I often struggle with this like I did today. My brain has been on triple warp speed asking every possible question it can ask and doubting just about every action I make. Am I doing the "right" thing, am I making a mistake, am I eating the right things, drinking at the right time, involving myself with the right people, in the right jobs....blahblahblah goes my brain. And finally I asked my brain this afternoon (as I have realized I often have to engage myself in conversation to stop the yaddayaddayadda of my mind) why is being "right" so important. I had an ah-hah moment. I was so lost in the questions in my head that it was difficult to see and hear the underlying rock blocking my way. I have found that usually fear is underlying most mental rants. In my case, engaging in "right" action means I am not failing and that my life has purpose (something I often fear-losing my purpose or not even living up to it at all here on earth).
The monkey mind is a protective mechanism, hiding us from our deep core wounds from childhood, from family, from relationships. We all have them. One of my favorite yoga teachers constantly talks about how we're are all broken and to embrace the shattered broken pieces because they are truly beautiful. She asks each one of her students to share their broken pieces because she has been just as broken before as well. It is a beautiful thing when we can finally get out of our heads and accept ourselves even with all our fears. With tears rolling down my face in the arms of someone who truly cares about me this evening I realized that I can share my own broken pieces with others and be truly accepted and actually appreciated for sharing the fact that I do not have it all together.
It is quite a conundrum how often we accept others with their insecurities, fears, worries, tears, rants, etc. and yet we fear revealing our own. This blocks us from self acceptance and has us heading into the fridge/cupboard/restaurant/grocery store to stuff down our fears. Perhaps if we could breath into our fear and face it with total acceptance that we would not try and stuff our emotions down. I have noticed in my own life the more I speak my truth and let myself be truly seen for who I am instead of who I feel I should be, the less I feel like being up in my head, off some place else, and reaching for food to comfort some emotion that I am not allowing myself to feel. Let yourself be seen. For even just one minute a day get out of your head, breath into your body, and speak your truth, even if it is just to yourself.