Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Ever Happen to You...?

Hey Everyone,

This ever happen to you, you mindlessly eat a pile of chips or cookies without even realizing you were doing it, as though it were an out of body experience? It happens to the best of us and recently one of the Test Pilots "confessed" to having one such experience. Below is what I shared with her (with a couple additions) in hopes that it may be of some value to all of you:

"Thanks for the 'confession' and I hope your conscious is totally clear. No worries. Isn't it interesting, the connection between our body, mind, emotions, spirit? How we can go into an "eating trance" as you called it and eat a whole bag of (fill in the blank). Then, when we snap-to, we feel like it was a different person doing the eating but we are the ones left with the consequences. Personally, I don't have challenges with "eating trances", what was always my challenge was the great-white-shark-feeding-frenzy(s) where I would start with a taste of (fill in the blank), then I'd proceed to mindlessly devour my bodyweight in whatever it was I was eating as though I had no control over what I was doing. It was like being controlled by a primal urge or something.

Over the past several months, I can honestly say that I haven't had one of these experiences and haven't even had the notion to do so. I think that by and large it's related to the "No Excuses" aspect of the Project, the fact that I feel so much better (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually), I feel satisfied and fulfilled in every way so I'm never eating mindlessly or eating to fill a void. Does that make sense?"


The above Test Pilots experience and mine (old ways) are both closely tied to addictive and binging behavior which is rooted in fear, suffering/dis-satisfaction, or some level of feeling empty. An occasional, or rare episode like this is not a big deal, it's when it is a frequent event that it becomes a big deal. Either way, when it occurs, it is a golden opportunity to examine what we are feeling in that moment and perhaps begin to understand why we are doing it.

When we find what we are really looking for and we take the steps to get us where we want to be, these sorts of tendencies begin to sluff off, effortlessly, like a snake shedding it's old skin.

May this be of help to you.

In Peace,
Chris

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