How Conscious Breathing Can Help with Overeating

by Rebecca Clio Gould

Have you ever overeaten and then felt uncomfortable afterward? For example, just when you’d had enough at a holiday meal, someone brought out another side dish or dessert, or your grandma or mother-in-law insisted you eat more. And you went from enjoying yourself and the food and feeling pretty good to feeling lethargic and like you just might burst?

Part of that discomfort is because when you eat too much, it’s harder to breathe. I find this to be the case both in a physical way, like there’s not enough room for my lungs to expand, and in another way. What’s this other way? Denial or resistance-not wanting to feel.

What Happens With Overeating?

If you overeat and then take a deep breath, you have no choice but to feel the discomfort. And, sure, sometimes what we feel is satisfaction. But typically, breathing deeply into an over-stuffed belly feels uncomfortable physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually.

If you stuff yourself full of food, there is less room for you to take full inhalations. Physically, eating too much or choosing foods that bloat you can result in the diaphragm moving up into the chest area, thereby crowding the lungs. Emotionally, maybe you feel guilt or shame, a yucky kind of feeling. Mentally, there are thoughts about how much you just ate, again guilt, shame, or some sort of judgment and evaluation. And spiritually? There’s a dampening down of energy and a feeling of being out of alignment with your greatest good.

Are There Any Ways to Feel More Comfortable?

How can you remedy this? Awareness is the first step. And mindful breathing can be used as your awareness practice here.

In The Multi-Orgasmic Diet, I explain that conscious breathing is one of the keys to living a healthier, happier, juicier life. Breath is life. It’s soul food. It helps you relax, open, and drop into your body so that you can feel all the pleasure there is to be felt. Conscious breathing not only relaxes you and reduces stress, but it also enhances your sensory perception, thereby increasing your pleasure potential, and pleasure is crucial to your overall health and well-being.

So how can breath help with having a healthier diet and eating habits, you ask? Breathing can literally fill you up with more energy and a feeling of satisfaction and joy. This makes you less likely to turn to unhealthy or excessive amounts of food to feel a sense of fulfillment.

A Helpful Conscious Breathing Exercise

Breath is one of the most effective techniques I have found for stopping myself from eating something I know I would regret. And there are various breathing practices that can help you, too. Today, let’s just look at one from my book. This one is called “Save Room for Breath.”

Next time you sit down for a meal or snack, take a few moments to just breathe and connect with the bliss of breath before you start eating. If you can close your eyes, that is best, and this can take as few as three breaths. As you breathe, notice the air coming in through your nose. See if you can feel a sort of tickle inside your nostrils and your breath continuing down through your windpipe, internally massaging your throat.

Notice your body softening and relaxing with each breath. Allow your breath to nourish every cell and to fill you with the feeling of love and pleasure.

Then open your eyes, or keep them closed, as you start eating. Try to maintain that same or similar sense of fullness and ease you were just feeling while breathing. And before getting to a point of no longer being able to feel as good and light and free with your breath, stop eating. Instead of saving room for dessert, save room for breath. Deep and easy, pleasure-filled, energizing, relaxing breaths. Yum!

The Effects of Conscious Breathing

Breathing mindfully like this will also help you slow down and chew more thoroughly. The more thoroughly you chew, the easier it will be to digest, and the slower you eat, the more time your body has to signal that it’s full. By connecting to your breath throughout the dining experience, you’ll eat more slowly. You will experience more pleasure, and still feel nice and satisfied when finished.

When you incorporate conscious breathing into your life and learn to take deeper, fuller breaths all throughout your day, you’ll naturally have more energy, eat less, and exude a radiant glow. Be sure to try the “Save Room for Breath” practice, and then comment here or drop me a line to tell me how it went.

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About the Author

Rebecca Clio Gould is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Sexual Awakening for Women Facilitator, Qigong and Meditation Teacher, and Author of “The Multi-Orgasmic Diet: Embrace Your Sexual Energy and Awaken Your Senses for a Healthier, Happier, Sexier You” [http://www.rebeccacliogould.com/themod]. Her commitment to spreading love and light is evident in the work she does helping others learn how to juicier lives. She is known to be a “possibility realist”-offering uplifting spiritual guidance while also grounded in reality. Rebecca claims to have mastered Savasana and loves dancing and singing in her car. Learn more about her at www.rebeccacliogould.com.