“We quite literally have less ability to digest food when our mind is improperly digesting life’s experiences.”
Institute for the Psychology of Eating
Thoughts, Emotions, and Energy:
REGARDLESS OF WHAT TASK THE MIND OR BODY IS PERFORMING:
- Each task requires energy.
- Just like money you spend on dinner is no longer available to spend on new clothes, energy spent on digesting your food is no longer available to spend on running a mile.
- Each task affects all other tasks.
- Just like ice on a river changes the way the water flows, the flow of energy is 1 direction affects the flow of energy in every other direction.
How do Emotions Affect Your Mind and Body:
EMOTIONS ARE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TASK OF THE MIND OR BODY:
- They require energy to be maintained (what we think of as a mood)
- Everyone has experienced the “draining” effect that grief and sadness have on us.
- They affect the flow of energy
- When we use phrases such as “I am feeling a bit down today” or “I have had it up to hear with your behavior” we are not speaking metaphorically, we are speaking from experience.
Emotional Digestion What Is It?
You can digest any current experience as well as any past un-digested experienced that is hanging out in the system.
The process of digesting your food makes the nutrients in it available to you for healing and thriving, in the same way “digesting” your emotions makes the “nutrients” in it available to you. “Digesting” your emotions is a powerful way to help your mind and body thrive and in my clinical experience is as just as important (if not more important) than your actual diet.
When you “digest” your emotions they become “integrated” with the rest of your body which has 3 major benefits:
- As just discussed they provide “nutrients” for the mind and body.
- Once they are digested the energy you are wasting in maintaining them is now available for other tasks.
- Once they are digested they stop having an affect on the movement of energy and the “rivers” in your body can flow unobstructed.
The effect of emotional digestion on the Mind is very similar to the effect of herbs, diet, and fasting on the Body. It allows the release of “toxins” and promotes healthy blood/energy flow throughout the system while giving it all the sustenance it needs to thrive.
Emotional Digestion, How Do I Do It?
The process/technique works the same whether you are digesting a current experience or a past experience.
- Step 1: Recognize that there is energy available for digestion
- Anytime you are feeling energy in the body there is an opportunity to digest it. This is most obvious whenever you are “triggered” by life and feel a rising up of emotion.
- Step 2: Feel whatever sensations/emotions you are experiencing without judgement
- Emotions do not digest well if they are judged because there is an almost automatic pushing away of “bad” feelings and an almost automatic grasping onto “good” feelings. If you are feeling angry and believe that to be a “bad” thing then the energy is not available for digestion. Emotions are never a problem and can lead to beneficial action if they are not judged. (for example the cleaning of your house with the frustration energy available when you dislike your partners behavior or the act of running and cardiovascular exercise that is possible from the energy generated from worry at the office).
- Step 3: Un-Believe, let go of, or stop investing energy in the story about your experience (if there is one)
- This is extremely common and is often what leads to un beneficial behavior. When you feel angry and “tell yourself” the story that your partner is the cause then much of the energy of the experience becomes unavailable. There are 2 primary reasons for this:
- A. If you believe your experience should be different (partner shouldn’t have said whatever they said) then rather than being with and experiencing the raw energy of the emotion you go into story mode and try and figure out how to avoid this situation in the future.
- B. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to maintain belief in the story you are creating with your internal dialog (arguing with yourself) AND the total energy of that experience gets bound up in the story so it just comes back next time a similar situation occurs (getting emotionally triggered).
- This is extremely common and is often what leads to un beneficial behavior. When you feel angry and “tell yourself” the story that your partner is the cause then much of the energy of the experience becomes unavailable. There are 2 primary reasons for this:
- Step 4: Don’t over-identify with the experience
- When you really feel like this is your problem or your pain then you can become overly invested in attaching to the energy even if you don’t want it. You literally begin to imagine yourself as “the type of person who has, does, thinks, X…” and that self image pulls a tremendous amount of energy.
This process is actually very simple in theory but very challenging to “get good at” for many people. There are many more pages delving into this technique under the “emotional digestion” area, specific tricks for specific issues under the “pick your struggle” section, and it is the primary service I offer remotely via zoom. If you think you already “got it” at this point then you really don’t get it and just think you do. It’s a simple process but takes months of regular practice to get good at and often years to get truly skilled with.
Up Next: How Do You Know If You Have Un-Digested Emotions?