Emotional Upsets - Food to Fill the Void
Has anyone ever said to you, "Wow, you look like you've lost weight", when you know you haven't, and in fact, weigh the same amount as you always have, give or take a few? Maybe you've even inhaled some undesirable food and you feel like you're packing it on. Your response might be a simple thank you, or, if your anything like me, you immediately pose these questions to yourself, "Why would he/she say that? Was I fat before? Do I look like I need to lose weight?" Someone is just trying to give you a compliment and you castastrophize it with self-doubt. The truth is, I have struggled with my weight for years fluctuating five or ten, even fifteen pounds depending on my emotional state that week or month. I know that may not seem like much to some people, but it is something to me. Of course it is not the weight. The weight is a symptom. Like author Janet Greeson says, "It's not what your eating, it's what's eating you."
When We Don't Feel We Belong
What I have found through years of peeling my own emotional onion is that it is not the weight, the few pounds I gain here or there or the tipping of the scale that gives me the upset. It is a question that I have asked myself when I am willing to look beyond the cellulite in the mirror, "Do I feel I have a right to be here?" And what do you think the answer was? From a logical perspective, my all-knowing, never wrong, brain speaking, the answer was and always is, "Yes! Of course I have a right to be here! What a ridiculous question." But when my heart spoke, the very first time I asked myself that question, facing myself in the mirror I might add, the answer was a resounding, "NO!" I broke down. "So that's the real issue Donna, you feel like you're taking up space. You're too big, too bulky, too fat and you just don't belong." That "NO" began in my late teens, and since then I have grown tremendously, but the question remains the same and here's what I have found:
It's Never About the Food
When we don't feel comfortable with who we are, we may not feel a sense of belonging, so we look outside of ourselves for something that will make us feel better, perhaps not realizing that it is what is inside us that gives us our security, our sense of self-worth. So, for some people, this may be shopping. For others it may be drinks after work or even drinking heavily, or keeping a very busy schedule, too busy in fact, to sit down and be quiet with nothing else but our own physical presence. For others food provides comfort. Looking outside seems so much easier and more fun until you go broke, get too big for your britches, literally, or fall down drunk. Like so many people searching, I have experienced all of the above and more. You are not alone.
Yoga and Meditation Tame The Emotional Rollercoaster
Through yoga and meditation, I have learned to tame the emotional rollercoaster. Now mind you, I have not perfected this craft, but I can tell you, I don't binge anymore and even when I eat a little too much, I go easy on myself. I am much more conscious about what I put into my mouth. No I don't work out like crazy at the gym. Could I use more exercise? Yes. So I walk. I walk in nature, on the beach. I practice yoga. My body is not perfect anymore and I am not trying to make it so. I just want to be healthy and happy. A daily dose of yoga and meditation can do wonders. When practiced consistently, awareness and self-love become more palpable, more sustainable and the need for all those outside distractions begin to fall to the wayside. I'm not saying this happens overnight. But it is definitely doable.
[caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="130" caption="A Nice Stroll on the Sidewalk...ahh, feels good"]
[/caption]
Emotional Upsets - Food to Fill the Void
Has anyone ever said to you, "Wow, you look like you've lost weight", when you know you haven't, and in fact, weigh the same amount as you always have, give or take a few? Maybe you've even inhaled some undesirable food and you feel like you're packing it on. Your response might be a simple thank you, or, if your anything like me, you immediately pose these questions to yourself, "Why would he/she say that? Was I fat before? Do I look like I need to lose weight?" Someone is just trying to give you a compliment and you castastrophize it with self-doubt. The truth is, I have struggled with my weight for years fluctuating five or ten, even fifteen pounds depending on my emotional state that week or month. I know that may not seem like much to some people, but it is something to me. Of course it is not the weight. The weight is a symptom. Like author Janet Greeson says, "It's not what your eating, it's what's eating you."
When We Don't Feel We Belong
What I have found through years of peeling my own emotional onion is that it is not the weight, the few pounds I gain here or there or the tipping of the scale that gives me the upset. It is a question that I have asked myself when I am willing to look beyond the cellulite in the mirror, "Do I feel I have a right to be here?" And what do you think the answer was? From a logical perspective, my all-knowing, never wrong, brain speaking, the answer was and always is, "Yes! Of course I have a right to be here! What a ridiculous question." But when my heart spoke, the very first time I asked myself that question, facing myself in the mirror I might add, the answer was a resounding, "NO!" I broke down. "So that's the real issue Donna, you feel like you're taking up space. You're too big, too bulky, too fat and you just don't belong." That "NO" began in my late teens, and since then I have grown tremendously, but the question remains the same and here's what I have found:
It's Never About the Food
When we don't feel comfortable with who we are, we may not feel a sense of belonging, so we look outside of ourselves for something that will make us feel better, perhaps not realizing that it is what is inside us that gives us our security, our sense of self-worth. So, for some people, this may be shopping. For others it may be drinks after work or even drinking heavily, or keeping a very busy schedule, too busy in fact, to sit down and be quiet with nothing else but our own physical presence. For others food provides comfort. Looking outside seems so much easier and more fun until you go broke, get too big for your britches, literally, or fall down drunk. Like so many people searching, I have experienced all of the above and more. You are not alone.
Yoga and Meditation Tame The Emotional Rollercoaster
Through yoga and meditation, I have learned to tame the emotional rollercoaster. Now mind you, I have not perfected this craft, but I can tell you, I don't binge anymore and even when I eat a little too much, I go easy on myself. I am much more conscious about what I put into my mouth. No I don't work out like crazy at the gym. Could I use more exercise? Yes. So I walk. I walk in nature, on the beach. I practice yoga. My body is not perfect anymore and I am not trying to make it so. I just want to be healthy and happy. A daily dose of yoga and meditation can do wonders. When practiced consistently, awareness and self-love become more palpable, more sustainable and the need for all those outside distractions begin to fall to the wayside. I'm not saying this happens overnight. But it is definitely doable.
[caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="130" caption="A Nice Stroll on the Sidewalk...ahh, feels good"]
[/caption]
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