Weight Loss, Stress and Mind-Body Skills
"There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse"
- Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence
Have you experienced your attempts at dieting as a mental battle: your conscious
will power against your cravings, habits and impulses (both conscious and
unconscious)? For weight loss to be sustainable in the long term, we have to
find a better way. Inevitably eating is tied to pleasure, so any changes
you make need to be rewarding and enjoyable, to be sustainable.
An important part of a comprehensive solution is the development of mind-body
skills:
- awareness of the body's feelings and sensations as messages
- knowing how to respond effectively, to reduce uncomfortable feelings and
emotions rather than blot them out of consciousness
The goal is to feel in control of your mind and body, rather than that they control you.
Stress Management
Science now knows that stress causes weight gain, and persistent stress can
create hormone imbalances that make weight loss all but impossible. So effective
stress management is a vital part of a comprehensive approach to weight loss.
"I have found biofeedback invaluable in treating my anxiety.
With the help of this technology I became aware of the physical impact of my anxiety,
and learned effective mind-body skills, which have helped enormously in reducing my anxiety.
Before attending Glyn's therapy sessions, I tried many other treatments and strategies
to reduce my anxiety. I would say that the strategies Glyn uses have helped me by far the most."
- Karen, West Yorkshire
Biofeedback is the ideal tool for learning mind-body control. By measuring your
body's changing physiological responses and feeding back this information in
real time via computer, biofeedback enables you to:
- become more aware of your emotional responses and how they manifest in your body
- learn to respond effectively
- create the physiological basis for more positive states of mind in the long term.
The graphs below show different patterns of variation in heart rate in two
different emotional states.
© Copyright Glyn Blackett York Biofeedback Centre, The Biocentre, York Science Park, York YO10 5NY 01904 435 267