Are you someone who struggles with disordered eating? Do you often wonder, why me? Why do I struggle with the simple joy of eating?
I remember spending so much time thinking, why me? Why do I have disordered eating patterns and bulimia? Why don't my sisters or my friends? It's easy to go down the road of shame and blame. It's also easy to attach to our "label" of having disordered eating, bulimia or anorexia and then take on the belief that that is who we are. However, the more you attach to the "why", the harder it is to heal. In order to heal, you need to get to the root cause of your eating disorder. You need to believe it is not who you are. You need to understand it on a deeper level. You need to let go of the blame and shame. Then, you can fully process it, learn from it, understand the root cause and proceed to grow and heal.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, the root cause of dis-ease is disconnection from our SELF.
This holds true if you are struggling from an eating disorder or any distorted thinking around food. In a perfect world, you are forming your "SELF" from a young age. You are guided by the people in your life raising you. You are born "whole", but then life happens. As a baby, you intuitively know how to connect with food. Yes, babies have intuitive eating. When they are hungry, they eat. They know when to stop eating. They burp! But, along the way, you may lose this ability to intuitively eat. There can be food trauma. There can be emotional or physical trauma. Somewhere along your journey, a disconnection from your intuition occurs. And if your basic physical and emotional needs are not met, you can turn to food for comfort or to numb your feelings. In order to heal, you need to look at your early relationships with your caregivers. You need to understand how and why your food issues began. You need to forgive if you are blaming someone. You need to connect back with your intuition. Most importantly, you need to know you are not your eating disorder, you are not your thoughts around food, and you can heal yourself.
One way to begin your healing journey is to closely reflect and journal around these questions.
- What were your earliest memories of food?
- Did you have any emotional or physical trauma as child? How did you experience that trauma?
- Was food lacking in your household?
- Do you remember using food to comfort yourself? If so, what age did that begin? What was happening in your life at that time?
- How was/is your relationship and bond with your mother or primary caregivers?
- Do you remember feeling out of control as a child? Not being heard? Were you labeled?
- Did you ever feel like you were not good enough or worthy?
- Do you numb yourself with food and use food to manage emotions?
- Do you exhibit perfectionist tendencies?
- As a child, was there no consistency with food in your home?
- What were your experiences as a child of eating?
- Are you blaming others for your disordered eating? If so, who? Why them?
Taking time to reflect on these questions can give you some important insight as to the "why". This is the first step. Once you can process your life experiences fully, your path of healing can begin.
Remember your healing journey is not a sprint. Healing takes time and patience. I can help support you to heal yourself.
I can help you learn to practice kindness and compassion with yourself. I can offer you tools that can help you heal such as journaling, meditation, intuitive energy practices, breathwork, Self-love practices and Yoga to re-connect with yourself. I can offer you nutrition support that is designed for your own unique body and mind. I can be a positive support system to you to help you move forward. I can help you learn to forgive yourself and others. I can teach you healthy techniques to manage your emotions. I can assist you in bringing back the joy in your eating.
It is often challenging to heal ourselves when we feel alone. There is no need to walk this path by yourself. Please reach out if you are struggling. I have been there! No shame or judgement. My Conscious Connection with Food program is a great place for you to start moving forward. If you have any questions, you can book a free 15-minute consultation with me through my website, and we connect around how I can help you.
Be You! Be Brilliant! The light in me honors the light in you. Namaste,
Stefanie
Owner, Brilliant Life Yoga and Wellness
www.brilliantlifemn.com
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