Needful Things

If you ask someone to meet a need for you and they say no, it is not a reflection on you. Your worth; your deservedness; your right to ask for your need to be met in the first place, is still intact. You have the right to ask for what you need. And others have the right to decline your request. It's not about you. It's just that others have their own needs, which are appropriately, taking precedence over anyone else's. Just as your needs are more important to you than anyone else's.

Tools for Recovery is written each issue by Michelle Morand, Founder and Director of The CEDRIC Centre.

Vegetarianism: politically correct eating disorder, or healthy lifestyle?

Recent studies echo what counsellors at The CEDRIC Centre increasingly see, vegetarianism has become a politically correct way to disquise an eating disorder for some young women.

"I want to be clear that we're not impugning vegetarianism. I think it's great that people are choosing not to eat meat or meat byproducts for ethical reasons," says Michelle Morand, founder and director of The CEDRIC Centre. "But what concerns me is the number of young women who say they're vegetarian, and use that designation as a launching pad for what is actually an eating disorder."

Two groundbreaking studies have recently been published proving the link between eating disorders and vegetarian and vegan teens. A study from the University of Minnesota found teen vegetarians are more likely to have eating disorders than non- vegetarians. In the study, vegetarians were more likely to contemplate and attempt suicide, and vegetarian males were noted as an especially high risk group for unhealthy weight control practices. In another study, conducted at California State University-Northridge, researchers found college women who claimed to be vegetarians had a significantly greater risk of developing eating disorders than their meat-eating peers.

If you're interested in offering your experiences with disordered eating and your interaction with medical Dr.'s, take our new anonymous survey.

Over the next few months, we'll use the results from the survey to approach Dr.'s on Vancouver Island about the needs of thier eating disordered cleints with information straight from those who know best-- you!

In addition to our Dr.'s and eating disorder survey, there is also a market research survey where you can give us anonymous feedback about our services and your needs.

Amanda Koster is a documentary photographer based in Seattle, (photo to the right). Besides shooting for magazines and NGOs/non profits around the world, writing and videography, she gives equal energy to her personalprojects that orbit socially conscience ideas.Amanda picked up a camera to get an edge on her fellow anthropology students at university and hasn't put it down since. "I want to teach through photography, a medium whose only requirement to appreciate is to see. I want to give this planet some perspective and teach us all that life and the world is an incredible thing." Her latest project is a collection of photos of real women, entitled This Is Beautiful.

Why did you create This Is Beautiful?

I started TIB back in 2001 for many reasons. I created the project mostly because as a photographer so entrenched in 'the media' I wanted to ADD to the media. I wanted to, in addition to the images that are already out there of women, contribute with images that I think are beautiful.

What do you hope viewers take away after seeing photos from This Is Beautiful?

I really hope that viewers, men and women alike, realize the beauty in every body. Us women, we are your sisters, mothers, daughters, girlfriends. We are real and our bodies deserve to be treated with respect and honor. We need to treat ourselves that way and deserve that compassion from the world as well.

How do you think This Is Beautiful is challenging ideas about media, culture, and imagery?

I think This Is Beautiful challenges these things because it is not a 'backlash' at all. I am better than that. I want TIB to JOIN the culture and be a part of it. This Is Beautiful is not interested in alienating this culture like this preset culture has alienated me. I am my culture and want to see myself within it. I want everyone to realize that we are the media and our culture, that no matter what our bodies and minds belong to us and they are all a very beautiful thing.

We're pleased to announce that Amanda plans to make working a trip to Victoria during the Summer, and will schedule a shoot here. If you're interested in participating let us know and please feel free to pass this e- mail along to freinds and family who may be interested in this exciting opportunity. We'll continue to keep you posted and next issue we'll post more excerpts from our interview with Amanda. A big thank you to Amanda for letting us interview you, your work truly is beautiful!

Yoga is for all people regardless of their shape or size, yoga is a way of re-uniting our bodies with our minds and hearts, returning us to our natural selves. Yoga is more than just exercise, yoga is joyful movement.

Yoga means "union."

Yoga is about accepting ourselves where we are, with all of our quirks and limitations, it is about learning to be loving and compassionate toward ourselves and others. It is a non-competitive, non- comparing practice, not the high-school physical education that many of us had to "endure".

If you're interested in joining a yoga session with Deb at The CEDRIC Centre beginning August 2004, contact us for more details. Daily yoga with Deb will also be available at our Metamorphosis Retreat, June 9th-13th at Tigh Na Mara.

May 6th marked International No Diet Day. Find out how Cynthia Sinclair, a client at The Centre, celebrated the day in style in her interview with the Victoria News Group.

Written by Paul Campos, professor of Law at Colorado University, this groundbreaking new book is causing quite the stir. The major thrust of Campos' work is that contrary to what we say about obesity on a societal level, our recent interest and obsessive coverage of obesity has little to do with actual concerns about health. But instead, represents a cultural aesthetic that finds fatness distasteful.

Campos calls fat "the new moral barometer." He hypothesizes that since society can no longer discriminate against age, race, or ability, we have found a new collective target, fat people. And whether or not you agree with the rest of his work, it can't be argued that fat is now a four letter word.

Campos also challenges research into the health risks of obesity and finds many surprising errors and downright fabrications in many of the statsitics available about obesity.

This is a great read for anyone who has followed the rise of the obesity epidemic and the hysteria surrounding it with sceptisicm about the ulterior motives of the diet industry.

We've covered the achievements and the triumphs of examplarary women like Even Ensler and Margaret Cho, and now we're thrilled to add one of our own to the ranks of Extraordinary Women.

We'd like to congratulate Michelle Morand for her nomination as a Women of Distinction in Victoria B.C. Michelle was nominated by a former client, Virginia Preston , (pictured with Michelle), in the Community Legacy category. The awards were held May 12th 2004 at The Victoria Conference Centre and Michelle had the privilege to share the category with some truly amazing women who have made a difference in our community.

That evening, Michelle was not given the award, but in our eyes, the nomination was acknowledgement enough. She has been and always will be a woman of distinction as far as we're concerned! So congratulations to Michelle and all the other Women of Distinction in Victoria B.C. and beyond.

And a special thank you to Virginia Preston-- you are an inspriation to women everywhere.