Do you ever wonder why, despite your best efforts, the weight just won’t budge? What if the real weight you're carrying isn’t just physical, but emotional?
Discover how self-compassion could be the key to healing not just your body, but your mind and finally breaking free from the cycle of emotional eating.
This week, before my treatments, I reflected on how, after my first session, I had an urge to eat more. I shared with Helen that I no longer have these cravings and instead feel a stronger desire to take better care of my body. Helen reminded me that my body is no longer in fight-or-flight mode, which makes perfect sense. The Life Vessel is designed to deeply relax the body, and I’ve been experiencing a significant release of anxiety.
It seems like every week I talk about anxiety, and now I realize how necessary it is that I have been releasing this anxious energy from my body. This is self-compassion in action, allowing myself to take time out for these treatments and prioritize my well-being.
Every time I rush through my day to accomplish more, grab unhealthy food because it's convenient, or suppress my emotions instead of addressing them, I am creating micro-traumas on my body and mind. These small traumas build up, and most of us live in a constant state of fight-or-flight, soldiering on without acknowledging the toll it takes.
These treatments, and my commitment to making time for myself, offer me a chance to release the strain on my nervous system.
Self-compassion plays a key role here; without it, I would probably convince myself that I don’t have the time for these sessions. When I’m caught up in a busy day, I can tell myself that I don’t even have 30 seconds to take a deep breath.
Each time I give myself the time to pause, to take a deep breath, or to receive a treatment, I am growing my capacity to sit with my emotions rather than letting them overwhelm me. This is one of the foundational skills of Mindful Self-Compassion.
During my treatments I’m also reminded that before starting this 12-week program of both the Zerona Laser and Life Vessel, I went through 12 weeks of just the Zerona Laser. During those sessions, I occassionally experienced emotional releases, sometimes crying without fully understanding why. Now I’m starting to understand that this was a release of emotion that had been stored in my body.
In our busy day to day lives we often walk around with unexpressed emotions because we pushed them aside at the time they arose, or because we lacked the tools to process them. These unprocessed emotions become stored in our bodies and can even cause us to hold onto physical weight. That’s why releasing emotional weight is just as important as what we eat.
Learning to show compassion towards our bodies is an essential part of healthy weight, because we don’t always understand all the reasons our bodies hold onto weight. There might be a part of you—a scared, vulnerable inner child—that doesn’t feel safe or has felt unloved for a long time.
Going on a diet can send a harmful message to these wounded parts of ourselves, implying that our needs don’t matter, that you are fundamentally flawed and must change to be acceptable.
What if that wounded part of you, that insists on eating, even though you desperately want to stop. What if we stop making it wrong? Stop trying to push it away? What if that part is actually a helpful part? A part that wants to protect you from the lies that you’re not good enough? Or that you’re not loveable? That you don’t matter?
When you learn to nurture your wounded parts, the need to overeat or consume unhealthy food diminishes naturally.
When we practice self-compassion regularly, we reinforce healing messages, and those wounded parts no longer need to act out to get our attention.
If you’ve tried countless quick fixes that haven’t worked, and you’re tired of the endless cycle of ups and downs, give yourself the gift of trying something different.
Self-compassion is the only truly healthy way to create lasting change, whether you're working on releaseing physical weight, emotional weight or both.
If you need support on your Self-Compassion journey you can contact me at eatingwithselflove.com. Email efthomasma@gmail.com or by phone 707-206-8698 I offer courses and individual coaching.
Love and Light,
Erica
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