HAES for the Spirit

One thing that fat acceptance has done for me is taught me Health At Every Size (HAES). We focus on HAES in the physical realm, but it is important to remember that HAES works best if we apply it to the four aspects of our life: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

On the physical level, I try to feed my body what it wants and needs while moving for the joy of it. Coming from a background of dieting, this focus can trigger disordered eating if I am not careful. Also, I must balance it with the other aspects. For example, if exercising or eating a particular way puts a great deal of pressure on my emotions or spiritual life, then I might need to back off the exercise.

On a mental level, I try to exercise my mind with new ideas while feeding my imagination. Reading things that challenge my world view is a great way to handle the first part. Movies and books, especially those that stimulate my imagination, can often do this as well.

As for my emotions, simply honoring and feeling my feelings is a hard enough practice for me. I used to have a hard time dealing with emotions – especially new emotions (I really wallowed in self-hatred in the past); I drank and drugged and beat myself up so I didn’t have to feel those uncomfortable feelings. Today, I have many different tools for feeling my feelings, so I do it rather well. But, some days I still find it challenging. I exercise this area by interacting with people, especially in close relationships. Just loving another person is a powerful daily exercise of my emotions.

On a spiritual level, I feed my spirit while challenging it as well. I spend time with spiritual groups and in prayer and meditation which feeds my soul. I read spiritual philosophy and hang out with people that challenge me to grow spiritually.

For me, I must take HAES as a holistic approach, not just focusing on the physical. If I do narrow my focus, I may find myself out of balance in other areas. Do I do this every day? No, just keeping up with life is all I can do some days. However, the more I practice it, the better it works.