We Are Our Habits, and They Are Us

Patterns

We all have them.  And it's a good thing too.  Can you imagine having to figure out how to wash a dish, brush your teeth, put on your pants, talk politely, each and every time you had to do those activities.  (Some of you may be able to if you've had a brain injury.)  In the broad scheme of things we have learned what we need to know so well and so long ago that we no longer know that we 'know.'  It's just automatic.  We don't have to think about it, our bodies just do what needs to be done to carry out our will.

But some of that 'knowing' may not be so helpful.  And it is just as unconscious as tying your shoe laces. But these are learned behaviors and beliefs, like 'It's not a safe world,' 'I'm not strong enough.' 'I'll never be good enough,' 'I can't have that,' 'no one in our family goes to college,' 'our people don't believe that,' or 'that might work for others, but not for me,' 'I'll never get over this pain."

Reactions

There are real life consequences to these hidden or subconscious beliefs.  They  become the patterns that subtly, but completely, shape our lives.  If you are programmed to believe that to have material goods makes you greedy and bad, how likely are to you acquire them? You may consciously desire to be comfortable and have nice things, but if that means you have to be greedy and bad to do so, you are in an unwinnable inner conflict.

The subconscious always wins.  Because the subconscious is so massive in size and power compared to the conscious, you can't out think it.  But change is possible with tapping, and practice.

Awareness and Change

One of the most illuminating exercises you can do with tapping is to just state something you believe or would like.  For example,  try saying the statement, "I deserve to have everything good that I want."  Now, just feel how true that statement feels in you body.  Did your heart soar and say "YES, I DO!"  Or did you feel something like a lump in your stomach, a weight on your heart, or a constriction in your throat?   Something that said to you, "I don't completely  believe that."?

Body sensations are how the subconscious communicates to us. It does not have words to say, "I still harbor some shame from when we were two and got yelled at for breaking mom's cup." So, instead you have this lingering pain in your hip, that just won't go away no matter what you do.

Changing the Script

As an exercise, try writing down some  beliefs you have about who you think you are and what you want. Say each one out loud and feel what your body feels. If your body doesn't tell you that it's 100% behind this thought, there is some inner conflict that may be holding you back from what you desire to achieve or be. Are you trying to heal some hurt in your body?  Try this statement, "I'll never get better."  How true does that feel to you?  100% true, partly true, or completely false?  If it's even a bit true, those subconscious beliefs can hinder or halt your progress.

Tapping is one solution to this dilemma. It's one of the quickest and safest ways to discover and change this hidden programming so you can feel better and achieve your goals.

We all have patterns in our thoughts, movements, and reactions.  Want to make some changes? Try on a new thought.  Move in novel ways.  Question your reactions to life events.  Does something make you angry?  Is there another way to respond or feel about it?  Go left instead of right and see what new sights you might see. By creating novelty daily your brain will be stimulated to create new neural pathways  and this is great for keeping your brain healthy, and creating more choices for you in life.

Tapping while you do any of this reinforces the positive changes and works with the subconscious to release any blocks as well.

download my free Report: Change Your Brain and Get Relief Now at my website:  www.pennyhilleft.coachesconsole.com  

Want to learn how to tap?  Contact info is at the website, or email me pheft22@gmail.com

Anger is your Great Friend

What?  Anger is bad, we're not supposed to feel it, it makes us bad people to be angry, right?  That seems to be the message of the dominant paradigm.

What if anger is just energy, and that energy is a gift of information.  A guidepost.  All the big emotions are just that and are useful for the situations that they meant for.  But they become toxic when you can't put them aside. Imagine picking up a hammer to pound in a nail. Then you can't put the hammer down. It's become a part of your hand. Now, to do anything at all you have to try to use the hammer.  Won't work and gets in the way. When we're stuck in any one emotion it's just as useful.

A beautiful and insightful article by a master of tapping, Margaret Lynch, outlines how useful anger is and what it means.  Couldn't have said it better myself so here is the link:

 http://www.thetappingsolution.com/eft-articles/why-i-love-anger-in-law-of-attraction-work/

Let the Ah-Ha moments commence.

Keep tapping
Penny 

The Balance Between Growth and Protection

In one of my first posts I explained Hebb's Law.  The idea that 'neurons that fire together, wire together.'  In practical terms, what does that mean?  Here's an example from my own life.

Those of you who know me probably know that my health has been, let's say, a project, for quite some time.  With regular tapping I've seen steady improvements. Fatigue continues to be an occasional challenge though. As I was working the other day, at something that did not require my conscious thoughts, I realized that my mind was repeating some version of the phrase "I'm just too tired, I  really am."  These thoughts were not directed at any particular activity I had planned that I was worried about, my brain was going about it's business reinforcing a belief I have.

The actual truth is that my energy is much improved in general.  Sometimes it slips back, or I'm easily overwhelmed.  But this is improving all the time. Because change is scary, and staying in a well worn groove is so much easier, my brain was busy rebuilding the old wiring that says I'm too tired.

Well, when I realized that was going on, I put a stop to it.  I consciously began to repeat the opposite of that statement: I do have enough energy to do what I need to do.  The awesome thing that happened is I felt more energized. Not in some mythical future, but right then and there! 

When I stopped being so darn committed to one truth (and in truth there was quite a bit of emotion behind those thoughts)  I created space for a new truth  to emerge.  Mostly transformation takes time, but  because I tap regularly I may have developed some neuro-plasticity that allows changes to happen quickly. Akin to stepping from one path to another running along side it.  Have I stopped having those thoughts that I am too tired?  No, but as soon as I hear them I start to change them, and the more I do that  the less power and control those less desirable thoughts have on me, my health and my destiny.   


 Brilliant!

Tap On.

peace,
Penny


For more information about tapping and to download the manual go to:
www.EFTUniverse.com (or)
www.Emofree.com. (or)
http://www.innersource.net/innersource/

 
Penny Hill, LMT, Certified EFT Practitioner
Oregon Massage License #4527
www.RisingSunMassage.massagetherapy.com
https://www.facebook.com/Rising-Sun-Massage-1662628780544032/
https://RisingSunMassage.blogspot.com/
https://TapIntoYourBrilliance.blogspot.com

Our Brilliant and Pliant Brains

Greetings everyone, you do know that you are smart and getting smarter all the time, right? I subscribe to a wonderful weekly newsletter http://www.heysigmund.com.  The latest issue (7/8/16) reiterates clinical findings that show that what we believe is paramount to our success.

I'll take a direct quote from the newsletter here, "Research lead by Hans Schroder and published in the journal Biological Psychology, has found that telling people that ‘effort trumps genetics’ causes instant changes in the brain that motivate people towards success."

The gist of the study is that people who were given material that said intelligence is fixed performed differently on tests than people who were told that  intelligence can improve.  The first group were more outcome oriented and remain stuck at the same level of performance.  The second group were more task oriented and learned from their mistakes, improving performance over sequential trials.

This was just for the conscious mind. Now lets add in the subconscious programming. If you were raised  in an environment that reinforced for you a particular identity, i.e., you're not good enough, nothing ever works out for me, who do you think you are, 'our people' never go to college, (and the list goes on and on) then you need a new paradigm to change your life.  

Have you ever watched a friend date the same bad partner (in different forms) over and over.  Has it been clear to you that they repeatedly pick partners who lie, cheat, and steal from them and treat them badly, leaving you scratching your head wondering why they don't see it or if they do why they can't change it.  

Maybe that friend was you once (I went through that phase.)

Enter tapping.  You need a way to re-write the operating system.  If your operating system says, "I'm not worthy of love" do you think you'll be attracting a line of loving, generous, kind partners?  Probably not.  This is what tapping is brilliant at: rewriting the operating script so you're conscious desires, love and peace at home, line up with your beliefs, I'm worthy of love.

Now you're manifesting the loving relationships you've been desiring.  

Brilliant!

Tap On
peace,
Penny 



For more information about tapping and to download the manual and learn it on your own go to:
www.EFTUniverse.com (or)
www.Emofree.com. (or)
http://www.innersource.net/innersource/


 
Penny Hill, LMT, Certified EFT Practitioner
Oregon Massage License #4527
www.RisingSunMassage.massagetherapy.com
https://www.facebook.com/Rising-Sun-Massage-1662628780544032/
https://RisingSunMassage.blogspot.com/
https://TapIntoYourBrilliance.blogspot.com

Beliefs and Truths, Chickens and Eggs

     So, husband and I were making the shopping list the other day.  We were assessing the household battery needs and I went to check on what type of batteries my little boombox took.  But as it turns out, there were functioning batteries in there already.  Because I believed there were none, I had been making choices based on that belief, like I couldn't listen to music in the garden while I worked. Honestly I've been trying all sorts of other ways to listen to the radio while I worked in the garden, and nothing else worked, so I thought "OK, I'm going to spend the money and just get the batteries."  My belief had shaped and limited my actions and options. But taking the time to look changed everything! 
    Doing  EFT is like going and looking, with a really good flashlight. I've sat with clients many times and heard them say,"oh, that's all worked out." But as we sit with the memory a bit the realization comes that its not so neutral a memory after all.  Sometimes there is just a little bit of emotional intensity left, sometimes a surprisingly large amount.  Sometimes it can act as a springboard to a related memory that needs to be worked out to truly clear the stuck emotional energy. ( See the last blog entry about breadcrumbs.)
     What may be your subconscious beliefs? 'I'm not good enough,' 'I'm too old to do that,' 'I'm too young to do that,' 'I don't have anything important to say,' 'Nothing ever works for me,' 'Everything I do works out for the best,' 'I'm divinely guided in all my actions,' 'money and resources flow easily into my life.'  Did any of those resonate for you?
    So go ahead, shine a light, and maybe what you  find can be easily transformed. Maybe when you look, you'll quickly realize it was just a false belief. Maybe it's not the big scary overpowering thing you feared, and if it is, you can take along a guide to help you tackle it. It's just energy after all. Then  you truly will have new options available.  Many of the ideas and beliefs that keep us stuck are easily transmutable, and then we can change who and how we are in the world more easily than we ever thought, and life begins to unfold  more in line with our conscious desires.

next time: I know what I want, why do I keep getting this instead?


 
Tap On
peace,
Penny 



For more information about tapping and to download the manual and learn it on your own go to:
www.EFTUniverse.com (or)
www.Emofree.com. (or)
http://www.innersource.net/innersource/


 
Penny Hill, LMT, Certified EFT Practitioner
Oregon Massage License #4527
www.RisingSunMassage.massagetherapy.com
https://www.facebook.com/Rising-Sun-Massage-1662628780544032/
https://RisingSunMassage.blogspot.com/
https://TapIntoYourBrilliance.blogspot.com
     
                  
     

A Trail of Breadcrumbs in the form of Pain

Everyone has had this experience: you remember an old event, could be from yesterday, last week or twenty years ago, and you feel a physical response to that memory.  It could be a constriction in your stomach, a clenching jaw, a heaviness  on your heart or any number of sensations associated with it.  It could be a sudden surge of joy as well, or a warm feeling of safety or inclusion.

Where are our memories stored?  You might have assumed that they are in the brain somewhere.  In truth, no one is really sure.  But the developing theories that research is pointing to is that memory is stored in all our senses.  Or more precisely, when a memory is stored it includes 'aspects' that come from all the senses. When recalling an old memory how many times have you said something like "I can still smell the roses," or "I can still hear the screeching of the brakes" ? This old event is still being held in your senses as if it's happening now.  If it is a lovely memory that is fine, but if it's a traumatic one, not so much.  These sensory bits of  memory are dragging down our energy, but are also clues to tell us that we have unresolved bits of 'emotional baggage' weighing us down.

When we have a troubling memory and we experience physical feelings associated with it we can think of it as parts of our neurology stuck in the memory.  Like having our scarf caught in the door, we're mostly out but not able to walk away.  This is one of the main uses of EFT, to get our biology unstuck so we can live the biggest most successful lives we can.

Life is full of small and large traumas. The hallmarks of trauma are that:
it is unexpected  and sudden (we were startled)
it threatens our lives or identity
is overwhelming ( we  haven't the resources to handle it)
we feel isolated (we feel alone and helpless)

Given these parameters you can see that certainly something like a car accident or assault could fall into that category, but so too does the 2 year old experiencing an angry mom for the first time.  Even an infant's nervous system can record experiences.  So well before you have the ability to form memories, you're body is sorting out 'safe' and 'not safe' in an effort to maximize your survival.  The tools EFT uses to get the 'stuck' places 'unstuck' is to follow the trail your body has left as clues that there is unresolved emotional energy. These can be patterns of recurring or chronic pain in the body. They can also show up as recurring themes in our lives: nothing ever works out for me, I can never get a good job, all my bosses have been incompetent but I never get a promotion.  You get the picture? Do you have a pattern that could use some improving?  Are you trying to achieve a goal but can't ever get going?  These are symptoms of a load of unresolved emotional energy holding you back.

What EFT is so brilliant at doing is getting our scarf unstuck from the door so we can move on and be our wonderful, brilliant, loving, healthy, whole, light filled selves in the world.


Tap On
peace,
Penny 



For more information about tapping and to download the manual and learn it on your own go to:
www.EFTUniverse.com (or)
www.Emofree.com. (or)
http://www.innersource.net/innersource/


 
 Penny Hill, LMT
Oregon license #4527
www.RisingSunMassage.massagetherapy.com
https://www.facebook.com/Rising-Sun-Massage-1662628780544032/
https://RisingSunMassage.blogspot.com/
https://TapIntoYourBrilliance.blogspot.com
     

In the Beginning

    I haven't  defined EFT yet have I?  Most simply put it is a stress relief tool, effective and easily learned. It combines a technique from psychology, exposure therapy, and tapping on acupuncture meridians.  By combining these two actions, troubling emotions and memories (which may be being stored in the body as pain) can be reprocessed and dispersed.  This has many benefits and is usually permanent. The applications are almost endless.  As this blog goes on this is what I will be writing about but I think it's important to lay the foundation of where this work comes from.  It's pedigree if you will 
     Last time I outlined some of the major developments in the psychological field that  were foundational in the development of EFT.  Building on that work the next wave of development of  what would become EFT combined manual muscle testing with tapping on acupuncture points,and exposure therapy.  Additionally included is a recognition of and a  way to treat  what is called psychological reversal (in EFT parlance we call it the 'upside of the downside'.) The last in the list of developers is psychologist  Roger Callahan who developed his system which he called Thought Field Therapy.  While effective it was complex and hard to implement.
     This brings us back around to Gary Craig who was a student of Callahan's. Gary  refined and simplified the process, making it easy for anyone to learn and do the process.  Gary was a master NLP practitioner, and included some very effective bits from there.  There are some inclusions from EMDR as well.
     It is very safe to use on your own, and indeed while working with a practitioner is very useful, you can use the protocol to very great effect on yourself by yourself. It can be delivered successfully on the phone or by Skype for people who can't travel or would like to work with someone who is not close to them geographically. 
     It is being used to treat PTSD very successfully. Indeed at least two of my mentors work with veterans, happily transforming their lives into a mostly post PTSD  experience, while the mainstream medical community is telling them, as has been believed for always, that there is no hope for remission from PTSD. This was true, but now with EFT that is changing.
     You can download the manual and learn EFT for yourself at www.EFTUniverse.com  or if you know a warrior who could use some help there is a tapping project geared just for them at:  http://battletap.org/home.aspx

tapping is brilliant
healthcare!