Everyone has the potential to be an emotional eater because everyone experiences stress in their lives, and everyone has to eat in good times and bad and everything in between. Babies are stressed when they are hungry or thirsty, tired or wet. Little children are stressed when they are asked to be still when their bodies just want to move. Teenagers of today are stressed by technology coming at them, etc. etc.
When the body experiences stress--a perceived threat, like anxiety or pressure of expectations or worry over job security, health, family, etc., the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline and cortisol. These stress hormones helped our ancient ancestors to survive. Their stress was fear for their lives--mortal danger. They responded by fleeing the perceived threat or fighting it. The very last resort was to freeze in place. After the fleeing or fighting, their bodies were depleted of calories. They needed calories to survive. So they replaced those calories they burned.
My dog, Pippa, doesn't like fireworks. The loud noise, the repetition tell her to escape the perceived threat, i.e. flee. Fourth of July is the prime time for dogs to get lost because of this very reason. Because we keep Pippa inside and safe, and although she still can hear the booms of fireworks, she is frozen in place with her stress. Her body responds to this by shaking it off. She trembles. This is helping her release the nasty cortisol and adrenaline that is building up in her body. This shaking is helping.
As for human beings, our bodies still respond to stress the way our ancestors' bodies did even though we are not living in fear for our lives. Our body doesn't know this, so it ramps up the cortisol and adrenaline in preparation for a flight or a fight. This is a physical problem because excess cortisol and adrenaline suppress the immune system and lead to disease to say nothing of emotional eating. Ninety percent of doctor's visits are stress related. While our problems are different than our ancestors, our physical response in the body is the same. Our desire to replace calories is the same as well.
For this reason, I suggest that we practice a modern day version of fleeing (taking a walk) or fighting (vigorous exercise). By responding to emotional situations with a physical response, we can dump that nasty cortisol and adrenaline. We can "shake it off" so to speak. This doesn't mean our problems disappear. This means that the way we deal with them shifts. A simple five minute walk (fleeing) away from a problem at work or home might be just what's needed to get some relief. By doing something as simple as this, we transform negative into positive. A life skill to be sure.
If walking away or moving vigorously or even shaking is not an option, then meditative breathing is the way to go. By breathing in deeply through the nose and out through the nose or mouth, we signal to the body that we are NOT ramping up, but we are slowing DOWN. We are telling our body to relax. We are training our mind to let go. We are creating a physical response.
Living fully means that we will have a vast array of experiences. We care about our health, our families, our jobs, our communities, our hobbies, etc. We feel a broad spectrum of emotions. They don't even have to make sense. Emotions are legitimate because they exist. It is precisely these emotions that can create stress for our hearts, minds and bodies. In the technology age, we live so much in our heads, but that is not helping. We benefit by working with the body to create more balance, stress relief and calm.
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