EFT Tips

Building Confidence With EFT

In my last radio show on EFT for Stress, Anxiety and Overeating, I worked with a woman whose husband had been laid off work. Having been out of the workforce for years, she was terrified at the thought that she may have to go back to work.

Keep these points in mind -

• Confidence can be like energy - you can lose it and not have a clue how to get it back!
• Trying to lose weight when you are also struggling with stress, anxiety and a loss of confidence is no easy task.
• The EFT self-acceptance statement becomes even more critical - don't leave it out!

I'm a huge fan of "What If" statements, and I used these to help her consider new possibilities:

• What if I could find a way to relax about all of this?
• What if it doesn’t have to be so difficult?
• What if food can just be food?
• What if I could find a way to get through this time, without comforting myself with food?
• What if I allowed it to be easier?
• What if I let myself feel the feelings, and let them flow through me?
• What if this challenge somehow brought a huge surprise benefit to me?

This last "What IF" really resonated with her. Opening yourself up to new possibilities is a great way to reduce stress, and start to build your confidence.

EFT For Fear of Flying After 911

Dear Gary (Originally published on Emofree.com),

My client “Jay” was a corporate executive who became increasingly afraid to fly in the months after 911. He said that he had watched way too much news coverage and obsessed about it too long.

Jay needed to travel to corporate meetings, so it was quite disturbing to him when he felt more and more paralyzed. When he first came in, he was canceling all of his flights (about twice per month). Sometimes the anxiety would continue long before and after the plane flight. Jay felt claustrophobic, and he identified a number of different aspects – a fear of small spaces, fear of dying, fear of being unable to breathe, fear of being unable to see (while waiting for the plane to take off), fear of suffocating, etc. Jay felt disoriented and had physical symptoms – tightness in his chest, etc.

Two Surrogate Tapping Cases: Dental Anxiety and Severe Stomach Ache

Carol Solomon, PhD gives us two useful examples of doing EFT surrogately for her daughter. Please note how specific she tends to be with the issues. That tends to help. Also, note how easy and simple it is to do. Surrogate EFT should be in everyone's tool box.
Gary Craig (Originally Published on Emofree.com)

By Carol Solomon, PhD

Gary,

While I have used EFT for years, I never understood the concept of surrogate tapping. I often wondered how it could actually work. Then I realized one day that "it's all energy" so of course, if I am tapping for another person and we share the same energy field, they would be impacted as well.

My daughter is 11 years old, too "cool" to tap, or to allow me to tap on her. However, she was nervous when she had to have some dental work done recently. The dental office is rather long and narrow. The place for the parent to sit is in the opposite corner of where the work takes place. While her work was being done, I was able to do surrogate tapping unobtrusively in my corner. I tapped on myself in the usual manner as if I was her. I spoke the words softly to myself.

Even though it is hard to relax . . . I know I can stay relaxed and calm.

Even though I am afraid it will hurt . . .

Even though I am not sure what is going to happen . . .

EFT For Overeating And Panic Attacks

For 10 years, my client “Margie” had panic attacks in the middle of the night (approximately twice a month). She would wake up startled in the middle of the night and feel “very, very scared . . . panicked . . . not knowing what to do.” She had tightness in her chest and difficulty breathing. She felt like she was going to jump out of her skin.

Margie’s mother was depressed, very emotional and easily overwhelmed. Everything was “hard” for her, and whenever something was “hard,” it threw her off. She couldn’t handle it and became even more depressed.

Margie grew up telling herself that nothing was going to be “hard” for her and that she wouldn’t make a big deal out of anything. Growing up, everything was an issue, so Margie vowed not to let anything get to her. She thought that if she let anything get to her, it meant she was “weak,” like her mom.

Free Z Point Ebook

Click here to get the Introduction to Z Point book and sample recordings by Grant Connolly (all free).

Z Point is a simple technique that creates feelings of peace and serenity.

Since emotional distress is the main cause of overeating, Z Point is extremely helpful.

Grant will be my guest on the EFT Weight Loss show on Blog Talk Radio next week. Join us on October 21 at 12 noon Eastern Time.

More information on the show.

Learn more about Z Point

2 Minutes of EFT Took Away 40 Years of Fear

Carol, EFT has truly changed my life and I can’t thank you enough for opening my eyes to this wonderful tool and can’t wait to see how else it can improve my life. 

I have always been TERRIFIED of flying.  Onboard a plane, I shake and tremble and pray and wait for the worst to happen.  After deboarding, I have to sit and wait for my legs to stop trembling.  I’ve tried hypnotism, took a course online, tried having a drink, taking a pill…never felt anything but terror.  If you gave me free tickets to Hawaii, I would give them back to you as I wouldn’t even consider flying that far away. 

On the webinar series, I asked if EFT would help.  I was getting on a plane the next morning and already feeling terrified.  It was suggested that I do the tapping that night for ten or fifteen minutes and I tried to do that.  I must admit, I didn’t believe it would help and only “tapped” for about two or three minutes.  I couldn’t focus on it as I hadn’t packed yet.  I just tapped that I want to be like all the other passengers who don’t feel that fear. 

The next morning, I woke up calm, which was strange.  I kept that calm feeling all morning.  I only felt panic for one moment as I closed the front door to leave, worried that I had forgotten body soap, wondering what else I forgot.  I felt the terror well up, and mentioned to my husband who said, don’t worry, we’ll buy some.  I envisioned myself going to Walgreens and getting soap and felt so calm.  Could it be that I wasn’t worried about flying as much as being completely prepared and packed?   

I don’t know why I was so calm.  I laughed and slept and actually ENJOYED the flight.  I looked around and I was like everyone else on the plane.  Your suggestions and this two minute tapping gave me a peace I can’t even explain.  I didn’t tap before the flight home, because I knew I would never be afraid to fly on a plane again.   

You have opened up the world to me…I have never before been able to dream of traveling, why would I want to go anywhere that included flying.  I now dream of Australia, New Zealand, I can go anywhere, thanks to EFT. 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…you and EFT have changed my life. 

Patty Rutkowski

Carol's note: Thanks for writing, Patty! We've gotten used to these results with EFT, but I NEVER get tired of hearing about them! See my notes on Whoopie Goldberg's treatment for fear of flying on my Stress Eating Blog.

Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety

Anxiety is primarily about the future -- something that you are worried *might* happen. Soothing anxiety is one of the biggest causes of  overeating. I love Gary's comments on anxiety eating and my post about my client's similarities between overeating and panic attacks. And if you've ever had a panic attack, you know that it's not an experience you want to repeat.

Anxiety tends to build and take on a life of it's own. People who have anxious temperaments tend to obsess and catastrophize about what *could* happen. But we all suffer from anxious feelings from time to time. So getting a handle on your anxiety is a very good thing to do.

To use Emotional Freedom Techniques to lessen your anxiety, try to stay in the present moment and follow these 3 steps:

Changing Your Story With EFT

We all have our stories. We have a story about why we can't lose weight (because everybody in my family is overweight . . . because I have a slow metabolism . . . because I love to eat, yadda yadda yadda). Gary Craig calls them "comedies." These comedies are created from the writing on our walls - what we have come to believe and have been told by others.

EFT For Overeating And Panic Attacks

Panicky feelings can create both panic attacks and overeating. My client views EFT as a “fool-proof method” to short-circuit her panic attacks.  It only takes 1 or 2 rounds to stop the panic attack and get back to sleep.  She has had only 1 attack in the past 4 months, and has not needed any medication.  She has also significantly reduced her overeating.

If you've ever had a panic attack, it's not something you want to repeat. While they can be managed, it's a very uncomfortable, frightening experience. Anxiety often drives overeating as well. You may be surprised by the similarities in these 2 issues. 

EFT for Stress Eating

Got stress? Most people do . . . and it's easy to reach for food or some other substance to deal with it.

Feeling the need for chocolate?

Take a look at the sources of stress in your life, and see if your list has increased or intensified in some way. For instance, I've been doing some home remodeling lately -- I underestimated how stressful it would be. When I took a survey of all of the changes we were making at one time -- no wonder I was feeling the pressure! Fortunately, I didn't reach for food, but I did lose sleep over it.