[EP65] How to stop overeating before bed when fear is driving it (try a body scan)

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Someone asked me: "I keep overeating before bed because I'm worried I'll get hungry and won't sleep.. how do I shift this fear?"

I would say the overeating is based on some fear, thoughts around sleep and food, and it's kind of like winding up a wind-up toy: you wind up the mind, then you try to go to sleep in that tension, and the body takes it on as well. When I can't sleep and I scan my body, I find tension patterns, and it doesn't take too many rounds of full body scans before I tend to fall asleep. Then I put a steady foundation in place with little tweaks, because the body is always speaking and the question is whether we're listening.

I'm not a sleep expert, so this is from my own experience. I talk about the thinking machine, the busy mind, a sleep reset that showed me a whole different reality, starting small, the energy of food, and what happened when I lay down on the ground in the park.

In this episode

• Why the overeating is based on some fear, and how the mind winds up like a wind-up toy
• Observing the thinking machine: thoughts, then emotions, then tension patterns in the body
• Scanning the body when I can't sleep, and relaxing it area by area
• When the mind is really busy: letting it do its thing and switching from mind to body, like the yoga practice
• Experimenting and listening to the body's signals, because the body is like a river
• Making it easier on myself with a steady foundation, and what more sleep did for me
• Starting small, like a little jog before the marathon, and why little tweaks build up
• Sitting down to eat with no devices, and the energy of food
• The ground, the park, sthira and sukha, and asking what the body needs right now

Chapters

00:00 Fear Is Thoughts Winding Up the Mind

01:59 When I Can't Sleep, I Scan My Body

05:36 Experiment, and Listen to the Body's Signals

06:58 Make It Easier on Yourself With a Steady Foundation

09:44 Start Small, With Little Tweaks

12:57 Sit Down and Eat, With No Devices

16:28 The Energy of Food

18:08 What Does Your Body Need Right Now?

Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l4Zs6-Em_nk

Read the full write-up: https://www.dylanayaloo.com/blog/podcast-ep65-overeating-before-bed-from-fear

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