Eft/tapping Q & A Podcast W/ Gene Monterastelli - Emotional Freedom Techniques

Let's be honest: Tapping/EFT looks weird when you do it, sounds weird when you explain it, and really is just plain weird. At least once a week as I explaining the work I do and how much I love tapping someone will start to look at me like I have three heads and slowly start creeping away. In any endeavor that we do it is important to have a community of support around us. In these communities we have the opportunity to learn from each other, support each other, and (most importantly) laugh with each other. In the Baltimore area (which is where I live) Steve Carter has done an amazing job in creating just this type of community. The community he has created is from everyone from full time practitioners to people who are just interested in finding way the live health and happier lives. It started very small and over the last few years has not only grown in numbers, but it has also in the quality of support the community provides. For me the only sadness is they normally meet on weekends and I travel 40 weekend

From my point of view the opposite of love is not hate, but instead fear. Fear is a very powerful force. It is very primal and is going to over ride most other emotions an thoughts. In this interview I talk with Colleen Flanagan about the many different faces of fear and how it can be at the root of many other issues. We spend a great deal of time talking about 5 distinct types of fear that can be used as lens to understand many of our deeper issues.

Stress is one of the biggest issues of modern life but I think that it is talked about so much that sometimes we tune it out. We need to keep our eye on how stress affects us day-to-day. Tapping for stress is easy to do and is much like brushing your teeth, you need do a little bit daily to make lasting change. In this interview I talk to Louise Woods about the impact of stress on the body and some simple things that you can do right now to improve your mood and your health.

As more time passes few and few people are aware of the roots of tapping as we know it. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) as presented by Gary Craig build upon the foundations of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). In this interview I chat with Joanne Callahan the co-developer of Thought Field Therapy with her husband Roger Callahan. Joanne has many great insights into not only how Thought Field Therapy came to be created and how we can add the tools and techniques of TFT to our daily tapping. In this conversation we cover the differences between FTF and EFT. We also talk about what psychological reversal is, how toxins affect the healing process, and how we can do something about both right away. We also spend time talking about one of Joanne's passions tapping for trauma (both big and small).

Doing this interview was particularly special to me. My guest Brad Yates was the person who first introduced me to Tapping/EFT. In this spirited conversation we talk about the importance of self-love, the obstacles to loving ourself, and what we can do with tapping to improve our view of ourselves. I know we talk a lot about self love and self acceptance when it comes to tapping. It is right there in the set up phrase, "I love and accept myself." Even with that being the case it is still one of the issues for my clients (and to be honest for myself) that we struggle with most and it is the topic we are least likely to tap for. I firmly believe all healing is rooted in self love and self acceptance. The audio on this podcast is a little rough. I have included a full transcript below because I didn't want you to miss the goodness.

In this podcast my friend Jondi Whitis discuss a bunch of topics around tapping and healing. In the conversation we cover: Being able to be honest about where we really are and why that is paramount to healing. Using where we are to build on knowing where would like to be. How to stay in the moment (which leads to healthier choices). Noticing what is happening emotionally. Is tapping similar to hypnotic induction? Why we resist healing and how can we deal with it. Why tapping doesn't work when I tap on my own. How I can move forward and still feel like I am going backwards. What to do when I don't know what I want. What to do when a client doesn't know how to talk about their emotions. How do I continue to grow my understanding that I am enough.

We all know the EFT mantra, "Try it on everything!" Deborah Miller took this completely to heart. Today she visits a cancer ward five days a week where she has the opportunity to work with children, parents, and even the hospital staff. In this interview she talks about her experience, what she has learned, and her hopes for the future. Even if you don't know someone with cancer and you don't think you will ever work in a hospital setting I encourage you to listen to this interview. There are many specific lessons you can apply to your own daily tapping practice and also in introducing tapping to others.

One of the biggest blocks for beginning tappers is using the setup phrase, "Even though...I love and accept myself." Sometimes we just don't believe it. Sometimes it is painful to think of how we don't love and accept ourselves, and because of this we don't spend time tapping. In this interview I chat with Steve Wells about the idea of self acceptance. During our conversation I quickly came to realize that Steve and I see acceptance and resistance in the same way. We talk about Steve's own (continuing) journey to self acceptance, how he made significant progress using a simple 30-day process, and how moving towards self acceptance heals many other issues in our lives.

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy." Jerry Seinfeld Fear of public speaking can affect not only large moments when we speak in front of a group of people, but also in the small moments like asking for help at a store. This is how I originally found my way to tapping. I could speak in front of 8,000 people but couldn't ask for help in a store. In this interview I talk with Janet Hilts about how we can use Tapping/EFT for many different aspects of public speaking. We explore how sometimes the issue isn't the speaking itself but aspects around it, and discuss a simple approach that you can use to start tapping for your public speaking fears right away.

In Pod #11: Tapping for Romantic Relationships I talked with Gina Parris about how we can tap to improve our romantic relationships. In this interview we take the next step and talk about how we can use tapping to improve our sexual relationship to reflect the emotional intimacy we share with our partners. It can put a real strain on a relationship when we don't feel truly connected to our partner and often we don't know how to talk about it, or even where to start. In this interview Gina shares practical tips for using tapping to rekindle the passion and fire in relationships.

Back in the fall I asked 10 practitioners that I admire and respect to answer 5 questions about the healing process, the healing journey, and their work with clients. The questions I asked them were: What lessons have you learned about healing from a client? What is something you have changed your mind about when it comes to healing, working with clients, or your own transformation process? If you were to start your own healing journey over again what would you do differently? What is one thing you wish your clients believed about themselves? What is one thing you wish your clients believed about healing process? You can check out their answers in the Round Up Archive Let me know your answers in the comment section below.

This is a slightly different type of podcast. Instead of a straightforward teaching or an interview it is much more a conversation. The topic of the conversation with my friend Jondi Whitis where we talk about using tapping protocols and how we find our ways to core issues. Techniques/Tools v Art of Delivery Simple v Complex Stories about how we chance and how that effects how we chance How we find our ways the right tapping phrases Resistance and the absence of resistance The eraser in my pocket How do we find the core issues better How to get clients to find more information about the issues The power of shutting up and listening (aka the comfortable silence) Choosing the issue to start with Worry v Fear How to talk about issues (esp. with kids)

Today's podcast is an interview with Jesse Jacobs and is little different. I first heard Jesse interviewed by Dan Benjamin on the business show "The Pipeline". Dan was interviewing Jesse about the tea house that he runs in San Francisco. What caught my attention was the last five minutes of the interview in which he started to talk about his use of the power of ritual in creating work that he loves and a life that nourishes him. In this interview we spend a little time talking about how he moved from being a techie to creating a space where people could relax, be at peace, and make real connections with others. The bulk of the interview is spent talking about this idea of ritual, its power, how it can ground us, and how we can add daily ritual to our lives. I find this interview helpful in two ways. First, it opened my eyes to the power of being in the moment (especially when it comes to all the senses). Second, we look at how we can create a daily ritual (like tapping) to create grounding for our day

This is a slightly different type of podcast. Instead of a straightforward teaching or an interview it is much more a conversation. The topic of the conversation with my friend Sue is cravings, eating, and weight release. Because of the nature of conversation we touch on many other things. We talk about: Reasons people have cravings Becoming the observer of our self How to be able to tap when something is happening, not just after the fact Why treat your inner voice like a 5 year old The difference between craving and savoring (lessons in conscious choice) What we can learn (and not learn) from "What Not To Wear" The balance between losing ourselves in our goals and total apathy Why it is good that we struggle with how we look Degrees of pain Trading one craving for another (changing habits v healing wounds) 3 steps to approach every problem

According to U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health Fibromyalgia is: a common syndrome in which people experience long-term, body-wide pain and tender points in joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. Fibromyalgia has also been linked to fatigue, sleep problems, headaches, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms. The cause of this disorder is unknown. Although none have been well proven, possible causes or triggers of fibromyalgia include: Physical or emotional trauma An abnormal pain response. Areas in the brain that are responsible for pain may react differently in fibromyalgia patients. Sleep disturbances, which are common in fibromyalgia patients. An infectious microbe, such as a virus. At this point, no such virus or microbe has been identified. The following conditions may be seen with fibromyalgia or mimic its symptoms: Chronic neck or back pain Chronic fatigue syndrome Depression Hypothyroidism Lyme disease Sleep disorders More and more I am seeing clients

When I approached my friend and fellow practitioner Rod Sherwin about what topic he wanted to talk about in a podcast interview he recommended a conversation about self-compassion. At the time of the interview I was unfamiliar with the word. Self-compassion is in stark contrast to self-esteem. It is all about seeing yourself in the same way as you see others. Often we are supportive and understanding when others fail, but when we fail we are very hard on ourselves. Self-compassion is about being able to extend that same love and understanding towards ourselves. In this interview we explore self-compassion in depth and practical ways in which we can incorporate it into our daily lives and our daily tapping.

There are few things more emotionally charged than money. Often one of the reasons we talk in terms of abundance and success is because we don't even want to say "I want money" or "I want cash" out loud. In this pragmatic interview with Margaret Lynch shares the four areas of money that we can tune into and start clearing issues right away.

We spend a great number of our waking hours at work. Not only do our working hours consume our time but also our emotions and our energy. In this interview with Rick Wilkes we talk about how stress and trauma in our personal and professional lives can affect our ability to be healthy and successful in our work. We talk about ways of discovering how these past traumas are impacting us now and how we can use tapping to clear them, enabling us to be more present in the moment.

One of the biggest challenges of the modern world is being fully present in the moment. Our attention seems constantly to be pulled in a million directions between the media we consume (even if it is just constantly chattering in the background), our loved ones, all the tasks that need to be done during the day, and everything we would like to achieve for our own growth. Being present in this moment is very challenging. In this interview with Ted Robinson we talk about how being present in the moment can benefit us and how we can use tapping to help us to achieve this state.

Tapping is great for physical pain and physical issues. When most people are introduced to tapping they learn to deal with pain by tapping on "this pain in my knee...this pain in my knee...this pain in my knee". In this interview with Carol Look we examine more advanced ways to look at the emotions associated with physical pain and how in many cases when we deal with the emotional issues we find our way to physical relief.