Let's take a chance and look at your eating habits. Can you change ingrained patterns that don't serve you well? We'll use our primary tool - awareness - to reclaim the natural state intended by nature.
Next time you're about to eat, set aside a little extra time for exploration.
Step 1: Sit down with your meal and get comfortable. Allow yourself to disconnect from the external world and be with yourself for a moment.
Step 2: Look at your food and take a few minutes to connect with your feeling of hunger. Where do you feel hunger in your body? Do you feel it in your stomach? Is it your mouth that wants to eat? Do you sense appetite on your tongue? Maybe your hand reaches for the food? Do your eyes contribute to your desire to eat?
Step 3: Close your eyes for a minute. Lean back in your chair and relax. Take a deep breath in and out. Do you still want to eat? Where do you feel hunger in your body?
Focus your attention on your belly area. This is the center of our life-preserving instincts. What information can you sense there about your need for food?
Step 4: Open your eyes. How long do you think it will take to eat everything in front of you? What do you think about the amount of food? Will this be enough to satisfy your hunger fully? Or no matter how much you eat, will you still want more?
Notice your judgments and beliefs about your desire to eat. Are you punishing or criticizing yourself for eating again? Are you worried that you'll gain weight if you eat everything? Do you think this food will drain your energy and leave you tired? Do you fear this food will harm your health? Despite these thoughts, are you still going to eat everything, seasoned with worry and guilt? Do you feel like a failure from the start?
Step 5: Gently close your eyes. Move your mind away from the food. Reflect on other needs you have in life right now. What other desires are present? Do you need silence and solitude to find inner clarity? Do you crave change? Do you lack a safe space to express your joy, emotions, and dreams? Is your heart longing for intimacy? Are you feeling disappointed? Did you hope for something that didn't come true? Maybe you feel overwhelmed? Recognize your needs. Is it normal for you to have needs? Are you patient with yourself? Do you acknowledge that you need something?
Take a deep breath in and listen to your body. How does your breath reflect your attitude toward your needs? Do you blame yourself for not managing better? Or do you respect your needs? Could you risk sharing your needs with someone else? Who would you share them with? Imagine their response.
Step 6: Open your eyes and look at your food. Does your hunger feel less intense? How can you extend your attitude toward your other needs to your relationship with food?
Step 7: Close your eyes again and go inward. Let go of all your desires and focus on your breath. Follow the sound of your heartbeat. Tune into your existence - the part of you that doesn't use words but knows that you are alive. Feel the life force flowing within you without your conscious effort. Greet hunger as one of the main players in this process of caring for your existence.
Step 8: Take a deep breath and gently open your eyes. Look at the food. Do you now feel more comfortable with it? Has your appetite reduced? Are you still ready to eat everything before you? Or are you more willing to trust your body's wisdom? Who will you serve – the plan in your head or your inner sensations?
Do you believe only willpower can restrain you? That's like unleashing a dog kept on a short leash for too long. Perhaps your aggressive approach to food stems from strict restrictions on what is meant to be free - your natural sensations. Have you noticed that the stricter you are, the stronger the backlash, like a pendulum swinging back? When you restrict yourself, you resist these limits on a deeper level.
What if you promise yourself to listen to what your body wants? Follow what makes you feel good. Agree with yourself that you will enjoy your food. Savor every bite. Experience and delight in the taste of the food in each moment. This agreement will support your need for survival, and your inner wise animal will accept it.
Give this approach a chance and see where it takes you. Every living creature in the universe knows what is good for it and what is enough.
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