Why have cravings and what to do about them you will learn in this article. Watch the video here.
Craving chocolate, pizza, alcohol cigarettes, drugs or just being lazy all day. We all have experienced cravings before. While for some people a craving occurs rarely, for others cravings are a daily challenge. When at home, at work, or just out for a walk, the substance or activity dictates your thinking and behavior.
A life free of cravings
Imagine a life free of cravings. Not a life where you are handling your cravings well and you use all willpower to control yourself. But a life where the craving does not exist for you.
Who would you be? How would you feel? What would change about your health, your finances, and your relationships?
What is a craving
A craving is a strong desire for something. It’s an overwhelming emotional experience that produces motivation for behavior.
And while it seems so powerful, you are not powerless to it. You have the power to resolve our cravings.
Why we have Cravings?
The No.1 Reason you have a craving is that you are trying to escape from a negative emotion such as sadness, fear, frustration, or anger. By escaping I mean you are trying to avoid and not face your negative emotion.
A craving can occur due to
- a negative emotion you experience at the moment, for example, stress in the workplace or
- an emotion that is triggered and that reminds you of past trauma.
In case of a trauma response that is triggered, it can be unpredictable and impulsive. In the case of the moment emotion, it can be predictable and easier to control.
The impulsive trauma response is not easy to control and you will struggle with the craving for the rest of your life if you handle it instead of resolving it.
How to resolve a craving
The process below helps you resolve your cravings and never wonder again why we have cravings. To do this process, set aside some undisturbed time, take a sheet of paper or your journal, and get started. Watch the video to do the process or read below.
- Think about the last time you had a craving.
- What was the situation? What happened before the craving occurred that might have triggered something?
- How did you feel when you had the craving? Were you sad, lonely, frustrated?
- Now feel that emotion in your body. Where do you feel it?
- Take some time to fully feel the emotion and surrender to it.
- You may notice that the emotion gets stronger or weakens over time. Allow anything to just happen.
- Now ask yourself what does this emotion wants to tell you? If you feel stress for example, maybe the emotion tells you to slow down and take more care of yourself.
- Now with the knowledge of the negative emotion, think back to the situation and ask yourself what was it that you actually needed in the situation?
- How can you make sure you give yourself what you need more in your daily life? What actions can you take?
- Take actions accordingly.
What to do in your daily life
Anytime you have a craving I invite you to bring your attention immediately to the emotion and fully feel it. Spend some minutes and discover what is going on. Then, ask what you need instead. Try providing this need for yourself in the moment and then, if you still have the craving, mindfully engage in it.
Over time this will cause the craving to resolve and you will feel like the craving never existed.
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