This is a teaser from the 2nd edition of my 2018 self-published book, Take It Upon Yourself to Live a Wholly Vibrant Life (to be renamed, Have Yourself a Wholly Vibrant Life). If you would rather listen instead of read, play the audio:
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Quite simply, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) cured my addiction/habit of finger skin-picking/chewing. And I believe my story might help others, so I feel compelled to share it. You might wonder what I mean by “picking my fingers.” Years ago I quit biting my fingernails, but I only traded that habit for something less. The main cause of the “picking” had not been addressed.
I bought a book called, Tapping the Healer Within because my acupuncture doctor had told me about it, and because I had tried everything else. I found that book a bit convoluted and besides, it mostly dealt with phobias and anxieties – neither of which I thought I had. More importantly, it was difficult for me to hold the book and try to tap on my body with my other hand. Or maybe that was only my excuse – but the book, though interesting to me, wasn’t enough to help me.
A few weeks before my personal EFT visit with a local therapist, my encouraging hubby and I watched a mind-expanding show on TLC called, I Can Make You Thin. One of the episodes showed the host using EFT to help people overcome their food cravings. Because I had also tried everything to lose weight, I decided that I really needed some one-on-one personal guidance with that, as well as my finger skin-picking habit.
At about that time, I met an EFT practitioner named, Janice Cunningham (Health Quest Titusville, Florida). I was eager to get in for an appointment. During a 2.5-hour session (on a Saturday) with Janice, I described both of my issues fully. By the time we’d wrapped up our session, I found a total resolution to some deep-seated wrong mental programming, and amazingly, I had the best night’s sleep that I’d had in years that night! I guess I had not even realized that my sleep pattern had also been an issue.
My appointment with Janice also greatly helped me to release the finger skin-picking addiction. Janice and I spent nearly two hours going back into my past, into my former marriage, teenage years, and finally, childhood years. I realized that I had picked up my habit of fingernail-biting at the same time asthma began – when I was six years of age. My mom had always been a terrible nail-biter, biting right down into the quick, so I knew I’d picked up the habit from mom, I simply had not realized how much of a connection there was between that habit, my asthma, and my mom.
Example of finger picking on side of my ring fingernail. Yes, sometimes it still occurs when I watch something too intense in a TV show/movie–so perhaps I am not 100% “cured” but I have a LOT more awareness around it and do not continue to pick once I become aware that I’m doing it.
I realized fully during my session that when my mom’s father died, my grandfather, the sadness surrounding his death deeply affected me. When I was six years of age, coincidently, I received an asthma diagnosis. You’ll recall I had explained earlier that my grandfather had died at home after being in the hospital for cancer surgery. They sent him home with the understanding that the doctors had done all they could do. At least my grandfather died at home.
As an aside, one of the things my mother always said was to stay away from hospitals if possible. I think she had heard about people who went to the hospital and died from some infection (like Sepsis) or had the wrong procedure done! My mother’s fear of the hospital was not lost on me. The important thing about that experience for me though, was that even though I was a child, I had a deep connection to my grandfather’s passing, mostly due to how upset my mom was during that time. And because I was thoroughly connected to my mother emotionally.
My mama was very upset about losing her father. She and I, at that time, felt that death was the end. And though our religious belief was that we would see him again in the afterlife, we suffered greatly at the time of his death and for weeks after. I vividly recall believing if she could lose him, I could lose her. And there was no way I could live – I wouldn’t be able to breathe, in fact – without my mom. Knowing what I know now, I hard-wired that grief right into my lungs, because of the emotional charge involved in that event, due to my vivid recall of it.
My EFT session felt like counseling and hypnosis (though I was awake and totally aware of what was happening) as though Janice was talking to me on a deep level. During the session, Janice recommended I take some notes, both of the things I was becoming aware of and how to run through this process again on my own. The following is an account of the written notes I made:
I couldn’t breathe without my mom.
I always had tried to “save my mom.”
I am not my thoughts.
My perception influenced my thoughts but my perceptions were wrong.
The genie is out of the bottle.
I do not need the old thoughts.
Am I the thought or the awareness?
Am I “this” thought, or am I the awareness of “this” thought?
Who sent “this” thought? (My pain body)
Examine “this” thought. It will probably be a limiting thought, a no-win thought, and one that would eventually bring pain.
To let go of “this” thought: 1) focus on the feeling of my breath in and out, 2) be the observing presence.
When I only observe, I suspend space.
Inspiration = In spirit, and inspiration fills me, lights me up from the inside – the same as when someone is in creative mode you feel the creative energy inside, in your heart/chest not in the head area.
The Aha moment is when the head agrees to the inner knowing.
My habit of biting my fingernails = my fear and anxiety linked to my feeling of not being able to fix/help/save my mom.
Something that can trigger asthma in my body is when I face something I can’t do anything about; when I feel a sense of powerlessness.
Through this experience and the many more that followed, I learned we tend to hold fear as a sort of security blanket. I don’t know why, as I think that is the root cause of most of our suffering. And the Buddhists and Taoists believe and teach that also.
This is also a reason I bring up the topic of God and spiritual things in this book. Our beliefs—whether we have hope or not and if we believe this Universe is friendly or not—have a lot to do with how each of us feels bodily.
You may not think fear is the same as a person who is negative all the time, but I would wager that a person who is consistently afraid of this thing or the other, is a person who puts a lot of emphasis on protecting what they think belongs to them. Some might call that kind of person a control freak. They may be a person who lives for “things” and is a pack rat or hoarder. They may also be the kind of person who suffers because of all the things and people to whom they are attached. There’s a lot of healing in letting go, of people, places, and things. And you can’t take any of it with you when you transition (or pass away) from this life to whatever comes next.
The Bible in the book of Philippians has a verse that instructs us to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, or praiseworthy. And the author of those words, Paul, said that as we think these thoughts the God of peace will be with us. I used to encourage my mother to focus on these things—and during her last two or three years, if not more, she did, because she was always in gratitude during our last visits.
Janice used EFT in a compassionate and caring way. The end result of the two hours for my fingers was every difficulty my mom had ever had, in her marriage, health, etc. I felt as though I needed to help her, or ‘SAVE’ her. Though mom had a very strong faith in Jesus, it was always something I had felt – that I needed to save her. Once we broke this down and got to this deep-seated REASON for my habit, so many other things lifted within my mind and body as well. I can’t say enough wonderful things about EFT. If you think you’ve tried everything to find relief from anxiety, depression, weight issues, nerve problems, etc. I implore you to seek out an EFT therapist in your area. You do not need to “believe in it” for it to work for you. And what do you have to lose?
Over the years, I took the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible about “saving people” to mean, “love people.” For I am not responsible for saving anyone else or even making them happy. However, the cells of my body hold me accountable for making myself happy (it feels good when I align with my Soul) to keep my Temple (Mind and Body), healthy. I can love my enemies, but I don’t have to live with them!
Thus, because I am a super responsible person – I’m supposed to do something. (This is the conflict that causes the habitual negative behavior). And because I have an analytical mind, I often find my thoughts at odds with the evidence-based medicine that is predominantly used in hospitals, as I believe the evidence of healing I’ve experienced is true too—anecdotal experience is real and is true!
I relied on prayer, EFT, breath work, reflexology, and all kinds of alternative methods to calm and help myself think clearly when my husband was in the hospital in October 2022. I was dumbstruck how little the hospital staff communicated with each other, even though they wheeled a computer into the room with them each time! I found myself telling each doctor, intern, resident, specialist, and nurse who came into the room to see my husband most all of the same things because they did not relay the information to each other. Since I am a business analyst in Information Technology by trade the lack of appropriate information handoffs I witnessed was alarming!
p.s. I used to teach EFT at a Wellness clinic in St. Petersburg, Florida and I have lectured on the benefits of EFT at several events. I am planning on offering some general introductory EFT sessions via Zoom if anyone is interested in participating–let me know in the comments.
To buy the new book, Have Yourself a Wholly Vibrant Life, please visit the link: https://amzn.to/44gRvpD
About us
My husband is an award-winning illustrator, plus he’s a seasoned guitarist, bass player, and songwriter (with over 400 original songs). You can view some of his artwork and listen to all of his songs at: http://listen4music.com
In and beyond this magnificent Universe, Omniscience knows ALL. Omniscience is always with you because you are a fractal part of Omniscience. You are truly never alone in this ever-expanding Universe. We are each fractals of Omniscience akin to glints of sunlight on the surface of a large body of water or the rays of sunshine shining upon us.
Fractal of Omniscience. “Spiral Sister”🌀Observer & Perceiver of Energy & Wisdom from Nature. Empath|Author|Connector|Speaker|Singer.❤️🦋🌀🎼〰️🙏🔥☯️
A bit about me, your Spiral Sister
I would love to speak at your bookstore, crystal shop, acupuncture / chiropractor office, or other holistic / natural fair or festival. I support healthy lifestyle businesses. For information on ALL of my books, visit my Amazon Author page.
An Amazon bestselling author of two co-authored books: Transform Your Life Book 2 Inspirational Stories and Expert Advice, Energy of Receiving, and author of the captivating Blue Eyes: Ethereal Messages of Connection as well as the incredibly helpful 2nd edition of Have Yourself a Wholly Vibrant Life: Reversing Asthma and Other Chronic Illness Naturally.
Be the best version of who you want to be–who your soul beckons you to be. It’s important because who you are in this world affects us ALL. We Are All Connected.
Information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe.
How I stay in gratitude every day since embarking on the citrus diet where I’ve been eating a grapefruit and oranges tangelos tangerines every day for 30 days.
Now, I’m beyond the 30 day period.
I’ve noticed that while I peel the grapefruit and I peel the orange by scoring them and then hand peeling them over the trashcan, I remembered that my dad is the one that taught me how to peel an orange. And the memory of that brings me to a place of gratitude.
Also, when I wash the knife that I scored the orange with when I wash out my bowl, the one particular stoneware bowl that I tend to use every day multiple times a day that’s the rewashing before each serving of food or each preparation to serve the bowl of food. I have to wash it and I do this over the sink. I wash it by hand and as I’m washing I’m meditating I’m bringing my my mind to a neutral point and breathing and then a thought will drop in. And typically, at least today, it was the thought of my mom, when she would wash dishes. She would talk she would talk to herself and she did this for many years.
In fact, most of my life I remember my mother standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes and talking to herself sometimes it was imperceptible, the volume of her speech was so low. Dad and I used to joke and poke fun at her (for which I am soooo sorry about now), and she would kind of make a gesture. I can only describe her gesture as as a mixture of blowing off what we would say and frustration that we didn’t understand her. She did tell me in later years that she would was praying or talking with those that had gone before. I didn’t ever really connect that mom may have been talking to spirits, but I did sense that she was putting her doubts or worries emotions out there for God or the angels or whomever was listening.
Certainly, dad and I were not listening to mom’s murmurings. And now, where gratitude comes in from that thought is that (crying) mom had the words then… she was able to articulate and communicate her thoughts and feelings and ideas! Ugh! Because (whether you know this or not), later in mom’s life, she lost her ability to speak, or say much anyway. Mom lost the ability to formulate the words and move her mouth in such a way to be able to make words would come out.
Mom would try to speak. So, she had some mind left. And I watched this. I watched my mother decline and her vocal ability deteriorate over the last two to three years of her life. And in particular the last visit with her before she passed. But I will never know how much of mom’s mind was still alive and functioning, or how much wasn’t.
The few months before mom crossed over she was down to only having the use of about 10 words. Mom would use the same 10 words over and over and over to describe a variety of things. She would point to things and use the word thing or baby and that was it. Or baby was the name (noun) for everything. But mom remembered the words beautiful, wonderful and such, as her descriptions or descriptors (adjectives). I had always offered that instead of worrying, mom could think on all the lovely, beautiful, and wonderful things. And I believe what thoughts she had were on those kinds of things.
Thus, when I had these thoughts while washing dishes I became verygrateful. Yes, Gratitude enveloped me. I am sooo grateful to have had the mom I had. The mother who loved and cared for me all the days of my life while she lived.
I am so grateful for all the things my parents taught me.
Do you want to live in that place of gratitude every day?
Fractal of Omniscience. “Spiral Sister”🌀Observer & Perceiver of Energy & Wisdom from Nature. Empath|Author|Connector|Speaker|Singer.❤️🦋🌀🎼〰️🙏🔥☯️
A bit about me, your Spiral Sister
I would love to speak at your bookstore, crystal shop, acupuncture / chiropractor office, or other holistic / natural fair or festival. I support healthy lifestyle businesses. For information on ALL of my books, visit my Amazon Author page.
An Amazon bestselling author of two co-authored books: Transform Your Life Book 2 Inspirational Stories and Expert Advice, Energy of Receiving, and author of the captivating Blue Eyes: Ethereal Messages of Connection as well as the incredibly helpful 2nd edition of Have Yourself a Wholly Vibrant Life: Reversing Asthma and Other Chronic Illness Naturally.
Be the best version of who you want to be. As it does affect us ALL because We Are All Connected.
Information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe.
For more about this blog, how I create digital designs, why I wrote a holistic health book, and more, find me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The following are a collection of spiritual insights I noted during my 40 day juice fast:
The more I explore life, the simpler it becomes
Let he who hath ears, let him hear
We grow as blades of grass, up through the earth
Be as the blade of grass, grow through the dirt
Dirt, or earth, is analogous to all resistance we encounter
The more I accept lovingly what is, the more I can receive
Life is short, do what you love
You truly can bloom where you are planted
Be grateful – for everything
Every thought can be a prayer
You cannot say “thank you” enough times each day
Saying or thinking “thank you” in every moment is enlightenment
I am of Native American descent, this is why I have such deeply rooted feelings about “ownership” of anything
No one owns their so-called “land.” Think about it. We really don’t.
Tear down the fences and love one another
Don’t yell at me – what is all the yelling for? You do not control me.
Reality is ONLY what we perceive
Unplug to walk my dog, plug into God
God is everywhere
Space is everywhere
Space is not void
God exists in the space
In everything there is space (think molecules)
There is no path to “Everywhere”
No path is required, nor building either
No dogma is required, only faith
Faith is the substance of all things hoped for, things yet unseen
Faith IS a substance
When you pray, your faith becomes it (your faith has made you WHOLE)
God exists in all
Breathe, let God in
Breathe, let God
Breathe, let go
We do not create space
Space just is
We do not create God
God just is
Think good, think God, thank God – the difference one letter makes
I am a circle, a diamond, a mandala
As a diamond has facets, so do you, at least a few are glistening, shining
I can be grateful even for the muddy / milky facets of others, as it causes me to ask / hope for improvement
We are as a tapestry, all the stories of our lives weave a pattern
God sees all of our facets, all of our challenges and complexities
God knows all of our possibilities, our potential
Like electricity to a switch, it is up to each of us to allow pure positive energy to flow, or switch it off
Switching off pure positive source energy causes dis-ease in the body
God sees us all as a whole, in a perfect state of well-being
Jesus healed by not seeing (accepting) the dis-ease – faith makes one whole
Jesus saw our perfection, wholeness so dis-ease just “fell away” in his presence
We are mirrors of each other
No two people can ever experience anything the same way
You hold the probability to be nice, or the probability not to be
I appreciate all the probabilities you hold within you
God really is an aWEsOMe life-force, energy, Creator, Immanence, All-pervading, Ever-Living, Omniscience.
No one is perfect, not even our teachers, so let’s just drop that word and stop striving for that
We are ALL on a journey and one day we shall see everyone’s intentions
About the fast:
My belief is that I must be tuned EXACTLY to the right frequency or I will not clearly RECEIVE the signal and the best way (for me) to clear out the clutter of my mind, is to find something strong to focus on, in this case, my will not to eat. This fast has allowed me better reception.
I chose a 40 day fast because 40 days is a significant number in the Bible and because I have been reading about several others juice fasting experiences, and 40 seems to be the number of days most have been successful completing.
Bible references to 40 days:
Genesis 7:4 – It rained 40 days and 40 nights during the Great Flood
Genesis 8: 3-8 – Noah sent out the raven 40 days after the waters receded and the Ark settled on Mount Ararat
Genesis 25: 20 – Isaac married Rebecca when he was 40 years old
Genesis 26: 34 – Esau was 40 years old when he married his two wives
Genesis 16: 35-6 – The Israelites ate manna for 40 years while wandering in the desert
Exodus 24: 18 – Moses spent 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai before returning with the original commandments
Exodus 24: 28 – Moses returns and fasts for 40 days and 40 nights
Numbers 13: 25 – The scouts from the 12 tribes spied out the Promised Land 40 days before they returned a bad report
Numbers 14: 33; Deuteronomy 29: 4 – Therefore, the Israelites were required to spend 40 years “wandering” in the wilderness
Numbers 13: 5; Joshua 14: 7 – Joshua was 40 years old when he spied with the scouts
1 Samuel 17: 16 – Goliath “taunted” Israel 40 days before his defeat by David
2 Samuel 5: 4- King David reigned for 40 years
1 Kings 11: 42 – King Solomon reigned for 40 years
Jonah 3: 4 – Jonah preacahed to Nineveh for 40 days before they repented
1 Kings 19: 8 – Elijah fasted 40 days in the wilderness
Leviticus 12: 1-4 & Luke 2: 22-4 – Purification of Mary is 40 days after birth of Jesus
Matthew 4: 1-2 – Jesus spent 40 days Fasting in the Desert after His baptism
Acts 1: 3 – Jesus also spent 40 days on earth following His Resurrection
Jesus, by tradition, spent 40 hours in the tomb.
The above Bible list reference was noted in, and with thanks to: Richard “Rick” Torretto author ofDivine Mercy and the Biblical Significance of 40 Days.
Since learning that raw food is the cleanest and best food to eat, vibrationally speaking, I chose to limit my juice fasting to raw food (adding only a bit of cultured dairy if I become too weak since I am working 40 hours and driving 10 hours weekly during the fast).
Health wise, this fast will serve to clean my body of toxins, junk in the gut, and overall bring my body to a healthier level. I’ve also inspired at least one coworker to embark upon a 10 day fast.
Focus of attention is needed to attain any desire.
As of 4/6/13 I successfully completed my 40 day juice fast, or as some call it… a juice feast! I was sooo happy to have completed this quest and feel absolutely light and wonderful!
As of 12/7/14 I have completed seven weeks of juice fasting and souping. I am only counting because at some point in the future I want to be able to look back and acknowledge all of this but I plan to live this way. The way I describe my current program is: Raw juice fast all day, every day. Then for the early evening “meal” have one bowl of soup (primarily made up of organic vegetables, lentils, or chili).
I am making this conscious choice in order to:
Reset my body’s hunger clock
Reset my priorities
Allow myself more time for prayer, meditation, writing, while not needing to consider so much what I eat
Observe my habits and decide any I want to change
Determine what foods cause inflammation in my body (that I will never eat again)
Flour and yeast products cause me issues so no more bread, biscuits, cake, etc.
Determine what foods allow my body to reach my ideal weight / shape and feel its best
People tell me more insights may come to me in the weeks that follow so as those insights come, and I’ve continued sharing them in this blog and in my books.
An Amazon bestselling author of two co-authored books: “Transform Your Life Book 2 Inspirational Stories and Expert Advice,” “Energy of Receiving”, plus author of “Blue Eyes: Ethereal Messages of Connection,” and holistic health book that details how I naturally reversed asthma, “Have Yourself a Wholly Vibrant Life: Reversing Asthma and Other Chronic Illness Naturally” all available on Amazon.
Be the best version of who you want to be.
Information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe.
For more about me, this blog, how I create websites, why I wrote a holistic health book, and more, find me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.