidelines are primarily a way to become aware; a path to follow, through which one can listen to the wisdom of one’s own BodyMind. They support and enhance other practices, such as yoga, meditation, drumming, quiet walks in nature, and sound healing. The Guidelines encourage each individual to see herself as a unique expression of Divine Source, seamlessly connected to that Source and to every other expression of It.
These Guidelines are not a “diet,” and you will not lose weight necessarily if you are already at a healthy weight for you. The intention, thus the focus, is on nourishment, not deprivation. The Guidelines are highly flexible; you will find they easily support any responsible nutritional approach, from kosher to vegan.
Eating… the Angel Way ~ The Ten Guidelines©
- What you eat is up to you.
- Men are like raindrops, women are like snowflakes.
- Be gentle with yourself, start slowly and with care.
- Eat a Rainbow everyday and a “white-light” food at every meal.
- Eat “brown” foods with awareness.
- Every body needs a little sweetness.
- Every body needs a little cushion.
- Eat as organically and locally as possible.
- Eat like a baby - nourish your body every three hours.
- Plan how you will nourish yourself – keep a journal.
Before making any change or modification that may affect your health, or if you already suspect you may be suffering from an underlying medical or emotional condition, the Angels urge you to consult the appropriate medical or therapeutic professional.
Coming up in the next column: Your Spectrum of Choices for Nourishing Your Divine Uniqueness (Guidelines 1 and 2)
Annie Kelleher is the published author of 11 novels, a Reiki Master and an intuitive medium whose office is located in Avon, CT. Karen M. Rider holds degrees in Exercise Science and in Health/Experimental Psychology; she is the author of 100+ articles and several works of short fiction on holistic health and metaphysical subjects. Annie and Karen’s book, Eating…The Angel Way, is under consideration with a major publishing house. For private consultations with Annie, call: 860-693-4149. Send questions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Blog www.eatingtheangelway.blogspot.com.