27 - Intro to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

03/27/17 • 44 min

Episode 27 – Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping) Releasing Yourself From a Stressed State of Mind

Today we welcome Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Therapist Jen Richards, founder of Matrix Rejeneration, who is here to tell us about Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as EFT Tapping. EFT Tapping, or “tapping” is an effective self-help technique which combines cognitive and exposure therapy with acupressure in the form of fingertip tapping on 12 specific meridian points. At the end of the podcast, Jen outlines the steps for us to follow to practice tapping so we can benefit from this quick and simple technique.

Jen’s Story

From her earliest days, Jen suffered with her body image, and by age 17, she had developed anorexia which eventually transformed to bulimia. For next 15-20 years, she lived in limbo not knowing how to eat or nurture her body in a healthy way. She battled depression and her thoughts often felt chaotic when it came to eating. Jen eventually tried tapping and saw immediate results. She says, “I understood why I had developed patterns with eating and the unhealthy relationship I had with food.” This practice can release us from past emotional traumas, stress, or pain and replace those emotions with a state of well-being, giving us back a life of love and healing.

With the success Jen had experienced herself, she knew she could help others by becoming an EFT practitioner and coach, especially to women suffering with body issues. “Once we heal ourselves, we then can inform and inspire others,” she exclaims. Jen has witnessed many triumphs using this technique, and her mission is to empower women so they can step up and step forward into the person they’ve always wanted to be.

How and Why EFT Tapping Works

What happens with stress?

Our bodies are designed to survive and evolve, we are naturally programed to look out for dangers that would interfere with that process. When we encounter things we’re afraid of, or a certain stress, our body goes into a fight or flight mode. We simply can’t digest food properly in this stressful state because our energy is being used for the body to be in survival mode.

Our autonomic nervous system unconsciously reacts and regulates bodily functions such as heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate and other reactionary responses. The amygdala part of our brain, which recalls memory, decision-making and emotional reaction warns us of danger. This causes our body to release an overload of hormones like insulin and cortisol, which are not only fat-storing hormones, but also play factors in weakening our gut bacteria, causing food intolerances and digestion issues. Our thyroid stops functioning properly and even the mitochondria in our cells are diminished, limiting the effectiveness of the metabolic systems we need to burn and digest foods correctly.

These negative thoughts we have about food, ourselves or our actions, set off these hormonal responses and with 37.2 trillion cells in our body, we send those cells into action.

“When we get afraid, it neurologically transforms us.”

How Did Modern-day Tapping Start?

In the 1980’s, clinical psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan, was working with a woman with an incredible fear of water. This woman’s fear was so great that she was unable to even bathe her children. Without finding success in any current remedies, he read about a similar technique used in ancient Chinese medicine. Pressure was applied (by touch or with needles) to the meridian points that flow through the body. These channels are like energy highways through our systems, commonly referred to as “Chi”.

He discovered when we have a sick feeling in our stomach there’s a meridian point that corresponds with the stomach just under the eye. Dr. Callahan started to have his patient tap on her eye and as she focused on the feeling, eventually the feeling started to leave her stomach and she overcame her phobia. To this day, she is still not afraid. This is when Thought Field Therapy, or TFT, was born.

Dr. Callahan worked along Gary Craig who developed EFT, expanding the practice of tapping. The fundamental difference with TFT being, silently thinking about the problem whereas with EFT, the statement is verbalized.

The Meridian Points – Where to Tap

Karate chop - side of hand

Eyes - between the eyebrows

Side of the eye

Below the eye

Below the nose

Chin between your lip and chin

Below your collarbone(s)

Under the arm (lady’s bra strap)

Crown – top of head

Work from top to bottom and don’t worry about getting it right, even if it’s not perfect, you’re doing some healing in an energetic way!

The Mantra Statement

Besides the physical tapping motion, we incorporate the cognitive piece by developing a mantra statement. This type of exposure therapy gets us...

Episode 27 – Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping) Releasing Yourself From a Stressed State of Mind

Jen’s Story

How and Why EFT Tapping Works

What happens with stress?

These negative thoughts we have about food, ourselves or our actions, set off these hormonal responses and with 37.2 trillion cells in our body, we send those cells into action.

“When we get afraid, it neurologically transforms us.”

How Did Modern-day Tapping Start?

The Meridian Points – Where to Tap

Karate chop - side of hand

Eyes - between the eyebrows

Side of the eye

Below the eye

Below the nose

Chin between your lip and chin

Below your collarbone(s)

Under the arm (lady’s bra strap)

Crown – top of head

Work from top to bottom and don’t worry about getting it right, even if it’s not perfect, you’re doing some healing in an energetic way!

The Mantra Statement

Besides the physical tapping motion, we incorporate the cognitive piece by developing a mantra statement. This type of exposure therapy gets us...

Previous Episode

26 - How to Milk Your Own Nuts

This week we are in the Fitlandia Kitchen with Lizz Hampton, CEO of GOODNUSS, a ground breaking milk-innovation company. Today, Lizz is going to show us step-by-step how to make our own nut milk. (Watch here).

The commercial nut milk we buy in stores is typically watered down and pumped with fillers. Instead of getting the nutrients that are naturally derived, synthetic vitamins and preservatives are added by the nut milk manufacturers. While these additives help keep the price down, it is at the higher cost of a product with little to no nutritional value. The only way to guarantee we’re getting all the nutrients out of nut milk is to cold press it ourselves.

“If we really want nutrients, we have to drink something that actually has nuts in it,” Lizz explains. “The average commercial nut milk product contains less than 2% nuts.”

In stores, many nut milks have carrageenan, which has been linked to ulcerative colitis and connective tissue disorders. Carrageenan is derived from seaweed and has no taste, smell or nutritional value and is added to many nut milks, yogurts, juices, puddings and salad dressings. Many of the vitamins being added to these nut milks are fortified the same way as cow’s milk to mimic taste.

Homemade nut milk is fresh and can be customized to our individual taste but it also helps us be completely sustainable. We can use the leftover pulp for baking, desserts or even a homemade face scrub.

Here are some clever recipes on how to reuse your pulp:

Ready to milk your own nuts?

Here are the ingredients needed for basic nut milk:

Almonds
Dates
Goji berries
Cinnamon
Vanilla powder
Himalayan sea salt

The Basics of How to Milk Your Own Nuts

Soak the nuts overnight. This starts the sprouting process and makes the enzymes more bioavailable so they’re easy to digest. This isn’t a necessity but helps break down the antinutrients from the nuts so we can get all the good stuff from them.
Throw 1 cup of nuts into blender
Add in 3-5 dates
Combine equal amounts cinnamon and vanilla (about 1-2 tsp each)
2 tablespoons of goji berries to complement the dates. These berries are loaded with beta-carotene, a pigment that helps promote skin and eye health.
Pinch of sea salt to taste
Pour in 2-3 cups of water. Texture is customized based on how much water added.
Blend

1 cup of almonds makes 24-32 ounces of nut milk. For skimmer milk add about 4 cups of water.

Next, we’re going to take our nut milk bag, a nylon mesh bag and strain the milk over a bowl.

Lizz’s Pro Tips

Synch the bag up at the top as you get started
Point one of the corners down and strain the milk into a wider bowl
Close your drawstring bag

The milk will have an orange tint, don’t worry it’s just the goji berries.

And we’re done!

These mesh bags can be found in most grocery stores or from the DIY Kit on the GOODNUSS website. Lizz also recommends Earthwise nut milk bags which range around $10 on Amazon.

Keep a look out for more products coming soon from GOODNUSS, including a device that allows you to strain into a cup for a single serving size. Their “Nut Buster” is a manual cold press device that you pour the pulp into and twist to enjoy immediately or to store for later. Both of these products are sure to be a hit for busy health nuts on the go.

Learn more about milking your nuts and all the innovative products available.

Milking your own nuts is a smarter way to drink milk and is completely Paleo, Vegan, Whole30, gluten free and dairy free. Christa says, “The flavor is like nothing I’ve ever had!”

Join us and get a free two-week trial so you can download the Whole 9, 74-page food guide and enjoy milking your own nuts. Never miss a tip, inspirational story of an expert interview; subscribe to the Fitlandia Podcast today. Leave us an honest review and we'll feature YOUR comments on a future podcast. Or comment below to get the conversation started.

Explore more on our site at fitlandiafitness.com

Next Episode

28 - Gina & Kris Robert, Stories of Transformation

Long-time (30 years!) friend of Christa, Gina Robert and her husband Kris, join the Fitlandia Podcast to talk about their incredible lifestyle overhaul. They'll share how they managed to make amazing healthy changes in spite of both of them having full-time jobs and 4 children, 2 of them under 10! This episode is filled with laughs as they all speak openly about what it takes to make a permanent lifestyle change.

The show opens with Christa cracking up as Gina says, "She looks just like she did in high school, except without the bangs." After the ladies recall they've known each other for over 30 years, first meeting in high school, they settle in to talk more about their collective fitness journeys. Through the power of Facebook, they've been able to watch each other's transformation over time.

Kris shares his story of growing up in sports and how he started to lose his healthy fitness habits in college to focus on his studies. He also notes the typical college lifestyle of not-so-healthy food in the cafeteria and drinking. As a teacher he found he was stress eating too. He would make attempts over the years with Weight Watchers and/or brief stints at the gym.

Kris was diagnosed morbidly obese and found it increasingly difficult to find clothes that fit. He knew he had to make a change.

Gina then brought to his attention a challenge at Fit Body Bootcamp where they both signed up! Feeling a bit skeptical at first, Kris then became hooked through their challenges where he's now

lost over 60 lbs since September 2016
has all normal blood work, including cholesterol for the first time in his life
lost 15% body fat
inspired now to help others on their own fitness journey
reversed digestive issues

Gina was personally motivated after her daughter turned 2 and after having a c-section, she wanted to get her body, especially her stomach feeling fit and doctors told her to reactivate these muscles. Well that inspired her to look at her total body the same way - that it was time to reactivate ALL of her muscles to get fit.

Previously, they would let their healthy food spoil so now they are saving money by making time to cook and using the healthy food they buy. Gina's gotten very creative using spices and veggies to change up using base proteins like chicken - and even her kids are gobbling it up!

Kris and Gina then go on to talk about their #1 tip: PLANNING for meal prep.

Sunday is their big prep day together and they'll take the time to get all of their veggies prep. When they do need to eat out, they just make healthy choices.

Christa, Kris and Gina commiserate on the negative attitudes they hear from others on how hard it is to give up X or they don't have enough time for X. It's just a matter of changing habits. Christa then talks about the power of Mind Zoning® to change the neural pathways in the brain.

Together they all discuss how unhealthy foods are a part of our culture and how to integrate the occasional treat. They are sticking with their new diet because they finally know what it feels like to feel normal and how that outweighs that brief moment of indulgence with cake. Kris wraps up with his favorite tip to have your favorites on hand. Try new things, yes, but when you're really busy, have your go-to meal available. Final thoughts from them all - have positive thoughts! Get the Mind Zoning® app free here.

"Focus on what you're gaining and not what you're giving up." - Christa Show Gina & Kris some love and head over to iTunes or Stitcher (click below) to download this episode, give us a rating and tell us what you got out of hearing their story today.