But food has been hard. I LOVE food. And of course, no one is asking me (or you) to give it up. But it seems as if the things I have always wanted to overdo are the very things I need to eliminate, or severely restrict—sugar, most white foods (odd but true—bread, pasta, potatoes), heavy sauces, fried things, sweet things, pizza—are the very things I crave. But those are the foods that pile weight on, that cause the craving cycle to kick in and pull at me—and I find that this is true for many of my clients, too. Studies are beginning to show us why, and are also showing us what happens when we can’t stop the overeating. Not only do we gain weight and open ourselves up to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and all those grisly ailments, we also make ourselves much more vulnerable to loss of brain function. Neuroscientists studying these areas are finding that we are 50% more likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s if we are overweight or obese.

Happily, EFT does help in this area. A new study has shown that EFT curbs food cravings. We’ve known that anectodally for a while, and I have personally experienced it in a fairly dramatic way, but it is nice to have the published study. Here’s the link, from Science Daily:

New Study Shows EFT Reduces Food Cravings:

Dr. Peta Stapleton and a team of researchers at the School of
Medicine in Griffith University in Queensland have just
completed a randomised clinical trial showing that EFT (which
they refer to as psychological acupressure) can reduce food
cravings for up to 6 months in people who are overweight or
obese. Details can be found in a Science Daily article at:
http://tinyurl.com/2854nz4

Full url for the article (cut and paste all into your browser):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100423094627.htm?ut
m_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienced
aily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

Try working on your cravings with EFT—give yourself the gift of freedom from whatever it is that has you stuck.

Enjoy the weekend—

Lynne

I was thinking about this a bit, and noticing that so often, clients say that they worry that they won’t know what do to, or how to be, or act, when the old traumas are released and dissolved, or when old ways of behavior are gone. It can sometimes feel safer to hold on to an old belief or incident, an old way of thinking, even old eating patterns or addictive patterns.

But it is important to allow ourselves to step away from that circle of thinking. Here’s why. Our entire system (being, self, true self) wants to come into balance and to flourish. We are hard-wired to do that. It is simply fundamental. Other things (patterns, behaviors, wounds, traumas, and so forth) get in the way and we hold on to them, or don’t know how to let them go. But once we do let in a change—and erase/dissolve/ease these old things, the deeper part of ourself will fill things in automatically. Sometimes it will take a while, but many times, people report that it is rather odd, but it feels “as if it’s always been this way.” They’ll forget that the problem existed, and feel as if this is just the way things are now.

This is the beauty of working with an interactive approach like EFT —-because as we tap on the acupoints, we are sending signals to the amygdala and other parts of the so-called limbic brain system. That’s the part in which the fight-or-flight response is generated, at a sub-cortical, subconscious level. And those signals essentially dissolve the reaction, while simultaneously reprogramming the system with the wording that is chosen.

It is quite elegant and very gentle—and we open like the flowers to the selves we are meant to be.

In the week that followed, I was mostly at home, in my office-turned-snowglobe. It was beautiful outside, and brutal. There was one day it was much too raw and dangerous even to try to go outside. So I abandoned myself to it, and enjoyed session after session over the phone, tapping through challenges with my clients, watching the snow swirl outside.

In every setback, there are gifts…at my friend’s house, we all drew close that evening and I will be forever grateful for the time, though had I known beforehand that I would be stranded, I probably would have decided to stay home instead. It makes me wonder what gifts I may deny myself by looking ahead in fear. And how much better it is for me, and all of us, to look ahead in hope and expectation. Where are the gifts that are on my way now?

Whatever they are, they are many.

Stay warm, and enjoy this wintry day, wherever you are.

much love,

Lynne

How many times have you started off the year with good ideas and new hopes, yet find that within even a couple of weeks, or perhaps a month, you come back to the old behaviors, thought patterns, and ideas that weighed you down? This year, incorporate EFT into this reflection time. By pausing to tap in the hopes and possibilities, the resolutions and new excitement, you’ll be laying the best foundation for their realization.

How to Release Weight and Old Negative Patterns

So, how does that really work? First, check within for anything getting in the way. If your goal is weight release, for example, find out what your barriers are there—what are the thoughts, feelings, or patterns that drag on you in that area? Check for past and present trauma that might have been the driving engines of overeating, etc. Clear out those barriers and points of resistance by tapping on the issues, bringing yourself to a low or zero level.

Discovering Your Desires

Then, take time to reflect on what you really want. A slimmer you, the feelings of being light, that lovely feeling of being toned and slipping into your skinny jeans? Maybe it’s more about balance, about loving your body and accepting it with all of its bumps, at a reasonable weight level that is just right for you—whatever is important to you is what to pay attention to. At this point, notice the words and ideas that make you feel a sense of hope and optimism; those will be part of the language you’ll use as you create your tapping rounds.

Tapping in the Positive

And now to the tapping; the language can be very simple. It’s important, I think, to get yourself into the frame of mind of playfulness and positivity. A sense of “I get to do this” not “I have to do this,” etc. In positve tapping, you can just begin at the eyebrow point and tap around the points—no setup is necessary, as you’ve just cleared everything. If you run into a resistance point, just clear it out.

Samples of what work well are

I love my beautiful body.

My normal weight is (name the number that is your desired weight) and that is what I weigh now.

My body feels light and I feel so good in my clothes—even my skinny jeans have room again.

I love the way this body feels.

I thank my body for the way it functions so beautifully.

I love the dimples in my chin

I love my eyebrows (ok, this may sound really silly, but if you pick a few areas that you really like, and name them, your whole body will respond and feel better. Just try it!)

Resolutions and Desires

Other hopes and resolutions can be handled in just the same way. Perhaps you want to meditate daily, or want to finally write that book, or finally quit smoking. Clear whatever you know to be the barriers—current and past—and then tap in the positive.

It feels so good to meditate every morning.

I love meditating daily—it is so easy and effortless.

I love the way my mind and body respond to meditation.

Meditation comes easily to me daily, and feels normal and easy.

Meditation is just a part of my routine—as simple as brushing my teeth.

Etc—allow in a sense of easy, effortless flow in all the areas.

Enjoy!

It was time to grow into a new phase, so I’ve added the blog—welcome! As much as I think that sometimes blogs can be overdone, I do learn so much from good posts on sites that I return to time and again. I hope to become a resource like that for you. I plan to give good information here, share things that I hope will be meaningful and interesting to you, and welcome your thoughts and ideas. EFT and epigenetics in general are so clearly driven by interactivity—-it makes sense to open things up a bit in this way. Enjoy, and stop by occasionally to see new posts.