What are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are characterized by consistent eating behaviors that significantly impair the physical or psychosocial functioning of an individual. While specific diagnostic criteria varies, they are often influenced by a combination of genetic predispositions, sociocultural ideals, mood disorders, trauma, life transitions and disembodied messages of today’s culture.
Examples of eating disorder diagnoses include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
Anorexia Nervosa: involves an intense fear of gaining weight and persistent behavior that leads to significantly low body weight.
Bulimia Nervosa: includes recurrent episodes of binge eating, and compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain.
Binge Eating Disorder: marked by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food, often quickly and to the point of discomfort, without compensatory behaviors.
Somatic Approaches to Healing
For individuals with eating disorders, the sense of connection to the body is often disrupted. An overwhelmed nervous system, due to aspects such as underlying trauma or chronic stress, may look like a perpetual state of anxiety or shut down. When the nervous system is out of balance, it drives behaviors aimed at finding relief—like overeating, restricting, or compulsive exercise.
Somatic practices focus on reconnecting individuals with their bodies and restoring balance to the nervous system. Below are examples of somatic practices used for eating disorders:
Body Awareness
Body awareness involves tuning into the sensations, movements, and signals of your body in the present moment. By cultivating body awareness, individuals can begin to develop a different relationship with the body. Individuals may describe the body in relation to emotions, movement, pain, calmness, and self-experience. Specific practices may include body scan meditation, describing sensations, tracking changes over time, and hunger/ fullness awareness.
Breathwork
Breathwork helps to shift the body from a fight or flight state, to a state of relaxation. It also helps with mind-body connection and regulation of challenging emotions. As you begin to identify what your body is feeling and experiencing, you can also begin to identify your needs. Common practices include diaphragmatic breathing, boxed breathing, and extended exhale.
Mindful Eating Practices
Mindful eating is the practice of bringing focused awareness and intention to the experience of eating. It involves paying attention to the present moment, including the taste, texture, smell, and appearance of food, as well as recognizing physical hunger and fullness cues without judgment. Mindful eating encourages a deeper connection with food and the body’s natural signals, fostering a healthier relationship with eating.
Specific practices may include taking three deep breaths before beginning to eat; checking in with your hunger signals; practicing a mindful bite at each meal.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-focused therapeutic approach designed to help individuals release stored stress and trauma from their nervous system. When trauma is at the heart of the eating disorder, SE can be a valuable tool. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE is based on the understanding that trauma is not just a psychological experience but is also stored in the body. The method focuses on gently restoring balance to the nervous system and resolving the physical and emotional effects of trauma.
How Somatic Practices Support Recovery
These practices help individuals with eating disorders by:
• Rebuilding a compassionate relationship with their bodies.
• Calming the nervous system, making it easier to manage stress and strong emotions.
• Enhancing receptivity to other therapeutic modalities, such as CBT, DBT, or EMDR.
By integrating somatic practices into treatment, individuals can experience shifts in how they perceive and relate to their bodies, supporting lasting recovery.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Eating Disorder Hope. (n.d.). Somatic experiencing therapy for eating disorders. Retrieved from https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/treatment-for-eating-disorders/therapies/somatic-experiencing
Eating Disorders Victoria. (2019). Mindful eating. Retrieved from https://eatingdisorders.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/EDV-Mindful-eating.pdf
Konttinen, H. (2020). Emotional eating and obesity: The role of stress and other psychosocial factors. Appetite, 149, 104630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104630
Van Strien, T. (2011). Emotional eating, stress, and overweight. Nutrition, 27(1), 14-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2010.03.002
.png)
.png)
