Mindfulness

"Go ahead, have that piece of cake. It has been filling up your freezer for so long. Just have it and be done with it!"

"Oh no, you idiot, you stuffed your face yet again. Look how bloated you feel. You will never get into your jeans when you go out with your friends tomorrow!"

The voice in your head seems to be a fair-weather friend. The voice wants you to do something and then beats you up over it. The voice is not the only one, your subconscious also does the beating. Where do you think the bloating, nausea and constipation comes from - the system responds to the guilt that you feel.

The voice in your head is not you. You are the one who is aware that someone is talking. You do not need to engage with the voice. Breathe in and breathe out, through all the babbling in your head and though all the cravings that your body experiences. Once you start to argue with the voice in your head you identify with it, and the war within has already started. Simple awareness can silence the dialogue inside: when you perceive the emptiness, the nervous energy, the restlessness and cravings, you have the choice not to react. And when you don't react, the negative energy wave has already lost some of its energy. Sooner or later the bad energy leaves the system and you can be yourself again.

Mindfulness can't completely shut off your monkey mind and your cravings, but it can take the wind out of its sails, and with it, protect you from vicious feed-back loops. When you don't identify with the energy that is circulating inside, you are the one who is in charge.