In this class, eating disorder therapist, Alison Ross, describes the intricate link between stress and eating disorders - be it emotional eating, binge eating, or restricting-overeating cycles. People who struggle with eating disorders often believe that they need more willpower or a new diet plan to regain eating control. But Alison Ross explains that the issue that keeps you stuck in emotional overwhelm and disordered eating patterns is actually chronic stress, usually stemming from personal adversities, traumatic events, or societal pressure..

Chronic stress not only amplifies emotional reactivity but also pushes your body into a craving state. It elevates natural hunger, induces a yearning for highly rewarding food, and tricks the brain into weight-conservation mode. These factors set up and perpetuate disordered eating, and weight and body image struggles.

To combat this, we need to free our nervous system from the grip of stress. This class presents a 15-minute exercise you can practice at home to regulate your nervous system and support your recovery. Regular practice will help you become more emotionally stable and reduce the frequency of disordered eating urges and episodes.

Have questions? Want to share your experience with this class? We love to hear from you. Leave your comments in the section below.

Lesson Summary

• Eating disorders often stem from chronic stress caused by personal challenges, traumatic events, and societal pressure.
• Chronic stress increases emotional reactivity, natural hunger, cravings for rewarding foods, and weight-conservation mode.
• Regulating the nervous system through movement can help reduce stress and support a healthy relationship with food and body.
• A 20-minute practice is presented to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce disordered eating urges.
• Regular practice strengthens the parasympathetic nervous system, reduces emotional distress, and decreases the frequency of disordered eating episodes.