In this episode, I share how discovering Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) transformed the way I understand cravings and relapse prevention. Originally developed for (traditional) substance use disorders, MBRP offers a powerful, research-backed framework that applies seamlessly to binge eating and compulsive food behaviors.

As I went through teacher training in MBRP while preparing for my dissertation on sensory strategies for binge urges, I found myself wrestling with a core question:

If we use a sensory strategy to shift our physiological state, are we still practicing acceptance?

This episode explores, amongst other things, that tension between acceptance and action and why it may be a false binary.

Here’s what we cover:

• What Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention is and why it’s one of the most evidence-based approaches for long-term recovery from addictive behaviors
  
• How mindfulness helps us insert wedges in the habit loop of automatic, reactive binge patterns
  
• The role of sensory strategies (like breathwork, temperature shifts, grounding, and movement) in regulating urges
  
• Why intention and micro-moments of awareness matter more than rigid rules about “doing it right”
  
• How acceptance and action can work together in an iterative, flexible recovery process
  

We also explore the deeper roots of craving in mindfulness traditions, including how learning to observe urges as rising and falling waves can gradually loosen their grip not through suppression, but through presence.

This episode challenges the idea that recovery must be either passive tolerance or active fixing. Instead, it offers a more compassionate, realistic model: one where nervous system regulation supports mindfulness, and mindfulness strengthens intentional action.

Recovery is not about perfection. It’s about awareness, flexibility, and staying in relationship with your experience.

If this resonates with you, please like the video, share it with someone who might benefit, and subscribe to the channel. You can also join my newsletter for additional recovery education and tools at BeyondBingeEating.com/Newsletter.