There is very little that I find more painful that continually engaging in a habit that I know isn’t serving me. And it sure does seem that the more I try to force myself to be a different way, the more compulsively drawn to that habit I become.
This week’s practice is for anyone who knows about that vicious cycle. Specifically, Claudia’s asked how she may develop a lasting loving relationship with her body and find ways to stop overeating or unconsciously eating.
This practice can also be applied to anyone who continually engages with a habit that’s self-destructive while trying to meet some need or another.
So how can you break this cycle? Watch and try this…
(And if you want your own custom practice, click here.)
Practice: Each time you’re about to eat, whether you know what you’re about to eat or not, pause and close your eyes and ask yourself: What am I hungry for? First notice if you’re actually physically hungry or if you’re hungry for something else. If you don’t know what that something else is at first, no problem. But first step is to get real about if you’re physically hungry or not.
If you are physically hungry, feel what you’re hungry for. What kind of nourishment is your body needing?
The thing is with overeating is that it’s not physical hunger than compels the eating. So if you notice you’re not physically hungry, ask yourself what you are hungry for.
Don’t try to force yourself not to eat. Bring loving curiosity to this practice. At first you may choose to eat anyway. You may notice that you’re bored or sad or angry or lonely and that you’re eating to fill the emptiness associated with that.
Do your best to be in loving observation. As you get better at noticing what you’re hungry for, you may begin to ask yourself, ‘what are more nourishing ways to get this need met, to feed this hunger?’
I hope this practice is a loving and nourishing approach to working with these habits and that it serves to be more loving with yourself and your body.
Love,
Chela