This story came from Linda. She said that she was tired, frustrated, and irritable after her difficult day. As any good food addict will do – she turned to food. She wasn’t proud of it, but that day she had faced the marshmallow fluff and it won. Here is the way we started tapping. Feel free to tap along.
Setup: (tapping the karate chop point) Even though I gave into temptation and ate marshmallow fluff by the spoonful today, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway. Even though I ate marshmallow fluff in response to being tired and frustrated, I choose to view myself with love and compassion. Even though I ate marshmallow fluff in secret so nobody would know, I choose to get back on track right now.
Eyebrow…I ate marshmallow fluff
Side of Eye…First I put some on my brownie
Under the Eye…Then I ate some on a spoon with some peanut butter
Nose…Then I just ate it off a spoon without anything else
Chin…Knowing that I still have these behaviors makes me feel so defeated sometimes
Collarbone…I wasn’t really hungry, but I was craving something sweet
Under the Arm…It was here, easy, and easy to hide
Top of Head…I didn’t eat enough to do a lot of damage to my diet
Eyebrow…But I did damage my confidence
Side of Eye…I also know that once I start, it is sometimes hard to stop
Under the Eye…It’s good to know that I can tap on that issue too if I need to
Nose…I am angry with myself for eating the fluff
Chin…I’m disappointed with myself for eating the fluff
Collarbone…I feel like a failure
Under the Arm…I feel like a fraud
Top of Head…The fluff won, and I hate that
In this case we just started where she was at the time. The words of the setup statement state the truth of what happened, but also state where she wanted to end up –acceptance and able to get back on track. It wouldn’t have been beneficial to pretend that it didn’t happen. During the rest of the tapping the behaviors were described but also some of the negative self talk about eating the fluff. This part can be expanded to cover all of the feelings that come up.
For Linda it didn’t really take more than this. As soon as she acknowledged the behavior and expressed her feelings about it while tapping she experienced considerable relief. She told me later that she did additional tapping on the specific feeling of being a failure at another time and was able to get clarity and relief there too.
As you can see, the tapping doesn’t have to be complicated. You just have to get started.