Battling Urges

Controlling Urges Around Food & More : Thought Prep      

How do you define urge?    

An “urge” is a strong desire or impulse.One which is very hard to resist and always demands an action!    

I wish I could tell you that any goal can be accomplished without having to deal with impulses.    

But that would be a lie.    

The truth is that experiencing urges is not only part of the process, it is mandatory.    

It is essential to work with and manage our urges if we truly want to experience what it is like to actually be a person who’s in control of her life versus white knuckling and struggling with “discipline” for the rest of our lives.    

This may sound like bad news, but it is actually good news.   

You see, when you think that you should not have to experience urges and temptations, you are unprepared for them when they arise.   

And, if you are trying to change a health habit or lose weight, the urges will definitely arise.    

But if you know that the urges are part of the process, you can respond to them with your prefrontal cortex (the planning part of your brain) instead of reacting to them in the moment.   

Sounds interesting, right?    

Controlling Urges Around Food & More is all about tools that will support you to buffer less and feel more sans the stress. 

Sign Up for the Empowered Muslim Women program to get in depth view of how to manage your mind around urges that seem uncontrollable. 

Physician Life Coach Dr. Kanwal Akhtar is here to help you get out the rut of “over-ing.” 

In this program, you’ll find out why resistance is futile and how you should best handle the thought errors creating your desire.  

A few basic steps to get you started are as follows : 

Step 1 

Once you recognize that you are having an urge, find a comfortable position. Acknowledge and accept that you are having a craving or urge and that it will last for a little while.  

Step 2

Focus on where in your body you are experiencing the craving or urge and notice the exact sensations in that area. For example, do you feel hot, cold, tingly, or numb etc.  

Step 3

Repeat the focusing with each part of your body that experiences the urge.  

Step 4

Release tension with breathing – ride out your craving, releasing tension with each breath.  Important: The purpose of this exercise is not to make the urge go away but to experience the craving in a new way. 

By learning a new way to experience urges you learn a valuable skill in overcoming them, and as you learn to experience your uncontrollable urges in a mindful way, without judging and without giving in, you will find that in time the frequency and intensity with which you experience them will diminish.