Hi everyone! I did a decent workshop on Friday afternoon. It was titled “Eating Disorders in Naturopathic Medicine: How can We Screen for and Support Eating Disordered Patients as ND’s” As I have been feeling called to support more patients in a counseling setting format I felt this workshop was auspicious. The Naturopathic Doctor who put on the workshop was Dr. Alexandra Sisam. She works out of the Clara Clinic in Ontario. I am offering support in the way of Emotional Freedom Technique counseling sessions for eating disorders. Dr. Sisam talked about eating disorders being a way to self regulate and deal with overwhelming emotional stressors. I absolutely identified with that statement when I was growing up. Emotional Freedom Technique is such a great way to help regulate emotions. I find if you are empathetic in any way living right now when there are wars, weather events, solar flares, etc. you might be feeling more stress than other people. Dr. Sasam also talked about support for eating disorders in the way of key nutrients which include inositol for binge eating or bulimic behavior, zinc for anorexia, omega 3’s in general for mental health and the importance of fibre, prebiotic, probiotics and fermented food for gastrointestinal support. She talked about the importance of regulating the nervous system which tends to be chronically activated in patients with disordered eating. She talked about decreasing inflammation using omega 3 and Vitamin D. She talked about how important it is to have a doctor working with you to monitor electrolytes and heart function as eating disorders can have serious consequences on your health and dental problems to boot. If you want to have an honest conversation with me about the eating disorder you may be struggling with please book in with me at Parallel Wellness. I currently am running a special on counseling combined with E.F.T. for $80 a session. Call 4032321283 to book. Thanks! Dr. Robin Vinge
Anorexia Nervosa
Here is more of an excerpt from my book that I am working on…more writings on some of the beliefs that underlay the disorder. Hope you can relate. You can always message me on Facebook if you have any comments. I have my EFT/counseling special on at Parallel Wellness right now. The price is only $80 for the hour if you book four sessions. Otherwise a single session is $125. Hope to see you at Parallel Wellness 4032321283
‘I am experiencing discouragement to such a degree that I wonder what could ever help me’ writes Jacques Martel
I have had many moments in my life where I have had that sentiment. Life presents many challenges and sometimes I do not feel up to the task of overcoming my challenges. I did not trust to share my thoughts and fears when I was growing up with anyone. In high school, I found it really tough at times. My circle of friends was small. My best friend was moody and inconsistent. One day, she was my friend and the next day she was best friends with someone else and I did not exist. I was so sensitive to that! I remember when the anorexia started it was because I had lost a best friend in my life, not to death, rather to the fickleness/inconsistencies of friendships at a young tender age. One day she was my friend, the next day she was best friends with somebody else. I did not know how to handle the emotional needs of my life at that time. They were overwhelming to me. I just buried them in my addiction which gave me relief for a short time. Somehow starving myself generated endorphins that made myself feel better.
Jacques Martel writes ‘I have an unconscious desire to disappear in order to bother the people around me as little as possible.’ I think I felt this way unconsciously when I was growing up. I must have sensed the degree of tension in my household and this anxiety caused me to feel great internal distress. I remember my Mom playing cello when I was about eleven years old. At that time, my Dad was working a lot because he was a specialist at the hospital. I remember my Mom ‘laboring’ over the cello. My parent’s house had a separate wing; their bedroom was at the end of a wooden staircase and behind a stone fireplace. Ghoulish sounds would come from the cello as my Mom, sawed back and forth, learning how to play it. I believe that she was in the depressed phase of her bipolar disorder. The fact that she was learning to play a very difficult instrument was ambitious. My Mom was always challenging herself and continually bettering herself in many ways. I have so much respect for my Mom. She is the most loving accepting person that I know. I feel so bad that I could not love myself enough so I would not put her through hell at that time. But that is what addicts do. They just try to manage their pain and anxiety with an addiction.
‘I am experiencing discouragement to such a degree that I wonder what would ever help me.’
I have felt this way at times but I equated this feeling with not feeling capable of handling the challenges of my life. It was a belief system that would come up ‘I do not feel capable of overcoming the challenges in my life.’ Over and over again, this belief would pop up in my life. This pandemic has brought forward this belief system again! Hence me exploring anorexia and its forgotten tendrils that still exist like a weed under my soil. Those beliefs are still there to some degree. These beliefs lead me to feeling backed into a corner and not feeling empowered enough to overcome my challenges. That was a time where I felt I had to rely on myself vs surrender my problem over to spirit or God/Jesus. I was not self aware or conscious enough at that time to turn my problem over to a ‘higher power’. I did not feel that the universe was a benign loving place that wanted the best for me, that I lived in a loving universe. I was believing in a God of the Old Testament- a vengeful God not a loving God that I believe in now. And I was not giving myself space and calm to come up with a creative solution for my problem. I was definitely a victim in my life at that time. I was so sensitive to the slights of others. I remember thinking at that time that I would stop eating as a way to express what I was feeling without having to give a voice to my feelings. I went to a psychiatrist at that time in high school. I hardly said a word to him but he did help me at that time. He helped me realize how important it was for me to assert myself. I did not have to punish myself for not being perfect by not meeting my physical needs of nourishment but that was what I was doing. I did not clue into that at the time. My self awareness has grown leaps and bounds since then. I am so grateful now that I take extremely good care of myself. My sister thinks I have orthorexia now but I am just aware of how important it is for me to take excellent care of myself. Having M.S. necessitates that. My health literally depends on it. I can honestly say I love and cherish myself now. I would never cause intentional harm to myself. I lovingly hold my inner child, as scared as she appears to be or feel. She is safe with me. I honestly feel that if you love yourself enough, you would never choose to harm yourself with an eating disorder.
Meditation always helps me to connect with the divine source when I am feeling fearful which is frequently. As soon as I sit down to meditate and pray about my worries, I start to feel calmer because I know that I am connecting with God. I know that turning your problem over to God is the answer always. Having faith when you don’t know what will happen in the future is terrifying for control freaks like myself. But that is what God requires a complete surrendering of your problem to God. Then you need to have faith. Faith is a muscle that you must use. If you have had past experiences which led you to not trust life, then you must develop that faith muscle and exercise it. That is all for now. I will write another blog on anorexia soon. Much love if you are struggling to overcome your disease, Dr. Robin 4032321283
Anorexia Nervosa
I came face to face with an addiction I could not overcome when I was in my teenage years; I got swallowed down the hole of self hatred, self denial and self terror. I don’t revisit that time in my life because it feels like a distant land that I can’t even relate to now. But I did struggle with anorexia for ten years, I put my family through hell, and it was oddly a life line and a death wish to me at the same time. The last time I had thoughts that were injurious to me in terms of anorexia I was 20 years old. I am now 52 so I can claim that I am healed of anorexia. I have not had a relapse since I was in second year university. At that time, I was a member of the University of Victoria field hockey team. I was feeling insecure about my contribution and my anxiety was threatening to derail me. I played center defender. Our team was often ranked in the top three in Canada. We won the national championships three times when I was a player at the University of Victoria. That time of my life was so fun. I had so much passion for sports. I loved to play sports at a highly competitive level. However, the pressure I felt to compete and be perfect were hard when I did not have a healthy sense of self esteem. My love and commitment for sports saved my life and got me on a better path of self confidence at that time. I remember feelings of not wanting to eat at that time. I was struggling. I was a highly sensitive person and knowing that now it makes a lot of sense to me. I have spent many years learning to love myself since then and uncovering my true self so those memories feel distant; it feels like it is a foreign land to revisit, to be honest. I always tell people now that if I could take a 20 pound pill to put some weight on my body I would take it. I eat huge volumes of food to maintain my weight now. It would be easier to take a pill to gain weight. I would feel better if I was 20 pounds heavier. Those thoughts feel comforting to me now in my life. I would feel more nourished if my body could anchor into some more weight. We have super high metabolisms in my family so it is a genetic issue that I have to live with. When I was in my teenage years, 11, 12, 13, 14 I was really locked into that addiction. It was a way to manage my anxiety and my extreme sensitivity to life. I was sensitive to my environment and my ‘impressions’. I imagine that I could sense the mood and the emotions of any room I entered; because of that sensitivity, I became a mind reader of sorts to feel more in control. If I could read how I should act in that moment to be the least intrusive person I can imagine to be, then I would feel safe and in control.
I had this book mailed to me and I found the writings on anorexia to be so accurate to the way I felt at that time. I wanted to incorporate the writer’s thoughts on anorexia and expand on them to help other people overcome anorexia in their own life. Hopefully you will derive benefit from my book. As I write I will share pieces of it with you. The book that was mailed to me is ‘The Complete Dictionary of Ailments and Diseases’ by Jacques Martel/Lucie Bernier as a collaborator. (My words now)-
I am a mix of different temperaments. In one breath I have no trouble speaking in front of hundreds of people. I have been speaking for twenty years. When I first started speaking, I did get nervous. I am very confident now in talking about a variety of health and wellness topics because that is my field. I am a naturopathic doctor and I study a lot. But on the other hand, I have always been a fearful person (in other ways). I was terrified of flying when I was younger. I have one memory of being in my teens expecting to die on a flight because we had missed our boarding call and I thought that was divine protection from our family getting on an ill- fated flight. Newsflash- the plane did not crash. My family and I made it to Arizona and back that time. I was fearful for a long time when flying. When I made the British Columbia field hockey team when I was in high school, I had to fly every weekend to practice with the team. I had to white knuckle it for many flights but I did love sports so I coped with my fear as best as I could and prayed like crazy when there was turbulence. Music always helped me. I would blast music that I loved. It made me feel safe. (It was Steve Winwood Chronicles at that time- shows you how much time has past!). I have overcome my fear of flying since then although I still feel some anxiety when I fly if it is really turbulent. Since my Dad died almost two years ago, I miss him so much that I know that if a plane ever crashed with me on it, he would be there to greet me in heaven so I am not afraid anymore. This is from some writing of my next book on Anorexia. I want to look at some of the spiritual beliefs underlying the disorder in hope of helping those suffering from its grip. James Greenblatt’s book ‘Answers to Anorexia’ is definitely worth reading. He offers important insights and is very thorough in talking about the contributing factors like nutritional deficiencies that compound the disorder. Message me on Facebook if you have comments on my blog. My Facebook page is under my name. I have an EFT/counseling special on right now if you want to try a session. If you book 4 sessions, the cost is only $80 for the hour. Call 4032321283 to book with me. Much love, Dr. Robin
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