EFT/Tapping Q and A Podcast with Gene Monterastelli – Emotional Freedom Techniques

There is no question that we are impacted by our past. That seems so obvious that it doesn't even seem worth commenting on. Nevertheless I think it is easy to underestimate how some past experiences impact us. In my private sessions with clients it is amazing how often we find our way back to roots planted firmly in their childhood via current issues. We are more than impacted by our childhood experiences, we are deeply imprinted by them. In this interview I talk with EFT Master Jaqui Crooks about how we are affected by these childhood moments and how we can tap to create freedom from memories and lessons that are no longer helpful. http://tappingqandapodcast.com

This is really embarrassing, but it's a true story. I live in New York City. It is a pedestrian city where most people don't drive. Even when you take mass transit it still requires a lot of walking. The subway stop I use most is 3/4 of mile walk from my apartment. People here tend to be healthier as a result of the daily walking they have to do and because of this I see far fewer obese people in NYC than I do other places. Last week, I was in a rural part of the US. As we were entering a restaurant there was a group of people walking out. Two members of the group leaving the restaurant were obese; they were so big it was hard for them to walk. And this is the really embarrassing part… when I saw them my first thought and emotion was of disgust. It washed over my whole body to the point I felt sick to my stomach for a second. The second emotion was of total shame for being disgusted. I was, and am, so disappointed in myself. When something like this happens our emotional response is about us. It is about how we see ourselves, the world, and what we think is safe. My feelings of disgust had little to do with the people I saw and everything to do with how I see myself. In this recording you will hear me tap in real time for the feelings of disgust I experienced, the shame that soon followed, and all the issues that came up as I found my way to the root causes of those feelings. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

It happens all the time. You know how to do something. You might have done it a ton of times before. But the moment you step in front of someone else and have to do it you freeze. You might be before a whole group of people, like giving a presentation, or just in front of one person, like in a job interview. You get tense. And sweaty. You can't remember what to say or do. You might even shake. Things that usually come easily to us are suddenly really difficult when others are watching us. In this interview with Gina Parris we talk about performance anxiety and how you can use what Gina calls "3 R" to move past it. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Gina Parris Guest: Gina Parris Contact: web @ GinaParris.com web @ WinningAtRomance.com Twitter @GinaParris Facebook @ GianParris About Gina: Gina Parris is a speaker and performance coach. She works with competitors who want to play at their peak under any pressure. Gina is an expert on overcoming performance anxiety - whether in your most public performance or in your most “intimate” game. Gina has been a practitioner of EFT since 2004. [Note: As we talked about in this interview there are lots of reasons why we can be worried when we are taking action. If you are finding that anxiety is holding you back for taking action I would encourage you to check out the Ruach Center. There are over 160 tap-along audios that are designed to help you get out of your own way and take the action you want.]

In bonus podcast #38 I talked about the 4 reasons we sabotage ourselves. After I shared that podcast I received a number of emails asking about the best way to approach these four steps. The emails all focused on shifting the resistance to change self-sabotaging behaviors. To that end I want to share with you the most important question I ask when working with clients (and on my own) to figure out the issues behind resistance to change. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Are you looking for help in clearing your resistance to change so that you can take the actions you want for a better life? Members of the Ruach Center don't have this problem. Every morning they receive an email with a link to a tap-along audio that will set them up for success. Ruach Center has over 160 tools and tap-alongs that are designed to help you to tap to action. You should check it out: Ruach Center

[Note: If you find reading instructions more helpful than listening you should check out the article version of the topic.] When people unsubscribe from my mailing list they have the opportunity to leave a comment. I recently received a really interesting comment from someone who was unsubscribing from my list. She wrote: "I am very busy at the moment and I don't have time to practice, so I feel stressed out." I find that a fascinating comment. She is basically saying that her life feels so out of control that the thought of doing something that will make it better (like tapping) is too overwhelming. The reason she isn't willing to take the time to tap? It's not because she doesn't have the time or know how. The reason is because she isn't in enough pain. I'm serious. In the podcast I explain why being in pain is a good thing and how we can cultivate this pain to help us to take action. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Not Leaving You Alone To Face The Pain What I have just described can feel too overwhelming to deal with alone. One of the reasons for not asking those questions is if you are worried about stirring up more difficult emotions than you are able to handle on your own. You don't have to do this alone. Over the last 18 months you may have noticed that I have been focusing more and more on helping clients to take action, not just to feel better. If this is the type of tapping you want to do I would encourage you join the Ruach Center. You know those fears that you listed about taking action? Every single day members of the Ruach Center receive an email with a link to a tap-along audio dealing with those fears. Not only do members receive reminders to tap every day for their fears, but they have access over 150 tap-along audios and over 15 hours of audio instruction on tapping to take action. If you are tired of being stuck in the "tolerable middle" and ready to take action you should check it out.

Over the last few weeks I have found myself saying over and over again to my clients in our phone sessions that there are 4 reasons why we sabotage ourselves and stand in the way of taking the action we know we want to take. Without exception my clients respond, "Wait! I want to write this down." So here are those four reasons written down for you: We don't have a clear vision. We don't know how to take the step. It is painful to take action. It is painful to be successful. There are practical and emotional reasons that can show up in each of these four areas. In this week's podcast I walk through each of these AND how you can start tapping for them. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes [Note: Here is the information on the live event I am doing March.] Are you looking for help to go after these four reasons why we don't take action? Members of the Ruach Center don't have this problem. Every morning they receive an email with a link to a tap-along audio that will set them up for success. Ruach Center has over 150 tools and tap-alongs that are designed to help you to tap to action. You should check it out: Ruach Center

Last week I wrote about the difference between tapping which makes us feel better vs. tapping that leads us to action. Both of these are useful and important ways we can use tapping. It became obvious from the email questions that I received that most people are very familiar with tapping to take action AND most people were confused about exactly how to do that. In this short audio I explain how I tap each morning and each evening to move me to a place to not only taking action, but making sure I am taking the right action. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Tapping in this way doesn't happen by accident. We need a plan when we sit down to tap and we need to tap on the right things. The phrase I hear all the time in my practice is, "I don't know exactly what to tap on." Members of the Ruach Center don't have this problem. Every morning they receive an email with a link to a tap-along audio that will set them up for success. Ruach Center has over 150 tools and tap-alongs that are designed to help you to tap to action. You should check it out: Ruach Center

In a recent Time magazine artile Jessica Lamb-Shapiro points out that only 8% of us follow through on our New Year’s resolutions, with most people giving up within a week. There are lots of reasons for this. We create goals that are too big, we don't create an infrastructure or system that will set us up for success, and we are trying to change old habits with willpower alone. It is really easy to feel frustrated with our failed attempts at change. In this week's podcast we tap for dealing with the frustration of not following up on our goals and also do some tapping to set you up to start taking action towards your New Year's resolutions. Think of this as the reset button for your New Year's Resolutions. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Are you tired of failed New Year's Resolutions and setting goals that rapidly fall by the wayside? Ruach Center is designed to help you get clear about your goals, create action steps, and provides over 150 tap-along audios that will help you to take the action necessary to achieve them. For more information and how to gain access to over 150 tap-along audios and other tools check out the details.

In December I was the guest on the Tapping Solution's monthly ‘Ask The Expert’ call. We answered questions about anger, fear of finding work, how to tap for the fear that comes up when physical symptoms persist, how to tap for feeling overwhelmed, and what to do when we keep sabotaging our own success. Thanks to Kris (and the callers) for such a great time. If you missed the call you can hear the whole thing here.

It is all too easy to feel that we are trapped by our past choices and our current situation. But these things do not define us or who we can choose to be. In this short tapping audio we place ourselves at a fresh starting point. This is a great way to start a new year! I would recommend you start your day with this audio for a few days in a row.

A few weeks ago I had very powerful tapping session with one of my clients. After the session I asked her if I could share it with you. Here is part two of the session. I have removed my client’s side of the conversation so that you can tap along as well. The funny thing about God's unconditional love is that it is without condition. That seems obvious on some level intellectually. But in fact it is something that is hard to accept. We don't see ourselves as being worthy of God's love because of all the things we do wrong. We don't need to heal ourselves to receive God's love. God's love is there to be healing. In this audio we tap for that fact. I would recommend you tap to this audio a number of days in a row.

A few weeks ago I had very powerful tapping session with one of my clients. After the session she agreed that I could share it with you. Here is part one of the session. I have removed my client’s side of the conversation so that you can tap along as well. In this part of the session we tap on the struggle to forgive ourselves. Often we find it much easier to forgive others than it is to forgive ourselves. When we look at our own choices we feel we should have known better or done better. This is a very powerful tapping session and I would encourage you to tap to it a number of times this week.

The holidays can be a very stressful time. There are million things going on, we are tempted by tasty treats at every turn, and we are surrounded by people who sometimes push our buttons. Here is the audio of the free holiday tap-along I did on Dec. 7th. Join the tapping fun!

Managing social anxiety can be difficult. It is not like the fear triggered by something like a snake we encounter in our path. Social anxiety is insidious, sitting just below the surface, and impacting our every interaction in some way big or small. Not having one specific memory to start with can make tapping for it tricky. I know this firsthand as this was the very issue that first brought me to tapping. I wish that I had known Sebastiaan van der Schrier when I started out on my own tapping journey. Sebastiaan specializes in tapping for social anxiety. In this interview he walks us through his comprehensive 8-step process for working with social anxiety, which can also be applied to many other issues.

EFT does a great job of helping us to feel better in the moment. In a very short time we can go from being emotionally overwhelmed to calm. But we know there is much more that can be achieved with tapping. Not only is it helpful for short-term relief but it can also help create long-term change. I had an interesting conversation with a client this week. "Jackie" was relaying the fact we had tapped for an issue a few weeks earlier, a major shift had happened when we tapped, and it was still hard to make new choices in the moment when the issue came up. In today's podcast I address why Jackie experienced what she did and some simple things you can do with your tapping to make sure you experience not just short-term relief but long-term change. Here is the podcast I reference in this recording. Pod #91: Using The Gamut Point To Make Long Lasting Change Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes