How Yoga and Ayurveda can help YOU heal your relationship with food...

Food is something that is in our lives every day. We need to eat in order to survive and BE on this planet, in our bodies. Yet for many, their relationship with food is a struggle. People have day to day challenges with the simple joy of eating. I was one of those people. I struggled with food from the early age of 7. I used food to comfort myself and to manage my emotions. I was not getting my emotional needs met in my home, so I turned to food. In my 20’s, I became bulimic and was a chronic over-exerciser trying to change and numb my body I disliked so much. I have spent many years working to heal my relationship with food. There have been ups and downs along the way, but I have learned so much about myself and have healed and strengthened my relationship with eating. I am passionate about helping YOU change your disordered eating patterns, using the tools I have learned from Yoga and Ayurveda. I have been through this struggle, and I know and respect that everyone's experience with eating and food is different. I will work with you from where you are at right now. No judgement, no shame. It's your journey and it's your time to heal.

Do you have the following thoughts around food? If so, it may be time to re-examine your relationship with food.

• Do you view food as nurturing rather than nourishing?

• Do you use food to comfort yourself?

• Do you use food to manage your emotions?

• Is food your friend when you are lonely?

• Do you link food to exercising, such as thinking if you eat something "unhealthy" you need to exercise to punish yourself or burn those calories?

• Are you attached to the scale and your weight? Does that determine your self-worth?

• Do you obsess about food and calories each day, such as what you eat and how much?

• Do you follow diet "trends" and eat certain foods simply because it is popular?

• Do you restrict food? Binge on food? Binge and then purge?

• Do you eat in secret, sneak or hide food around your house?

• Do you take time to enjoy your meals and taste your food or is food just something that will make you gain weight or lose weight?

• Do you feel shame after you eat a certain food?

These thoughts can be signs that you have an unhealthy relationship with food. It’s not about calories, carbs, protein, or trends in eating, but how you FEEL after you consume food and the intention around your eating patterns. We should feel well after we eat, in our body and in our mind. Food should be used as a way to nourish our body, mind and soul. Food and eating connect us to nature.

You do not need to be "labeled" or "diagnosed" with anorexia or bulimia to struggle with disordered thinking around food and eating.

The labels do not matter. What matters is our mindset around food and eating, along with our thoughts and actions. There are many disordered thoughts you can have around food that can be unhealthy and lead to destructive habits. What has helped me with my inner healing is using practices from Yoga, Ayurveda and spiritual practices to go deep into the root cause of food issues. These practices can help you heal as well.

I believe I can help YOU heal your challenges with food using tools and practices from Ayurveda and Yoga. Here is why:

1. Ayurveda and Yoga practices will help you deeply connect to your body and mind. Many people with disordered eating are disconnected from their body and their mind takes over.

2. Ayurveda focuses on the WHOLE SELF; body, mind and spirit. In order to heal, you need to re-train your mind, specifically your thoughts around your relationship with food.

3. Ayurveda teaches you that food is medicine, and that eating is sacred and nourishing. When you can start to feel that food is nourishing, whatever you are eating, then you can begin to heal.

4. Eating is not black and white, such as you can’t eat this, or you can’t eat that. It also isn't about labeling food "good or bad" or "healthy or unhealthy". It's about WHY you make certain choices about what to eat. What is the motive behind your choice? Creating shame around food leads to unhealthy habits and an unhealthy mindset. When you can learn to let go of the shame around food, inner peace begins to shine.

5. Because Ayurveda and Yoga can teach you how to connect deeply with your Self, you can then learn to tune into how you feel after you eat. How does food make you feel? Energetic? Nourished? Satisfied? OR does food make you feel lethargic, gassy, bloated or physically and mentally heavy? When you tap into that energy of noticing how food makes you feel, you begin to make better choices.

6. Over time, you can start to realize that it’s really not about the food; it may be about control, weight, a mental craving, (cravings can be driven by our mind, not necessarily our physical body) or about past trauma and not managing emotions well. When you learn to identify what is happening in the moment you are eating, you can then change your mindset around food.

7. Yoga helps you go deeper and connect to your body. When you practice Yoga, you learn to appreciate your body and have unconditional love for yourself. Then, you learn how to treat yourself with the utmost respect, by fueling your body in an appropriate way. Your body is your temple!

8. Ayurveda works to find the root causes of dis-ease. Often someone with disordered eating has had some physical or emotional trauma, or disconnection from others starting at a young age. Do you remember when you first began to have issues with food? What was happening in your life at the time? In order to heal your relationship with food, you need to heal the possible trauma from your past. This requires self-reflection, inner child work, journaling, pranayama and intuitive energy practices, which are all tools we use in Ayurveda.

9. Ayurveda and Yoga give you tools to learn healthy ways to manage your emotions rather than turn to food as a coping mechanism or as a way to "numb" the feelings.

10. Ayurveda teaches you that you are your own, unique beautiful soul. You are not your body or mind, and you are not your eating disorder. If you have been “labeled” as anorexic or bulimic, practice unattachment. It is not who you are. You are so much more. You deserve to feel amazing in your body, mind and spirit!

If you are struggling in your relationship with food or have disordered thoughts around food and eating, please reach out. I provide individual sessions around this topic in a safe, welcoming, non-judging environment. The light in me honors the light in you. Namaste,

Stefanie

Owner, Brilliant Life Yoga and Wellness

www.brilliantlifemn.com