Wondering if binge eating is connected to being a Highly Sensitive Person? This article explores the links between the two and shares an approach to recovery for you.

Reading time: 1 min Originally shared as part of Inbox Reflections — my weekday emails for highly sensitive women who are ready to stop binge eating. Most women in binge eating recovery have a challenging relationship with exercise. And as a Highly Sensitive Person, it’s likely there are extra layers of complexity for you… Maybe you’ve really pushed yourself in the past, exercising in ways that were too intense for you and further disconnected you from your body, all in the name of weight loss. Perhaps you feel guilty that you don’t do certain types of exercise simply because they don’t feel good to you. Or maybe thoughts about how you “should” be exercising stop you from moving your body as much. If so, there’s a recent piece of research into HSPs and their relationships with exercise that you might find insightful… The researchers found from those who took part (students and employees at a university in the USA, mostly female) that HSPs are just as likely to exercise as anyone else, but that they prefer less intense exercise. And that makes absolute sense knowing what we know about HSPs ✨ It’s just one small study, but it totally resonates with me. How about you? If so, I hope knowing this helps you to quieten the “but I should be…” thoughts, and enjoy moving your body the ways you like to!

Reading time: 1 min Originally shared as part of Inbox Reflections — my weekday emails for highly sensitive women who are ready to stop binge eating. I have a theory that highly sensitive women who struggle with their relationships with food and their bodies have a hard time receiving. Receiving their sensitivity Receiving their worth Receiving their bodies Receiving nourishment Receiving support Receiving attention Receiving the moment But I also believe that we have the greatest capacity to receive when we know how to and feel safe in doing so. Because being sensitive and receptive go hand in hand. Does this ring true for you? If so, one of the most profound practices for you might be to simply: 1. Receive as you inhale Receiving yourself, the moment and whatever is there for you, even if it’s uncomfortable. 2. Release as you exhale Surrendering and letting it all completely go (this is just as important). This is my core practice right now, and in fact, it has been for some time. There are many times I still find receiving infinitely hard, but this little practice has benefited me in more ways than I could tell you... I hope it serves you as much as it's served me.

Reading / watching time: 13 mins Our question this time comes from Sarah and it’s another that I think will be really relatable to many of you. She asked: “I know the things I need to do to stop binge eating and sometimes I can do them and I feel really good about that. But I just can’t seem to do them most of the time. I want to know how I can get around this because it’s really frustrating me! Thanks for all of your support!” So, here are my thoughts on this…

Reading time: 6.5 mins Perhaps you’ve found your way to this page because you’ve noticed that you use food to comfort yourself when emotions like stress, sadness and boredom come up. Maybe you’re feeling like your emotional eating is out of control at times and that just worries you more. And perhaps you’ve heard the term “binge eating” and you’re wondering if that’s in fact what you’re doing. If so, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll look at exactly what emotional eating and binge eating are and their main differences. For those of you who resonate with being a highly sensitive person, an empath or someone who just feels things in a big way, we’ll also look at how this sensitivity can play into emotional eating and binge eating. This is all about better understanding your own behaviour so that you can expand your ability to be with uncomfortable emotions, improve your relationships with food and your body and even get the right support for you on this journey, if that’s what you want. Now, take a nice long and full breath and let’s explore…  What is emotional eating?

Reading / watching time: 21 mins This month's Q&A video is around the topic of connection (which is one of my favourites!) and comes from Aga with the question “ I’ve been binge eating for over 20 years and at this point feel like I’m completely disconnected from my body all of the time. How can I start connecting to it?”. In this video, we get into: Understanding the ways you’ve disconnected from your body The underlying reasons for this disconnection The question you can ask yourself in any moment to begin reconnecting Four simple practices to help bring you back into your body

Allowing deep rest and surrender as part of the flow of life and what it has to do with binge eating recovery. Read more.