Eating Disorder and Anxiety

Another silent elephant is in the room…

It’s driven by evolution, society, biology and we have to have it there in order to survive (literally) but for some of our family this elephant is consuming their lives, joy, purpose and self love.

So today we will share with the intention to let those who may be challenged by this that they’re not alone, we all have our own elephants suffocating us but this one comes with a heavy amount of emotional baggage.

Today let’s name our Elephant: Anxiety Induced Eating Disorders ❤️

There are multiple theories as to why eating disorders are so specific, in who they choose to haunt. Mostly women, mostly younger, mostly nearly always hidden.

At our most basic form we are a cluster of cells who’s job is to carry on our purpose, for most of the 100 Trillion cells of our body and another 40 Trillion in our gut that purpose is to adapt, reproduce and repeat.

A huge part of that requires food in order to perform.

As cells build community they create the ability to collaborate in order to support the needs of the entire system so everyone thrives.

The more cells the more complex the system becomes and eventually we need something organizing these organizing systems and tada a little spark of consciousness develops from our ability to focus.

But with so much possibility to focus on how do we know what’s important?

So nature gave us “will” to break natural law when it doesn’t give us that “gut” instinct.

Again we are faced with the problem however that I don’t have eyes in the back of my head and more people coming together builds more focus, less work so we build community.

And now that single cell created beautifully complex systems to support its evolution! However we don’t play to the rules of the most simple, we must play to the rules of the most complex.

Which is why I truly believe that this anxiety induced disorder has roots in our ever evolving inability to create deep community with meaningful connections.

One of the neurological drivers of eating is for us to relax and connect, I’m from a Lebanese home where when things were going wrong we cooked and ate together, this built trust, communication, safety, understanding and compassion.

When surveyed our global family with this challenge often report that they’re feeling alone, unsafe, need a decompression, or that they’ve often lived in this perfectionistic model of life where they don’t think they’ll be loved if they don’t look and make OTHERS feel a certain way about them.

As I dove into this world I see a broken community, I look to these stories to hear young woman, sometimes young girls who are never told they’re accepted, loved and witnessed for how they are right now. Beautiful, whole and worthy. So they grow up into women, who’s models of acceptance lie inside of never being enough for people who will never be enough…

The literature supports this theory as well with some of the most effective support networks and treatments coming from groups, Maudsley models, and helping establish healthy relationships for these parts of our people.

What if the eating disorder was just a symptom to an underlying cause of lack of acceptance, fear of shame, not feeling enough, and a deep desire for a real community that loves you no matter what and who you show up to be?

Inside lives that little boy who isn’t strong enough and develops body dysmorphia to be accepted, and the little girl who doesn’t feel pretty enough like the women on the magazines and develops eating disorders.

Lack of acceptance, fear of judgment at the core, all standing on our ever-connected but dissociated global community.

Never before have we been so seen and never before have we been so utterly alone in the crowd.