Alison C. Kerr

“Muscle Release Technique 1. Take a very deep breath in and hold it. 2. Tense every muscle in your body for 5 seconds (this means you are contracting your toes, thighs, calves, buttocks, stomach, chest, arms and hands. You can even clench your jaw if you want. The more muscles you squeeze tight, the better). 3. Release every muscle as you slowly exhale. 4. Rest for 10 seconds and then repeat 3-5 times. This should take you roughly less than 2 minutes. (If you are somewhere more public, you can just clench your hands into fists for 5-10 seconds). Try it now and notice the effects yourself. You should feel an instant wave of relaxation using this technique. This is an extremely powerful technique for calming your nervous system. By constricting your muscles, you trick your brain into thinking that you’re running away from a threat, so it turns off the fight or flight response. This helps to create a space, a moment of calm and makes rational thought possible again. Practice it a few times and have it ready to go. Whenever you feel like the binge urge is going to overwhelm you, apply the technique. Don’t debate it, don’t question it, just do it.”
― Ali Kerr, The Binge Code: 7 Unconventional Keys to End Binge Eating and Lose Excess Weight