“The first time I tried deliberately to hesitate before I ate I found that I was scarcely able to drag myself into my study to grab a pen.  The urgency I felt, the pressure of the unknown force, made my hands shake. I wanted to move and act and eat and swallow.  I wanted cookies, and chocolate and gobs of peanut butter…Anything to still this longing, to drive it away, to stuff it down and swallow it whole and annihilate it”.  Kim Chernin-“The Hungry Self”

 Picture or imagine one of those times when you found yourself staring into the refrigerator-aware that your hunger was really not for food. . .

Imagine that instead of grabbing that dessert or bag of chips a wise woman appears and takes you by the hand and leads you to a healing place in your own home.  She invites you to sit down with her and tell her what is on your mind.  You express your fear, your anger, your loneliness, your sadness, your frustrations.  She remains present with you, she then helps you remember what it is that truly gives you comfort.
 
 She talks with your “saboteur” and helps you align yourself with your true passion so that you can begin to experience freedom from emotional eating. As you deepen this connection with your wise self –over time- this “healing“ place rather than your refrigerator” becomes the place that calls out to you and offers you emotional sustenance.  It becomes the source of your spiritual/creative voice. 
 
A few years ago,  I met with a group of women seeking support as they explored the connection between emotions and eating.  They found reassurance in knowing they weren’t alone in their challenges.  They learned to tap into their creative unconscious through guided imagery.  They began to identify their emotional triggers for eating and explore new ways to find comfort beyond food.  They shared ideas for healthy snacks, laughed and cried together.  They visualized a creative space and some began making such a space a concrete reality.   They imagined where they wanted to be in 5 years.  They explored the meaning of forgiveness as a way to release toxic emotions.  They opened to their unique relationship to movement and pondered ways to unblock old patterns of “stuckness.”
 
The challenge of weight loss is unique for each person.  Emotional eaters can learn underlying reasons for their cravings through the process of meditation. These approaches are powerful tools for better understanding and releasing those patterns that “weigh us down.”
 
In my work with clients who want to focus on weight loss, I create a customized audio made with imagery and suggestions that are specific to the individual’s preferences and needs.  The daily practice of listening to this CD can be an important part of creating a healthy relationship with food.

 Guided Meditation and Hypnotherapy are powerful ways to help us communicate and express repressed emotions and help us visualize changes in our thinking and feeling. Once we are truly present with our own feelings , we feel heard.  Feeling truly heard enables us to let go and move on and give our body messages of empowerment and the motivation to heal and to change unhealthy patterns.

In the relaxed state of hypnosis and guided imagery, we are more receptive to new ideas and thought patterns. We are able to release negativity and move forward with greater clarity and calm–setting the stage in our body for deep healing.

The Connection between sleep and hunger

According to Dr. Rubin Naiman’s report on sleep from the National Institute of the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine,

“…it’s very, very difficult to maintain normal weight or to lose weight if you’re not sleeping adequately.”

“…the chemical messengers that signal both sleepiness and hunger overlap.” 
“…women tend to mistake being sleepy for being hungry significantly more than men.”

Guided Meditation helps your nervous system settle so you can relax into a deep and restful sleep.

It also helps you reinforce a new relationship with food and ways to nurture your body that truly satisfy.

With mindfulness, you are bringing your awareness into the present experience of sensations in your body, a connection with your emotions.

 

After many years of working with clients who wanted to create a new relationship with food, I created an audio specifically to create Freedom from Emotional Eating.

If you are having difficulty…*controlling cravings, 

*eating when you are stressed but not hungry, 

*stuffing your anger and grief with food

*and tired of gaining weight and not following a lifestyle you truly want

 Freedom from Emotional Eating will help you use the power of your unconscious mind to download images and suggestions that will support:

* making healthy food choices
* staying hydrated,
* releasing emotional eating patterns
* enjoying inspired movement,
* deepening creativity
* improving self confidence

This audio will help you let go of these patterns and heal your relationship with food.
It is empowering and inspiring.

Listener feedback…

“I became so emotional and filled with shame and fear that I had a hard time sleeping because I’d wake up with gut rot from all of the crap I had eaten during the day.

And then…last night at 2:30 in the morning I put in your Emotional Eating CD and it was like I was pulled out of the hole I had sucked myself into.

I was able to forgive myself, let go, relax and step into my truth again. When I woke up this morning it wasn’t a blur, “what can I splurge on this morning” kind of morning.

I woke up with my self love and respect returned to me and I drank my glass of water, made my kale, apple, lime and carrot juice and approached the day with a renewed perspective.”

Guided Imagery is created to give you an experience that supports your ability to cope and transform a specific challenge in your life .  In this practice, you are guided into a relaxed but alert and focused state from which you use your imagination to connect with your senses to deepen your ability to relax, reinforce healing , accomplish a goal, and open to healing insights and resources.

Worrying is something we all are familiar with. When we worry, thoughts, images, and feelings all come together to reinforce an experience in our imagination. Worrying involves imagery, unfortunately it is the kind of imagery that leaves us tense, unable to sleep, distracted, sad, fearful, and sometimes hopeless. Even though worry takes place in our imagination it has great powers—unfortunately these powers create great stress!

Have you ever fallen asleep watching a television show or movie that was upsetting and then found yourself dreaming about a scene from the movie or waking up feeling like you just participated in that disturbing drama? This is another example of how we experience “negative” imagery.

Guided imagery helps promote feelings of calm, peace and safety. When you are in a relaxed state your brain is most able to “soak In” calming reassuring words, music and images.  One of my elderly clients once said years ago, “When I listen to my tape, I feel like I did as a child when my grandmother would read me a bedtime story. I feel safe and able to let go of worrying and fall asleep”.