Seeking comfort in food is an everyday thing for emotional eaters. The challenge for emotional eaters is developing a curiosity and understanding of what drives them to satisfy food cravings and seek comfort foods that more times than not are unfulfilling. Taking steps to move beyond emotional eating and bingeing doesn’t come easily, because few individuals connect the dots between emotional eating, food cravings, spirituality, and wellness.
Healing patterns of emotional eating and food cravings is doable, and there are thousands of books claiming to fix the problem on a physical level. To consider there might be a spiritual component to this physical condition can be revolutionary way of seeing.
Yes, on the surface we could posit an emotional eater craving sugary treats is seeking love and sweetness in life, rather than abuse or self-protection. Cravings for salty foods might expose someone seeking family drama, or is mesmerized due to relentless work-related stresses, thus not being in touch with peaceful living. Clearly there’s a difference between gentle cravings, eating to appease hidden emotions or buried wounds, or having a diminished sense of self-worth. The need is to see the physical is mental and that all human beings have a spiritual dimension.
Spirituality and the whole person
Spirituality is unique to every person and a rather slippery concept in today’s world view. Traditionally spirituality is primarily understood in religious terms. Every individual strives, on some level, to make sense of the world. Like religion, spirituality is driven by deep self-inquiry regarding one’s place in life. John Swinton, a practical theologian, writes, more and more it is being recognized that human beings are whole persons whose physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs are inextricably interlinked.
Connecting the dots of emotional eating and the whole person
Let’s begin with the emotional eater who is stressed, anxious, and fearful. What we find here is that the emotional eater’s soul and spirit have been crushed by hurt feelings and emotions related to family drama. Lindsay Gibson, in her book Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, suggests, “If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment.” If you experience flashbacks or find yourself triggered and eating emotionally, but can’t seem to pinpoint the trigger, it’s likely connected to past feelings of not being enough on some level. For decades I experienced feelings of loneliness, abandonment, and grief when my dad died and my mom remarried within 14 months. I felt rejected by my mom, because she was bonding with a new husband and stepson. Thus, I’d find myself emotionally eating when I wasn’t hungry. It took years to work through these issues, including feelings that my mom had betrayed me and I felt abandoned.
The deeper work
Monika Careless in Turning to Transforming the Mother Wound: Sacred Practices for Healing Your Inner Wise Woman Through Ritual and Grounded Spiritually explains, “Our wounds are veils or filters through which we experience our world. They are now who we are.” They are experiences we can move through. Beginning with the practice of self-inquiry, the emotional eater might ask: Who would I be without this story, and discover the beliefs veiling my joy and happiness? The outcome of this self-inquiry might be the realization that you are a beautiful, whole person.
The emotional eater’s approach to the deeper work, getting to the root of cravings or binges, requires taking a good look into the mirror without fear, should thinking, shame, or self-condemnation. Pema Chodron writes, “Never underestimate the power of the mind. How you work with things can transform what seems to be.” In other words, when you work from within through self-inquiry, the inner can transform your outer lived experiences. The old saying, when you point a finger three point back at you, is a simple reminder that invites deeper self-reflection. When you’re caught in family or work drama fingers point, and food serves as an instant comforter to soothe wounds, hurts, and judgments. The power of self-inquiry is your greatest healing tool for a sustained self-transformation.
Raising your consciousness and self transformation
The whole person lives in a state of well-being that moves you beyond unhappiness, drama, and using food for comfort or self-protection. Louise Hay in You Can Heal Your Life explains that being overweight is running away from feelings of fear, insecurity, and self-rejection. The truth is, living in a state of well-being comes from an ever-evolving devotion to self-inquiry and self-awareness. Eating, at this point, is transformed from unconscious eating to eating with soul-satisfaction. Key steps in this process are:
Soul: Contemplate taking care of the vehicle that carries your soul. Be mindful of mind, body, and nutrition. What foods make my vehicle run smoothly?
Spirit: The term spirit is derived from Latin meaning breath. The spirit is not simply a part of the whole person, it brings vitality to the present moment.
Developing a daily breathing practice is healing and contributes to your self-transformation.
Gratitude: Taking time each day to list what you are grateful for opens the door to joy. The more gratitude you experience, the more you will have to be grateful for.
Grounding: Earthing or grounding means touching the earth by planting a garden, walking in the grass or on the beach with bare feet or hugging a tree. One of these actions will greatly contribute to your overall sense of wellness.
By connecting the dots between emotional food cravings, wellness, and spirituality, self-transformation is attainable. The first step is to contemplate what it means to be a whole person. From a spiritual standpoint being a whole person requires curiosity and commitment. Become curious as to how best to move beyond chronic dieting and extreme exercise in the hope of breaking the cycle of emotional eating and cravings. Next, become committed to observing your emotional beliefs and feelings in order to gain insight into what best promotes your well-being. Finally, cease making food a god of comfort.
All human beings have a spiritual dimension. Since the body is the vehicle that carries the soul, take every opportunity to understand the interconnectivity of mind, body, soul, and spirit, because your mental wellness is grounded in these four. Spiritual and emotional well-being is a choice given freely to those seeking to break patterns related to emotional eating, which opens a portal for the greater good, happiness, and joy.
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