Do you ever find yourself eating to fill an emotional void? Or to feel comforted? Or to celebrate a big win? Or maybe because you just need some sweetness in your life?
As a culture, we consume way more food than we need.
We are an overfed and undernourished society probably won’t come as shock given the high obesity rates in North America.
Let’s address the elephant in the room though: our emotional state that is starving.
This may surprise you. After all, we live in a society that prioritizes the needs of the individual – where self-indulgence is normalized. From our physical appearance to our homes, we can fast-track our lives to achieve immediate gratification. But is this really improving our emotional well-being? And what role does food have to play?
Emotional Nourishment & The S.A.D.
The S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) consists of a vast amount of processed foods that have been highly refined, stripped of beneficial nutrients and have many unnecessary additives. As our body craves what the food is lacking in nutritional value, we keep eating, searching for the missing nutrients.
Why continue to reach for ’empty’ foods loaded with calories, additives and chemicals, devoid of micro and macronutrients, when we know they contribute to weight-gain, diabetes, skin and other health problems? Because being ‘overfed and undernourished’ goes beyond the physical body.
Consider the busyness of our lives, full schedules, constantly in motion and always in go-mode. One could argue that time constraints force us to make unhealthy food choices. In reality though, we are so starved for time that we overfeed ourselves with sugary, processed foods and material goods to feel complete. To treat ourselves. To satisfy our need for emotional nourishment.
The quest for nourishment is ultimately a quest for emotional nourishment.
I see this ever-increasing trend as I work with and coach my clients. Overfed by busy-ness and consumerism, but undernourished on an emotional and spiritual level, we keep running, searching, learning, consuming, buying, and climbing the corporate ladder in search of fulfillment.
Finding emotional nourishment in your life.
Instead of thinking about changes you can make in your diet, maybe it’s time to ask yourself some tough questions that go beyond food:
What is it that I am really lacking in my life?
What feelings am I attempting to keep from surfacing?
What am I running from?
What pain do I want to avoid?
What part of myself have I left behind?
What brings me joy? What could I spend all day doing just for the mere pleasure of it?
What makes my heart sing?
Often, these are not easy questions to answer.
There are many ways to address emotional blockages.
Yoga and meditation are both great places to start looking inward and connecting with yourself. Another effective way to achieve results is through the use of Energy Balancing or Psychosomatic Energetics – a system of measuring emotional and energetic blocks.
On a spiritual level, your soul is likely looking for emotional nourishment to return to a state of balance. Often, it’s our connection to self that is missing. This feeling of emptiness creates a void we attempt to fill with food. Our lives become so full of obligations, responsibilities and pleasing others that we frequently overlook the simple pleasures in life. They surround us, but we are too busy to notice them, so we seek to indulge ourselves with extravagant things that we don’t really need.
Years of experience in holistic nutrition has taught me that our imbalances go much deeper than food and nutrition. If imbalances in your life have manifested in a health crisis, the physical body may be the first part to address. We cannot however, overlook the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. Holistic nutrition depends on emotional nourishment just as well as physical nourishment from food; they are interconnected and cannot be separated.
I encourage you to take some time to consider things that are meaningful to you. The conversations you’ve been meaning to have. What you’ve always wanted to do or what you used to enjoy in your childhood. Once you determine what lights you up, find time to play. Find your Self. Feed your soul. Address what is lacking to return to your optimal state of balance, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
If you need some help navigating these waters, my personal coaching services may be of help. You can schedule a complimentary 30 minute call and together we can assess where you are, what’s working, what’s not and if I can help you.
May you be filled with nourishment and love,
