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WHY AM I ALWAYS HUNGRY? REASON # 1 HIGH CORTISOL 23

Before you start the exercise, take a look at what just happened:

s If the situation is dangerous or destructive, remember that you can
leave.

s But if it’s not dangerous, if they’re just mad at you, accept it. It’s okay.
They (let’s say she) won’t snatch your body and sell it for dog food.

She isn’t going to contaminate your soul, not unless you let her. It’s
okay that she’s mad.

s Just because she’s mad at you doesn’t make you a bad person. It
doesn’t even mean she hates your essence. What she hates is the situa-

tion.

s She’s lost in her pain. She can’t control herself. She can’t figure out
how to approach the problem in a way that might solve it. She
doesn’t even want to. Anger is making cortisol flood her body. Don’t

buy in.

s Cortisol is drowning her, but it’s not drowning you. Not yet. And it
doesn’t have to.

Here’s the exercise. There’s some movement, but it’s really an emotional exercise.
If you’re in a situation where can’t do the physical motion, imagine it.

1. Hold both arms straight out on either side of your body.

2. In your left hand you’re holding the fear—the weakness, sadness,
loneliness, all the anxious, unsettled, defensive feelings.

3. In your right hand you’re holding the fury—the anger, the blame,

how wrong and despicable she is, how much you hate her.

4. Give your hands a little shake so the extremes can stay where they
are; fear to your left, fury to your right. While you do that, give your-
self a verbal reminder, a spiritual or psychological reminder. I like to

say, “Follow not in the way of them that are sorely agitated.”
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5. Slowly bring your hands closer to each other. Leave the emotions
where they are. As your hands come closer, become aware of the

space between them. The space isn’t empty. It has a life of its own, a
shape.