Focusing Tip #697 – When you feel the urge to eat or drink or do something…

What can help when we feel the urge to eat to manage our feelings of anxiety? Read on…

Readers are asking:

Something in me wants to “Do Something” constantly, and I’m struggling to settle into this vast amount of time on my hands.

Something in me wants to go eat despite having just eaten.

Dear Readers:

Are you feeling extra anxious these days? No wonder!

The thing is, though, if YOU don’t take inner steps of self-care with the anxious feelings, then parts of you are going to step in and try to take care of the anxiety for you.

And even that would be OK… except that often the strategies that your parts come up with — like eating constantly — can actually make things worse!

Self-care for anxious feelings:

Pause. Find the body feel of it… Is it tension? Tight stomach? Clenched jaw? Let a gentle hand go there, and say “I am sensing something in me feels _____. And I am here with it now.”

Self-care for the part of you that doesn’t want to feel the anxious feelings:

ONE: Pause. Say “I am sensing something in me wants to stuff myself with food.” (Or whatever it is.)

TWO: Notice where you feel that part of you… and say Hello to it there. “Hello, clenched feeling in my gut…”

THREE: Take some time to sense how IT feels from ITS point of view. Too often we assume we know how we feel. We don’t actually listen!

Your feelings and your anxious parts can talk to you through your body. In fact, they already are! But you may not know the language they are speaking in…

With patience and time, you can listen to those inner messages. And when you do, relief comes. Just from being heard.

If you’d like more support on this topic, we have a course that can help: The Urge to Indulge