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A few years ago, I thought I was a food addict.
I was taking an online course about how to eat without feeling guilty while at the same time, taking a course studying the chakras in depth. At the time, I thought it was odd that I would have these two seemingly different interests—food and spiritual health and I didn’t see the connection.
Sometimes, we can’t see the thing that is so big we don’t even know we are a part of it, like a fish that may not realize there is something beyond the ocean.
Diet culture is an example of this idea. Most people have no idea there is a diet culture. They are simply in it and can’t see that there is an edge to it—and beyond it, something else.
Eventually, I started to piece together that our body, mind, and spirit are all one and we cannot separate how we treat one from how we treat the other. It actually made perfect sense that my exploring the body and spirit would go together.
This is how I came to realize the big reason that diets fail and how quitting dieting and making peace with food is a spiritual awakening.
Nothing blocks evolutionary progression more than resistance or doing things that make us feel bad. No matter what spiritual guru we read or listen to, they will all say some variation on the idea that life should be easy and that it’s important to focus on the things we love to do.
Dieting is not easy and I’m not sure I know of anyone who loves to do it.
Dieting is about rigid control and doing things we may not want to do. It’s about restriction and force, and for many it comes from a place of hatred and self-loathing. Does anything good ever come from hatred and self-loathing?
When we feel bad about our bodies it’s because there is a discrepancy between the judgment we are making about ourselves (that is negative) and our deep inner wisdom which knows we are perfect in our imperfection.
Our inner wisdom knows that we are worthy no matter what.
So even if dieting weren’t going to fail biologically, which it does 95 percent of the time—it would definitely fail spiritually and energetically because the body and mind don’t like to do things that make them feel bad and because they don’t believe there is anything wrong in the first place.
Dieting fails because it represses our essential, true loving nature and pits us against ourselves in a battle we can’t win without also losing.
Our physical body is thrilled to be here on Earth and just wants to get started and see what’s going to happen. It thrives on scrumptious food and sensual movement. It wants to celebrate. It is beyond excited to have this chance to check things out on this planet and have experiences using all of the senses.
But our ego is scared and small and trying to keep us safe. And diet culture says “big” bodies are not safe and our parents say it and our relatives say it and our friends say it. So we turn against ourselves—no matter what body size we have—in fear of what might happen. We want to be safe and we want to belong at all costs.
Bodies and souls thrive on allowance and permission and whatever goes with the flow, not what stops it. A diet is like a dog run in the backyard—we might think we are free and have room to move around but we are still tied up and will never get very far.
We will also never learn to trust ourselves if we rely on external rules and conditions and if we make decisions based on fear.
Worrying about our weight and appearance puts a block in life that keeps a lot more than food from coming in. It stifles joy and creativity and the things that make life worth living by keeping us in a perpetual state of resistance and tension.
It blocks self-confidence and makes us always think we are doing something wrong.
It literally sucks the life out of us and drains us of energy that could be used for actually enjoying our life here on Earth.
To stop dieting is therefore an awakening to the power of love over fear. Love in the form of self-compassion. Love in the form of self-acceptance. Love in the form of supporting ourselves and being open to the journey that we are here to have. Opening and allowing are the keys to flow and freedom and dieting is the exact opposite.
If we can let go of everything else and sink into love, miracles will happen. That doesn’t mean that our body will change. But we will tap into the deeper reasons why we are here and we will find a wellspring of support and positive feedback within ourselves that will sustain us for life if we remember to nurture it.
When we reach this nirvana, no one can take it away from us by not liking how we dress, commenting on our size, or suggesting we look unacceptable. We will not even be able to comprehend what they are saying or implying because we will no longer be speaking the same language. We will be the source of our own approval and security and we will no longer require it externally.
At this juncture, we will know the truth of our soul and will have discovered a secret to life that many can’t comprehend because their adult development and spiritual evolution has not brought them to this place yet.
No diet can promise that ever. And it is worth more than being skinny can ever be. Just ask a skinny person—if they aren’t open and allowing and following their heart, they won’t be any happier either.
In addition, when we stop using our energy for restraint and for fighting against our biological drive to eat, we free up vast stores of energy that can be used to create whatever it is our hearts yearn to bring to life.
My motto is “Live Free or Diet.” I stopped dieting and my consciousness and awareness expanded. My energy and creativity started to flow as well. I could finally see diet culture for how it was holding me back. I could see how external forces were influencing and controlling my decisions.
I could see how I had given my power away and how I was exhausting myself trying to satisfy unattainable ideals.
Instead, I am learning to follow my instincts. I am learning to listen to my inner guidance. I am learning how to stop living only in my head. I am learning how to trust my body. I am learning how to open and let love lead the way. I already have everything I need inside me. I am letting it be easy.
Is fear and restriction blocking your flow? Do you want more joy, energy and vitality? What if your weight wasn’t a problem and you stop spending all your time and energy trying to fix it? What more might be available to you in life?
Are you ready to find out?
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AUTHOR: ELIZABETH HALL
IMAGE: PEXELS
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