Continued From Page 2For example, Kate battled her guilt about eating and her tortured thoughts about her body by visualizing a mindful eating metaphor. She compared her body's chronic fatigue, which she experienced from lack of calories, to a car sputtering to a stop because it's out of gas. She visualized herself as a little blue Volvo, and the food she ate as putting fuel in the tank. The busier she was, and the harder she pushed down on the pedal, the more often she had to fill the tank with quality gas (protein, complex carbohydrates), not the cheap gas (diet sodas, cookies, chips). Kate became more mindful of the way her body moved, and of its many critical functions like breathing and walking. She realized that if she was not mindful, she would be driving down a road that would crash and ruin her body.
Skill Builder: Creating Mindful Eating Metaphors If you could describe what your eating issue looks like, what would you see? Think about its color, shape, and size. Would it be like an animal, person, place, or object? Once you have observed and described the image, you can begin to transform it into a more mindful image.
#29
Control Your Feelings with Your Nose
If you don't know how you feel, your breathing will tell you. Breathing reflects your emotions. If you are anxious, it is shallow and fast, if you are relaxed, it is slow and rhythmic. When you "hold" your breath, it is a strong clue that you are frightened. When in love, your breath is "taken away." Therefore, by paying attention to your breathing, you can become aware of your inner emotions. If you don't know what you are feeling, stop, pay attention to your breathing, and let your breathing help you tune into your feelings.
Skill Builder: Deep Breathing Before You EatFor many people, eating is a stressful event. If this is so for you, sit down at the table and prepare yourself to be in a mindful state before you eat. Focus all of your attention on your bodily sensations. Relax and make yourself comfortable. Lean back in your chair and be aware of the position of your body. Relax your muscles, close your eyes, and let your body unwind. Tense and release your muscles. Begin by taking a deep breath. Very slowly, take a deep breath that allows your diaphragm to move up and down. Concentrate on the sound of your breath. Listen to it and feel the sensations as you breathe. Feel yourself relax as the tension releases and leaves your body. Follow the journey of the air as it travels through your nose and throat, fills up your lungs, and moves your chest. Take just a moment to connect with your breathing as you gear up to eat mindfully.
#30
How Much Do You Weigh (Psychologically)?
At times, a scale becomes not only the measure of your weight but the measure of your worth, and a strong determinant of your mood and well-being. Unfortunately, when this happens, you turn over your sense of control to something outside of yourself. When the scale presents you with a number you don't like, you may judge yourself too harshly. This can jeopardize your balance because you become dominated or literally weighed down by your self-critical judgments. Rather than judging yourself, it would be more helpful to think about weighing yourself psychologically.
Skill Builder: Weighing Your Self-EsteemMeditate on how much appetite and food problems weigh you down. Work more on diminishing the weight of other stresses in your life than on your gravitational physical weight. Your self-esteem is comprised of several components. Think about how you feel about yourself intellectually, morally, physically, socially, economically, and spiritually. Which aspect of your self is most out of balance and tipping your scales? Now, think about those times in your life when you felt good about yourself. Make sure you identify times that aren't related to your body or physical appearance. Consider what you can do to feel good about yourself that is not related to eating or to your weight.
