“Take my advice. I’m not using it.”
We used to say this about my mom because, bless her heart, she could dole out the advice until the cows came home. And it was actually pretty good advice, too. The thing was, she would often give counsel that she herself should have taken but didn’t. So, it was kind of her trademark to hand it out as if they were ideas completely separate from her own life.
I’d like to think I’m not that way. But perhaps a tiny bit of that genetic proclivity has remained in my DNA. Wanna know why I’m pondering this very topic?
One of the things I often say to others is that being conscious of what you’re doing and why is 90% of the battle. And for the most part, I think I am pretty conscious of the bigger picture and how things fit together. Yet there is one place where I have steadfastly chosen to remain unconscious – my eating habits and my entire relationship with food.
Yeah, I peep into that particular box now and again – lose some weight, feel better and then go right back into unconsciousness because it’s so much easier than having to get into the muck and figure out what’s going on. I know I eat when I’m bored. That much I’ve figured out. But what do I do about it? Mostly, I’ve just ignored it.
But when your clothes no longer fit you and you feel like you are dragging your body around in a bag behind you, that’s a pretty good time to not just peep in that box, but to take the lid off and start sifting around with what’s inside.
I’m reading Geneen Roth’s “Women Food and God” and in doing so have stirred up all this stuff I’ve avoided for quite a while now. It’s really nothing that hasn’t been written about before in many different ways but I think I was ready to hear it in this way now. And not only ready, but willing to do the work.
Here’s the kicker: Roth suggests you listen to your own intuitive guidance about what you’re eating and why. At first, I was like “Nah, that won’t work.” and then I realized that I live my whole freaking life guided by my intuitive skills! Yeesh, Lisa! Wake up!
If it works as well as it has in my own life with respect to jobs, friends, personal situations, etc., why wouldn’t it work with my eating? I already trust my guidance without question. Why not take it into this realm?
That thought caused a huge shift for me in ways I cannot even really explain. In that moment, something changed. I began to understand that it’s easy using guidance to help others. I live for that. It’s what I do and who I am.
Much, much harder to take this intuitive guidance down into the hole with me and trust it as I muck around with why I choose to go unconscious with my eating. And yet, that guidance is what will lead me to the answer. It will lead me to finally working this piece out.
Once I understood that my greatest gift in serving others was also my greatest ally in serving myself, it all clicked.
And that’s why I was reminded of my mom for just a brief moment. Here I am, encouraging people to trust their guidance and to use their intuition in a practical way. Yet, when it came to the hardest thing I struggle with, I never even gave a thought to doing it intuitively.
Until now.
Interesting how things happen, eh?
Just goes to show you – sometimes teacher, sometimes student.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
10 Responses to Sometimes teacher, sometimes student
The Groovy Chick behind Practically Intuitive
My gift is clairaudience, which means I am able to “hear” your Guides and Teachers speak to me as if they are dictating a message for you to read.
I’m here to help you connect with them, see the signs, and make the practical changes your biggest and best life requires. I use my strong intuitive skills to assist you in making those changes down here in the physical. More about me
Thanks for posting this! I also am struggling with weight. I eat when I am bored. I need to listen to my intuition and use it for positive.
Interesting that it took me a long time to make the connection although I suspect that the reason I did so now is because I was READY to make that connection. I hope to blog more about this as I take the concept out for a spin!
Thanks so much for commenting, Lisa!
i just started reading this book and it does hit at your core – listen to yourself! We all forget that …
Hi Kelcey,
I was actually taken aback at how hard this book hit me. I think I came to tears at least three times in the first sections alone.
Oh, I'm definitely listening!
Thanks for your comment!
This is what I did when I wanted to lose my stress/depression weight last year. Just listen to your body's cravings, because it knows intuitively what it needs, then analyze what it wants (a lot of the time it's just a COMPONENT of the whole thing you think you want), and figure out the healthiest way to get that craving satisfied! and it'll just become second nature after long enough
Oh my dearest niece of AF, I love you so. What you've said is so totally right on the money. What we crave is just a component of the whole thing – YES. Totally.
You rock like a big ole intuitive rocking thing! (Thanks for your comment, reader #4 – heh)
Thank you for sharing this!!
Hmmm…I guess I should buy the book. Interesting timing of your post…just yesterday I decided to consciously plan my meals this week, after gaining 7 (!) pounds on my 2 week holiday. I find my biggest struggle with conscious eating is my "time poverty" (ie. I have to eat right now because I've got to do X,Y and Z…) So by planning my meals ahead of time, I hope to bring some consciousness back to my eating, and I will also try to be mindful while eating…the other thing I plan to do, is every time I reach for a "snack" to ask myself why, process the emotion I'm feeling in my body (boredom, anger, etc.), and if necessary "eat air", (I know this sounds stupid, but sometimes a body has to masticate….
Kara
Gee – my son left for college in FL today – 900 miles away – and as I read this I'm having a glass of wine and cashews. Maybe there's a connecti
on – ya think? DUH!
Marianne
my midsection here comes intuition!
8 years into blogging and an enthusiastic cheerleader no doubt you rock!
Hi there!
Welcome to PI! Thanks for commenting – yep, I have been my very own cheerleader for so long that doing it for others just comes naturally.
I love it.
Hope you'll come by and comment again!