It's important to know that even when you were a toddler, your earliest teachers may have been placing potential addictive programs into your subconscious mind. If addictions were present in your early environment, you were also learning how to manage stress with these substances. What did your hero’s teach you?
• Was anyone in your family an addictive eater?
• Did you ever see or know anyone who had binge behaviors?
• Was food or beverage ever utilized to manage stress?
• Were there members of your family or social circle or smoked ?
• Where there members of your family or social circle who consumed alcohol?
• Was coffee a regular a beverage of choice?
• Did you have soft drinks available?
• We you offered any of these substances?
• Were you offered water as a beverage or was it not considered a beverage?
• Was there evidence of other addictions such as drugs, medications, gambling or shopping?
There are many other areas to view in relation to any disorderly eating programs you may be entertaining. In fact, sometimes, these negative habits can't be seen as "disorderly" because they have become "normalized." There is also the issue of NOT WANTING to see them, because seeing means believing or knowing your truth & often times, that is hard to take. It also means that you are now self-responsible for taking care of these behaviors & you may be reluctant to do so. In some instances, individuals, especially addicts, deny their truths for decades, etching them further into their subconscious.
If you are reading this book, I'm assuming that you do want to accept a healthy lifestyle. Even if you are "not quite there", pretend that you are. Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is real & what is imagined. This may be exactly what you need, because with your emotional kids or ego out of the way, you can change things without dealing with "resistance." So, looking at the above list, are there any areas that need editing here? Simply relax deeply into the moment and bring up the images you would like to change. Remember, even though they may have really happened in the past, you can still change the subconscious mind programming or inner files. Perhaps you would like to stand next to your child as an adult mentor and point out that one can love or like someone even if they participate in dangerous habits. Let the child know that it is not healthy to binge or smoke. Let the child know that you can truly enjoy a healthy lifestyle, even when others who are around you are participating in some unhealthy behavior. This is your life & you direct it in the way that you choose, going towards the outcomes that you want to experience.
You may be wondering IF you will need to completely abstain from potentially addictive substances. In truth, there are some people who can enjoy a drink of alcohol on occasion, but it truly isn't a good idea to get used to it. Certainly, it should not be utilized as a stress releaser & if you are not sure if you are doing this or not, simply relax into the moment & contact your Therapeutic of Higher Self. Ask the question & it will be answered. As for managing stress, you now know how to go about doing this, not only when you find yourSelf in a high stress situation, but throughout your day. Releasing, letting go, eating a balanced & healthy diet are all ways to keep stress hormones at bay.
THOSE TEEN YEARS AS CURRENT TRIGGERS
During our self-exploration, the teen years often stand-out as some of the most difficult ones in relation to the development of nasty lifestyle behaviors. This is the time when the self-image & self-esteem tend to take a beating. Severe dieting, junk food bingeing, exploring with addictive substances, following the wrong role models, people pleasing, home stress & the struggle for independence can be overwhelming. Take your teen health book off the library shelf and open to the early teen pages. Begin reviewing your history as in your childhood book. Revisit your body through mental biofeedback. Notice you can stay in your adult self while visiting your teen body and mind. Look at the complete you.
• Were you under-weight or over-weight?
• What was your perception of yourself?
• Looking at it from where you stand now, was it factual or a false image?
• What did people tell you?
• Were you involved in any addictions such as smoking or drinking?
Notice if there are any meaningful doctor visits or surgery and if so, spend some time relaxing into those files to see if any messages come forward from your subconscious mind. If you are a woman, look at the information concerning your menses. Did you have any difficulties such as PMS or irregular periods?
Now, go to visit the nutritional areas including regular meals, school eating, social eating and family preferences, as well as behaviors at meal times. Spend some time studying the details of the pictures, one by one.
• What were your favorite foods?
• Were there any indications of eating disorder or bingeing?
• Any secret eating?
• Did your family eat together at a table, or did you eat alone or in front of the television?
• Were mealtimes happy or stressed?
• Did you use food as a stress-releaser?
• Were there any rituals around this such as hidden or middle of the night eating?
You might like to open these files and relax into them before editing.. I suggest you visit as a mature adult and take a few moments to re-introduce yourself. No need to rush.. Remember, it's been a long time since your last visit. Your teen self has much to share with you and will be willing to do so as long as you are non-judgmental. Indicate that you care deeply about helping and making things better. As with your young child-self, gently point out what would be good to change and why. Invite your subconscious librarian to gift you with further information.
You are now beginning to become familiar with the origins of some of your disorderly eating patterns. The more you acknowledge, the more you can correct at this level of origin & the easier it will become to change old, unhealthy cemented behaviors.
A NOTE TO NEW READERS:
This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" This book is not published as yet, but you have the opportunity to read it in it's unpublished state. If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.
Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.
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