How to tackle sensitivity and emotional eating

I’ve written before that people with digestive issues tend to be highly sensitive.

My own sensitivity has been my biggest gift and my biggest challenge in life.

I feel and know things that non sensitive types are oblivious to. It’s like I’m privy to secret information. But I also face challenges that non sensitive types have no problem with.

I get easily bothered by subtle things. Like the unpleasant vibe in a room, my own emotions, loud noises, and being around negative people (I tend to absorb the emotions of others). I also get overwhelmed by crowds.

We sensitive types are so much more effected by our environment and since we are the minority (15 to 20 percent of the population) we often see our sensitivity as a flaw. This causes shame and the desire to hide what makes us so special and different.

Being sensitive also means we are far more connected to the sensations in our bodies. We FEEL so much more and our emotions effect us physically, particularly in our gut.

To protect ourselves we retreat into our minds, we distract ourselves with comforts, we try to blend in and deny our nature.

I believe that understanding, accepting and working with our sensitivity is an important part of digestive recovery.

Food is important, but understanding yourself and knowing how to safely feel your emotions and connect to your body is equally as important.

Kate Stefans is a fellow sensitive soul who has spent many years healing herself by unraveling the puzzle of her own sensitivity. It was this process that finally helped her heal her issues with emotional eating.

Now she teaches what she has learned through her own healing journey to other sensitive types who also struggle with food addictions.

We all suffer with emotional eating to a degree, using food to comfort ourselves when uncomfortable feelings arise.

That’s why changing our diet is not as easy as just doing it sometimes. There are emotional reasons for why we can’t seem to stick to a healing diet.

For me, I experience emotional eating when I feel bored and trapped. Like on an airplane. I will eat whatever is put in front of me because I’m frustrated by being trapped in a tiny seat.

I’ve addressed my sensitivity through Chi Gong, (a practice where being sensitive is a huge help), but there are other ways to tackle it.

All the methods have one thing in common, connecting to your body’s sensations and learning how to safely feel into your emotions. Much easier said than done. But definitely worth discussing, because there is so much healing power in this practice.

I know from experience. I am far less anxious, more stable and more positive because of it.

Emotions originate in the body, not in the mind. The mind tries to make sense and create stories about what we’re feeling in the body. It tries to deny, analyze, blame and soothe. But the body holds true messages about what’s really going on for us. And Kate Stephans teaches us how to listen.

Kate has an interesting approach to helping sensitive types heal. She helps them get in touch with their true desires. She uses a lot of the same principles I’ve learned in Chi Gong, but explains them in a way that anyone can practice and understand.

She is a healer who has healed herself so she understands what it’s like to suffer with this issue. And she shed light on the gifts and challenges of sensitivity and how to work with it.

There are things we hide about ourselves to protect us. Knowing yourself deeply and fully, is a gift that will serve you for the rest of your life, improving your health and happiness.

The route to health and happiness is not through food or supplements, it’s through self awareness and Kate tells us how to have more of it in our lives.

Press the orange arrow at the top left hand corner to listen to our 23 minute conversation. The first 30 seconds will be silence and then the recording will begin.  You can read more about Kate’s story here.

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