Body Confidence and Healing Series - Cravings
Body Confidence and Healing Series - Cravings
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| Image by Marta_Guillen from Pixabay |
So let's face it. Most of us have been at odds with the way we look and how much we weigh at some point in our lives. This has certainly been the case for me.
What is that one thing that you know is helping to put on the pounds or kilos but you just can not seem to leave it be? For some it may be chocolate, others like more savory tastes like meat pies or crisps. Some may love their beer. Now we know it is a craving. Let's face it, no amount of chocolate, beer or meat pies will satisfy your body's hunger signal for nutrition. That is what happens when one is hungry. Our body signals that there is a lack of a nutrient or energy and we need to eat something that provides the nutrition that the body requires in order to function effectively. Everything else really is a craving.
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| Image by John Hain from Pixabay |
A craving can be described as our brain signals wanting instant gratification. We want something that is going to instantly spike our brain reward center. For example, after a day at work with it's associated stress, you may want to hit the wine cabinet. This gives you that lovely sensation of de-stress and calming down right? What about sweets then? Ever have a breakup and the only thing you want to eat is chocolate or ice cream? Jip! Reward center activation at work!
So what is your go to craving or do you have a few depending on the situation or the emotion you are trying to escape from.
Let's work on that craving
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| Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay |
Emotional Freedom Techniques work so well with cravings and here is how it works. In times of stress or emotional distress, out body is in a state of fight, flight or freeze. Thus there is an increased state of arousal in the limbic system in the brain. When we tap on the meridian points using Emotional Freedom Techniques, we decease the arousal in the limbic system.
So in effect we are then decreasing the arousal in the brain caused by our environments leading to stress and negative emotions and reducing the brain's reward center wanting instant gravitation through cravings.
Let's do a tapping exercise to reduce a craving
To really see EFT at work on cravings, choose your poison (craving), so to speak and get it ready for this exercise. So if your craving is chocolate then have your favorite chocolate in front of you. If you like meat pies then make sure you have your favorite flavor in front of you, nice an warm so you can smell it and feel your mouth salivating in anticipation of eating that pie. Maybe your craving is to do with having a beer at the end of the day to de-stress.
Step 2: Hold the item in front of you. Let's really get that craving going now by using all of your senses.
- Sight: Look at your item and notice everything that is appealing to you. Maybe it is rich and dark or white if chocolate, maybe it looks golden brown if it is a meat pie or maybe it is a clear golden bubbly liquid if a lager beer.
- Touch: Hold the item in your hand, notice what it feels like. Is it soft and smooth for chocolate, is it warm and flaky pastry for a meat pie or is it icy cold and frothy for a beer.
- Smell: Now smell the item. Close your eyes and really take in that smell. You may smell the sweetness if chocolate or the rich beef gravy in the meat pie or the hops smell of your beer.
- Sound: Try and listen and see if there is a sound associated to your item that appeals and adds to your craving. For chocolate this might be the sound of breaking a piece off the chocolate bar. For a meat pie this might be the very delicate sound of the pastry tearing, revealing the delicious meaty content within. For beer this might be the sound of the foam or the bubbles making it's way to the surface or the sound of the beer bottle opening or even the beer being poured into a glass.
- Taste: No wait a minute! This part we need to imagine. So imagine what it is like to have that chocolate slowly melting in your mouth. The sweet taste hitting your taste buds. Similarly, imagine taking a bite of your favorite meat pie. The temperature is just warm enough not to burn your mouth and just cold enough to savour. Imagine the salty rich taste of your favorite meat pie hitting your taste buds. Every moment, an absolute source of delight and pleasure. For a beer, imagine taking a sip. You lift your beer bottle up or your glass and take it to your mouth. The excitement building up as you anticipation of the ice cold lager hitting your taste buds, instantly cooling you down. You might even notice the bubbles at the back of your throat, tingling it's way down.
Step 3: Now that you have got that craving sensation really going. Let's get to work. Take your measurement on a scale between 0 - 10 (zero being no intensity at all and 10 being the most intensity imaginable).
Step 4: Let's start tapping a round. Remember this is merely a tapping script so it is highly generalized and is meant to be a guide for you to use to give you an idea of the statements that we use in EFT. For the best results you must focus on creating your own statements as you go.
For this example script I will use a meat pie as my source of inspiration.
Tap on your KC point and say:
Even though this craving is a 10 on the scale, I love and accept myself.
Even though my mouth is salivating, I accept myself completely;
Even though I feel like I seriously need a bit / drink right now, I completely and utterly accept myself.
Tapping Sequence:
Tap on your TOH point and say: This craving is a 10 on the scale;
Tap on your EB point and say: My mouth is salivating so much now;
Tap on your SE point and say: I so want to stuff that pie into my mouth right now;
Tap on your UE point and say: I really want to eat that pie;
Tap on your UN point and say: The smell is driving me crazy;
Tap on your Ch point and say: I can already taste that salty, rich gravy on my tongue;
Tap on your CB point and say: Even just thinking about the taste is putting a smile on my face;
Tap on your UA point and say: I can even hear the sound of the pastry breaking as I break a piece of the pie off to reveal that juicy gravy.
Step 5: Take a deep breath in through your nose and then release the breath out through your mouth.
Now start from Step 3 again and check your measurement. This is an intuitive measurement so use the first number that pops into your head. Notice any movement from where you started? You may be at the same measurement point, some may have move down the scale. If however you have moved up on the scale, this indicates some further work that needs to be done so notice if the exercise opened up a memory for you. For example, you may find that you remember the first time you tasted a meat pie and then tap on that experience in your next tapping round. Then return to the craving.
Follow Step 3 - Step 5 until you reach a zero on the scale. Now you have a choice. You may still want to have the thing that you crave or you may eat a bit and don't want to finish it all or you may find that your craving is gone completely. This will be a very individual experience for each person.
TOP TIP:
Remember all the things you noticed during Step 2 using your senses? Well this makes the most personalized and individual content to use in your tapping round wording and will be specific to you personally. Therefore you will get the greatest and fastest results.
Learn to use the EFT basics in my Free introductory course:
