|
|
| If you suffer / suffered from some kind of eating disorder (I binge eat) - did yoga help you? I know I have been here and sought answers to this question before, but somehow I'm here again after some time of being able to 'manage' this but its come out of nowhere and is upon me again, I'm desperate and don't know what to do,
sunnybird |
|
| |
|
| Well how did you manage it for a while, then? PM me if necessary. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 37
| I had eating disorder and yoga helped as a part of complex solution. Now I don't have it anymore but sometimes it comes up "from nowhere".
You should not start with yoga. you should start with - what did you different in your life, when you were able to manage it? |
|
| |
|
| I have no experience with eating disorders but my understanding is they fall under the same umbrella as many psychological disorders. It's dangerous to see yoga as a "cure" for anything. What I have found is that yoga can expand your consciosness and perspective. That would help you with anything your dealing with in life. |
|
| |
|
| SUNNYBIRD!!! There you are!!!!!  I think about you often... as you know, yoga definitely got me thinking in the right direction, but it certainly was not the solution. And, unfortunately, I have found that there is no cure for binge eating... it's an addiction... and those nasty little buggers linger around corners waiting for a vulnerable moment to spring out at you.
I'm glad you found your way back to us here at yoga.com! |
|
| |
|
| So it will always be there is the general perspective..... thats a really depressing thought and makes me wonder what the point is of stuff....... sorry, depressing thoughts...... its a constant battle which feels like it will never be won.... stupid obsessive thoughts drain every inch of me, my whole life somehow seems to revolve around binging and then thinking that I'll never do it again because its just not possible as I know the consequences involved but it happens again and again and again...... then I spend the next days, weeks, months trying to 'work off' the binge effects, then it begins again, this stupid bloody cycle.....its so hard to explain it properly because it has the potential to sound so trivial.......so tired of it all......
Sorry everyone, man what a depressing post!
sunnybird |
|
| |
|
| No Sunnybird. You can definitely overcome this habit. Stop using the wrong word 'cure'., There is NO cure for anything. But, you can definitely and permanently overcome this habit. But, you should be prepared to do what it takes.
Unfortunately, I have to recommend you to purchase my audio 'Weight Management based on Authentic Yoga System'. If you do not, there is no problem. You can still try to find other suitable instruction.
Also, you need to take up meditation, I am sure.
Happy new Year.
|
|
| |
|
| Hi Sunnybird, nice to hear from you, sorry you're having a hard time right now. If things are looking overwhelming, take a day at a time, or even an hour or minute at a time. Don't let your problems get too big for you. Take it a step at a time. Love yourself, and take care of yourself, Shelly |
|
| |
|
| Neel hit the nail on the head. No, there isn't a cure- but as Neel said, "cure" is the wrong word. There IS a way to manage it- you just have to find what works for you. I am a compulsive binge eater who has been free of the binge/guilt cycle for almost 3 years (it'll be 3 yrs in April). I don't think about food in this way, I know that food won't solve my problems- if anything it will compound them. I don't even have the urge to overeat anymore. Does that mean I won't ever again? I don't know. Does that mean I won't today? Probably. Because I have committed to myself that I won't live that life today.
Neel- I wish it were as easy as reading your book. It's a bit more complicated than that. Binge eating is a physical and psychological addiction- much in the way cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs are. Your book may help break the physical cycle- but then you have to address the psychological reasons behind the eating. That is why gastric bypass surgery doesn't always work for the morbidly obese- sure, it "fixes" (if you want to call it that- I'm very much against this surgery).. BUT, it doesn't fix the brain. I have a neighbor next door who has gained back a significant portion of her weight because she never worked on the "brain" part. She still overeats for psychological reasons.
Well, I could go on for days about this... this is something I am very passionate about.
Sunnybird- I know in the state of mind you are in, you are feeling very depressed, angry, frustrated, defeated...but there is a way out. Don't forget about that little package I sent to you in Cyprus last year.... there is hope. |
|
| |
|
| Dear Joscmt: I am not saying that the problem of eating is Physical. In fact, my Audio, recommended states that the problem of eating is ONLY mental. And, the problem of eating is NOT Constitutional, it is developed. Therefore, it can be completely Removed by forming a proper plan and adhereing to it.
What is difficult is to adhere to plan, forming a plan, and getting necessary proper (NON Commercial Guidance) and support. But, above all, the most difficult thing is
Commitment on the part of the subject. |
|
| |
|
| Weight management is something that I really don't feel is the heart of the issue. I don't think about having to 'manage' my weight because I know that I'm not obesely fat, its the obsessive thoughts that go on and on in my mind around food, the binging, the guilt, more obsession, more guilt, piled on by more obsession, can't explain how exhausting it is.....
I know you know how I feel Joscmt as you have been there...... and you're right, I am feeling all those things and more that you have mentioned..... at times it seems so daft to even go on practising yoga when I've had a bad week with food/binging as all the binging negates the benefits I have gained from yoga or vice versa.....
I don't know what the right help is, where to go, who to turn to who I can trust. The funny thing is, even remembering the feelings that a binge creates, the after effects etc doesn't ever stop me. It will mellow out for a bit and I'll have a short time of not binging (although the constant obsessions are always there when I'm around food and eating) but then nothing stops me when I'm in that binge madness, its like I don't even know who I am, I'm not living in my own body.... so hard and exhausting to explain it to someone who hasn't been through it though...
I was thinking about making a promise to myself that no matter what, I must practice yoga 3 times a week and stick to it, but then I'm not addressing the psychological stuff .... have been there and done the personal therapy stuff but that hasn't stopped me or helped with anything that much otherwise I wouldn't still be here.... I'm aware that I sound very messed up right now (which isn't far from the truth)
sunnybird |
|
| |
|
| at times it seems so daft to even go on practising yoga when I've had a bad week with food/binging as all the binging negates the benefits I have gained from yoga or vice versa.....
This is when you need your practice more than ever. Don't let your mind talk you out of doing good for yourself. Actually, you probably shouldn't listen to your minds opinion here at all. When it tells you something negative, you have to recognize that it's your mind telling you that. Your mind which is comfortable in it's old behaviors, and likes things that way, and wants to keep it that way. You can make an internal dialog with yourself so that you recognize your negative thought patterns. When you think why should I even practice my yoga since I had that binge, you have to stop yourself, and realize your brain is telling you something that is not right thinking.
I've had to give up my own bad habits and behaviors. I had lots of negative pathways in my brain. They were well worn habit trails. Changing them wasn't easy, or quick. Through meditation and yoga, and just being aware of my voice in my head I worked to rewired my brain. I still start on that well worn negative path sometimes, I have to catch myself, and right myself. It's not easy, but it is way better than living on that other path.
Take care of yourself Sunnybird, it's so worth it, Shelly |
|
| |
|
| Thanks Shelly very much. |
|
| |
|
| Thanks Shelly, your post made me cry but thanks, you're so right and yes, I know it all makes sense and that is what I try and do but it seems never ending......... this binge cycle..... binge/yoga/exercise/over (for a tiny bit) then binge/yoga/exercise/over......... feel like a broken record, well person all over again and again and again
sb |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
   
| Sunnybird - I have no experience of eating disorders, but I will make a small suggestion. Don't lump your yoga classes and practices in with exercise. Put them in a category more like going to a spa or to an appointment with your favourite counselor. Think of yoga time as nurturing time. Maybe that will help just a little? Hang in there - we're on your side!  |
|
| |
|
| Neel- thanks for clarifying... how true your statements are.
SB- I was in exactly the same place as you 3 yrs ago.. I'd practice yoga for an hour and then binge by the end of the day. I felt like such a fraud- talking up all the benefits I was getting, while hiding out somewhere overeating. It is a miserable cycle.
You can't even know how much my heart goes out to you right now. I relate to every single thing you have said here. The guilt, the planning.. it really does require so much "organizing", time and brainpower.
If you are in a place where you feel it just can't suck anymore... then spend some time in quiet reflection imagining what you would do with that free time if you weren't in this cycle anymore. Imagine your life without this burden. Probably impossible if you are anywhere near where I was before I found my program.
I will be completely honest when I say that it has saved my life. Even on the days when I'm pi$$ed off, don't want to do it, am mad that I even have to plan out the food I eat, kicking and screaming to my sponsor that "I don't WANNA"..... THAT'S when that support Neel is talking about comes in handy. You know I'm not talking about professional counseling, doctors, dieticians, etc... I'm talking about people who have been in your shoes, have been in that exact same mental place.
The great thing is that not everyone is crazy on the same day! Oh man, would we all be in trouble if that was the case.
You're reaching out here and talking about it here is a brave and powerful move. Powerful beyond measure. You have it in you to overcome it. If anything, please keep talking about it and sharing your feelings.... |
|
| |
Did yoga help/cure you?
