Even though we have a small group today, we’re on. We’re goin’ for it. The time has come. Day retreat here in Seattle on food and eating. Come on over!
Time to rip off the overlying cement layer of pain that drives addictive behavior, and check under the hood.
If you’re in Seattle and can make it by 10 am out to Goldilocks Cottage in the northeast end….then we’re taking the trip in to investigate hunger, cravings, the urge to eat when you’re not exactly hungry, and what you don’t like about your body.
Call me at 206-650-1230. You can also register by clicking right here, and I’ll send you directions and all you will need to join us.
You don’t need extensive experience doing The Work, you only need an open mind and a readiness to take a look at what is going on inside it that makes you eat or feel about food in a way you don’t really like.
Even if you’re not near Seattle….you can start right now on looking at any addictive pattern you may enter. Keep reading.
It almost doesn’t matter what you do. The outcome bothers you.
Some people can’t stop cleaning, pulling at their hang nails, watching TV, thinking about their “ex”.
And then you attack yourself for being such a dunce, for eating wheat or sugar again, for stuffing your face. Because there’s obviously something wrong with you.
But what if you set those really intense, heavy, negative, mean thoughts that you yell at yourself completely aside?
This is the cement layer that often, can’t be penetrated.
The self-hate is so vicious, you just want to get some relief, get away, rest, and find some solid ground. Your own mind seems to be an enemy. You give yourself the nastiest motivational speeches you’ve ever heard. If anyone else spoke to you that way, they’d be called totally insane, or seriously abusive.
But instead of trying to get away from that Mean Voice today, how about let’s see if there’s something else present, that you may not be quite seeing directly, that you’re believing to be true.
This might be hard, but it’s worth it.
Answer these questions:
- What else are you hungry for, besides food (or whatever else you use to get distracted)?
- What is not exactly satisfying, in your life?
- Where do you not feel satiated, full, or comforted?
- What about your life feels empty?
- Do you feel dependent on anything? What?
- Where do you feel unsafe, nervous, or terrified…past or present?
- When do you say “yes” when you’d prefer to say “no”?
Enough questions, for now.
What are your answers?
What I know is that food is required for life, apparently. It’s a source of life. It’s pleasurable. It’s comforting and soothing. At just the right amounts, in balance. Too much food is sickening, frustrating, and uncomfortable.
But if you overeat, something inside of you believes it is worth the discomfort….it’s giving you something you think you need.
Maybe there’s something else, a ghost hunger, that you’d rather NOT see. Maybe it’s frightening, very sad, or feels hopeless to see this thing you want or wish for.
You don’t ever have to look at your thoughts…..but if you don’t….you’ll keep having the yo-yo problem of being in control, then out of control, up then down, barely relaxed for a moment, then panicked. Swinging all over the place, and then making a new food plan.
The inquirers who can come at 10 am today are bravely going to take a look at this “problem”. You can too, sitting quietly by yourself wherever you live, to write what seems to be really true for you.
Once you identify your struggle in a way that is beyond “I can’t control myself” or “I’m hideously fat” or “I’m a rotten person” then you’ll be able to question what you’re believing.
Once you question what you’re believing, you may find your urges and cravings begin to dissolve. You may relax.
“…we are in a psychological prison created by our minds. Until we begin to realize how confined we are, we will not be able to find our way out. Neither will we find our way out by struggling against the confines we have inherited from our parents, society, and culture. It is only by beginning to examine and realize the falseness within our minds that we begin to awaken an intelligence that originates from beyond the realm of thinking.” ~ Adyashanti
Beyond the realm of thinking!? Wow, really?
It means you don’t have to be a brilliant thinker to become free from compulsive behavior.
“God doesn’t make junk. It’s wonderful to realize that it’s not a possibility. There is no mistake.” ~ Byron Katie
Just for today, quiet yourself, and write down some of your stressful, repetitive thoughts. Once they’re in writing, you’ll be able to take them into inquiry.
You can do this.
Much love, Grace
