Healing The Diet/Riot Cycle

If you struggle with the painful and frustrating cycle of dieting and uncontrollable overeating, this meditation is for you. Join psychotherapist Andrea Wachter as she gently guides you through a compassionate and healing inner dialogue that can help you heal your relationship with food.

For a comprehensive teaching on this topic, you might like to join Andrea in her 30-lesson course here on Insight Timer which is called Getting Over Overeating.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Andrea Wachter.

If you struggle with the painful cycle of dieting and uncontrollable overeating,

This meditation can help you on the path to intuitive,

Non-restrictive,

Peaceful and enjoyable eating.

So let's begin.

Just get your body as comfortable as you possibly can.

If you'd like,

You can close your eyes and just begin to notice the surface beneath you.

Notice whatever is supporting you and see if you can really let your body sink into that support.

Give your body permission to relax.

And now turn your attention to your breathing.

Notice your breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils or your mouth.

Notice how your breath moves in and out of your nostrils or your mouth.

And if your mind is busy with thoughts,

See if you can picture opening up an imaginary window and airing out all your thoughts in the same way you would open up a window and air out a room.

And returning your attention to your breathing,

And see if you can picture opening up an imaginary window and airing out all your thoughts and returning your attention to your breathing and the surface beneath you and the sounds you hear.

And now I'd like you to tune into your heart and see if you can call to mind anyone,

Anything,

Or any place that you truly love.

Think of someone or something that lights up your heart.

This could be an animal,

A person,

A favorite place in nature,

A joyful memory.

And you can think of one thing or more.

And you can think of one thing or more.

And as you gather this image or images in your mind's eye,

Notice where you feel this love inside your body.

See if you can let that feeling expand and get even bigger inside of you.

Tuning in to the feeling of love in your heart and imagine that feeling spreading inside your whole body like you're filling up a bathtub with water.

Now I'm going to ask you to shift to a different image,

But we'll be coming back to this heartfelt image of your heart and mind.

And as you're doing this,

You're going to be able to feel the love that's inside your heart and mind.

And as you're doing this,

You're going to be able to feel the love that's inside your heart and mind.

Now I'm going to ask you to shift to a different image,

But we'll be coming back to this heartfelt feeling in a moment.

Now get an image of the part of you that either diets and restricts your food intake in terms of good or bad.

This part usually thinks of body shapes in terms of lovable or unlovable.

So see if you can get an image of the inner diet or voice,

Or perhaps it's more of a feeling or a sensation.

There's no right or wrong here.

We're just trying to tune in to the part of you that either restricts your food or thinks you should.

What does that part look like or feel like?

And now I'd like you to see if you can get a little separation from this inner dieter.

Imagine stepping back from it a little bit and tune back into your heart,

The feeling of love in your heart that you had earlier when you were filled up with love.

And from this place in your heart,

I'd like you to witness and connect with your inner dieter.

I'm going to give you a few ideas of how you might connect with the inner dieter from a place of love,

And then I'll give you some time to do whatever feels right for you.

You might look at this inner dieter as if it was a child,

And you could look at it with compassion,

Wisdom,

And love.

You could send the inner dieter some comfort.

You might offer the inner dieter some wisdom and teach it all the things you'd like it to know.

You could ask the inner dieter a question,

Or you could ask the inner dieter a question,

Or you could let it know that you understand how it got misguided with everything that it's been taught.

You might even appreciate it for trying to help you,

But let it know that it didn't know that it was misguided.

You might tell your inner dieter your wise heart is going to be making the decisions now.

So I'm going to give you a few minutes now,

And you can either teach or offer comfort or compassion or have a dialogue with the inner dieter,

Whatever comes to you.

And I'll be back in a moment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good.

Now I'd like you to get an image of your inner rioter.

This is the part of you that struggles with uncontrollable overeating or binge eating.

This part is the response to the dieter.

I call it the rioter.

So see if you can get in touch with an image,

Feeling,

Or sensation of the inner rioter,

The part that binges or uncontrollably overeats.

The feeling or sensation of the inner rioter,

The part that binges or uncontrollably overeats.

And now see if you can get a little separation from this part and witness it from your heart,

From the loving,

Wise,

Compassionate part of you.

And I'll be asking you to communicate with the inner rioter in a way that feels compassionate,

Loving,

Tender,

And helpful.

And again,

I'll give you a few more examples of how you can get a little bit of a sense of compassion from the inner rioter.

And I'll be asking you to communicate with the inner rioter in a way that feels loving,

Tender,

And helpful.

And again,

I'll give you a few ideas,

And then I'll give you some quiet time to do whatever feels right to you.

You might let the inner rioter know that it's not at fault.

It's that you're being autonomous by following to all the cultural pressure to restrict and diet.

You might let the inner rioter know that you in your wise heart You might let the inner rioter know that you understand how confused and hurt and mad it must feel.

So you can just let it know whatever you think this part needs to know and you can offer it whatever you think it needs to receive and then give it some time to respond in whatever way comes to you.

Perhaps this inner rioter might need to express anger or perhaps it might need to be held.

So I'll give you some time now to have a compassionate,

Wise,

Healing connection between your heart and the part of you that eats uncontrollably.

I'll give you some time now to have a compassionate,

Wise,

Healing connection between your heart and the part of you that eats uncontrollably.

Good.

And now let's return to this present moment.

You can take a nice deep breath if you'd like.

Just begin to notice your breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils or your mouth.

And notice the surface beneath you and all the places your body is being supported right now.

Notice what you're touching with your hands or your feet.

And notice any sounds that you can hear.

If you'd like,

You can give your body a little stretch.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

So as you move forward,

I'd like you to imagine that your heartfelt wisdom is going to be like a parent and the inner dieter and inner rioters are like children.

They need caring,

Comfort,

And teaching.

You can practice tuning into your heart to make your eating decisions that are non-restrictive,

Loving,

And respectful.

And if this process felt helpful to you,

You might want to do a little writing about what you experienced today,

And I'd also encourage you to either repeat this process regularly,

Either here with me or on your own through visualization or writing or privately out loud.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

Take good care.

Reviews

Oh my!!! I’ll definitely be using this! Thanks so very much!

That was really nice, thank you.

Thank you for your helpful guidance and compassionate words. 🙏

So very helpful, thank you so much for sharing this.

Such a beautiful and helpful meditation, thank you. Helped me realise that I was hiding from the pain of disconnection, turning it against myself. Helped me release a little and connect with the small hurting part inside. Thank you Andrea. What precious work.

Thank you.

Beautiful approach. Namaste

This was a truly wonderful meditation.! It gave me so many insights and was deeply restorative. It has placed me into a new relationship with my “inner dieter” and “inner rioter.” I feel that I am on the path to healing and wholeness! Thank you so much! 💗🙏🏾💗

Wonderful, thank you

Needed new outlook on healthy/unhealthy eating, thank you 🙏🏼

So helpful, soothing. It helps me feel compassion for both the dieter and the rioter, and hold space for them both.

Wonderful, thank you! 🙏❣

Illuminating! Thank you so much 🙏❤