For women who turn to food behaviors when stressed.
Feel your feelings ... without turning to food.
When hard feelings come, do you reach for food? Or try to avoid it?
You’re not alone. And it’s not your fault. In five short lessons, you will learn a new way to handle big feelings
so you don’t have to use food behaviors to feel better.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?
IMAGINE THIS INSTEAD
And it all comes down to one small daily habit ...
about one minute a day, that brings you back to yourself, again and again.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'LL LEARN INSIDE
When Feelings Rise
Moving Through Emotions Without Turning To Food Thoughts, or Behaviors
A five-lesson digital course with Dr. Anita Johnston.
Feeling your feelings isn't something you're born knowing how to do. It's a skill. And no one ever taught you.
When Feelings Rise teaches it step by step, in five short lessons. You'll learn what your feelings really are, why food got tangled up with them, and a simple four-part practice to move through any emotion without turning to food thoughts or behaviors.
No diets. No willpower. No fighting yourself. Just a kind way back to you.
A Note From Dr. Anita Johnston
Dr. Anita Johnston, Ph.D.
Clinical psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. More than 35 years working with women and their relationship with food. Author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, published in six languages.
Where it began
Hi, I’m Dr. Anita Johnston. For years, I sat with women who were doing everything right. And they still felt at war with food. They were not weak. They were not failing. Something else was going on ... something no diet could fix.
What I learned
I listened to them for years. And I learned what most diets miss. It was never really about the food. Food had become a way to deal with feelings that felt too big. Sad? Eat, or don’t eat. Mad? Eat, or don’t eat. Lonely? Eat, or don’t eat. The food was a way of coping. The feelings were the real story.
The moment it clicked
One day it hit me. So many women were carrying this same weight. They were emotionally sensitive. But no one had shown them another way to be with their big feelings. They had willpower. They had diets. What they didn’t have was someone to say: your feelings are not the enemy. You can learn to let them come and go.
Why I had to share it
I knew I had something these women needed. A simple way to understand themselves and the true nature of their emotions. A way to set the whole struggle down – by working with feelings – not against them.
Why I made this
That’s why I made When Feelings Rise. It gives you the tools I wish every woman had from the start. Five short lessons. One small daily habit. A kind way back to yourself... without using food to cope.
Here is What You Get
Five short lessons, at your own speed
The River Within, Feelings as Waves, The Five Messengers, The Beachball, and Becoming the Witness. Each one builds on the last, one simple step at a time. Each one includes it's own printable workbook.
The Wa Audio
The audio story of Wa, told by Dr. Johnston. A beautiful story that opens the course and stays with you long after.
The When Feelings Rise ebook
Your companion guides you through everything the course teaches.
The When Feelings Rise JournaL
Asimple daily page to notice and name what you feel. Print as many as you need, as often as you need.
A one-minute daily practice
The small daily habit that replaces reaching for food (or fighting it) when feelings rise.
The Quick Reference Guide
Every in-the-moment practice from the course on one printable page. For the moments a feeling rises and you need help right now, not a lesson to re-read.
Lifetime access on your schedule
Start when you want, return whenever you need. There's no falling behind.
Get the full course for $27
Let me answer the questions...
I know you're already asking
Do I have to read the book first?
No. This course works all on its own. If you’ve read Dr. Johnston’s book, Eating in the Light of the Moon, you’ll love this too. But you don’t need it to start. You can begin today.
Is this therapy?
No. It’s a short course built from Dr. Johnston’s many years of work. It can go right alongside any help you already have. Or it can be your first step.
I’ve tried so many things. Why is this different?
Because it’s not about food. It’s not another diet or willpower plan. It looks at what’s under the food — your feelings. That’s the part most plans skip. And it’s the part that really changes things.
How much time does it take?
Not much. The lessons are short. The journal takes a minute or two. The daily habit takes about one minute. You go at your own speed. You can’t fall behind.
Why start now and not later?
Because waiting has a cost. You can stay busy and keep reaching for food or fighting food when feelings come. And a year from now, nothing will be different. Or you can learn a new way now. The sooner you start, the sooner food stops running the show.
Food doesn’t have to be how you cope.
This is where that changes.
© 2026, Light of the Moon Cafe