Sensory Modulating Strategies for Binge Eating & Food Addiction
A 1-hour Educational + Experiential Webinar with Dr. Kristina Dobyns
“These tools actually WORK”
Meet Dr. Kristina
In this educational and experiential session, Dr. Kristina Dobyns will guide you through portable, body-based tools for managing urges, regulating the nervous system, and building trust in your body’s cues.
Grounded in her doctoral research and over 20 years of lived recovery experience, Dr. Dobyns explains why sensory modulation strategies are so effective—and why traditional willpower or cognitive tools often fall short in moments of high stress. You’ll learn how sensory input directly engages the nervous system, creating a bottom-up pathway to calm, connection, and choice.
This is not just theory. You’ll actively experiment with sensory strategies during the session, discovering what helps you shift out of autopilot and into a more grounded, regulated state—even in the middle of an urge.
You’ll Explore:
- Sensory modulation as a research-based, embodied recovery tool
- How to downshift nervous system overwhelm in real time
- Practices that support body trust, emotional regulation, and empowerment
- Insights from Kristina’s personal recovery journey + research
Why Attend?
Because you’ve tried willpower.
Now it’s time to try something that doesn’t betray your biology.
This is for you if:
- You’re in recovery or curious about body-based strategies
- You’ve tried “everything” and still feel stuck in urge cycles
- You want something you can do anywhere to feel grounded and empowered
🎥 Filmed May 2025 — This 90-minute webinar has been edited down to a streamlined 60-minute experience. The final 30 minutes of participant Q&A were removed to protect privacy, while keeping all of the educational and experiential practices intact.
🎁 Bonus: Participants receive access to the full PowerPoint slides and a curated list of sensory strategies to continue practicing on their own.
Why Are Sensory Modulation Strategies So Effective?
Bottom-up regulation
Sensory input engages the body-to-brain pathways, giving you direct access to the nervous system. This bypasses the “thinking brain,” which often goes offline during high stress. Instead of trying to think your way calm, you can feel your way into regulation.
Grounding and presence
Sensory tools anchor you in the here-and-now, counteracting dissociation or binge urges. A weighted blanket, essential oils, or gentle movement reconnect you with your body and environment—not as distraction, but as embodied presence.
Real-time emotional regulation
These strategies shift your nervous system state in the moment, helping you recognize internal cues and manage them—often before mindfulness or cognitive tools are even possible.
Self-directed empowerment
Unlike external interventions, sensory strategies put control back in your hands. You choose what works for you, building agency, confidence, and long-term self-trust.
Always accessible
Even without props, the body itself is a free, portable toolkit: breath, posture, vocalization, pressure, or movement can bring regulation anytime, anywhere.
The Science: Polyvagal Theory & Sensory Strategies
Polyvagal Theory (Dr. Stephen Porges) explains how our nervous system shifts between three main states
- Calm connection (ventral vagal)
- Fight-or-flight (sympathetic)
- Shutdown (dorsal vagal)
These shifts aren’t conscious choices—they’re automatic, shaped by bodily and environmental cues.
Sensory strategies send powerful safety signals to the vagus nerve. Rhythmic movement, deep pressure, calming sound, or scent can move you out of fight-or-flight or freeze, back into safety and connection. When your body feels safe, your mind can think clearly, your emotions feel manageable, and your choices align with recovery.