Category: Harsh Voice

A Thanksgiving Love Note

11/27/2014

To all you eaters out there a love note from me to you:

Happy Thanksgiving!! I am grateful for each and everyone one of you. I hope that this day is filled with gratitude and love. I hope that you love every morsel of food that goes into your mouth. I hope you eat with pleasure, joy, and contentment. May you be nourished not only by your food but also by the people around you and the environment.

I hope that you remember that your self worth is not dependent on the size of your thighs. You are beautiful, exactly the way that you are no matter much or how little you eat today. If any negative voices should arise today come back to the moment, come back to your breath, come back to love, and with all your might replace those negative thoughts with ones of loving kindness. You are gorgeous and beautiful and handsome. No matter what you eat or how your body changes, it doesn't change who you are and your strong, resilient, wonderful soul.

I hope that you have an amazing Thanksgiving Day! Love your food up and it will love you right back. Eat slowly, taste the flavors, take deep belly breaths, chew, chew, chew your food. Close your eyes and take in the moment. Have a sensual eating experience that brings you into your body and facilitates an explosive amount of joy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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5 Digestive Tips to the Rescue!

9/7/2014

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Dealing with years of digestive pain, I definitely found tricks and tips of how to soothe an upset tummy. And while I am no longer in constant pain now, I find that when I want to feel adventurous or test out a food on my digestive tract, these tricks still come in handy.

So when you first feel a twinge of pain, ate too much, ate something you know your sensitive to but just couldn't resist (it happens!) here are some tricks you can try to bring your tummy back into balance.

1. Digestive Enzymes- I don't always suggest digestive enzymes as I have seen a lot of individuals dealing with digestive troubles begin to rely on them and get hooked on them. This leads the body to think that it doesn't have to work so hard producing digestive enzymes so getting off of them can be difficult if you're eating multiple at every meal. But, this handy supplement can support a troubled digestive tract for a short amount of time or an evening. When you find you have eaten a large amount of food or something just isn't sitting quite right, digestive enzymes can be an aid to boost your digestive power to break something down in your stomach that is having a hard time digesting.

2. Apple cider vinegar- ACV really just is a cure all for so many ailments. I have read so many articles recently on just how wonderful ACV truly is for our body. Often times, acid reflux or difficulties digesting a high protein meal can actually mean that you need more acid in your stomach to break down your food (not less, throw out those Tums!). Putting a 1 tsp-tbsp. of ACV diluted in a glass of water and sipping it before or after a meal can add some acid power to your stomach to help break down a meal and diminish any pain. You can even add a few drops of liquid stevia to it to make a refreshing drink. Yum!

3. Ginger- Ginger tea, ginger root, ginger capsules, ginger syrup. There are many ways to get your ginger in. Ginger stimulates the digestive system to produce more enzymes to facilitate digestion. It also helps stimulate more bile production, which can aid in making any digestive pain go away by increasing your ability to break down your food. When I travel abroad I take ginger capsules with me and they work fairly quickly in helping with a digestive woe. You can also make sure you have some ginger tea with you or if you're home break out some ginger root and start chewing. I would just suggest to stay away from ginger chews with the added sugar; the sugar takes away from the benefits of the ginger.

4. Deep breathing- Much of the time digestive pains can be due to trapped gas from possibly eating too fast. When I was going through the worst of my digestive troubles, you could often find me face down, lying on the carpet breathing into my belly. Deep belly breathing can begin to relax the muscles of your stomach switching your whole body into a relaxation response, which is what is needed to turn on digestion. When you're going through any kind of digestive upset, try to remember to breath through it. The added thoughts of "Ow, this hurts, I wish this would go away, why is this happening" causes the body to tighten even more which can in turn worsen the pain. Try lying on the ground, placing your hands on your belly, and just focusing on watching the rise and fall of your belly and feeling the support of the floor beneath you. This too shall pass.

5. Activated Charcoal- Speaking of trapped gas....activated charcoal will be your little miracle worker. It will bind and absorb to any chemicals or gas or whatever it is that is upsetting your stomach thus diminishing the stress being put on your digestive tract and decreasing pain. Just make sure that if you're taking any medications to take this away from your medications as it will decrease the efficiency of your medications being absorbed as well. Its powerful stuff!

Just remember to add in some extra self love when you're going through any digestive pain. Loving yourself up through the process of learning what does and does not work for your body will help you to move forward from any digestive and eating experience with so much compassion and patience for your unique journey living in a body.

I would love to hear from you! What have you found has worked to help you when you're having a digestive upset?

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Your Body Digests Your Words

7/23/2014

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Sometimes when my digestion starts to act up, I have to take a look at the things I am telling myself internally and not necessarily the food I am eating. When my internal critic speaks up (and sometimes it can be really loud), I know that my whole body goes into a stress response, my gut cramps, digestion shuts down, and my ability to digest food and my life diminishes.

Meals that I could digest fine when my thoughts are kind and peaceful are suddenly not assimilating as well. Our body reacts and responds to the words and the statements we are creating internally. So if we are telling ourselves harsh words, putting ourselves down, judging ourselves, we are digesting those thoughts and those words along with the food we are eating.

Often I talk about what digests and assimilates well in terms of food, but for a moment think about how the word hate would digest in your body. Or what about the word ugly. How would the statement I am not good enough digest in your system? I know that even as I am typing these specific words I can feel my body tense up.

When we think loving thoughts, let go of expectations, and just show up as we are in the moment, our body will go into a relaxation response and your ability to assimilate your food and your experiences will increase. I know that I have had moments where I made a conscious decision to shift my internal thoughts to ones of love and appreciation for myself and then heard my stomach gurgle. I took that as a thank you from my gut. Thank you for feeding me love, thank you for nourishing me with appreciation, thank you for these thoughts so I can do my job properly.

I would love to hear from you! Have you noticed a difference in your body's ability to function when your thoughts are positive? Have you experienced your digestion change when you under a lot of stress and thinking stressful thoughts?

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Bodies are constantly changing

7/9/2014

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The stomach lining changes over about every 5 days, your taste buds change every two weeks, every day you shed over a million skin cells, the uterine wall for a woman sheds every month. We are constantly changing and from day to day we are never living in the same body. How will you begin the process of coming into relationship with your body and your gut for who they are and what they need today?

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What to do after a big meal

7/5/2014

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Happy Day after July 4th! You might have gone to a big BBQ yesterday, ate a lot of food, and now today feel perhaps sluggish, tired, bloated, and gassy. Additionally, often times after a large meal there is a judgmental voice that pops up. "Why did you do that?" "You are such a failure for eating that much." "I have to restrict what I eat today to make up for yesterday." "I have to go to the gym today and work this all off."

Do any of these sound familiar to you? This list goes on in terms of what that voice can say, but it is a voice that is loud, mean, and not looking after your health and well being.

So here are a couple of steps you can take after eating a big meal:

1. Focus on Emotional Nourishment

Being with friends and family nourishes us in a similar and different way than food. We can get filled up by the experience of being around loved ones. Chatting, catching up, funny stories, playing games, effect the way we digest our food. When you are being emotionally nourished by the situation your body is in a relaxation response and your digestive tract can handle any input of food easier. So as those voices pop up, redirect your thoughts toward how you were nourished by the situation. Often big meals are eaten in the company of others. Instead of focusing on how much you ate, reflect on how the people, the situation, the environment was ultimately very fulfilling.

2. Be gentle with yourself

Think of the negative, harsh, internal voice that arises after a large meal as your inner child. The more you ignore the fact they are whining, the louder they get. Listen to what your inner child is saying, rub their back, and tell them everything is going to be alright. The voices may still be there but you can acknowledge them and choose not to do anything about them. This can be an opportunity to delve deeper into what the voices are really trying to say. Is eating a large meal mean you deserve less love? Is feeling overly full mean that people won't like you anymore? Be super gentle with yourself after a large meal and think about what you can emotionally nourish yourself with throughout the day that doesn't have to do with restriction or self punishment. Take a bath, take a walk, listen to some music, call a friend, do something that nourishes your soul. It is all about coming back to self love.

3. Eat something fermented/take your probiotics

I of course had to add this in! After a big meal, there might have been a lot of sweets, sugar, or carbs that were consumed. By eating some kimchee, sauerkraut, taking a probiotic, drinking some Kevita, you will be flooding your gut with beneficial bacteria which will go to work to make sure those foods are not sitting in your stomach and fermenting. Getting in the good bacteria after a big meal will help keep your mood up and aid your belly in digesting all the yummy food you just ate. Additionally if you take your probiotic with a glass of water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it you will increase your stomach acid to also help break down the large meal.

And just remember every time we eat is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves. Every meal is a chance to explore our relationship with food and others. There is no judgment here. Be curious like a child and explore the situation with fascination and inquiry.

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Nourishment for your email:

A Thanksgiving Love Note

5 Digestive Tips to the Rescue!

Your Body Digests Your Words

Bodies are constantly changing

What to do after a big meal

Stephanie Mara Pollock

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