Using food and eating to numb out to our experience

When we eat to numb out, perhaps bombarding our senses with simultaneous Netflix, social media, and Chunky Monkey ice cream, our goal is to feel everything—and therefore nothing.

When we eat out of ignorance, one approach to returning to our true experience is to simplify. Ask yourself, What can I do without in this moment? If you are overwhelming your senses with various forms of entertainment, perhaps take away one of them. If you are overwhelming your senses with foods that are over-the-top spicy, textured, and flavored, consider focusing on just one at a time. Give something your full attention and see what arises.

In these moments, we turn toward what is happening under the surface, taking the risk to experience something profoundly uncomfortable with the hope of understanding ourselves better. We acknowledge with gentleness and compassion that we are in the unfamiliar territory of working with what is.

Journal prompt: When do you notice yourself eating to check out, dissociate, or numb yourself? What other behaviors are you doing at these times? What emotions or sensations are you aware of prior to eating at these times? What foods do you tend to choose? Why do you think those specific foods appeal at these times? Does eating feel like self-care in these moments or something else?