Robyn (my naturopath) is always telling me to use the ‘Emotional Freedom Technique’ or EFT to help with my anxiety. The problem is I am a sceptical neurotic. She taught me how to practice it myself, at home, whenever I’m feeling anxious, worried or tempted. It’s also called tapping. The site all about it is here. (You can download a free manual and watch a video to learn more about it.)
When she first showed me how to do it I had come to her in tears, angry at myself for gaining/not losing weight, feeling suicidal and hopeless. We did a tapping session and she had me measure my anxiety about gaining weight and my fear of eating on a scale of 1 to 10. I said my anxiety was a 20!! When we finished she asked me again, I rated it at and 8 out of 10. Again and it was down to 4. We kept tapping until all my fears had gone and I felt calm and in control.
I couldn’t believe how much it helped. EFT makes you feel VERY silly, at first I couldn’t stop giggling as I was imitating her tapping… but then I started listening to the things I was saying and realised I could let my fears go. It went something like this: “Even though… the thought of eating makes me feel out of control and guilty, and I’m afraid I’m going to get fat, and I feel like I need to hang on to my eating habits to have some kind of sanity, and I feel like I let myself down by eating, and if I stop these rituals I won’t know what to do…. I accept and love myself.” Then I’d exhale a really deep breath and relax. It was SO HARD to say those last words when everything inside me was screaming “NO YOU DON’T! YOU’RE A WASTE OF SPACE! A FAILURE! YOU HATE YOURSELF!” After about 5 or 6 repeats, I started saying the last phrase with some conviction. The fears I had been worrying about were what was making me fail and hate myself.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’m going to start doing it daily. Every time Robyn calls and asks me if I’ve been doing it at home, I say “No, I just feel stupid” or “Oh, I forgot” or “It seems like a waste of time”. (She puts up with a lot from me.) But looking back, it really did help me let go of my anxiety about eating. Actually, on that day I went home and ate lunch and dinner, decided to stop being a vegetarian and started to nourish myself with real foods again. The day before all I had eaten was a diet coke. The week before I had eaten an average of 500 calories a day (I know because I kept journal upon journal of food intake, calories and exercise). After that breakthrough, I stopped my obsessive calorie counting, threw all of my diaries away and put the scales in the garage. I ate again.
Despite my initial misgivings, I’m going to ignore the sceptic inside with the loud voice jeering and caterwauling and start doing EFT myself. As I’m giving the Warrior Diet a red hot go, I’m going to focus on my exercise with EFT. We’ve been managing to do weights 3 times a week and I’ve been doing a walk/run about 2 or 3 times a week for 45mins. What’s holding me back from doing more? Laziness. I can’t get out of bed (it’s lovely and warm, the covers are so snuggly… just a few more minutes…)! Also my fear of getting sweaty and dirty. So I’m tapping on those things this week and I’ll see if I can manage to step up the exercise a bit more. All I want is a little more intensity and a little more frequency, I don’t want to overtrain, but I do want to get fitter, stronger and gain some serous Beyoncé Butt!
Has anyone heard of this technique? What are your experiences? Has it helped you to overcome an emotional hurdle?
About the Author...
I've finally overcome my destructive eating habits by learning to accept myself, applying the WAPF nutritional principles daily. I'm now at a stable, healthy, slim weight, have lots of energy and no more guilt. I've been happily married for 7 years and am a graphic designer. In the near future I'm hoping to start a nutritional course and start practicing as a qualified nutritionist. At the moment it's all self education.
Aug 6th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Hi Louise! I’m so glad to find talk here about Emotional Freedom Technique on Nourished. I believe we have both seen the same Naturopath. :)
I have had one EFT session with Robyn (a week ago) and have practiced from home every day since.
I heard about EFT by doctor Mercola online before I saw Robyn. You’re right it does feel silly tapping different parts of the body at first. But you get used to it and it’s totally worth it!
I tend to stress out easily and I’ve had depression for quite a few years. I balled my eyes out with Robyn after revealing so many things from my past. I never really thought much about them. The past few days I have felt the happiest I have ever been. I’m much more relaxed at work and I feel alot more confident in myself.
I believe Learning to love and approve of yourself will cure all diseases. One way I love and approve of myself is by visiting this website religously and feeding myself with as much nourishing information as possible!
Thankyou for sharing Louise and I hope you stick with EFT.
-Jess :)
Aug 6th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Hi Jessie… yes, she’s in Nerang! Whenever I do it with her I cry a LOT. So upsetting talking about issues you haven’t learned to let go of yet. Upsetting, but freeing. Have you been doing it at home too? I have to find a really quiet spot to try to do it without feeling like a complete fool! Privacy is a must, although I’m not sure if you have to say it aloud if you’re on your own…? The other thing that has been helping is writing a journal of my thoughts. And writing and looking at affirmations every day.
Keep it up and let me know how it works for you.
Aug 7th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Hi again.. I have only done one session of EFT with Robyn. I feel I might need one or two more just because I know she will see and notice things in what I say and help me get down to the root of a problem.
I do it at home everyday if possible. Our backyard is surrounded by lots of tall trees, so I’m comfortable sitting outside in the sun knowing no one is around. I do it by myself.
Standing in front of a mirror I believe is even better. Because looking into your own eyes and saying out loud is very powerful. This way you can watch any muscle tension or different facial expressions. When I first did it in the mirror my facial expressions changed so dramatically. From angry to really sad. It helped me get down to the root of the problem. When you notice changes you can start to tap and say… Even though I look tired or even though I look sad/ annoyed/ angry… and so on…
I even found myself tapping at work today! Something was really bothering me so I said the words in my head and tapped my hand. No one noticed.
I find saying affirmations in front of the mirror everyday out loud while looking into your eyes is also very powerful and effective. I usually put my hand on my chest and keep saying the affirmation over and over until I can feel my voice in my chest.. and in my hand. I know looking at yourself while saying good things about yourself can be hard. It was extremely hard for me to get it because I didn’t like what I saw. I still have days where I find it hard and upsetting. But I have to say I’ve learnt to love myself a lot more.
My partner is asking me to keep up with the EFT because he has noticed I’m a lot more bubbly and relaxed.
I write too.. or scribble little pictures in a journal. My mind never seems to switch off after work so writing or painting helps to release any bothers.
I’ll let you know how EFT works out for me.
Have fun with it and take care! :)
Aug 24th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hi Louise - I’m really glad to see your post. I was only recently introduced to EFT by a DVD called Try It On Everything. Although I’ve never visited a professional practitioner, I remember feeling exactly the same way when I started tapping. Even though I was totally alone, I had uncontrollable giggles at first. I loved hearing your story, though. I’ve had great luck so far, and it’s always encouraging to hear about other people who are doing well with EFT.