October 2, 2025 • 57 mins
Summary
In this episode of Retrieving Sanity, host Keegan Read speaks with EFT coach Lauren Fonvielle about the transformative power of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). Lauren shares her personal journey with anxiety and how tapping has helped her and her clients find relief from emotional and physical pain. The conversation delves into the science behind EFT, its practical applications, and the importance of acknowledging emotions. They discuss the connection between mind and body, the role of intention in healing, and how tapping can be a versatile tool for personal growth and recovery. Lauren emphasizes the need for self-care and encourages listeners to explore different modalities to support their mental health journey.
Check her website out here: http://www.mindshiftwithlauren.com/
Takeaways
EFT is a practice that combines tapping on specific body points with emotional acknowledgment.
Personal experiences with anxiety can enhance empathy in coaching others.
Tapping can help release both emotional and physical pain.
Listening to the body is crucial for emotional and physical health.
EFT can reduce cortisol levels significantly, promoting calmness.
The practice is adaptable and can be integrated with other modalities like yoga and Reiki.
Acknowledging uncomfortable emotions is essential for healing.
Skepticism is common, but openness can lead to positive experiences with EFT.
Tapping can assist in overcoming limiting beliefs and enhancing self-confidence.
Self-care is vital; you cannot help others if you do not take care of yourself first.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to EFT and Personal Journey
02:32 The Impact of Tapping on Anxiety and Physical Pain
05:30 Understanding Emotions and Their Physical Manifestations
08:36 The Science Behind EFT and Its Effectiveness
11:23 Practical Application of EFT Techniques
14:20 EFT and Emotional Healing
17:25 Exploring the Connection Between Body and Mind
20:22 Incorporating Other Modalities with EFT
23:21 EFT in Everyday Life
26:16 Recognizing Changes and Healing with EFT
29:00 The Power of Intention in Energy Work
31:20 Acknowledging Emotions: The Key to Healing
32:23 Understanding Emotional Discomfort
36:24 Tapping as a Tool for Addiction and Cravings
39:47 Safety in Emotional Healing: The Gentle Approach
40:39 The Importance of Feeling to Heal
48:43 Real-Time Transformation Through Tapping
53:37 Integrating Tapping into Daily Life
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Tapping can help remove and reduce limitingbeliefs. limiting beliefs like I'm not good
enough or who am I to do this or, you know,those that negative voice that can be in our
head. And a lot of the times those beliefs comefrom experiences that we've had as children,
right?
(00:22):
Hello hello and welcome back to Retrieving Sanitywith your podcast host Keegan and this is your
podcast for all mental health addiction recoveryissues and topics and I've got some questions
for you today mostly just one. Have you triedpretty much everything you think of to well
better yourself or try to get better? Well todaywe've got Lauren Fonville with us and she is
an EFT coach of sorts and much more than thatbut before I just don't do her justice Lauren
(00:48):
why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselfwhere you're from and what got you to where
you are today? Sure. Yeah. So I am an EFT, whichstands for emotional freedom techniques. uh
And that's a practice of gently tapping on certainpoints of the body while acknowledging how
you're feeling. So I'm both a practitioner anda trainer. And it has been a practice that
(01:12):
has helped me personally with my anxiety andstress levels and has also, you know, I've
been able to witness all these shifts in myclients as well. And so I came to find this
modality through my own struggle with anxiety. And I really started to feel better when
I was using it. And that's really all it tookwas just noticing like, huh, this is weird,
(01:38):
but it's making me feel a little better. Andso I wanted to learn more. So I kept taking
classes and it sent me down this path wherenow I have the honor. sharing it with other
people to help them feel better in their bodiesbecause we all deserve to feel good. Yeah
that's for sure. em I'm sorry to hear that youhad to sit there and go through struggles of
(02:00):
your own but that kind of makes it all the betterright because you know what it's like to have
the struggle you know what it's like to actuallydo it so you can sit there and you can guide
people whenever they're hitting those roadblocksand stuff whenever you're trying to teach them
that kind of thing right. Yeah, yeah. I mean,I think because I've had the experience with
having panic attacks and anxiety, it makesme perhaps a little bit more understanding
(02:24):
than someone who hasn't experienced that. Ithink because I have had this personal experience
with tapping, it just lends itself to why I'mso passionate about it, because it was such
a game changer for me. Hmm, got it. So whatmade it such a game changer for you, though?
Because, I mean, did you try other things? Yeah, I've tried all sorts of things. My healing
(02:51):
journey really started with yoga and I signedup to become a yoga teacher and going through
that training, I was at the yoga studio a lotand I was exposed to a wide variety of modalities
including sound healing and meditation and Reikiuh and ultimately came to... to find tapping.
(03:13):
so for me, I, and I think like a lot of people,when I'm under a lot of stress and I'm dealing
with a lot of anxiety, I have physical symptomsof that. And at that time, my physical symptoms
were a lot of tension in my neck and in my jaw.And I have TMJ and sometimes my jaw would get
so fat I would... um lock up and it wouldn't,you know, I'd go into the shower in the morning
(03:37):
hoping that the hot water would relax my musclesenough that my jaw would unlock. And when
I was first introduced to tapping, I was reallyintrigued by the idea that not only could it
help reduce anxiety and stress, but it couldalso reduce physical pain. And so when I
had my first one-on-one session, that's whatwe worked on. And through that process, I
(04:02):
kind of had this aha moment and recognizedthat there was a lot of anger and betrayal
that was hanging on in my jaw. And just simplyacknowledging that and realizing that and holding
space for those emotions. helped me to releasethem. And I can honestly say that since finding
(04:23):
tapping, I have not had that level of a triggerwhere I'm dealing with that sort of pain, that
level of pain. I'm really sorry to hear thatyou were dealing with that kind of pain. Yeah.
The TMJ is really bad at jaw pain right up there,correct? Like nerve damage? Yeah, it's just
like this constant like... You know, a lot ofthe time when you have TMJ, you're clenching
(04:45):
at night. There's just this tightness. The muscleslike seize up and uh yeah, it's not fun. It's
not fun, but it's been a blessing that I wasable to find this. now that, you know, now
it's more of a thing like when I start tofeel something physically and you know, sometimes
(05:06):
I'll do, I will get sensation in my jaw. Andthat's an indicator, right? Like, okay, something
is going on. need to explore it a little bitmore. So because of all of these practices
that I've learned, it's really helped me tocultivate a better relationship, like between
the mind and the body. So when the body startsspeaking and like whispering, that's the time
(05:28):
to listen. Because I think we all know thatif we don't listen when our body's whispering.
we end up having to hear and deal with our bodiesscreaming and nobody enjoys that, that's for
sure. That is for sure. And it kind of remindsme of the whole, if you don't take a break
or if you don't rest, your body will take onefor you and it's not going to be in an ideal
(05:52):
time. Yeah. You know? So it kind of wouldmake sense that same kind of thing goes for
our emotions or the way that we handle anxietyand stress. because a lot of us like to just
kind of hold it in because we don't really knowwhat to do with it, right? Exactly. And so
I guess for you, it kind of manifested in yourjaw mostly, right? And so that's where your
(06:14):
neurons just went, all right, I know where togo whenever we don't got anywhere else to go
and just headed straight to there. Does thatsound kind of right? Yeah, no, I think that's
exactly it. know, and just like you said, alot of us, when we feel uncomfortable emotions,
We don't like that. So typically what we dois we shove it down, right? And then we distract
(06:34):
ourselves with something else. We throw ourselvesinto our work or we throw back a few too many
beers or glasses of wine so that you don't haveto feel that discomfort. And while that may
help in the short term, I think we all knowthat in the long term, all that stuff that
you've been stuffing down is gonna build upand build up until you get to a point where
it's... going to explode and sometimes thatexplodes physically in the body with physical
(06:58):
pain sometimes it explodes with an emotionalyou know meltdown and it's our job to really
listen to our bodies and and acknowledge theemotion and as a as uncomfortable as it
may be sit in that discomfort because when wedo that it allows us to process it and allows
(07:19):
us to move through it which allows those emotionsto move and If we're not doing that, then we're
going to be forced to do it at some point, youknow what I mean? And we don't have to get
to that point where we're so... That's a reallygood way to put that because going on four
years sober, I'm sitting here and learning thatthe hardest thing about being sober is just,
(07:41):
well, dealing with my feelings, right? Likethat's what I was trying to avoid that whole
time. And it was interesting because a lot ofthem were those negative or really... quote
unquote negative or maybe feel not great. Butat the same time, I felt so much better whenever
I actually processed them in a certain way,instead of just kind of ignoring them and running
(08:02):
away. And so EFT, you're kind of doing thattoo, but you're actually like charging head
on with like a weapon actually, right? I don'tknow if I call tapping a weapon, but I got
where you're going with it. I mean, the theidea. Well, so the definition of emotion. is
energy in motion, right? So it's this idea thatour emotions want to be acknowledged, they
(08:27):
want to be felt, they don't want to be shovedaway and ignored and, you know, like, not
felt. so, yeah, so tapping is the tool thatyou can use to help you, because sometimes
you don't even know what the emotion is, right?Like I've had people come to me that just
say, I'm so overwhelmed, I'm so stressed outand I'm so overwhelmed. And it's this big global
(08:50):
thing. Everything's bothering me, right? Andso you start there and you can, when you're
tapping on these specific points of the body,you're speaking out loud and you're talking
about how you're so overwhelmed and you're sostressed out. And then as you do that, and
as you're tapping on these specific points,which are end points of the meridians, which
is the meridians are how energy moves throughthe body. So some of the same points that if
(09:13):
you were to go to an acupuncturist, they wouldput needles in at and uh you know, all over
the body, but with tapping there's just certainpoints. And so as you're tapping on these
points and you're saying how you feel, whatstarts to happen is that things from your subconscious
mind begin to make their way up to the consciousmind. So sometimes, you know, there's a direct
(09:34):
link like, okay, I'm really stressed out andoverwhelmed because I've got this big project
at work and it's all consuming, right? ah However,there might be other contributing factors that
are, you know, aiding in the feeling that you'refeeling. And maybe it has to do with memories
of the past or a past project that you workedon that, you know, who knows, the boss said
(09:57):
something to you that made you feel a certainway about yourself, right? And as you're tapping,
that memory comes up to the surface. And there'sa reason for that because there's still emotion
that's not processed from that event. And sotapping can help you to move through that.
And it really is this beautiful process of, you know, connecting the dots of uh why you're
feeling the way you're feeling and helping youto release that so you can move forward and
(10:21):
feel good. Interesting. So EFT is essentiallythe, let's say the timid acupuncture, right?
Yeah, so it's acupressure. So it's some ofthose same points, but we're applying acupressure.
So you can either gently tap on the points or you can just apply pressure and maybe massage
(10:41):
the points. uh Either way can be effective.Okay. And you said you, have certain spots
to do it and everything like that because that'sthe way that the energy flows through the body.
so you had tapped up here on your face. Yeah.I'm assuming that does. through the points?
Uh, you totally can if you'd Yeah. Yeah. Sothe first point is on the pinky side of the
(11:03):
hand. Okay. And that's where you do what's calledthe setup statement. And the setup statement
is, it goes like this. It's that you would saysomething like, even though I'm feeling really
anxious and overwhelmed. I love, honor, andaccept myself. So the first half of the sentence
is focused on what you're feeling, the emotion,and the second half is something more positive.
And sometimes people struggle with saying, I love and accept myself. So you can say ah
(11:29):
something else that feels true. So even thoughI'm stressed out and overwhelmed, that's just
how it is today, right? So words that we use are important, and it's important that what
you're saying feels true and really resonateswith you. And then the rest of the points are
what we call reminder points. So then you moveto the top of the head, the crown of the head,
and you would just say, I'm so stressed andanxious. And then we can move to the eyebrows,
(11:53):
the start of the eyebrows, all this anxiety.Then we would move to the sides of the eyes.
This is a common point that sometimes peoplewill just naturally touch during the day. And
if you're feeling stressed and anxious, youcome to the temples and you just maybe give
yourself a little massage. And you would repeatagain, I'm anxious and stressed. And then under
the eyes, all of this anxiety. And then wego under the nose. I'm feeling stressed out.
(12:19):
And then onto the chin crease, all of thisstress. And then we come to the collarbone.
This is another common point for people. Maybeyou bring your one hand to your chest. You
can do it with two hands, just below the bone or one hand with the index finger and thumb
really spread apart. All this anxiety. andthen under the arm, the side of the body about
(12:41):
two and a half inches down from the armpit, feeling stressed and overwhelmed. And then
the back of the hand between the pinky and thering finger. So stressed. And so that is
what we call a round of tapping, simply becauseyou're tapping around in a circle. And some
points are more sensitive than others. Mostpeople will have like a favorite point that
(13:04):
they just tend to go to. uh And... The otherthing is that there's science behind this,
because sometimes it can feel really woo woo,right? Like, I'm tapping on myself and I'm
supposed to feel less anxious, like what theheck is going on? But what's happening when
we're tapping on these points is that it'sactually sending a message to the amygdala
in the brain, and the amygdala is the part ofthe brain that controls fight, flight, or freeze.
(13:27):
So I like to do this visual learning of this.So I'm going to take my fist here, and uh my
thumb is in the middle. and my fingers arearound my thumb. So if we pretend that this
is my brain and where my knuckles are is themy forehead, which is the prefrontal cortex.
This is where we make all the good decisions,right? So information comes up the brainstem
(13:51):
to the prefrontal cortex where we make all ofthese good decisions. Now, when we're under
chronic stress, chronic anxiety, chronic pain,that sort of thing, information comes up the
brainstem, but now the amygdala, that alarmcenter is going off. And when that alarm center
is going off, it's sending cortisol into thebody, the stress hormone. So now when the
(14:11):
information's trying to get up to the prefrontalcortex, it literally can't get there. So this
is those situations where you might be so anxious,so stressed, in so much pain, that you may
even say to yourself or out loud, I can't eventhink straight right now. And you literally
can't because you can't access that part ofthe brain. So when we're tapping on these
(14:31):
points, it's actually sending a message to theamygdala and it's saying, hey amygdala, This
is not a life or death situation. You don'tneed to be creating all of that cortisol. So
slowly the alarm starts to go off and the prefrontalcortex comes back online. So now you can begin
to think more clearly. And the studies haveshown that tapping can reduce the amount of
(14:52):
cortisol by up to 43%. So it's a really, reallybig number to help you feel calmer in your
body and more in control. Wow. 43%. That is...It's a big number. That was a study that was
done by Dr. Peter Stapleton who's located overin Australia and it was done with saliva
(15:15):
tests before and after tapping to see whatthe cortisol levels were. So pretty impressive.
So what I always like to say to people is thatif you remember anything about tapping, it's
maybe just figuring out which point feels thebest for you and when you start to feel stressed
and anxious or you start to... realize you'redealing with a lot of pain and you're overwhelmed,
(15:36):
just tap on that one point and take some nicedeep breaths. And that in itself is going to
help you lower your cortisol levels. And thenthat added component of speaking out loud as
you tap on the point is even gonna take it tothe next level. That's really interesting.
And I was just about to ask if that 43 % waslike just one little session or something,
(15:57):
or if it was like a whole bunch of sessions,but if that was just one session. Yeah, and
it was in it was group tapping too. So it wasn'teven just like a one-on-one session It was
a group of people tapping together In a spaceso it's pretty pretty amazing. I mean, there's
some amazing studies that back it up Therewas a study that was done um on a group of
(16:19):
veterans who had been diagnosed with PTSD tappingcan also help with the symptoms of PTSD and
so the they tapped with these veterans for six weeks and they met with them individually
for six weeks and did tapping, I think for aboutan hour. And then at the end of the six weeks,
90 % of the veterans in that group had a reductionin their PTSD symptoms. So that's pretty powerful
(16:44):
stuff too. And you know, it's not just veteransthat are dealing with trauma and PTSD. I think
all of us are on some level. Oh yeah. I wouldhave to agree that I think everyone has been
traumatized at one point or another, probablymostly by their parents and or... But that's
the thing is that as we are growing part ofthat is to help either mature but really I
(17:06):
think that that is just a healing kind of journeyfiguring out who we really are picking up the
pieces going ah that one didn't really fit Idon't like it anyways you know kind of thing
or maybe that one is part of like me and I needit anyways you know even if I don't like it
so maybe can tapping help people get more comfortablewith themselves in a sense like to be more
(17:27):
confident maybe Yeah, absolutely. So tappingcan help with reducing, sorry about my dogs
in the background. Tapping can help removeand reduce limiting beliefs. So limiting beliefs
like I'm not good enough or who am I to do thisor, you know, those that negative voice that
(17:47):
can be in our head. And a lot of the times toyour point that those beliefs come from experiences
that we've had as children, right? Whether itbe something that a teacher said to you,
like for example, maybe a teacher told you,yeah, you're really terrible at math, right?
And so then you go through the rest of schoolthinking, oh gosh, I'm really terrible at math.
(18:11):
So now you have this belief and you're startinga business and uh looking at your numbers is
really scary because again, you're still carryingthis belief that I'm not good at math, but
you don't even consciously really rememberthat. You just have this belief, yeah, I suck
at math, right? And so. tapping through thatwill likely bring that memory to the surface
so that you can hold space for it and move throughit and realize, you know, that's not true.
(18:37):
That's something that I took on from somebodyelse and I can move forward in a different
way. And so it, a hundred percent can help you, you know, uh identify things that you need
to acknowledge and then help you to feel moreconfident for sure. Okay. Nice. I like that.
oh So to follow up on that one, are we familiarwith the uh left and right side of the body
(19:04):
and like left is feminine or receiving andright is masculine slash giving? Do you think
EFT will have effects on which part of the bodyyou Necessarily which part of the body. Sometimes
a common question is like, oh, well, I have this particular issue. Is there a particular
part of the body that I should tap on? And theanswer to that is no, because you just tap
(19:27):
on all of the points as part of the protocol.ah But it is interesting, you know, because
I also do energy work and I'm a Reiki practitioner.And so I work with a lot of entrepreneurs who
are, ah you know, go-getters, right? They're like, just push through and keep going and
(19:48):
power through. And sometimes that masculineside of the body is really... dominant. And
so then it's this idea of accessing the feminineside and being able to, you know, lean into
self care and that sort of thing too. And sosome of that comes up with the beliefs that
(20:09):
somebody has. And then I like to incorporatemaybe some reiki into the session. you know,
I'm all about uh figuring out what modalitieswork best for you and going with that. Sometimes
I'll incorporate movement into a session too,because I'm a yoga teacher. I think all of
(20:32):
it plays into each other. That's awesome. Have you ever incorporated somatic dance? uh
I have not into a session. I did go to my firstsomatic dance class not too long ago and I
really loved it. I could totally see how youcould do some tapping perhaps as like a grounding
thing in the beginning of that class and maybeas a way to like end that class to really
(20:58):
settle yourself in. think could be a tappingcould be a practice that is incorporated into
pretty much any modality that you enjoy. Yeah,that's awesome because I think one of the
powerful things about it that I'm kind of pickingup on is that our bodies are telling our bodies
that it's okay, you know, and normally our brainis telling the body, this isn't okay. But the
(21:20):
body and the brain are kind of in tandem wheneverwe're tapping on our own body, right? Yeah,
yeah, it's a that's exactly it. It's it's thissuch a great way to create that that connection
and that communication between the mind andthe body because you're usually Yeah, you're
usually are like in your in your mind. And soif you can really begin to tune into how you
(21:42):
are feeling. Or if you're somebody that isdealing with physical pain, one of the questions
that I always like to ask when working withsomeone with physical pain is like, if the
sensation that you're experiencing could speak,what would it say? And it's an interesting
question. uh Many times people have said, thesensation's telling me to slow down. The sensation's
(22:07):
telling me to rest. I'm like, okay. uh Anotherone, when we talk about physical pain that
I sometimes ask is, there was a benefit foryou being in pain, what would the benefit
be? Is there any sort of benefit that you canthink of? And that can be a powerful question.
(22:29):
You know, the thing is, is that it's a stickyquestion because most people would say, no,
there's no benefit for me being in pain. Butif... you are willing to kind of pause and
really think about that and an answer naturallycomes. That's something to explore. had a
client who was dealing with a lot of pain inher knees. I asked her that question and she
(22:53):
really paused and she said, well, because I'mdealing with all this pain in my knees, my
kids are coming to visit me more often. Andbecause of that, you know, question, then
that opened a door for us to talk about, okay,well, if you're really healthy. Or is there
a fear that you're not going to have the sametype of relationship with your kids, right?
(23:13):
And so as we continue to tap on that, she startedto notice in real time a shift in her pain
level and she was freaking out like, what'shappening? My knees are feeling better. I don't
know what's happening. And so our bodies havemessages for us and she had no idea that that
message was even there. But it was. Huh. That's really interesting. And it just kind
(23:36):
of highlights that we're much more capableof handling ourselves than we think or so
we're not really taught these kind of thingsright and that's kind of the scary part but
here's a random thought that just popped inmy head hear me out do you have any tattoos?
do. Do you think that getting a tattoo wouldbe essentially like tapping therapy in a sense
(24:02):
because it's called needle therapy right soit's just a whole bunch of like little taps
at the whole time Maybe if it was on one ofthe endpoints of the meridians, potentially.
I don't know. Because I mean, like back inthe hands, Yeah. Because I was just kind
of curious because, you know, needle therapyalways feels good. And it's one of those things
(24:25):
where like you either talk to your tattoo artistand you get some stuff off your chest or just
like shoot the shit or whatever, you know, andthen. you're usually walked out feeling pretty
good and maybe you talked about something thatyou don't tell anyone else and you're just
kind of like, why did tell that person that?That's weird. it's its own form of therapy,
right? Mm hmm. And with EFT though, you'reable to do this really anywhere, right? Do
(24:49):
you ever feel silly doing like this in the middleof public or something? I mean, I feel like
I'm at a point where I don't really care, butI will say there are additional points. So
the points that I walk you through are the mainpoints of the protocol. But just like with
acupuncture, how there are points all over thebody, there are additional points. And so if
you don't want to be tapping your head in themiddle of public, you know, out at the target
(25:11):
or whatever, when you're stressed out by allthe lines, if you squeeze at the end of the
bed of the nail on any finger and just, yeah,just squeezing on the sides of the nails, yep,
on any finger. And then, you know, if you justhave your hands in your lap, you know, or even
if not, like it just looks like you're fidgeting.doesn't. people aren't gonna think anything
(25:32):
of it. ah And it's doing the same thing. It'ssending that message to the amygdala that's
going off and saying, hey, you don't need allthat cortisol. And so just squeezing there
and taking some nice deep breaths is going tohelp calm you. um It's a great one, like if
you're in a meeting at work and somebody's sayingsomething that's really triggering for you,
or maybe if you're in a doctor's office andsometimes a doctor's trying to talk to you
(25:57):
and you're... feeling really overwhelmed withit. can help ground you in the moment. it can,
it can, it can come in handy for sure. Yeah.It's also a good way to check if you're hydrated.
True, With that, we can sit there and uhdo this tapping basically anywhere and we
(26:19):
can sit there and essentially have a superpowerbecause we don't need, let's just say outside
influences to regulate the nervous system. Right,yeah, no, all you need is your fingertips and
even if sometimes if people are in bed, theydon't feel like tapping, even if you just close
your eyes and like visualize yourself tappingon the points, they've also shown that that
(26:40):
can help to reduce the cortisol level. So yeah,you don't really need anything other than
your fingers and um you know, noticing whatthoughts are coming up and taking it one
thought at a time. Real quick before I getto the next question where can people find
you if they need a little bit of help with whatyou offer? Yeah, so you can find me on my
(27:02):
website which is mind shift with Lauren calm and then if you look up mine shift with Lauren
on Instagram you'll find me on there as welland I have I have a YouTube same thing mine
shift with Lauren Awesome. Well, we need tomake sure everyone visits that because you've
got a wealth of knowledge and this is just awesome Yeah, thank you. Of course. And but that's
(27:29):
kind of thing though, right? Whenever we'resitting there and we're kind of relaxed in
a sense, our nervous system behaves differentlythan what we may be used to because we're so
used to just go, go, go, go, go. So what isone of the things that someone first recognizes
whenever the EFT starts working? Because yousaid that that one client started noticing
(27:50):
the pain difference right away. Is there somethingelse that you've seen someone kind of physically
express, I suppose? Yeah. Well, I mean, I cansay the first time that I experienced it,
it was just this this feeling of, huh, I feela little calmer. I don't know why this is
working. This is weird, but I feel a littlecalmer. So it can it can be just something
(28:15):
as subtle as that. Then when I had my firstone-on-one session, I kind of had that aha
moment that I was talking about and a reductionin the pain after recognizing what emotion
was going on there. Sometimes it's more of,it can be little, it can be little or it can
be big. There's a wide range and it really dependson the person and it depends on. you know,
(28:41):
how long they've been dealing with whateverparticular issue it is that they're tapping
with. Also their readiness to for healing.Again, that's something else that's sticky
because you ask somebody who's in pain if they'reready for healing, they're going to say yes.
But when I say that, it's that same idea of kind of being able to pull back and think
(29:02):
about things from a different perspective. And, you know, sometimes there's someone that is
just like ripe and ready to do the work andand there's a shift right away. I will say
that does not always happen. So it can be anywherefrom a subtle feeling to something larger,
for sure. Awesome. I love that. It's somethingthat is unique and individualized, just like
(29:23):
what people are going through themselves. Onething I remembered the question. uh whenever
we're sitting there, you said you can visualizeyourself tapping on your own meridian points
and essentially do the same thing, maybe notas effective. but along the same lines to where
it does the job. So you're also a Reiki practitioner,so you work with energy in the sense of you
(29:48):
can't see it, but it's there and it's doingsomething. So do you think that our intention
kind of gets stuck within ourselves? I mean,I think the reason why it works is because
again, we're just holding space for how we feel.and whether we're actually tapping on the point
or picturing ourselves tapping on the point.It's something that I'll do if I wake up in
(30:10):
the middle of the night when you've got allthose thoughts racing through your head. And
my intention in that moment is to fall backasleep, right? uh But maybe it's like I'm worried
about whatever I have the next day or I'm thinkingabout something that's going on with one of
the kids. And so maybe I'm just laying therewith my eyes closed kind of. going through
the points in my head thinking like, I haveall these worries, I can't turn my mind off,
(30:35):
but I'm okay, I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonnafall back asleep, everything's okay, right?
And so I think um it's this combination ofacknowledging how you're feeling with that
intention of moving the needle towards the betterthought or feeling, because sometimes what
people will say is like, oh when we're saying,oh, I'm so stressed out, I'm overwhelmed, all
(30:59):
this anxiety, it's like, are you tapping inthe bad thing? We're saying the bad thing over
and over again. And I wanna make it clear,no, we're not tapping in the bad thing. What
we are doing is acknowledging how we actuallyfeel. We're not sugarcoating it. We're not
just saying a positive affirmation because youcould do that. You could say, okay, recognize
(31:21):
I'm really stressed out and you could say, go to the opposite end of the spectrum and
say, life is easy, breezy, and I feel wonderful,right? You could say that, but then there's
a real disconnect between what you're sayingand how you're actually feeling. And so tapping
is about really tuning into how you're actuallyfeeling. And when you do that, then other
(31:43):
thoughts are gonna come out. Yeah, I'm reallystressed out, but I have a really great support
system. or I'm really stressed out, but I knowa lot of it's related to this project and that's
coming to an end, right? And that feels a littlebit better than just saying, ah, I'm so overwhelmed
and stressed out. And so, I mean, I do thinkyour intention is important, but I think even
more so it's meeting yourself where you areand allowing yourself to feel whatever it is
(32:07):
that you're feeling. Hmm, okay. That's reallyinteresting. So we're sitting there kind of
being our own best friend in a sense, but notthe one that is... tough love. It's just it's
just saying how it is. Right. Because I feellike so often and you know movies like The
(32:29):
Secret and this idea of like manifesting which I think there is there's something to
be said for manifesting and putting positivityout. But we don't want to put we don't want
to just be giving our lip service to what wewant. want to really manifesting happens when
when you're really in alignment and you reallyfeel it, right? And you're not gonna really
(32:49):
feel it when you're feeling all these uncomfortablefeelings. And so in order to get to that place
of really being in alignment and feeling it,we have to acknowledge it. We have to sit in
the discomfort of it and then we'll get there.And so it's an important part of the process.
Yeah. What do you think makes us uncomfortablein certain things? You know, because... Some
(33:15):
people handle themselves with immense grace and other people sit there and seem to have
the hardest time with anything, you know? Well, think, you know, nobody nobody really
enjoys feeling sad or angry or or frustrated.I think sure some people manage it better.
(33:37):
Maybe some people were given. the tools ortaught the tools of how to manage that better.
I I, there's some emotions that people aremore comfortable feeling than others. And I
would say, you know, in working with, witha lot of men, it's more comfortable to feel
angry about something than it is to feel sad, right? And And I think part of that
(34:04):
is culture and what's deemed quote unquoteacceptable, right? ah And so it's kind of
peeling back those layers to allow yourselfto feel the sadness. And sometimes there's
a real fear, right? I've had clients say, well,I have not allowed myself to go there. I have
(34:26):
not allowed myself to go there. And if I doallow myself to go there, I'm scared I'm never
gonna come back from it because it feels likethis black hole that I'm jumping into if I
allow myself to feel whatever that emotion is,anger, sadness. And so you can tap on that.
Even though I'm scared to feel all of thisanger, I'm gonna go slow, right? Even though
(34:47):
I'm scared to feel all this anger, it's okayand I'm okay. And you can tap until that level
of fear has gone down to a point where it feelssafer to move forward. And that's an important
part too. Like this is not a tool. where youdive in and you relive all your trauma and
you re-traumatize yourself in the process. Thisis a gentle tool that meets you where you
(35:11):
are so that you feel comfortable moving forward.And if you decide to move forward with this
modality with a practitioner, that is importantto make sure that you always feel comfortable
and safe. And if someone is really pushing youlike, we're gonna get to the root of it and
you're gonna feel this trauma. You know, no,like this, it's supposed to be gentle. It is
(35:34):
supposed to be gentle. So make sure that you'reworking with the right person. All I can picture
now is just some football coach trying to bea therapist at right time. Right. Exactly.
It just doesn't work that way. And I thinkthat there's a lot to be said there, though,
because whenever we're trying to handle ourselvesin certain situations, we do beat ourselves
(35:59):
up a lot. and we do compare and I think there'sno not comparing because I think comparison
is what has kept everyone alive to some extentway shape or form throughout their life and
I think we compare unknowingly too because one way or another there's always some differences
(36:22):
or similarities and we seem to find those outreally quick whenever we meet someone for the
first time. Or even if we see someone that we'veknown forever, right? But whenever we're dealing
with ourselves, we know ourselves so well thatit's really hard to kind of crack the code,
kind of like those guys are saying that if theyjump into it, that they were afraid that they
(36:44):
won't be able to pull themselves out. But you'resaying that we're able to meet someone with
where they're at so that they don't overwhelmthemselves. They don't sit there and push
in worse or the same beliefs, harder. and we're able to do a whole lot for people
or they're able to do a whole lot for themselves in almost any situation it sounds like.
(37:08):
Yeah, I mean it can be helpful across the boardwith whatever you're dealing with. And I know
that that and it almost feels like too goodto be true. Like it can help with anxiety,
it can help with stress, it can help with physicalpain, it can help with reducing PTSD, it can
help. It can help with cravings and addictiontoo. I'll talk about, I can give you an example
(37:31):
of a woman who had this addiction to soda.She was drinking like two liters of soda a
day. And just like loved it. And they broughther up on stage and asked her how much did
she really want to drink this? this Coca-Cola,right? And so she's like, Oh, I really want
it. They're like, Okay, why don't you have asip? And she sips it. And she's like, Oh,
(37:54):
it's so good. And they're like, What do youlike about it? And she's like, Oh, it burns
and the bubbles I feel so good. And so thenthey start tapping about about it. And, you
know, her love for soda. And then it was like,Well, how long have you been? um When? When
do you do remember drinking your first soda?And so anyway, through this whole process,
she has this memory of drinking soda with hergrandmother on the porch in the summer. And
(38:18):
so it becomes very clear that she's attachedthis feeling of love, her grandmother's love
to the soda. And once she realizes that, there's this cognitive shift that happens. And so
at the end of the tapping session, they havethe soda in front of her. like, do you want
the soda? She's like, no, not really. And then they say, all right, well, why don't you have
(38:39):
a sip anyway? So she takes a sip of the sodaand then she's like, oh, the bubbles, burns.
It doesn't feel good, right? Like a totallydifferent reaction to it, which is just so,
it's just so interesting. so if you're, um youknow, it can help with the cravings or like
if you have a desire for, you know, chocolateor something like that with like reducing
(39:00):
the cravings. But I mean, if you have obviously,you know. drug addictions and that sort of
thing. I'm not going to say that it's a cure-all,but like if you're somebody that is feeling
the intensity of an urge, tapping can help with reducing that urge. for sure. And I
think that that's one of the huge points aboutit uh whenever it comes to addiction, because
(39:24):
that's the thing is that whenever you're init, you're just in it. There's not a lot you
can do besides get out and it starts slowly.You don't just get pulled out by a rescue helicopter
and you're wonderfully good forever. You haveto sit there and if you don't find tools as
you're getting out, if you don't find a supportsystem once you're out, so on and so forth,
(39:45):
if you don't find certain things to carry yourselfforward, it's going to fail because recovery
is really difficult. We're remaking ourselvesevery day essentially because what we thought
was ourselves or especially myself Turns outto be not a person, you know? So it's like,
well, shit, I have to start from scratch, itsounds like. But that's the thing is that
(40:06):
we're able to take things like this and we'reable to meet ourselves where we're at to become
our own best friend, to support ourselves inhelping fight that kind of battle because it's
a very hard one. And that leads me to the question,though, is there any actual negative side
effects to this? Because if someone just didn'tlike their soda afterwards, I like soda. Right.
(40:31):
Well, no, there's really no negative side effects.will say though that if you are someone who's
interested in this and wants to try this and knowingly has some big T trauma in your past,
I wouldn't tap on that by yourself. I woulddefinitely get help and work with a practitioner
through that just to be super safe through theprocess. Otherwise, no, there's really no
(40:56):
there's really no negative side effects of it.Oh, man. That is one of those things where
it's like, man, sounds too good to be true. that's kind of the thing, right? A lot of
these things that are too good to be true just means that we have to put in work, right?
Because that's where the price comes from. Wehave to. Sacrifice our own time for it. We
(41:18):
have to make room for ourselves. And if wedon't make room for ourselves, then it can't
happen Yeah, we have to allow ourselves tofeel the feelings. You you gotta feel it to
heal it. Yep Well, one of the people in myrecovery rooms, they say reveal it to heal
it. Hmm. No that too that too But we can sitthere and do a lot with tapping but what's
(41:42):
your favorite things that you've done with tappingso far? ah Well, I think, you my own journey
with it has been powerful. I love that I canhelp other people. I love teaching it. I'm
a trainer now, so I can train people who areinterested in becoming EFT practitioners. ah
I love that there's just so many different waysthat you can utilize it. I love that it complements
(42:08):
other practices. I've also incorporated it intoyoga classes. So not only are we doing the
somatic movement, we're also reflecting andtapping on the points and moving through the
emotional side of it. So I guess I love, withall of that said, I guess I love how adaptable
it is and how you can use it in so many differentways. Yeah, that's awesome. The first thing
(42:32):
that I hadn't popped in my head for some reasonwas EFT and yoga at the same time, so I'm
doing the tree and then gorilla. Yeah, I typicallyteach it with uh in a yin class. So it's more
like gentle all on a mat. But that you go forit. Do the tree pose and then tap it under
the arms at the same time. Go for it. Extrabalance. Yeah. I don't know why that bopped
(42:58):
in my head, but it's one of those things. Sowhenever tapping comes into play, how do you
let's say if someone's skeptical, wheneverthey come to you. Wow, what do you do to
make them just like takes a leap of faith? Yeah,you went to you in the first place, right?
So it's interesting, right? So sometimes I'lldo workshops where people obviously sign up
(43:22):
and they attend and other times I'm hired togo speak to a group of people at uh a business
or at a support group where the people thatare there haven't necessarily signed up to
see me, but I'm like the guest speaker, right? So the energy can be different when there's
people that are there. They're like, oh, thissounds this sounds a little crazy. So I've
definitely come across, you know, fair shareof skeptics. And I always invite the skeptics.
(43:46):
I think it's fine. This is not a practice thatyou have to believe in, in order for it to
work. I just say, give it a try and see howit makes you feel. And if it makes you feel
better, then that's awesome. And if it doesn't,then move on to the next thing, you know,
like it's, it's, um... Just just my my thingis like if you're here for the next hour, just
(44:08):
give it a try. Have an open mind and see seeif it's the thing that's going to move the
needle for you. Oh, I love that. A littlebit of just give it a shot. know, there's
no there's no negative side effects. You mightnot like soda if you were addicted to it, but
that may be a good thing for your dentist. Right.know. And dealing with skeptics and sorts,
(44:30):
you said that there's nothing uh You don'thave to believe in it for it to really work.
So not to play devil's advocate, but do you feel that other modalities you work with like
Reiki, for example, do you feel that your clienthas to be gung-ho about it for it to really
work? And you do EFT whenever they're kindof like not that in it? no, I mean, if somebody's
(44:53):
coming for it to me for Reiki, they're mostlikely a believer. Like they're not somebody
that's like, you know, again, like a skepticwith it. ah But I do think that um just meeting
someone wherever they are with it and if you'reskeptical, it's okay and that, you know, just
(45:15):
see how it makes you feel. That's usually my go-to thing. If somebody is skeptical, they've
never done Reiki, but they signed up for it. I think, you know, I think if you, more so
if you have that mindset of this is not goingto work for me, like, Like if you are just
like closed off, this isn't going to work forme sitting there with your arms crossed. It's
(45:38):
not going to work for you because you've decidedit's not going to work for you. I do think
that there has to be some openness and willingnessto see if to give it a try. I see where it
goes from there. That's yeah. Yeah, for sure.I was just curious myself because I'm all about
Ricky too. And it's just one of those thingsthat I know that Whenever you're not familiar
(46:03):
with the way that energy feels, you know, wheneveryou're not actually paying attention to your
body or what's around it, kind of seeing everythingjust feels like static all at the same time.
And so it's kind of hard to notice that there'ssomething going on. But I think that there
is something to it too of saying, closing yourselfoff to it. And then it's just like, it's just
(46:26):
not going to happen because you don't want it,you know. But I think that EFT would be one
of those great things to introduce someone tolike open themselves up to it because they
can finally maybe feel some of that shift goingon within themselves before they have someone
else do it for them. Yeah. Yeah. And when Ifirst teach someone, I often have them focus
(46:47):
on something physical in their body. Like wedo what's called a constricted breathing exercise
and noticing like what kind of tension you feelin your chest. And as you tap, Typically what
happens is there's like a loosening. feels alittle bit easier, like your breath, you know,
is more full. You can take a longer inhale,longer exhale. And so when somebody is focused
(47:09):
on really feeling a physical change, I feellike then they open up a little bit more to
moving towards the emotional. And so I'll kindof go from talking about the tension that they're
feeling or the tightness that they're feelingin their chest to asking something like, if
that tightness was an emotion, what emotionwould it be? And oftentimes the answer to that,
(47:31):
people would say with the chest is stress, right?Or anxiety or sometimes grief, you know? And
then we can move into tapping on the emotionalside and uh it usually works pretty well.
Interesting. So you get to see a lot of peoplechange almost in real time, if not real time.
And then you get to see them walk out of youroffice per se. And they're probably walking
(47:55):
a little bit taller and happier. I mean, theintention is to leave feeling a little bit
lighter. mean, sometimes there are some heavythings that we tap on and that isn't, I would
say, always the case. But I would say the majorityof the time you're leaving feeling lighter
and more open with hopefully a little bit ofa aha behind you. I would actually have to
(48:20):
maybe argue that that could be the one negativeside effect is that you have to feel your feelings,
you know? That's Yeah, they're not alwaysnecessarily going to be like, hey, you've been
holding on to me for five, 10 years and I'mgone in 10 minutes. It's probably going to
be like, I'm going to hang around you for alittle bit, but you're finally acknowledging
(48:40):
me. So let's go ahead and talk about that griefwhenever grandma died or something, you know.
Right. Yeah. Or, you know, stuff from yourchildhood comes up and we can do tapping where
you're talking to that younger version of youwho didn't get the love or have the type
of relationship with whoever in your life thatyou needed, why you felt sad or why you felt
(49:01):
alone as a kid. And, you know, that can be intense work to do, but it can be really,
really powerful too. Yeah, for sure. And Iknow for myself, whenever I've done work like
that, I can definitely feel drained and just out of it. And it's not necessarily a bad
feeling. It's just that, hey, there's a lotgoing on in my head. I need to go lay down.
(49:25):
Yeah, yeah processing it right and so yeah,sometimes you're tired and and then you need
to listen to your body and rest yeah Yeah, and I mean rest is just as important as doing
the activity itself, right? It sure is Wegot a few minutes left on this episode. So
(49:46):
do you think you could run us through the cycleone more time? with your link again? Yeah,
absolutely. All right. So we'll do, shouldwe do some cropping again on anxiety or is
there another thing you think we should focuson? You know, anxiety and stress is one of
those things that I think everyone feels andcan really get some benefit out of learning
(50:10):
how to do this for themselves. Okay. So I willsay a sentence and then I'll ask you to just
repeat what I say. So you kind of like my echo.So that's kind how it works when I'm working
with a client, right? So we'll work, we'll tapon the pinky side of the hand. Even though
I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Eventhough I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
(50:31):
I love honor and accept myself. I love honorand accept myself. And we do that three times
on the pinky side. So even though I have allthis stress and anxiety. Even though I have
all this stress and anxiety. Right here, rightnow, I'm acknowledging it. Right here, right
now, I'm acknowledging it. Even though I'vebeen carrying this stress and anxiety in my
(50:51):
body. Even though I've been carrying this stressand anxiety inside my body. I'm choosing to
love myself through it. I'm choosing to lovemyself through it. And then we're going to
come to the top of the head. All of this anxietyand stress. All of this anxiety and stress.
The start of the eyebrows. I've been carryingall of this anxiety and stress. I've been carrying
(51:14):
all of this anxiety and stress. Sides of theeyes. It has been weighing me down. It has
been weighing me down. Under the eyes. I'mso stressed and anxious. I'm so stressed and
anxious. Under the nose. I feel this in mybody. I feel this in my body. Chin crease.
(51:37):
I've been carrying this tension in my body. I've been carrying this tension in my body.
To the collarbone. I'm open to the possibilityof letting it go. I'm open to the possibility
of letting it go. Under the arm. I'd reallylike to let this anxiety and stress go. I'd
(51:59):
really like to let this anxiety and stress go. And then the back of the hand. I'm choosing
to love myself through this. I'm choosing tolove myself through this. It's okay and I'm
okay. It's okay and I'm okay. And then takea nice deep breath. I'm letting go. Ooh.
(52:21):
Ooh, that feels good. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh, Ilike that. For some reason, my hand really
likes that. Yeah, so that's your favorite point.So you can know like when you're feeling stressed
or overwhelmed, you can just tap on that, takesome nice deep breaths and feel more grounded.
Yeah, thank you for that. That was awesome.I didn't know that my hand likes that. It's
(52:43):
kind of weird. Yeah, it's interesting howour bodies respond and you know, our bodies
are so innately wise that sometimes we likeI was saying earlier, sometimes we touch points
that we don't even realize that we come andwe rub the sides of the eyes or maybe we bring
our hand to our chest and kind of just likerub on our chest a little bit like we naturally
do things to try to lower that cortisol withouteven realizing that that's what we're doing.
(53:07):
Maybe that's what yawn is all about, right?Yeah, so and when you do the good point, when
you do this work, uh it's totally common toyawn, it's common to have tears come to the
eyes, it's common to laugh, sometimes to evenfeel confused. All of that is simply a sign
that energy is moving and that is a good thing. I'm barely having to stop myself from yawning
(53:30):
right now. just means that energy is startingto flow. uh I mean, I've been sitting here
kind of tapping on my hand the whole time. kind of trying to keep some kind of flow
in my head going while trying to keep the questiongoing. It's been a little difficult, but at
the same time, it's like my head feels a littlebit more light. It feels a little bit more
(53:52):
less rubber band ball. That's interesting.So we can definitely do it while we're talking
to people. um I mean, if I'm able to do it,y'all can do it out there too. Just probably
don't do it while you're driving operating heavymachinery though, right? Yes, good warning.
Or flying a plane, that's heavy machinery too.That's a little dangerous. Yeah, but if you're
(54:15):
listening to this episode while you're flyingthe plane, thanks, I'm really honored. But
Lauren, where can people find you once again?Yeah, you can come find me at my website, mindshiftwithlauren.com
or on YouTube, Mind Shift With Lauren. I publish new videos every week. if you want to get
on my email list so you can get those in yourinbox every week, you can find that on my website,
(54:40):
mindshiftwithlauren.com. Ooh, thank you. And I think, oh, I have one more question.
Lauren, the name of this podcast is RetrievingSanity, and we explore how all facets of living
life impact our mental health. Looking at themotley adventures of your life, what does
retrieving sanity personally mean to you today?And what's one practice or perspective you
(55:03):
believe is crucial for anyone on that journey? I would say retrieving sanity just makes me
think about coming home to myself and ah really doing what I need to do to take care of me
and putting myself first in order to take careof those that I love the most and um that
(55:26):
we all need to do that. can't pour from an emptycup and you need to prioritize your health
and wellbeing and your mental health and I wouldencourage people to... uh Follow the nudges.
So if you have been intrigued by listening tothis and you want to try tapping, you can go
(55:46):
to my website and download the free masterclass.Or if you're intrigued about Reiki, go find
a Reiki practitioner and give it a try. Whenthings pop up into your world, especially
repeatedly, I am one that tends to believethat's happening for a reason and the reason
is for you to explore it. So go explore whatyou're interested in and see what... What
(56:08):
modality is going to help you be a better you? Ooh, I love that. That is some deep wisdom.
And it is, I think, just spot on to it'sfollowing that intuition hits whenever you
get them right. Yep. The little little nudges,the little soul, soul guidance or God winks,
(56:29):
whatever you want to call it. Yeah. Well,Lauren, this has been an absolutely awesome
episode, and I've just Got to say thank youvery much. It has been an absolute honor and
a pleasure learning all about EFT and divinginto it with you. But do think that we could
see you in the future again to like either refreshpeople or maybe take a different twist on
(56:49):
things and see how we can do it? Absolutely.I'd love to come back. Thank you so much for
having me. Awesome. Well, I mean, it's been so cool. I can't wait to see what we can do
for the second episode. See how we can maybemix things up a little bit. For it. So everyone
out there. Thank you for listening to RetrievingSanity on WDJY 99.1 FM and as always, we
(57:13):
will see y'all next time but you gotta try tolove yourself, love others if you can, but
you gotta love yourself first before you cando that properly. And we just hope that you
have a great rest of your day, night, wheneveryou're listening to this and we will see you
next week. With that, much love. Shalom!
Tapping can help remove and reduce limitingbeliefs. limiting beliefs like I'm not good
enough or who am I to do this or, you know,those that negative voice that can be in our
head. And a lot of the times those beliefs comefrom experiences that we've had as children,
right?
(00:22):
Hello hello and welcome back to Retrieving Sanitywith your podcast host Keegan and this is your
podcast for all mental health addiction recoveryissues and topics and I've got some questions
for you today mostly just one. Have you triedpretty much everything you think of to well
better yourself or try to get better? Well todaywe've got Lauren Fonville with us and she is
an EFT coach of sorts and much more than thatbut before I just don't do her justice Lauren
(00:48):
why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselfwhere you're from and what got you to where
you are today? Sure. Yeah. So I am an EFT, whichstands for emotional freedom techniques. uh
And that's a practice of gently tapping on certainpoints of the body while acknowledging how
you're feeling. So I'm both a practitioner anda trainer. And it has been a practice that
(01:12):
has helped me personally with my anxiety andstress levels and has also, you know, I've
been able to witness all these shifts in myclients as well. And so I came to find this
modality through my own struggle with anxiety. And I really started to feel better when
I was using it. And that's really all it tookwas just noticing like, huh, this is weird,
(01:38):
but it's making me feel a little better. Andso I wanted to learn more. So I kept taking
classes and it sent me down this path wherenow I have the honor. sharing it with other
people to help them feel better in their bodiesbecause we all deserve to feel good. Yeah
that's for sure. em I'm sorry to hear that youhad to sit there and go through struggles of
(02:00):
your own but that kind of makes it all the betterright because you know what it's like to have
the struggle you know what it's like to actuallydo it so you can sit there and you can guide
people whenever they're hitting those roadblocksand stuff whenever you're trying to teach them
that kind of thing right. Yeah, yeah. I mean,I think because I've had the experience with
having panic attacks and anxiety, it makesme perhaps a little bit more understanding
(02:24):
than someone who hasn't experienced that. Ithink because I have had this personal experience
with tapping, it just lends itself to why I'mso passionate about it, because it was such
a game changer for me. Hmm, got it. So whatmade it such a game changer for you, though?
Because, I mean, did you try other things? Yeah, I've tried all sorts of things. My healing
(02:51):
journey really started with yoga and I signedup to become a yoga teacher and going through
that training, I was at the yoga studio a lotand I was exposed to a wide variety of modalities
including sound healing and meditation and Reikiuh and ultimately came to... to find tapping.
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so for me, I, and I think like a lot of people,when I'm under a lot of stress and I'm dealing
with a lot of anxiety, I have physical symptomsof that. And at that time, my physical symptoms
were a lot of tension in my neck and in my jaw.And I have TMJ and sometimes my jaw would get
so fat I would... um lock up and it wouldn't,you know, I'd go into the shower in the morning
(03:37):
hoping that the hot water would relax my musclesenough that my jaw would unlock. And when
I was first introduced to tapping, I was reallyintrigued by the idea that not only could it
help reduce anxiety and stress, but it couldalso reduce physical pain. And so when I
had my first one-on-one session, that's whatwe worked on. And through that process, I
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kind of had this aha moment and recognizedthat there was a lot of anger and betrayal
that was hanging on in my jaw. And just simplyacknowledging that and realizing that and holding
space for those emotions. helped me to releasethem. And I can honestly say that since finding
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tapping, I have not had that level of a triggerwhere I'm dealing with that sort of pain, that
level of pain. I'm really sorry to hear thatyou were dealing with that kind of pain. Yeah.
The TMJ is really bad at jaw pain right up there,correct? Like nerve damage? Yeah, it's just
like this constant like... You know, a lot ofthe time when you have TMJ, you're clenching
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at night. There's just this tightness. The muscleslike seize up and uh yeah, it's not fun. It's
not fun, but it's been a blessing that I wasable to find this. now that, you know, now
it's more of a thing like when I start tofeel something physically and you know, sometimes
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I'll do, I will get sensation in my jaw. Andthat's an indicator, right? Like, okay, something
is going on. need to explore it a little bitmore. So because of all of these practices
that I've learned, it's really helped me tocultivate a better relationship, like between
the mind and the body. So when the body startsspeaking and like whispering, that's the time
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to listen. Because I think we all know thatif we don't listen when our body's whispering.
we end up having to hear and deal with our bodiesscreaming and nobody enjoys that, that's for
sure. That is for sure. And it kind of remindsme of the whole, if you don't take a break
or if you don't rest, your body will take onefor you and it's not going to be in an ideal
(05:52):
time. Yeah. You know? So it kind of wouldmake sense that same kind of thing goes for
our emotions or the way that we handle anxietyand stress. because a lot of us like to just
kind of hold it in because we don't really knowwhat to do with it, right? Exactly. And so
I guess for you, it kind of manifested in yourjaw mostly, right? And so that's where your
(06:14):
neurons just went, all right, I know where togo whenever we don't got anywhere else to go
and just headed straight to there. Does thatsound kind of right? Yeah, no, I think that's
exactly it. know, and just like you said, alot of us, when we feel uncomfortable emotions,
We don't like that. So typically what we dois we shove it down, right? And then we distract
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ourselves with something else. We throw ourselvesinto our work or we throw back a few too many
beers or glasses of wine so that you don't haveto feel that discomfort. And while that may
help in the short term, I think we all knowthat in the long term, all that stuff that
you've been stuffing down is gonna build upand build up until you get to a point where
it's... going to explode and sometimes thatexplodes physically in the body with physical
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pain sometimes it explodes with an emotionalyou know meltdown and it's our job to really
listen to our bodies and and acknowledge theemotion and as a as uncomfortable as it
may be sit in that discomfort because when wedo that it allows us to process it and allows
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us to move through it which allows those emotionsto move and If we're not doing that, then we're
going to be forced to do it at some point, youknow what I mean? And we don't have to get
to that point where we're so... That's a reallygood way to put that because going on four
years sober, I'm sitting here and learning thatthe hardest thing about being sober is just,
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well, dealing with my feelings, right? Likethat's what I was trying to avoid that whole
time. And it was interesting because a lot ofthem were those negative or really... quote
unquote negative or maybe feel not great. Butat the same time, I felt so much better whenever
I actually processed them in a certain way,instead of just kind of ignoring them and running
(08:02):
away. And so EFT, you're kind of doing thattoo, but you're actually like charging head
on with like a weapon actually, right? I don'tknow if I call tapping a weapon, but I got
where you're going with it. I mean, the theidea. Well, so the definition of emotion. is
energy in motion, right? So it's this idea thatour emotions want to be acknowledged, they
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want to be felt, they don't want to be shovedaway and ignored and, you know, like, not
felt. so, yeah, so tapping is the tool thatyou can use to help you, because sometimes
you don't even know what the emotion is, right?Like I've had people come to me that just
say, I'm so overwhelmed, I'm so stressed outand I'm so overwhelmed. And it's this big global
(08:50):
thing. Everything's bothering me, right? Andso you start there and you can, when you're
tapping on these specific points of the body,you're speaking out loud and you're talking
about how you're so overwhelmed and you're sostressed out. And then as you do that, and
as you're tapping on these specific points,which are end points of the meridians, which
is the meridians are how energy moves throughthe body. So some of the same points that if
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you were to go to an acupuncturist, they wouldput needles in at and uh you know, all over
the body, but with tapping there's just certainpoints. And so as you're tapping on these
points and you're saying how you feel, whatstarts to happen is that things from your subconscious
mind begin to make their way up to the consciousmind. So sometimes, you know, there's a direct
(09:34):
link like, okay, I'm really stressed out andoverwhelmed because I've got this big project
at work and it's all consuming, right? ah However,there might be other contributing factors that
are, you know, aiding in the feeling that you'refeeling. And maybe it has to do with memories
of the past or a past project that you workedon that, you know, who knows, the boss said
(09:57):
something to you that made you feel a certainway about yourself, right? And as you're tapping,
that memory comes up to the surface. And there'sa reason for that because there's still emotion
that's not processed from that event. And sotapping can help you to move through that.
And it really is this beautiful process of, you know, connecting the dots of uh why you're
feeling the way you're feeling and helping youto release that so you can move forward and
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feel good. Interesting. So EFT is essentiallythe, let's say the timid acupuncture, right?
Yeah, so it's acupressure. So it's some ofthose same points, but we're applying acupressure.
So you can either gently tap on the points or you can just apply pressure and maybe massage
(10:41):
the points. uh Either way can be effective.Okay. And you said you, have certain spots
to do it and everything like that because that'sthe way that the energy flows through the body.
so you had tapped up here on your face. Yeah.I'm assuming that does. through the points?
Uh, you totally can if you'd Yeah. Yeah. Sothe first point is on the pinky side of the
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hand. Okay. And that's where you do what's calledthe setup statement. And the setup statement
is, it goes like this. It's that you would saysomething like, even though I'm feeling really
anxious and overwhelmed. I love, honor, andaccept myself. So the first half of the sentence
is focused on what you're feeling, the emotion,and the second half is something more positive.
And sometimes people struggle with saying, I love and accept myself. So you can say ah
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something else that feels true. So even thoughI'm stressed out and overwhelmed, that's just
how it is today, right? So words that we use are important, and it's important that what
you're saying feels true and really resonateswith you. And then the rest of the points are
what we call reminder points. So then you moveto the top of the head, the crown of the head,
and you would just say, I'm so stressed andanxious. And then we can move to the eyebrows,
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the start of the eyebrows, all this anxiety.Then we would move to the sides of the eyes.
This is a common point that sometimes peoplewill just naturally touch during the day. And
if you're feeling stressed and anxious, youcome to the temples and you just maybe give
yourself a little massage. And you would repeatagain, I'm anxious and stressed. And then under
the eyes, all of this anxiety. And then wego under the nose. I'm feeling stressed out.
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And then onto the chin crease, all of thisstress. And then we come to the collarbone.
This is another common point for people. Maybeyou bring your one hand to your chest. You
can do it with two hands, just below the bone or one hand with the index finger and thumb
really spread apart. All this anxiety. andthen under the arm, the side of the body about
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two and a half inches down from the armpit, feeling stressed and overwhelmed. And then
the back of the hand between the pinky and thering finger. So stressed. And so that is
what we call a round of tapping, simply becauseyou're tapping around in a circle. And some
points are more sensitive than others. Mostpeople will have like a favorite point that
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they just tend to go to. uh And... The otherthing is that there's science behind this,
because sometimes it can feel really woo woo,right? Like, I'm tapping on myself and I'm
supposed to feel less anxious, like what theheck is going on? But what's happening when
we're tapping on these points is that it'sactually sending a message to the amygdala
in the brain, and the amygdala is the part ofthe brain that controls fight, flight, or freeze.
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So I like to do this visual learning of this.So I'm going to take my fist here, and uh my
thumb is in the middle. and my fingers arearound my thumb. So if we pretend that this
is my brain and where my knuckles are is themy forehead, which is the prefrontal cortex.
This is where we make all the good decisions,right? So information comes up the brainstem
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to the prefrontal cortex where we make all ofthese good decisions. Now, when we're under
chronic stress, chronic anxiety, chronic pain,that sort of thing, information comes up the
brainstem, but now the amygdala, that alarmcenter is going off. And when that alarm center
is going off, it's sending cortisol into thebody, the stress hormone. So now when the
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information's trying to get up to the prefrontalcortex, it literally can't get there. So this
is those situations where you might be so anxious,so stressed, in so much pain, that you may
even say to yourself or out loud, I can't eventhink straight right now. And you literally
can't because you can't access that part ofthe brain. So when we're tapping on these
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points, it's actually sending a message to theamygdala and it's saying, hey amygdala, This
is not a life or death situation. You don'tneed to be creating all of that cortisol. So
slowly the alarm starts to go off and the prefrontalcortex comes back online. So now you can begin
to think more clearly. And the studies haveshown that tapping can reduce the amount of
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cortisol by up to 43%. So it's a really, reallybig number to help you feel calmer in your
body and more in control. Wow. 43%. That is...It's a big number. That was a study that was
done by Dr. Peter Stapleton who's located overin Australia and it was done with saliva
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tests before and after tapping to see whatthe cortisol levels were. So pretty impressive.
So what I always like to say to people is thatif you remember anything about tapping, it's
maybe just figuring out which point feels thebest for you and when you start to feel stressed
and anxious or you start to... realize you'redealing with a lot of pain and you're overwhelmed,
(15:36):
just tap on that one point and take some nicedeep breaths. And that in itself is going to
help you lower your cortisol levels. And thenthat added component of speaking out loud as
you tap on the point is even gonna take it tothe next level. That's really interesting.
And I was just about to ask if that 43 % waslike just one little session or something,
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or if it was like a whole bunch of sessions,but if that was just one session. Yeah, and
it was in it was group tapping too. So it wasn'teven just like a one-on-one session It was
a group of people tapping together In a spaceso it's pretty pretty amazing. I mean, there's
some amazing studies that back it up Therewas a study that was done um on a group of
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veterans who had been diagnosed with PTSD tappingcan also help with the symptoms of PTSD and
so the they tapped with these veterans for six weeks and they met with them individually
for six weeks and did tapping, I think for aboutan hour. And then at the end of the six weeks,
90 % of the veterans in that group had a reductionin their PTSD symptoms. So that's pretty powerful
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stuff too. And you know, it's not just veteransthat are dealing with trauma and PTSD. I think
all of us are on some level. Oh yeah. I wouldhave to agree that I think everyone has been
traumatized at one point or another, probablymostly by their parents and or... But that's
the thing is that as we are growing part ofthat is to help either mature but really I
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think that that is just a healing kind of journeyfiguring out who we really are picking up the
pieces going ah that one didn't really fit Idon't like it anyways you know kind of thing
or maybe that one is part of like me and I needit anyways you know even if I don't like it
so maybe can tapping help people get more comfortablewith themselves in a sense like to be more
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confident maybe Yeah, absolutely. So tappingcan help with reducing, sorry about my dogs
in the background. Tapping can help removeand reduce limiting beliefs. So limiting beliefs
like I'm not good enough or who am I to do thisor, you know, those that negative voice that
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can be in our head. And a lot of the times toyour point that those beliefs come from experiences
that we've had as children, right? Whether itbe something that a teacher said to you,
like for example, maybe a teacher told you,yeah, you're really terrible at math, right?
And so then you go through the rest of schoolthinking, oh gosh, I'm really terrible at math.
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So now you have this belief and you're startinga business and uh looking at your numbers is
really scary because again, you're still carryingthis belief that I'm not good at math, but
you don't even consciously really rememberthat. You just have this belief, yeah, I suck
at math, right? And so. tapping through thatwill likely bring that memory to the surface
so that you can hold space for it and move throughit and realize, you know, that's not true.
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That's something that I took on from somebodyelse and I can move forward in a different
way. And so it, a hundred percent can help you, you know, uh identify things that you need
to acknowledge and then help you to feel moreconfident for sure. Okay. Nice. I like that.
oh So to follow up on that one, are we familiarwith the uh left and right side of the body
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and like left is feminine or receiving andright is masculine slash giving? Do you think
EFT will have effects on which part of the bodyyou Necessarily which part of the body. Sometimes
a common question is like, oh, well, I have this particular issue. Is there a particular
part of the body that I should tap on? And theanswer to that is no, because you just tap
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on all of the points as part of the protocol.ah But it is interesting, you know, because
I also do energy work and I'm a Reiki practitioner.And so I work with a lot of entrepreneurs who
are, ah you know, go-getters, right? They're like, just push through and keep going and
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power through. And sometimes that masculineside of the body is really... dominant. And
so then it's this idea of accessing the feminineside and being able to, you know, lean into
self care and that sort of thing too. And sosome of that comes up with the beliefs that
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somebody has. And then I like to incorporatemaybe some reiki into the session. you know,
I'm all about uh figuring out what modalitieswork best for you and going with that. Sometimes
I'll incorporate movement into a session too,because I'm a yoga teacher. I think all of
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it plays into each other. That's awesome. Have you ever incorporated somatic dance? uh
I have not into a session. I did go to my firstsomatic dance class not too long ago and I
really loved it. I could totally see how youcould do some tapping perhaps as like a grounding
thing in the beginning of that class and maybeas a way to like end that class to really
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settle yourself in. think could be a tappingcould be a practice that is incorporated into
pretty much any modality that you enjoy. Yeah,that's awesome because I think one of the
powerful things about it that I'm kind of pickingup on is that our bodies are telling our bodies
that it's okay, you know, and normally our brainis telling the body, this isn't okay. But the
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body and the brain are kind of in tandem wheneverwe're tapping on our own body, right? Yeah,
yeah, it's a that's exactly it. It's it's thissuch a great way to create that that connection
and that communication between the mind andthe body because you're usually Yeah, you're
usually are like in your in your mind. And soif you can really begin to tune into how you
(21:42):
are feeling. Or if you're somebody that isdealing with physical pain, one of the questions
that I always like to ask when working withsomeone with physical pain is like, if the
sensation that you're experiencing could speak,what would it say? And it's an interesting
question. uh Many times people have said, thesensation's telling me to slow down. The sensation's
(22:07):
telling me to rest. I'm like, okay. uh Anotherone, when we talk about physical pain that
I sometimes ask is, there was a benefit foryou being in pain, what would the benefit
be? Is there any sort of benefit that you canthink of? And that can be a powerful question.
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You know, the thing is, is that it's a stickyquestion because most people would say, no,
there's no benefit for me being in pain. Butif... you are willing to kind of pause and
really think about that and an answer naturallycomes. That's something to explore. had a
client who was dealing with a lot of pain inher knees. I asked her that question and she
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really paused and she said, well, because I'mdealing with all this pain in my knees, my
kids are coming to visit me more often. Andbecause of that, you know, question, then
that opened a door for us to talk about, okay,well, if you're really healthy. Or is there
a fear that you're not going to have the sametype of relationship with your kids, right?
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And so as we continue to tap on that, she startedto notice in real time a shift in her pain
level and she was freaking out like, what'shappening? My knees are feeling better. I don't
know what's happening. And so our bodies havemessages for us and she had no idea that that
message was even there. But it was. Huh. That's really interesting. And it just kind
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of highlights that we're much more capableof handling ourselves than we think or so
we're not really taught these kind of thingsright and that's kind of the scary part but
here's a random thought that just popped inmy head hear me out do you have any tattoos?
do. Do you think that getting a tattoo wouldbe essentially like tapping therapy in a sense
(24:02):
because it's called needle therapy right soit's just a whole bunch of like little taps
at the whole time Maybe if it was on one ofthe endpoints of the meridians, potentially.
I don't know. Because I mean, like back inthe hands, Yeah. Because I was just kind
of curious because, you know, needle therapyalways feels good. And it's one of those things
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where like you either talk to your tattoo artistand you get some stuff off your chest or just
like shoot the shit or whatever, you know, andthen. you're usually walked out feeling pretty
good and maybe you talked about something thatyou don't tell anyone else and you're just
kind of like, why did tell that person that?That's weird. it's its own form of therapy,
right? Mm hmm. And with EFT though, you'reable to do this really anywhere, right? Do
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you ever feel silly doing like this in the middleof public or something? I mean, I feel like
I'm at a point where I don't really care, butI will say there are additional points. So
the points that I walk you through are the mainpoints of the protocol. But just like with
acupuncture, how there are points all over thebody, there are additional points. And so if
you don't want to be tapping your head in themiddle of public, you know, out at the target
(25:11):
or whatever, when you're stressed out by allthe lines, if you squeeze at the end of the
bed of the nail on any finger and just, yeah,just squeezing on the sides of the nails, yep,
on any finger. And then, you know, if you justhave your hands in your lap, you know, or even
if not, like it just looks like you're fidgeting.doesn't. people aren't gonna think anything
(25:32):
of it. ah And it's doing the same thing. It'ssending that message to the amygdala that's
going off and saying, hey, you don't need allthat cortisol. And so just squeezing there
and taking some nice deep breaths is going tohelp calm you. um It's a great one, like if
you're in a meeting at work and somebody's sayingsomething that's really triggering for you,
or maybe if you're in a doctor's office andsometimes a doctor's trying to talk to you
(25:57):
and you're... feeling really overwhelmed withit. can help ground you in the moment. it can,
it can, it can come in handy for sure. Yeah.It's also a good way to check if you're hydrated.
True, With that, we can sit there and uhdo this tapping basically anywhere and we
(26:19):
can sit there and essentially have a superpowerbecause we don't need, let's just say outside
influences to regulate the nervous system. Right,yeah, no, all you need is your fingertips and
even if sometimes if people are in bed, theydon't feel like tapping, even if you just close
your eyes and like visualize yourself tappingon the points, they've also shown that that
(26:40):
can help to reduce the cortisol level. So yeah,you don't really need anything other than
your fingers and um you know, noticing whatthoughts are coming up and taking it one
thought at a time. Real quick before I getto the next question where can people find
you if they need a little bit of help with whatyou offer? Yeah, so you can find me on my
(27:02):
website which is mind shift with Lauren calm and then if you look up mine shift with Lauren
on Instagram you'll find me on there as welland I have I have a YouTube same thing mine
shift with Lauren Awesome. Well, we need tomake sure everyone visits that because you've
got a wealth of knowledge and this is just awesome Yeah, thank you. Of course. And but that's
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kind of thing though, right? Whenever we'resitting there and we're kind of relaxed in
a sense, our nervous system behaves differentlythan what we may be used to because we're so
used to just go, go, go, go, go. So what isone of the things that someone first recognizes
whenever the EFT starts working? Because yousaid that that one client started noticing
(27:50):
the pain difference right away. Is there somethingelse that you've seen someone kind of physically
express, I suppose? Yeah. Well, I mean, I cansay the first time that I experienced it,
it was just this this feeling of, huh, I feela little calmer. I don't know why this is
working. This is weird, but I feel a littlecalmer. So it can it can be just something
(28:15):
as subtle as that. Then when I had my firstone-on-one session, I kind of had that aha
moment that I was talking about and a reductionin the pain after recognizing what emotion
was going on there. Sometimes it's more of,it can be little, it can be little or it can
be big. There's a wide range and it really dependson the person and it depends on. you know,
(28:41):
how long they've been dealing with whateverparticular issue it is that they're tapping
with. Also their readiness to for healing.Again, that's something else that's sticky
because you ask somebody who's in pain if they'reready for healing, they're going to say yes.
But when I say that, it's that same idea of kind of being able to pull back and think
(29:02):
about things from a different perspective. And, you know, sometimes there's someone that is
just like ripe and ready to do the work andand there's a shift right away. I will say
that does not always happen. So it can be anywherefrom a subtle feeling to something larger,
for sure. Awesome. I love that. It's somethingthat is unique and individualized, just like
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what people are going through themselves. Onething I remembered the question. uh whenever
we're sitting there, you said you can visualizeyourself tapping on your own meridian points
and essentially do the same thing, maybe notas effective. but along the same lines to where
it does the job. So you're also a Reiki practitioner,so you work with energy in the sense of you
(29:48):
can't see it, but it's there and it's doingsomething. So do you think that our intention
kind of gets stuck within ourselves? I mean,I think the reason why it works is because
again, we're just holding space for how we feel.and whether we're actually tapping on the point
or picturing ourselves tapping on the point.It's something that I'll do if I wake up in
(30:10):
the middle of the night when you've got allthose thoughts racing through your head. And
my intention in that moment is to fall backasleep, right? uh But maybe it's like I'm worried
about whatever I have the next day or I'm thinkingabout something that's going on with one of
the kids. And so maybe I'm just laying therewith my eyes closed kind of. going through
the points in my head thinking like, I haveall these worries, I can't turn my mind off,
(30:35):
but I'm okay, I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonnafall back asleep, everything's okay, right?
And so I think um it's this combination ofacknowledging how you're feeling with that
intention of moving the needle towards the betterthought or feeling, because sometimes what
people will say is like, oh when we're saying,oh, I'm so stressed out, I'm overwhelmed, all
(30:59):
this anxiety, it's like, are you tapping inthe bad thing? We're saying the bad thing over
and over again. And I wanna make it clear,no, we're not tapping in the bad thing. What
we are doing is acknowledging how we actuallyfeel. We're not sugarcoating it. We're not
just saying a positive affirmation because youcould do that. You could say, okay, recognize
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I'm really stressed out and you could say, go to the opposite end of the spectrum and
say, life is easy, breezy, and I feel wonderful,right? You could say that, but then there's
a real disconnect between what you're sayingand how you're actually feeling. And so tapping
is about really tuning into how you're actuallyfeeling. And when you do that, then other
(31:43):
thoughts are gonna come out. Yeah, I'm reallystressed out, but I have a really great support
system. or I'm really stressed out, but I knowa lot of it's related to this project and that's
coming to an end, right? And that feels a littlebit better than just saying, ah, I'm so overwhelmed
and stressed out. And so, I mean, I do thinkyour intention is important, but I think even
more so it's meeting yourself where you areand allowing yourself to feel whatever it is
(32:07):
that you're feeling. Hmm, okay. That's reallyinteresting. So we're sitting there kind of
being our own best friend in a sense, but notthe one that is... tough love. It's just it's
just saying how it is. Right. Because I feellike so often and you know movies like The
(32:29):
Secret and this idea of like manifesting which I think there is there's something to
be said for manifesting and putting positivityout. But we don't want to put we don't want
to just be giving our lip service to what wewant. want to really manifesting happens when
when you're really in alignment and you reallyfeel it, right? And you're not gonna really
(32:49):
feel it when you're feeling all these uncomfortablefeelings. And so in order to get to that place
of really being in alignment and feeling it,we have to acknowledge it. We have to sit in
the discomfort of it and then we'll get there.And so it's an important part of the process.
Yeah. What do you think makes us uncomfortablein certain things? You know, because... Some
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people handle themselves with immense grace and other people sit there and seem to have
the hardest time with anything, you know? Well, think, you know, nobody nobody really
enjoys feeling sad or angry or or frustrated.I think sure some people manage it better.
(33:37):
Maybe some people were given. the tools ortaught the tools of how to manage that better.
I I, there's some emotions that people aremore comfortable feeling than others. And I
would say, you know, in working with, witha lot of men, it's more comfortable to feel
angry about something than it is to feel sad, right? And And I think part of that
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is culture and what's deemed quote unquoteacceptable, right? ah And so it's kind of
peeling back those layers to allow yourselfto feel the sadness. And sometimes there's
a real fear, right? I've had clients say, well,I have not allowed myself to go there. I have
(34:26):
not allowed myself to go there. And if I doallow myself to go there, I'm scared I'm never
gonna come back from it because it feels likethis black hole that I'm jumping into if I
allow myself to feel whatever that emotion is,anger, sadness. And so you can tap on that.
Even though I'm scared to feel all of thisanger, I'm gonna go slow, right? Even though
(34:47):
I'm scared to feel all this anger, it's okayand I'm okay. And you can tap until that level
of fear has gone down to a point where it feelssafer to move forward. And that's an important
part too. Like this is not a tool. where youdive in and you relive all your trauma and
you re-traumatize yourself in the process. Thisis a gentle tool that meets you where you
(35:11):
are so that you feel comfortable moving forward.And if you decide to move forward with this
modality with a practitioner, that is importantto make sure that you always feel comfortable
and safe. And if someone is really pushing youlike, we're gonna get to the root of it and
you're gonna feel this trauma. You know, no,like this, it's supposed to be gentle. It is
(35:34):
supposed to be gentle. So make sure that you'reworking with the right person. All I can picture
now is just some football coach trying to bea therapist at right time. Right. Exactly.
It just doesn't work that way. And I thinkthat there's a lot to be said there, though,
because whenever we're trying to handle ourselvesin certain situations, we do beat ourselves
(35:59):
up a lot. and we do compare and I think there'sno not comparing because I think comparison
is what has kept everyone alive to some extentway shape or form throughout their life and
I think we compare unknowingly too because one way or another there's always some differences
(36:22):
or similarities and we seem to find those outreally quick whenever we meet someone for the
first time. Or even if we see someone that we'veknown forever, right? But whenever we're dealing
with ourselves, we know ourselves so well thatit's really hard to kind of crack the code,
kind of like those guys are saying that if theyjump into it, that they were afraid that they
(36:44):
won't be able to pull themselves out. But you'resaying that we're able to meet someone with
where they're at so that they don't overwhelmthemselves. They don't sit there and push
in worse or the same beliefs, harder. and we're able to do a whole lot for people
or they're able to do a whole lot for themselves in almost any situation it sounds like.
(37:08):
Yeah, I mean it can be helpful across the boardwith whatever you're dealing with. And I know
that that and it almost feels like too goodto be true. Like it can help with anxiety,
it can help with stress, it can help with physicalpain, it can help with reducing PTSD, it can
help. It can help with cravings and addictiontoo. I'll talk about, I can give you an example
(37:31):
of a woman who had this addiction to soda.She was drinking like two liters of soda a
day. And just like loved it. And they broughther up on stage and asked her how much did
she really want to drink this? this Coca-Cola,right? And so she's like, Oh, I really want
it. They're like, Okay, why don't you have asip? And she sips it. And she's like, Oh,
(37:54):
it's so good. And they're like, What do youlike about it? And she's like, Oh, it burns
and the bubbles I feel so good. And so thenthey start tapping about about it. And, you
know, her love for soda. And then it was like,Well, how long have you been? um When? When
do you do remember drinking your first soda?And so anyway, through this whole process,
she has this memory of drinking soda with hergrandmother on the porch in the summer. And
(38:18):
so it becomes very clear that she's attachedthis feeling of love, her grandmother's love
to the soda. And once she realizes that, there's this cognitive shift that happens. And so
at the end of the tapping session, they havethe soda in front of her. like, do you want
the soda? She's like, no, not really. And then they say, all right, well, why don't you have
(38:39):
a sip anyway? So she takes a sip of the sodaand then she's like, oh, the bubbles, burns.
It doesn't feel good, right? Like a totallydifferent reaction to it, which is just so,
it's just so interesting. so if you're, um youknow, it can help with the cravings or like
if you have a desire for, you know, chocolateor something like that with like reducing
(39:00):
the cravings. But I mean, if you have obviously,you know. drug addictions and that sort of
thing. I'm not going to say that it's a cure-all,but like if you're somebody that is feeling
the intensity of an urge, tapping can help with reducing that urge. for sure. And I
think that that's one of the huge points aboutit uh whenever it comes to addiction, because
(39:24):
that's the thing is that whenever you're init, you're just in it. There's not a lot you
can do besides get out and it starts slowly.You don't just get pulled out by a rescue helicopter
and you're wonderfully good forever. You haveto sit there and if you don't find tools as
you're getting out, if you don't find a supportsystem once you're out, so on and so forth,
(39:45):
if you don't find certain things to carry yourselfforward, it's going to fail because recovery
is really difficult. We're remaking ourselvesevery day essentially because what we thought
was ourselves or especially myself Turns outto be not a person, you know? So it's like,
well, shit, I have to start from scratch, itsounds like. But that's the thing is that
(40:06):
we're able to take things like this and we'reable to meet ourselves where we're at to become
our own best friend, to support ourselves inhelping fight that kind of battle because it's
a very hard one. And that leads me to the question,though, is there any actual negative side
effects to this? Because if someone just didn'tlike their soda afterwards, I like soda. Right.
(40:31):
Well, no, there's really no negative side effects.will say though that if you are someone who's
interested in this and wants to try this and knowingly has some big T trauma in your past,
I wouldn't tap on that by yourself. I woulddefinitely get help and work with a practitioner
through that just to be super safe through theprocess. Otherwise, no, there's really no
(40:56):
there's really no negative side effects of it.Oh, man. That is one of those things where
it's like, man, sounds too good to be true. that's kind of the thing, right? A lot of
these things that are too good to be true just means that we have to put in work, right?
Because that's where the price comes from. Wehave to. Sacrifice our own time for it. We
(41:18):
have to make room for ourselves. And if wedon't make room for ourselves, then it can't
happen Yeah, we have to allow ourselves tofeel the feelings. You you gotta feel it to
heal it. Yep Well, one of the people in myrecovery rooms, they say reveal it to heal
it. Hmm. No that too that too But we can sitthere and do a lot with tapping but what's
(41:42):
your favorite things that you've done with tappingso far? ah Well, I think, you my own journey
with it has been powerful. I love that I canhelp other people. I love teaching it. I'm
a trainer now, so I can train people who areinterested in becoming EFT practitioners. ah
I love that there's just so many different waysthat you can utilize it. I love that it complements
(42:08):
other practices. I've also incorporated it intoyoga classes. So not only are we doing the
somatic movement, we're also reflecting andtapping on the points and moving through the
emotional side of it. So I guess I love, withall of that said, I guess I love how adaptable
it is and how you can use it in so many differentways. Yeah, that's awesome. The first thing
(42:32):
that I hadn't popped in my head for some reasonwas EFT and yoga at the same time, so I'm
doing the tree and then gorilla. Yeah, I typicallyteach it with uh in a yin class. So it's more
like gentle all on a mat. But that you go forit. Do the tree pose and then tap it under
the arms at the same time. Go for it. Extrabalance. Yeah. I don't know why that bopped
(42:58):
in my head, but it's one of those things. Sowhenever tapping comes into play, how do you
let's say if someone's skeptical, wheneverthey come to you. Wow, what do you do to
make them just like takes a leap of faith? Yeah,you went to you in the first place, right?
So it's interesting, right? So sometimes I'lldo workshops where people obviously sign up
(43:22):
and they attend and other times I'm hired togo speak to a group of people at uh a business
or at a support group where the people thatare there haven't necessarily signed up to
see me, but I'm like the guest speaker, right? So the energy can be different when there's
people that are there. They're like, oh, thissounds this sounds a little crazy. So I've
definitely come across, you know, fair shareof skeptics. And I always invite the skeptics.
(43:46):
I think it's fine. This is not a practice thatyou have to believe in, in order for it to
work. I just say, give it a try and see howit makes you feel. And if it makes you feel
better, then that's awesome. And if it doesn't,then move on to the next thing, you know,
like it's, it's, um... Just just my my thingis like if you're here for the next hour, just
(44:08):
give it a try. Have an open mind and see seeif it's the thing that's going to move the
needle for you. Oh, I love that. A littlebit of just give it a shot. know, there's
no there's no negative side effects. You mightnot like soda if you were addicted to it, but
that may be a good thing for your dentist. Right.know. And dealing with skeptics and sorts,
(44:30):
you said that there's nothing uh You don'thave to believe in it for it to really work.
So not to play devil's advocate, but do you feel that other modalities you work with like
Reiki, for example, do you feel that your clienthas to be gung-ho about it for it to really
work? And you do EFT whenever they're kindof like not that in it? no, I mean, if somebody's
(44:53):
coming for it to me for Reiki, they're mostlikely a believer. Like they're not somebody
that's like, you know, again, like a skepticwith it. ah But I do think that um just meeting
someone wherever they are with it and if you'reskeptical, it's okay and that, you know, just
(45:15):
see how it makes you feel. That's usually my go-to thing. If somebody is skeptical, they've
never done Reiki, but they signed up for it. I think, you know, I think if you, more so
if you have that mindset of this is not goingto work for me, like, Like if you are just
like closed off, this isn't going to work forme sitting there with your arms crossed. It's
(45:38):
not going to work for you because you've decidedit's not going to work for you. I do think
that there has to be some openness and willingnessto see if to give it a try. I see where it
goes from there. That's yeah. Yeah, for sure.I was just curious myself because I'm all about
Ricky too. And it's just one of those thingsthat I know that Whenever you're not familiar
(46:03):
with the way that energy feels, you know, wheneveryou're not actually paying attention to your
body or what's around it, kind of seeing everythingjust feels like static all at the same time.
And so it's kind of hard to notice that there'ssomething going on. But I think that there
is something to it too of saying, closing yourselfoff to it. And then it's just like, it's just
(46:26):
not going to happen because you don't want it,you know. But I think that EFT would be one
of those great things to introduce someone tolike open themselves up to it because they
can finally maybe feel some of that shift goingon within themselves before they have someone
else do it for them. Yeah. Yeah. And when Ifirst teach someone, I often have them focus
(46:47):
on something physical in their body. Like wedo what's called a constricted breathing exercise
and noticing like what kind of tension you feelin your chest. And as you tap, Typically what
happens is there's like a loosening. feels alittle bit easier, like your breath, you know,
is more full. You can take a longer inhale,longer exhale. And so when somebody is focused
(47:09):
on really feeling a physical change, I feellike then they open up a little bit more to
moving towards the emotional. And so I'll kindof go from talking about the tension that they're
feeling or the tightness that they're feelingin their chest to asking something like, if
that tightness was an emotion, what emotionwould it be? And oftentimes the answer to that,
(47:31):
people would say with the chest is stress, right?Or anxiety or sometimes grief, you know? And
then we can move into tapping on the emotionalside and uh it usually works pretty well.
Interesting. So you get to see a lot of peoplechange almost in real time, if not real time.
And then you get to see them walk out of youroffice per se. And they're probably walking
(47:55):
a little bit taller and happier. I mean, theintention is to leave feeling a little bit
lighter. mean, sometimes there are some heavythings that we tap on and that isn't, I would
say, always the case. But I would say the majorityof the time you're leaving feeling lighter
and more open with hopefully a little bit ofa aha behind you. I would actually have to
(48:20):
maybe argue that that could be the one negativeside effect is that you have to feel your feelings,
you know? That's Yeah, they're not alwaysnecessarily going to be like, hey, you've been
holding on to me for five, 10 years and I'mgone in 10 minutes. It's probably going to
be like, I'm going to hang around you for alittle bit, but you're finally acknowledging
(48:40):
me. So let's go ahead and talk about that griefwhenever grandma died or something, you know.
Right. Yeah. Or, you know, stuff from yourchildhood comes up and we can do tapping where
you're talking to that younger version of youwho didn't get the love or have the type
of relationship with whoever in your life thatyou needed, why you felt sad or why you felt
(49:01):
alone as a kid. And, you know, that can be intense work to do, but it can be really,
really powerful too. Yeah, for sure. And Iknow for myself, whenever I've done work like
that, I can definitely feel drained and just out of it. And it's not necessarily a bad
feeling. It's just that, hey, there's a lotgoing on in my head. I need to go lay down.
(49:25):
Yeah, yeah processing it right and so yeah,sometimes you're tired and and then you need
to listen to your body and rest yeah Yeah, and I mean rest is just as important as doing
the activity itself, right? It sure is Wegot a few minutes left on this episode. So
(49:46):
do you think you could run us through the cycleone more time? with your link again? Yeah,
absolutely. All right. So we'll do, shouldwe do some cropping again on anxiety or is
there another thing you think we should focuson? You know, anxiety and stress is one of
those things that I think everyone feels andcan really get some benefit out of learning
(50:10):
how to do this for themselves. Okay. So I willsay a sentence and then I'll ask you to just
repeat what I say. So you kind of like my echo.So that's kind how it works when I'm working
with a client, right? So we'll work, we'll tapon the pinky side of the hand. Even though
I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Eventhough I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
(50:31):
I love honor and accept myself. I love honorand accept myself. And we do that three times
on the pinky side. So even though I have allthis stress and anxiety. Even though I have
all this stress and anxiety. Right here, rightnow, I'm acknowledging it. Right here, right
now, I'm acknowledging it. Even though I'vebeen carrying this stress and anxiety in my
(50:51):
body. Even though I've been carrying this stressand anxiety inside my body. I'm choosing to
love myself through it. I'm choosing to lovemyself through it. And then we're going to
come to the top of the head. All of this anxietyand stress. All of this anxiety and stress.
The start of the eyebrows. I've been carryingall of this anxiety and stress. I've been carrying
(51:14):
all of this anxiety and stress. Sides of theeyes. It has been weighing me down. It has
been weighing me down. Under the eyes. I'mso stressed and anxious. I'm so stressed and
anxious. Under the nose. I feel this in mybody. I feel this in my body. Chin crease.
(51:37):
I've been carrying this tension in my body. I've been carrying this tension in my body.
To the collarbone. I'm open to the possibilityof letting it go. I'm open to the possibility
of letting it go. Under the arm. I'd reallylike to let this anxiety and stress go. I'd
(51:59):
really like to let this anxiety and stress go. And then the back of the hand. I'm choosing
to love myself through this. I'm choosing tolove myself through this. It's okay and I'm
okay. It's okay and I'm okay. And then takea nice deep breath. I'm letting go. Ooh.
(52:21):
Ooh, that feels good. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh, Ilike that. For some reason, my hand really
likes that. Yeah, so that's your favorite point.So you can know like when you're feeling stressed
or overwhelmed, you can just tap on that, takesome nice deep breaths and feel more grounded.
Yeah, thank you for that. That was awesome.I didn't know that my hand likes that. It's
(52:43):
kind of weird. Yeah, it's interesting howour bodies respond and you know, our bodies
are so innately wise that sometimes we likeI was saying earlier, sometimes we touch points
that we don't even realize that we come andwe rub the sides of the eyes or maybe we bring
our hand to our chest and kind of just likerub on our chest a little bit like we naturally
do things to try to lower that cortisol withouteven realizing that that's what we're doing.
(53:07):
Maybe that's what yawn is all about, right?Yeah, so and when you do the good point, when
you do this work, uh it's totally common toyawn, it's common to have tears come to the
eyes, it's common to laugh, sometimes to evenfeel confused. All of that is simply a sign
that energy is moving and that is a good thing. I'm barely having to stop myself from yawning
(53:30):
right now. just means that energy is startingto flow. uh I mean, I've been sitting here
kind of tapping on my hand the whole time. kind of trying to keep some kind of flow
in my head going while trying to keep the questiongoing. It's been a little difficult, but at
the same time, it's like my head feels a littlebit more light. It feels a little bit more
(53:52):
less rubber band ball. That's interesting.So we can definitely do it while we're talking
to people. um I mean, if I'm able to do it,y'all can do it out there too. Just probably
don't do it while you're driving operating heavymachinery though, right? Yes, good warning.
Or flying a plane, that's heavy machinery too.That's a little dangerous. Yeah, but if you're
(54:15):
listening to this episode while you're flyingthe plane, thanks, I'm really honored. But
Lauren, where can people find you once again?Yeah, you can come find me at my website, mindshiftwithlauren.com
or on YouTube, Mind Shift With Lauren. I publish new videos every week. if you want to get
on my email list so you can get those in yourinbox every week, you can find that on my website,
(54:40):
mindshiftwithlauren.com. Ooh, thank you. And I think, oh, I have one more question.
Lauren, the name of this podcast is RetrievingSanity, and we explore how all facets of living
life impact our mental health. Looking at themotley adventures of your life, what does
retrieving sanity personally mean to you today?And what's one practice or perspective you
(55:03):
believe is crucial for anyone on that journey? I would say retrieving sanity just makes me
think about coming home to myself and ah really doing what I need to do to take care of me
and putting myself first in order to take careof those that I love the most and um that
(55:26):
we all need to do that. can't pour from an emptycup and you need to prioritize your health
and wellbeing and your mental health and I wouldencourage people to... uh Follow the nudges.
So if you have been intrigued by listening tothis and you want to try tapping, you can go
(55:46):
to my website and download the free masterclass.Or if you're intrigued about Reiki, go find
a Reiki practitioner and give it a try. Whenthings pop up into your world, especially
repeatedly, I am one that tends to believethat's happening for a reason and the reason
is for you to explore it. So go explore whatyou're interested in and see what... What
(56:08):
modality is going to help you be a better you? Ooh, I love that. That is some deep wisdom.
And it is, I think, just spot on to it'sfollowing that intuition hits whenever you
get them right. Yep. The little little nudges,the little soul, soul guidance or God winks,
(56:29):
whatever you want to call it. Yeah. Well,Lauren, this has been an absolutely awesome
episode, and I've just Got to say thank youvery much. It has been an absolute honor and
a pleasure learning all about EFT and divinginto it with you. But do think that we could
see you in the future again to like either refreshpeople or maybe take a different twist on
(56:49):
things and see how we can do it? Absolutely.I'd love to come back. Thank you so much for
having me. Awesome. Well, I mean, it's been so cool. I can't wait to see what we can do
for the second episode. See how we can maybemix things up a little bit. For it. So everyone
out there. Thank you for listening to RetrievingSanity on WDJY 99.1 FM and as always, we
(57:13):
will see y'all next time but you gotta try tolove yourself, love others if you can, but
you gotta love yourself first before you cando that properly. And we just hope that you
have a great rest of your day, night, wheneveryou're listening to this and we will see you
next week. With that, much love. Shalom!
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