Module 2- The Empath
FOOD!
Let's talk about foooood glorious fooooood!! Look- the relationship we have with food will show us so much about the space we give ourselves to enjoy life, how well we assimilate and digest nutrients and abundance, and any beliefs we may have of life being a feast or famine.
Homework
For this section, I'd like to you to get out a sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. On the left side, list all of your must have beverages, snacks, and substances. All the foods and things you must have or you will die! Make sure you write the ones that are guilty pleasures also! You're the only person seein' this so don't be scared. Even if you don't allow yourself to have them enough, this is about getting the things you crave and reach for on paper so we can get a better look!
Now once you're done with your list, I'd like you to go to the right side of the page and write what you get from each of the items on your list. Just let your mind go as wild as if you're describing the entire personality of a fictional character. Allow statements and feelings to tumble out even if it sounds like you're wandering off topic, you're connecting dots.
Here's some questions you can use as prompts
What flavors do you experience?
What textures?
How does it make your physical body feel?
How fast or slow do you enjoy it?
Do you enjoy it or is it devoured so quickly you don't get to experience it fully? Does it feel comforting?
Does it feel self-shaming?
Does it feel like a treat after a finished task?
What do you crave about it?
Does it feel like listening to a motivational speaker or reading a gossip magazine?
Do you believe it's good for you?
Do you believe it's bad for you?
And why is that, where did this belief come from?
Do ever feel as if you go on autopilot when you're consuming this food or substance? Is there a time of day or context that you always find yourself reaching for it?
After you've finished describing these foods, cover up the left side of the page and simply look at all of your descriptions.
Now,
What are the positive and healthy things you're getting from foods you crave?
What are the negative self-beliefs you're confirming and solidifying while ingesting this food or substance?
Do you see any repeating loops and patterns?
Do you have any relationships that would also match these descriptions? Are you seeing things you're craving in life showing up in your eating habits?
Opening the dialogue in the relationship we have with foods and substances is a great way of observing our internal dialogue without poking and prodding for it in a personal attack.
To also help you with these foodie conversations and letting the descriptions fly, here's a sample of what my list looks like -
On the left side of the page- Coffee * I was raised Mormon where coffee is a NO NO, so there’s some serious bonding and bad girl beliefs goin’ on here. Do you have any outlawed food or beverages like that?
- Tastes and smells like the rebellious untouchable identity I created for myself as a teenager, the blissful ignorance of youth
- I get to start the day just like everyone else
- It connects me to other human beings through the theme of romanticizing the struggle and exhaustion of being human
- It's overly acidic and often makes me sick to my stomach but I can take it, I'm tough
- I don't like it sweet, I crave things with a bite to remind me I'm a firecracker - I like to push myself until it hurts to prove to myself and everyone else I can survive - It dehydrates me and dramatically slows down my energetic uptake so I can cling to simpler aspects of myself rather than dive deep
- My heart races, I'm shaky and uneasy, it's familiar and comforting to make do in the midst of chaos
- My mind races too fast to digest anything below the heart level so I can focus on taking care of responsibilities of life rather than relaxing into creativity and listening to who I really am - I'm already going this fast, I bet I could go faster
- I already feel this bad, I bet I could feel worse
- Perfectionism fuel
- Caffeine in small amounts feels like a lovely treat, a soft candle at a table for two, but too much and it's a wildfire raising toward burnout
- I'm not sure I can create my own energy, am I really capable of that? Shouldn't I have to rely on someone or something else?
- It makes me feel vibrant and alive, and I am craving that SO badly
- Sometimes I feel ashamed for enjoying life too much, I was always told there's a debt to be paid for abundance so overdoing it with coffee and feeling a fleeting moment of excitement followed by anxiety and indigestion confirms my own inner wounding beliefs of unworthiness of abundance
Potatoes
- I can eat bowls and bowls a day and I squish them between my teeth and fill my cheeks and my body smiles
- They get such a bad rep for being simple with nothing to give, but my body knows they're rich with vitamins and minerals and dense with love
- Makes me feel strong and satiated
- So little but gives so much
- Slows my rapid thoughts and calms my rhythm
- Potatoes make me happy
- It's the little things
- I don't need much to feel wealthy, I don't need much to feel full and warm inside, I just need the right things for me.
- Life's not so complicated
- When I give my body what it needs, not what someone else says it needs, I feel strong in more ways than one
- I can trust what I know I need
- When I listen to my intuition, I find tools to help myself thrive
- They're comforting and don't require much to taste good
- They're versatile and become the foundation for so many different things! - I have so many options for what I want to experience and who I want to be! - When I'm solid and rooted in the simplest healthiest aspects of myself, I'm free to serve the world in any form I choose! I can just have fun with it!
- How do I wanna show up today? Fries? Hash browns? Mashed? Sweet? Red? White? Cubed? Shredded? Baked? Steamed? Plain? With all the fixins? None of it's wrong!
2024 Addition- What YOU feel and believe to be true about what you consume could potentially mean far more than any dietary facts or opinions on the planet. We’re constantly being bombarded with nonstop expert opinions that change daily. It’s become comical to see how quickly one food goes from, “Don’t Touch It!” to “The Fountain of Youth!”
This can be frustrating to keep up with. But also? It can be freeing.
Nobody fuggin’ knows.
So that means it all comes down to what works for you!
I’ve not seen many nutrition studies break down the vitamins and minerals of something and also take into account the personal memories you have related to that food, beliefs you hold around it, where your stress level is while you’re consuming it, whether you enjoy it or force yourself to eat it for the health benefits, etc.
For example-
Imagine going out to lunch with a group of friends and eating the healthiest cleanest meal. Soon after finishing their plate, one of the gals becomes ill. The rest of you worry for obvious reasons that it may be food poisoning. You begin feeling waves of nausea yourself, not because the food was actually tainted (unbeknownst to the the group, you friend is pregnant.) but your body is a dutiful servant and will begin illustrating the psychological belief that you’re about to be hit with the same illness.
This is why looking at our relationship with food and what our daily meals and eating habits look like can tell us a lot about ourselves, whose rules we’re living by and if we’re paying attention to how we actually feel and what parts of ourselves we’re nourishing.
So now that we've dived a lil deeper in ourselves, let's revisit the scenarios from Module 1 so we can get a better look and begin finding ourselves further insight, clarity, and closure.