Eating For Emotional Emptiness

Emotional emptiness is one of the biggest causes of overeating, and it has the power to sabotage your weight loss efforts until you resolve it. Before we get into exactly how to do that, let’s clarify exactly what “emotional emptiness” is. Most often that term is used to describe a feeling of hollowness, sadness, loss, or disconnection.

Many people eat to muffle this hollow feeling. Others drink alcohol, take drugs, shop excessively, gamble, or engage in other unproductive, unhealthy behaviors.

Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy ways to resolve emotional emptiness. Here are a few good ones:

- Reconnect with your inner self.

The terms “emotional emptiness” and “spiritual emptiness” are really interchangeable in most cases. Whether it’s your emotions or your spiritual self that is crying out for attention, both can be resolved by simply taking time to tune in and get reconnected each day.

This is as simple as sitting quietly with your own thoughts, letting go of stress and noise, and simply “being”. You can meditate if you like, or just sit calmly and let go of worries and other negative thoughts. Doing this for as little as 10 minutes each day can do wonders in helping you feel more balanced and centered.

- Connect with others.

Loneliness can often be mistaken for inner disconnection, and you may find it helpful to connect with other people on a deeper level. If you have close friends, call them or get together with them often. Spend time with your family. Volunteer your time at an organization that you support. Just being around people can be a big help, but more importantly, do your best to reach out emotionally to people, and you’ll feel your own emotional state lifting. “Reaching out” means doing what you can to uplift and help people, even if just by offering kind, encouraging words.

- Do things that bring you joy.

Each and every day, spend time doing things that bring you joy. The more you do this, the more likely you are to feel happy and fulfilled from within. What brings you joy? Make a long list of everything you enjoy doing, everything that uplifts and inspires you, and everything that makes you laugh. Then start doing at least one of those things every day. You don’t have to devote huge amounts of time to it, but at least a short period of “joy time” daily will go a long way toward easing emotional emptiness and reducing your desire to eat to fill it.

Related Reading:

Emptiness Dancing

Emptiness: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought

12 Steps with Jesus: How Filling the Spiritual Emptiness in Your Life Can Help You Break Free From Addiction

This: Poetry and Prose of Dancing Emptiness

12 Steps with Jesus: How Filling the Spiritual Emptiness in Your Life Can Help You Break Free From Addiction