Breathe Your Way Into Weight Loss
A couple weeks ago I wrote about pausing before you do something that isn’t good for you: The Power Of The Pause
Today I’d like to explain why controlled breathing is so powerful in this process.
In this post I’ll use the example of binge eating, since that’s what many of us do when we’re feeling the need to disassociate from our emotions.
When you’re going into the urge to binge, your nervous system is disregulated. Your body is reacting to an uncomfortable or painful emotion (which can even be boredom) and your go-to coping method has been, for a very long time, eating a lot of food.
Ask yourself a question in that moment: “Can I take a few minutes to breathe?”
Breathing is essential; without it we would die. But do we ever take the time to think about how focusing on it can center us?
It seems too simple, doesn’t it? How can BREATHING help me? I do it reflexively 24/7.
Well, it centers you and calms your nervous system. When you’re tuned in to your breath, you’re physically calming yourself down. And in order to process an urge - which is a restless feeling - you can’t just think happy thoughts or command yourself to stop thinking about it. You actually have to process it through your body.
If you’re able to shift your focus from the restlessness of wanting to binge - even for a few minutes - then you can see that it’s possible to gradually change from automatically jumping right into a binge to allowing the urge to pass through you, so to speak.
So try this next time you’re feeling restless:
Find a quiet place to focus and turn off any distractions
Get comfortable
Close your eyes
Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a beat, then exhale (nose or mouth, whichever is more comfy for you)
Repeat for a few minutes
Notice how you’re feeling after you breathe. More relaxed? Not as desperate to eat?
In that moment you can pay attention and see if you’re actually hungry and if so, you can eat with more control.
If you’re not hungry, you can choose to do something else. Or you can choose to eat.
The point is, you DO have a choice. The food doesn’t control you. The urge doesn’t control you. YOU control you.
I know it doesn’t FEEL that way in the moment. But in order to make a change, you have to practice something new. And breathing is pretty easy, since we were literally born to do it.
Try it and let me know what happens: dana@revolution-within.com
Love & Hugs,
Dana