Nick Ortner's Blog, page 38
August 16, 2017
Research Shows EFT Tapping Can Ease Your Dental Anxiety
Your alarm clock sounds and you sit straight up in bed. Fear grips your very soul – today is your dentist appointment.
You’re sweating and your heart is pounding as you get dressed, brush and floss your teeth (twice) and look for your car keys.
You wonder if you should call your best friend and ask if she’ll go with you. You wonder if you should drink some Chamomile tea because it sometimes relaxes you…
You wonder if you should call the receptionist and tell her that you’ll have to reschedule because you just found out your cat has shingles. Then you remember, “24 hours notice is required.” Darn!
But what if somebody told you that a ten-minute anxiety treatment was available that would make that appointment bearable, or even somewhat pleasant? Would it be worth trying?
The Ten-Minute Remedy for Dental Anxiety
Fear of dental treatment is a common phobia, with up to 30% of patients in the U.S. reporting anxiety related to going to the dentist.
This particular research study is exciting not only because it shows that EFT Tapping is an effective way to calm pre-dental appointment jitters, but also because the duration of the treatment, just ten minutes, is so manageable within the context of a busy dental practice.
In the study, 30 adults waiting for dental treatment were recruited to test out the effectiveness of Tapping to calm their dental fears.
Both male and female, ages ranging from 18-70, when asked to rate their anxiety on a scale from 0 to 10, reported a 6 or above. Each were then given a 10-minute EFT treatment (which was actually 4 minutes of explanation and 6 minutes of tapping).
First, the patients described their anxiety. Then, the EFT facilitator created a setup statement using the patients’ own words. For example, “Even though the sound of that drill scares me to death, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Finally, the facilitator asked the patients to tap on the acupressure points shown to them while describing their anxiety and repeating the self-acceptance phrases.
After the session, patients were asked to rate their anxiety from 0-10 again.
All of the patients reported a decrease in their level of anxiety.
83% experienced a drop of a minimum of four points and 73% ended up with an intensity rating of 3 or less at the second reporting period.
Researchers noted that usually the goal for a post-treatment anxiety rating is 0. In dentistry, though, it’s typical for patients to feel a bit anxious as a result of activation of the sympathetic nervous system, so a 2 on the scale was considered normal.
This study was also unusual in that the facilitator, a certified EFT practitioner, was also the dentist. (It’s neat that Tapping is getting out there into the mainstream, though, isn’t it?)
EFT Tapping has been shown through numerous other studies as an effective treatment for anxiety, fibromyalgia, PTSD, test-taking, public speaking, and a host of other issues.
It has also been shown to have lasting effects. The subjects of these other studies not only report a drop in their anxiety at the time of the treatment, but when contacted for follow-up, they also report that their anxiety level had remained low over time.
An Easy Pill to Swallow
With so many prescription anxiety medications being given out like candy these days, a simple 10-minute Tapping exercise to ease your dental fears is very good news!
Given how much research has already demonstrated the effectiveness of EFT Tapping in reducing anxiety, and how short an EFT session needs to be to work, perhaps dentists will look into getting their office staff trained in EFT to pass on this method to their patients.
If you, yourself, would like to learn how to Tap, we’ve got plenty of resources available for you. Or, if you’d like to work with a qualified practitioner for easing your dental phobias, we’ve got a whole directory of expertly trained individuals who’d love work with you.
Perhaps the next time you wake up on the day of your dental appointment, you won’t sit up in a cold sweat. Instead of panicking, you’ll spend 10 minutes doing some Tapping.
Then you’ll leisurely eat some granola and cantaloupe, sip some strong java, and drive to the appointment, thinking about what you’re going to wear to the wedding you’ve been invited to, pondering a gift idea for your friend’s retirement party, or looking forward to the cat show you and Tuffy will be attending on the weekend. 
August 15, 2017
Tapping Case Study – Attachment, Identity, and Spiritual Beliefs
Tapping together with so many people over the years, I get to witness again and again just how many of our adult beliefs are a result of our childhood upbringings.
Here is one such story of a woman’s journey of having to let go of her attachment to old patterns of belief to be able to discover her true identity through Tapping.
Amy Lloyd was brought up in a “very restrictive environment” by a fundamentalist Baptist family. Even after several years into her dysfunctional marriage, she was taught to never question any of it.
So when she finally had enough and left her abusive husband, she lost everything – custody of her children, her extended family, her community…
Amy knew deep inside that she didn’t want to be angry and she didn’t want to be a victim.
But after her divorce, when she began dating again, she would continue to follow the same pattern of building her life around the man. And when the relationship would end, she’d be back to square one.
Amy recognized that she needed to change this pattern because she didn’t want to jeopardize her life or put it on hold until she met the right person.
She wanted to fix it – she just didn’t know how.
During the turbulent period that followed, a friend gave Amy the book, “The Tapping Solution.” (Thank goodness for our friends, right?)
“At first, I thought, what is this voodoo thing?” But when she tapped for the first time, she noticed a change.
“It allowed me to breathe when I couldn’t. It took my anxiety down when the room was closing in on me.”
Amy left another relationship a short time later, which spurred more searching.
She was living with friends and doing some freelance work, but she couldn’t fully reconnect to life.
“My dad had given me his old car, my computer was way out of date… Just recently I took it into the Apple store and the sales rep called all his colleagues over and they were marveling at it, like a dinosaur.”
Amy was just keeping her head above the water. I think most of us can relate at some point in our lives or another. It’s just an awful feeling.
She had been on the Tapping Solution mailing list since her first encounter with the book, but really didn’t pay much attention to the emails she’d be receiving, until she saw one mentioning the Financial Success Program.
“Making money was a big issue for me. I had learned in my family that poverty is spiritual, that I needed a man to protect me, and that I can’t have money without that.”
With this realization, she knew something had to change, so she purchased the seven-week program.
As Amy immersed herself in the course, things began to surface. She discovered patterns and associations she had never understood before.
“When you do Tapping, you go into the subconscious and it brings things out. Part of me had just not been aware of much, especially what happened in my childhood, my family roots and siblings – all very deep. I was able to pull these crazy things up, understand them, grieve them, and then let them go. It’s changed my life.”
After completing the program, Amy found a part-time job as an office manager, which provided her with a base salary.
A singer, Amy also began working on some music, which was possible because of having the job. She bought a new computer, a car, and brought her life up to speed.
She also stopped dating. “If somebody comes along, I’ll go out, but I’m not pursuing that which is very different for me. For once, it’s not my primary focus. All of that is transformation.”
Amy credits not only Tapping for her positive changes, but also the community she found through The Tapping Solution’s Facebook page.
“Cathy, the woman who manages the Facebook page, is such a wonderful resource, so encouraging, and the Ortners provide such a great service. I’ve also been so grateful for the other people on the website. Everybody encourages each other.”
Amy says the course is the best investment she’s ever made.
“What I’ve been able to move through in just one year, is more growth than I experienced in my first 51.”
Now Amy uses Tapping every day. At the moment, she is working on anger. “Because I didn’t want to be an angry person, I went to the opposite extreme: very passive. Recently I realized that in order for me to stand in my voice and truly be me, I need to be able to tap into my anger. So, I use Tapping.”
Amy can connect with all levels of her anger with Tapping, allowing the feelings to surface and resolve themselves through expression. Tapping is the tool that helps her do that in a safe way.
What advice does Amy suggest for people considering Tapping?
“This is your life. It’s hard to go though those hard things. But we have the ability to go through and heal, and be changed. Tapping is such a great thing: it’s easy, it’s not expensive, there are no pills and no side effects. It takes you deeper and helps you live better. We can change the world, we can change ourselves. It’s so worth it.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
August 4, 2017
Chocolate Covered Hope – EFT Tapping Research for Food Cravings
Have you ever had a food craving?
Perhaps, like many, you feel a daily pull toward the top food craved in the United States – chocolate!
Although there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a sweet treat now and then, the cravings that are attached to the food can be deadly.
Most people know that obesity is associated with numerous health problems, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these illnesses are, in fact, “…some of the leading causes of preventable deaths.” However, in spite of most of these being preventable, the CDC calculates that 36% of Americans are clinically obese.
One study (Withrow & Alter, 2010) even found obesity costs to represent between 0.7% and 2.8% of a country’s entire health care budget!
So, with all of the risks and costs associated with a preventable disease, why does the U.S. have an obesity epidemic on its hands?
One theory is that cravings are responsible for the eating that creates excess weight. And unlike other treatments for obesity, food cravings and how to curb them have not been studied very often.
Can Tapping Tame Cravings?
Because EFT has now accumulated so much evidence as an effective treatment for other issues involving the brain, researchers of one clinical study wanted to explore whether Tapping could interrupt the neurological “script” involved with food cravings.
In the original study, researchers recruited 96 obese participants in the community, ages 18-60, whose Body Mass Index (BMI) and food cravings were at a high level.
Leaving out pregnant women, people with diabetes, those being treated for a psychiatric disorder, those taking psychotropic medication, or individuals already taking medication for obesity, they divided the group in two – one half receiving EFT treatments and the control group receiving nothing.
A Little Neuroscience
The amygdala is the part of the brain that is activated by negative emotions.
Researchers theorize that a craving is a neural connection in the amygdala that could be broken with EFT.
For example, if a person is scared about an upcoming meeting, she may eat chocolate to calm herself. The individual will continue following that pattern because the association has been established in the brain, and a neural pathway is created.
When EFT practitioners combine positive cognitive messages with tapping on acupressure points, the pathway disconnects, severing the association between stress and eating chocolate.
Once it’s replaced by a new pathway (i.e. “I can smell or see chocolate and have no desire to eat it.”), the craving is dissolved.
At the start of the study, participants were asked to fill out several different questionnaires that measured their eating and health behaviors, along with their physical attributes like height, weight, and BMI.
The EFT Group was divided into smaller groups of 15 people, each receiving four 2-hour EFT treatment sessions over a four-week period of time. Researchers also gave the participants homework so that they would continue Tapping in between treatment sessions.
Each participant was asked to pick one food that they craved the most to tap on – one they felt was most problematic in their eating. Most participants picked chocolate. 
Chocolate Covered Hope – EFT Tapping for Food Cravings
Have you ever had a food craving?
Perhaps, like many, you feel a daily pull toward the top food craved in the United States – chocolate!
Although there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a sweet treat now and then, the cravings that are attached to the food can be deadly.
Most people know that obesity is associated with numerous health problems, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these illnesses are, in fact, “…some of the leading causes of preventable deaths.” However, in spite of most of these being preventable, the CDC calculates that 36% of Americans are clinically obese.
One study (Withrow & Alter, 2010) even found obesity costs to represent between 0.7% and 2.8% of a country’s entire health care budget!
So, with all of the risks and costs associated with a preventable disease, why does the U.S. have an obesity epidemic on its hands?
Can Tapping Tame Cravings?
One theory is that cravings are responsible for the eating that creates excess weight. And unlike other treatments for obesity, food cravings and how to curb them have not been studied very often.
Because EFT has now accumulated so much evidence as an effective treatment for other issues involving the brain, researchers of one clinical study wanted to explore whether Tapping could interrupt the neurological “script” involved with food cravings.
A Little Neuroscience
The amygdala is the part of the brain that is activated by negative emotions.
Researchers theorize that a craving is a neural connection in the amygdala that could be broken with EFT.
For example, if a person is scared about an upcoming meeting, she may eat chocolate to calm herself. The individual will continue following that pattern because the association has been established in the brain, and a neural pathway is created.
When EFT practitioners combine positive cognitive messages with tapping on acupressure points, the pathway disconnects, severing the association between stress and eating chocolate.
Once it’s replaced by a new pathway (i.e. “I can smell or see chocolate and have no desire to eat it.”), the craving is dissolved.
In the original study, researchers recruited 96 obese participants in the community, ages 18-60, whose Body Mass Index (BMI) and food cravings were at a high level.
Leaving out pregnant women, people with diabetes, those being treated for a psychiatric disorder, those taking psychotropic medication, or individuals already taking medication for obesity, they divided the group in two – one half receiving EFT treatments and the control group receiving nothing.
At the start of the study, participants were asked to fill out several different questionnaires that measured their eating and health behaviors, along with their physical attributes like height, weight, and BMI.
The EFT Group was divided into smaller groups of 15 people, each receiving four 2-hour EFT treatment sessions over a four-week period of time. Researchers also gave the participants homework so that they would continue Tapping in between treatment sessions.
Each participant was asked to pick one food that they craved the most to tap on – one they felt was most problematic in their eating. Most participants picked chocolate.
July 26, 2017
A Tale of Two Trials – Tapping Research for PTSD
Imagine walking down the street with your family.
Your partner and kids run up ahead to buy some candy. And then a bomb explodes in the candy shop.
No survivors.
Veterans who return home from combat have lived through these types of experiences, along with many others, over prolonged periods of time – and they are as traumatizing as the above scenario.
Needless to say, many of these men and women come back from war wounded from that trauma.
What Exactly Is PTSD?
PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it is the emotional fallout from deeply traumatizing experiences.
The National Institute of Mental Health says that to be diagnosed by a physician, a patient must have all of the following:
At least one re-experiencing symptom (flashbacks or bad dreams)
At least one avoidance symptom (staying away from people or places connected to the event)
At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms (insomnia, sudden anger, or being easily startled)
At least two cognition and mood symptoms (feeling guilty, carrying a negative self image, or not being able to enjoy life)
In 2015, a JAMA Psychiatry study confirmed that over 200,000 Vietnam War veterans still have PTSD.
And with the number of deployed troops around the globe continuing to rise, it’s clear that an effective treatment is necessary for the sake of both the individuals involved and our society as a whole.
A Study Gives Hope
Researchers have conducted many studies about the effectiveness of EFT on a variety of problems. One very compelling study was facilitated by my friend Dawson Church.
He and his colleagues found that the Emotional Freedom Technique effectively treated 30 veterans diagnosed with PTSD to the point where after treatment, 90% of the participants no longer met the diagnostic criteria, as compared to only 4% of the control group.
At the end of the study, the 29 individuals who were in the control group were then treated with EFT. After just three sessions, 60% of them no longer met the criteria for PTSD. This increased to 86% after three more treatments.
At six months, of the 49 participants remaining in both groups who had been treated with EFT therapy, 80% of them continued to remain below the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
This was a very significant study, given that most of the vets were healed in a very short period of time with very little relapse.
But could the results be repeated?
The authors of a second study, which replicated the first, noted how important replication is in establishing a scientific body of knowledge.
Second Time Around: EFT for PTSD
Researchers in a second study recruited 58 veterans who again met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
In the control group, 26 received “treatment as usual” and the other 32 received six one-hour EFT Tapping sessions. All 13 of the practitioners who conducted the sessions were certified in EFT and were instructed to use only EFT in their therapy.
For the EFT group, researchers asked patients to make a list of the traumatic events they had experienced for use in their Tapping therapy. Examples included being injured in an explosion, watching friends or colleagues die, or killing an enemy.
Using the less intense events first, the participants were guided to use Tapping, including their thoughts and bodily sensations, which are key components to the Tapping process.
After gaining trust and confidence in the process, the vets were also encouraged to use EFT between sessions to reduce intensity of distress.
The results?
After 6 EFT sessions, there was a significant reduction in all scores compared to scores at pre-treatment.
These score reductions were also maintained at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups, just like the first study.
The researchers found that these results replicated the first study, concluding that “EFT is an evidence-based practice that is highly effective at reducing symptom severity in veterans with PTSD.”
“EFT is an evidence-based practice that is highly effective at reducing symptom severity in veterans with PTSD.”
Not only did this replicated study have the same findings as the first, it was also consistent with a meta-analysis (where researchers look at and analyze many studies on the same topic) that found EFT an effective treatment for PTSD in very short periods of time, and with only 4-6 treatment sessions.
A Kinder, Gentler PTSD Treatment
Tapping therapy is gaining much momentum, especially with complex hard-to-treat issues such as PTSD. It’s also a much softer approach than some of the traditional go-to methods, like exposure therapy.
In other treatment modalities, PTSD patients are typically asked to remember the traumatizing event in detail, or even go to the places where the event occurred. This can be extremely difficult for patients, and the therapist has to be extremely careful not to re-traumatize their client.
Because clients who use Tapping therapy create their own lists of events, EFT practitioners can gradually ease into the more difficult memories while tapping. Tapping on the acupressure points actually triggers the body’s natural relaxation processes.
I’ve done lots of work with trauma sufferers, both personally and through The Tapping Solution Foundation, and I’ve seen how POWERFUL and LASTING Tapping can be!
It is truly amazing and almost miraculous, at times. And it’s not JUST for veterans. Everyday people from all walks of life experience traumatic events of all levels.
I highly encourage you to try Tapping! You CAN heal!
Until next time,
Keep Tapping!
Nick
Do you know someone who could benefit from EFT Tapping therapy? Comment below, and please SHARE this blog with them!
A Tale of Two Trials – Tapping for PTSD
Imagine walking down the street with your family.
Your partner and kids run up ahead to buy some candy. And then a bomb explodes in the candy shop.
No survivors.
Veterans who return home from combat have lived through these types of experiences, along with many others, over prolonged periods of time – and they are as traumatizing as the above scenario.
Needless to say, many of these men and women come back from war wounded from that trauma.
What Exactly Is PTSD?
PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it is the emotional fallout from deeply traumatizing experiences.
The National Institute of Mental Health says that to be diagnosed by a physician, a patient must have all of the following:
At least one re-experiencing symptom (flashbacks or bad dreams)
At least one avoidance symptom (staying away from people or places connected to the event)
At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms (insomnia, sudden anger, or being easily startled)
At least two cognition and mood symptoms (feeling guilty, carrying a negative self image, or not being able to enjoy life)
In 2015, a JAMA Psychiatry study confirmed that over 200,000 Vietnam War veterans still have PTSD.
And with the number of deployed troops around the globe continuing to rise, it’s clear that an effective treatment is necessary for the sake of both the individuals involved and our society as a whole.
A Study Gives Hope
Researchers have conducted many studies about the effectiveness of EFT on a variety of problems. One very compelling study was facilitated by my friend Dawson Church.
He and his colleagues found that the Emotional Freedom Technique effectively treated 30 veterans diagnosed with PTSD to the point where after treatment, 90% of the participants no longer met the diagnostic criteria, as compared to only 4% of the control group.
At the end of the study, the 29 individuals who were in the control group were then treated with EFT. After just three sessions, 60% of them no longer met the criteria for PTSD. This increased to 86% after three more treatments.
At six months, of the 49 participants remaining in both groups who had been treated with EFT therapy, 80% of them continued to remain below the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
This was a very significant study, given that most of the vets were healed in a very short period of time with very little relapse.
But could the results be repeated?
The authors of a second study, which replicated the first, noted how important replication is in establishing a scientific body of knowledge.
Second Time Around: EFT for PTSD
Researchers in a second study recruited 58 veterans who again met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
In the control group, 26 received “treatment as usual” and the other 32 received six one-hour EFT Tapping sessions. All 13 of the practitioners who conducted the sessions were certified in EFT and were instructed to use only EFT in their therapy.
For the EFT group, researchers asked patients to make a list of the traumatic events they had experienced for use in their Tapping therapy. Examples included being injured in an explosion, watching friends or colleagues die, or killing an enemy.
Using the less intense events first, the participants were guided to use Tapping, including their thoughts and bodily sensations, which are key components to the Tapping process.
After gaining trust and confidence in the process, the vets were also encouraged to use EFT between sessions to reduce intensity of distress.
The results?
After 6 EFT sessions, there was a significant reduction in all scores compared to scores at pre-treatment.
These score reductions were also maintained at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups, just like the first study.
The researchers found that these results replicated the first study, concluding that “EFT is an evidence-based practice that is highly effective at reducing symptom severity in veterans with PTSD.”
“EFT is an evidence-based practice that is highly effective at reducing symptom severity in veterans with PTSD.”
Not only did this replicated study have the same findings as the first, it was also consistent with a meta-analysis (where researchers look at and analyze many studies on the same topic) that found EFT an effective treatment for PTSD in very short periods of time, and with only 4-6 treatment sessions.
A Kinder, Gentler PTSD Treatment
Tapping therapy is gaining much momentum, especially with complex hard-to-treat issues such as PTSD. It’s also a much softer approach than some of the traditional go-to methods, like exposure therapy.
In other treatment modalities, PTSD patients are typically asked to remember the traumatizing event in detail, or even go to the places where the event occurred. This can be extremely difficult for patients, and the therapist has to be extremely careful not to re-traumatize their client.
Because clients who use Tapping therapy create their own lists of events, EFT practitioners can gradually ease into the more difficult memories while tapping. Tapping on the acupressure points actually triggers the body’s natural relaxation processes.
I’ve done lots of work with trauma sufferers, both personally and through The Tapping Solution Foundation, and I’ve seen how POWERFUL and LASTING Tapping can be!
It is truly amazing and almost miraculous, at times. And it’s not JUST for veterans. Everyday people from all walks of life experience traumatic events of all levels.
I highly encourage you to try Tapping! You CAN heal!
Until next time,
Keep Tapping!
Nick
Do you know someone who could benefit from EFT Tapping therapy? Comment below, and please SHARE this blog with them!
July 19, 2017
How a “Diagnosis” Can Alter Your Life
It was the first session of my three-day pain relief event, and Vickie’s back pain was raging. She had volunteered to come up on stage and share the story of her diagnosis.
Tears streamed down her face as soon as she began to speak. “The doctor barely spent a few minutes with me before blurting out, ‘you’ll end up in a wheelchair’,” she shared. “It was just so brutal, so heartless… He didn’t have to say it that way.”
Vickie had gone to that doctor appointment full of hope, but had left so devastated, she could barely even respond to the doctor’s words.
Just thinking about her diagnosis was enough to put Vickie into a state of panic – and her chronic back pain into high gear.
Millions of people receive diagnoses like Vickie’s every day, and the experience in itself can be traumatic.
Think about it. There you are, already stressed out from having chronic pain, sitting in the doctor’s office, hoping for good news in spite of the unrelenting pain you experience most days.
Then the man or woman in the white coat walks in.
They’ve got the degree and the experience to prove how qualified they are. Naturally, you assume they know best, that what they say is the ultimate truth.
So when you hear them say words like “you’ll end up in a wheelchair” or “your pain will never go away”, it’s already too late…
By then, your rational brain has lost the battle.
The second you hear those words, your amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the mid-brain, goes on high alert, sending out distress signals throughout your body.
Your body is immediately flooded with the “stress hormone” cortisol, which shuts down specific parts of your brain, your digestive system, and more.
As much as your rational brain tries to reassure you that everything is okay, that you can get a second opinion and find pain relief, by this point your body is in full-blown panic mode, making it very difficult for you to think logically or creatively.
As the hours, days, and weeks pass, the words your doctor said to you continue to ring in your ears, putting your body and your brain into CHRONIC high-stress mode.
With so much of the “stress hormone” cortisol constantly flooding your system, you’re at even greater risk for pain.
So, while it IS critical that you go see a doctor and get a diagnosis, the experience of getting your diagnosis is now contributing to your pain, making it more intense and more frequent.
But wait, what’s really going on here? How is this even possible?
There’s a growing body of research that’s transforming our understanding of chronic pain.
Researchers at Stanford University, UC Davis, and other medical research institutions are finding that our stress and emotions influence whether pain becomes chronic, or goes away once a physical injury or health condition has healed or been successfully treated.
As I’ve seen over and over again in clients with chronic pain, once the underlying stress and emotions are released, pain relief happens.
For Vickie, that process began with a “sliver of hope.”
After tapping with me on stage and releasing the emotions she felt around her diagnosis, Vickie shared that she went home with a “sliver of hope.” Although her pain was still there, for the first time since her diagnosis, she believed that pain relief was possible.
Several weeks later, Vickie joined a group follow-up call to that pain relief event, and shared that she was still hopeful that her pain might go away. I then led her through several rounds of tapping to address the stress and overwhelm she was feeling.
By the end of our tapping, Vickie’s pain had completely gone away!
Her brain had heard the message, and quieted the danger signals it had been sending to her body. That’s when the chronic pain she’d had for so many years just disappeared.
“So this is what it feels like!” she exclaimed once her pain had vanished.
“It feels like a beautiful vacation… I feel amazing!”
Thanks to the larger process we went through during that pain relief event, tapping through the underlying elements that contribute to chronic pain, Vickie was just one of many who experienced pain relief.
Unfortunately, we could only fit a certain number of people in the room, and in the months following that event, we heard from so many of you who had wanted to attend, but hadn’t been able to.
We want everyone to have that same opportunity to experience lasting pain relief, so we created a pain relief home study course for you called:
The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief.
In The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief, I lead you through that same pain relief process that allowed Vickie, and so many others, to feel what it’s like to be pain-free again.
With The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief, we even include the recordings for the FULL Pain Relief World Summit, an online event that was attended by over 100,000 people.
This is such a powerful process, and the results we’ve seen are amazing. I still get so excited seeing people come out of it pain-free.
Ed’s Body Said “No” (Tapping for Crohn’s Disease)
A few weeks back, I was being interviewed by Dr. Ed Osburn for his podcast, “The Chiropractic Philanthropist”. He had invited me on to talk about my new book, “The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief” and I figured it would be a standard interview, explaining how tapping works, why it works so well for pain relief and how his listeners, mostly chiropractors, could use it with their patients as an adjunct to their work.
What I didn’t expect was when Dr. Osburn mentioned to me before we started recording that he had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2009 and had been in pain ever since. He told me it was something that he talked about openly on his podcast so I suggested that we explore tapping live on the podcast to see what might happen.
Now, that in and of itself is slightly remarkable, that I have SO much confidence in this technique and how I’ve seen it work again and again, that I’m willing to test it live on an interview. One might think it’s risky, or might say, “What happens if it doesn’t work, won’t you look silly?” but I’ve just seen it work so often that I don’t seem to blink an eye anymore when it comes to putting it to the test!
We started the interview, and after I had covered the basics with Dr. Osburn, we moved on to demonstrate the process. He told me that his pain, as we talked, was a four out of ten and that it was like that most morning, with it increasing throughout the day. So we started tapping, first focusing on the pain itself and then going deeper, asking questions like, “If there was an emotion in your gut, what would it be?” . We talked about “when it started” – what was going on in his life in 2009, and found a lot of “gold” to work with there.
When did it start?
Dr. Osburn shared that in 2009, he was running an extremely busy practice, training for a 100 mile race and just going, going, going non-stop. We tapped on some of the feelings around that time and also worked on what his life would be like if his pain went away completely. We identified some fears about the pain going away because if the pain went away…then he’d have to go back to his life in 2009, and he didn’t want that…
All this emotional conflict around the pain, all this turmoil, all this stress and fear was keeping his body from healing, and we worked to explore that and let it go. Within the 40 minutes we spent together on the podcast, only about 15 of them spent tapping, his pain went from a 4 out of 10 to a .5!!! Almost gone, he could barely feel it. We wrapped up the podcast and I offered to work with him for a few minutes longer, to see if we could get the pain down further.
After another 15-20 minutes of tapping, his pain was completely GONE! I was astounded. I continue to be every time I see this happens, because it’s just simply amazing. I asked him more about the pain, confirming that it was completely gone and asked him, “When was the last time you were pain free?” He replied, “2009”.
“Wait,” I said, “Just to be clear, you’ve been in pain constantly since 2009? Not one break?”
“Yes,” he said, “Even when I was on painkillers, I still felt the pain. This is the first time since 2009 that I’ve been pain-free.”
We were conducting the interview and session on video Skype, so I could SEE not only the relief on Dr. Osburn’s face, but also some confusion! How could this be happening! We signed off and I asked him to keep me appraised of what was happening and to continue tapping and going deeper.
I received this email from him the next day:
Yesterday was a very good day…I felt so much better I almost did not feel myself.
My wife was amazed (and so was I of course) –I was in my office in the afternoon for a consult and often I feel really crappy–but my energy was great and in fact I did not think about the discomfort or difficulties with heading to the practice once. Most often I am anxious and distracted–very unusual experience for me.
This morning I am about a 2/10….but that doesn’t matter because I know there is a strategy or tool to help–where there really wasn’t before–I have restored hope.
This stuff runs deep for me and I’d be very surprised of my healing did not require some work–I ran out yesterday and picked up your book “The Tapping Solution” at our local bookstore and I am determined to make this a daily ritual –there’s many limiting beliefs to work on.
What’s most exciting to me about this email is that Dr. Osburn has found HOPE and is willing to continue to working. It’s a good sign that the pain was only at a 2, so it’s less than when we started, and with continued work I know he can help his body heal.
So if you’re dealing with a diagnosis that seems hopeless, if you’re in pain, or feeling fatigue or just not experiencing the health you most desire, then I urge you to pick up a copy of my new book, “The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief”: http://thetappingsolution.com/pain-relief-book/
Comment below: What are you struggling with? What does this article bring up in you?
The post Ed’s Body Said “No” (Tapping for Crohn’s Disease) appeared first on The Tapping Solution.
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Weight Loss With Tapping
Certain times of the year, especially around November & December, we are filled with celebratory foods and drinks that are good for our spirit, but not so good for our waistline.
Come January 1st, the joy and carefree spirit of the holidays leave us. A drill sergeant moves into our head, telling us that the fun is over and it’s time to diet.
This was the pattern I ran for years… and years. A new year equaled a new diet.
Sure, the drill sergeant in my head made me feel awful, but isn’t that what it takes to get results? It took me a long time to realize this approach doesn’t flatten my stomach, but simply flattens my self-worth. You probably know that feeling too.
How many times have you started a new year with a new diet, only to find yourself in the last few weeks of January saying, “I give up! This is too hard. Nothing works for me.” You then feel worse than when you started.
The truth is, long-term weight loss is not possible or sustainable unless we make it pleasurable. And we can’t make it pleasurable unless we tap away our self judgments and critical voice.
Here are a few tips to help you make this year your healthiest year yet!
At the end of this post you’ll find a Tapping Meditation that will help you incorporate all of these tips.
Weight Loss with Tapping
December is filled with celebratory foods and drinks that are good for our spirit but not so good for our waistline. Come January 1st the joy and carefree spirit of the holidays leave us and a drill sergeant moves into our head and tells us the fun is over and it’s time to diet.
This was the pattern I ran for years… and years. A new year equaled a new diet. Sure, the drill sergeant in my head made me feel awful but isn’t that what it takes to get results? It took me a long time to realize this approach doesn’t flatten my stomach but simply flattens my self-worth. You probably know that. How many times have you started a new year with a new diet only to find yourself in the last few weeks of January saying “I give up. This is too hard. Nothing works for me.” You then feel worse than when you started. The truth is, long-term weight loss is not possible or sustainable unless we make it pleasurable. We can’t make it pleasurable unless we tap away our self judgments and critical voice.
Here are a few tips to help you make this year your healthiest year yet.
At the end of this post you’ll find a tapping meditation that will help you incorporate all these tips.
1. Leave the pattern of panic behind
When we begin to panic about our weight the part of our brain called the amygdala begins to fire off the fight-or-flight response. This creates an overproduction of the hormone called cortisol. Studies have shown that an overproduction of cortisol increases appetite, sugar cravings and is directly linked to abdominal obesity. That drill sergeant isn’t helping you, it’s making you fat!
The best way to kick that drill sergeant out of your head is to give it a voice while you tap. It’s really that simple. When you are able to become aware of you self-criticism and tap while speaking it to yourself, you’ll find that you can hear those words without feeling the physical sensation of anxiety. From that place you can choose a more loving thought and action that supports you
2. Forgive yourself
So your biggest arm work out this holiday season was opening a bottle of wine? The past is in the past. Next year you can learn healthier recipes and strategies to help support your body during the holidays. Beating yourself up over your past actions doesn’t prevent them from happening again, it simply robs you of the power in the present moment to make a change. Be gentle with yourself. Forgive.
3. Fall in love with the journey
If we focus on a strict goal with some made up deadline we then try to panic ourselves there by eating in a manner that’s restrictive and lacks joy. Un-pleasurable equals unsustainable. For real lasting weight loss we need to fall in love with the journey because health isn’t a destination but a decision we make every moment.
This isn’t really about a weight loss goal, this is about you showing up as your best self. It’s about eating foods that you love and help you thrive. It’s about moving your body because when there is movement in your body there is movement in your life. It’s about taking care of yourself because you have a deep appreciation for the amazing person you are. Once we fall in love with this process the results are better than we could have imagined.
Here is a tapping mediation to help you incorporate these three keys to create lasting weight loss with Tapping in the New Year:
Right click and save here to download this audio
From everyone here at the tapping solution, we wish you a happy and healthy new year.
With Love,
Jessica
P.S. – Come this May I’m coming out with a new book, “The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss and Body Confidence.” Watch this space. A lot more tapping goodness is on it’s way from me. ☺
The post Weight Loss with Tapping appeared first on The Tapping Solution.
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