The Slimming Pool Weight Loss Blog: Hey, I was Eating That!
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
EFT Useful for More Than Just Weight Loss
The other day I had a sudden memory when a wave of upset, fear, dread, all the feelings associated with that long ago event came up. I found myself suddenly sitting with a rapidly beating heart and a heaviness that hadn't been there only a moment before. I felt quite upset, ready to break into tears, so I quickly started tapping on the PR (psychological reversal) point - the karate chop area of my hand, and said, "Even though this memory still upsets me, I deeply and completely accept and forgive myself." I just kept saying it, as I was in a public place and didn't want to suddenly break down in tears. I then did the regular sequence, around the face and body, repeating, "This memory," over and over, and saying, "I'm okay, it's okay."
It stemmed from a time long ago when I'd unexpectedly been late and I hadn't called my little boy who was home alone. Not thinking of how upset he'd be, I'd just had some fun with friends and came home about three hours late. To a 9-year old that's trauma, and when I arrived home to a tear stained face with a concerned neighbor, well writing about it now still brings up upset, so excuse me while I go do another round of tapping...
Just now, as writing this, I noticed the feeling of tears rising in my eyes, which told me, I wasn't finished with this issue. The other day I felt like I was done with it. This just shows how some persistence is necessary. If you thought an issue was resolved, but find yourself becoming upset over it again, just do some more EFT. Until you reach a point where you can have a memory with no physiological response, no tears, no heavy breathing, no tension, no response at all physically -- until you reach that point, just continue doing more EFT. Eventually you will reach the point where you can think of the memory, even talk about it, but without the familiar "bad feelings." When you reach that point you've released the emotional attachment. That pathway has been broken.
I continued with "Even though that memory still upsets me, I deeply and completely accept myself," and as I tap I tend to just talk to myself so I was saying, "I didn't want to upset him," "I never thought," and "I want to be a good mother." It's more the memory of a baby's sad face that upsets me - I can hardly watch a movie without crying my eyes out if they show a sad child; I have such strong empathy for children.
Anyway, I'm better now. The anxiety is gone. I feel fine. That's the beauty of EFT, and if you are using it for weight loss, be sure to use it for every stressful event that arises whether it be in the moment, or a memory. Especially use it on the memories that still bother you from the time you were shoved down in the playground and the other kids laughed because you cried, till the time your mother forget to pick you up and you thought you'd been abandoned (this happened to me, perhaps that's why I felt so awful doing it to my own son). These events color our present world and have a very large influence on what we do and don't do to nurture ourselves. Whether you think they are related isn't important - just use EFT on the stresses in your life and you'll find pounds melting away.
