In this episode, Dara addresses the root cause of weight struggles: our inability to process emotions healthily due to childhood conditioning that taught us feelings were dangerous or weak.

Key Topics Covered:

• Childhood emotional suppression: How messages like "If you wanna cry, I'll give you something to cry about" create adults who lack healthy emotional coping strategies

• Unhealthy vs. healthy coping strategies: Recognition that we all developed coping mechanisms - they just weren't serving us

• Body wisdom and emotional storage: Where emotions land in the body according to ancient wisdom traditions (Ayurvedic, Chinese medicine)

• Personal breakthrough story: Dara's vulnerable sharing about discovering inherited fear of success through body awareness

• The feeling process: Understanding that emotions are just vibrations from thoughts that take 10-20 seconds to process when done correctly

The Coping Strategy Revelation:

🧠A successful client realized she didn't lack coping strategies - she had many unhealthy ones:

✔️Saying yes when wanting to say no

✔️Self-criticism after mistakes

✔️Food rewards and numbing

✔️Exhausting people-pleasing ✔️Late-night phone scrolling

✔️Overeating until uncomfortable

Main Takeaways:

Weight struggles aren't about food - they're about missing emotional life skills never taught in childhood

Feelings are safe - they're just temporary body vibrations that process quickly when allowed

Your emotional style is unique - don't compare your way of feeling to others

The body keeps score - unexpressed emotions can manifest as physical symptoms and weight retention

Action Step: Notice where you feel tension or discomfort in your body and get curious about what emotion or situation might be stored there, without judgment.

Join Dara for Cut Emotional Eating in Half Over the Holidays (and Beyond) — a 2-week live experience to calm your brain, stop stress-eating, and feel confident around food. Join here - https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/holiday-sprint