Sunday, April 1, 2012

What are you craving now?

Cravings are personal. They hit emotionally and physically and can feel confusing.  We're hungry for more than food. We feel:
  • hunger for comfort
  • craving for love
  • passion to understand who we are
  • thirst to protect ourselves and live well
When you ignore these appetites and just eat instead, it causes physical and emotional stress. This happens because you're ignoring what you sense from your body and your heart! Using your 6 senses reconnects you with feelings of self-control.  Self-control feels like balance.
Why not protect yourself by using your 6th sense - intuition - to know what you're really craving?

Your body and senses are designed to relieve stress by focusing on the present. This keeps you in control of choices.  Here's how to do it:
  • Notice what you see, smell, taste and hear. This puts you in touch with your body.
  • Notice how your body feels. 
    • Your body tells you when it's tired and when it's hungry. 
    • Your heart tells you when you're frustrated or lonely. 
    • Although the clock may say dinner, your body may not be hungry. Don't enslave your body to a clock. 
  • You are not always hungry. 
    • Never force yourself to eat. When you feel full, you feel comfortable. Use your senses to notice what feels comforting. 
    • What you need to feel satisfied could be a good nights sleep, or you may need to call a good friend and vent, or just hear the sound of the voice of someone you miss. 
Use your 6th sense to respond:
  • Are you craving love or companionship? Do something social.
  • Are you famished for sports or excitement? Watch a game or find someone to play with.
  • When was the last time you ate a relaxed satisfying meal with a friend? Maybe sharing the pleasures of eating and communicating will bring you satisfaction.     
Intuitive tools make it easy to recognize what you're craving and get it: without having stress. Your 6th sense always leads  to what's good for you. What's good for you, feels good, and will satisfy that craving.

2 comments:

jared said...

hi jane

i really like what you say about self control, and balance. I hadn't thought of intuition like that. But I think it's a great way of describing it.

It's great to see a likeminded post about food and intuition. So many people seem to confuse emotionally led cravings with a balanced intuition. I posted about this on my blog (foodstinct.com, which is actually all about intuitive eating and cooking!

Thanks again,
Jared.

Jane Bernard said...

Hi Jared, Thank you for your comment! We live in confusing times and our first duty is to be true to ourselves. This helps clarify where cravings are coming from! Wishing you delicious meals! Jane