Podcast 534: Rewiring the Subconscious with EFT Tapping

(Intro)

LIZ: I love and accept myself. I love and accept myself.

LIZ: Okay. Top of the head. This stabbing, burning sensation.

MARTIN: This stabbing, burning sensation.

LIZ: In my ring finger.

MARTIN: In my ring finger.

LIZ: On my left hand.

MARTIN: On my left hand.

LIZ: Okay. Eyebrow point. I'm really annoyed and frustrated by it.

MARTIN: I'm really annoyed and frustrated by it.

LIZ: Side of the eye. It's keeping me from doing things.

MARTIN: It's keeping me from doing things.

LIZ: There's a resistance there.

MARTIN: There is a resistance there.

LIZ: Under the eye. I'm not sure what I did to it.

MARTIN: I'm not sure what I did to it.

MARTIN: But it's angry.

LIZ: But it's angry.

LIZ: Under the nose.

MARTIN: Hi everyone, Martin Pytela here for Life Enthusiast podcast, and with me today Liz Fisher, a woman I admire because she has over come a,

LIZ: Trichotillomania. It's a hard word to say, right?

MARTIN: Yes. It's a problem that many people hide, right?

LIZ: Yes, it is. It's shameful. I had this since I was eight years old. It was then classified as an obsessive compulsive disorder, but is now part of the class of body-focused repetitive behaviors, which also include nailbiting, skin picking, lip biting. All of these disorders kind of fall under this classification.

And I stumbled on EFT when I was looking for a way to be able to manage this behavior about 10 years ago while I was nursing my son and didn't want to take any medication. So, I can't say that it cured me instantly, but it is the only thing that ever worked for me where there was an extended period of time where I didn't pull, I didn't care about pulling. It was like some part of my brain just shut off.

And then when I finally overcame it, it just, you actually tapping reprograms basically your neuropathways the more you tap about something.

MARTIN: Yeah. So this is really important to just blow it up into a bigger picture because it's not just self-injurious behaviors that we may have. It can be just about anything that is destructive or not constructive in our lives that is probably triggered by some traumatic event in our childhood in our early years, but could be anytime. Whatever it is that has misprogrammed our brain to behave in a destructive way can be undone. We reprogram whatever is not right with us.

LIZ: Yes, you can. You can have the power to be able to do that with anything, any,

MARTIN: So behavior, if you're an alcoholic, workaholic, sexaholic, whatever behaviors you have that you would rather not have.

LIZ: This can be used, and you don't have to, people always say: “Well, am I going to be tapping for the rest of my life for these behaviors? Every time I have the urge, every time I want to do this behavior?” No. The answer is no. Because once your brain forgets to do this behavior, it just never goes backwards. 

MARTIN: It's like once you pave the path the correct way, you're not going to be going the other way. It's just, well, sort of like a river, right? If you have a river going in one valley and then you dam it up and divert it, the diversion stays.

LIZ: Yes. And I tell my clients all the time that it's like, if you think of this obsessive behavior, the obsessiveness of thinking about it all the time, constantly thinking about needing to do this. It's a circular thought pattern that you're having. So, if you just imagine the circular thought pattern and taking some scissors and cutting into that circle. That's all you need is that one little break to happen and then your brain never goes back there. This is not about willpower, because I've tried willpower, things.

MARTIN: Willpower doesn't work because the subconscious occupies 90% of your brain and the conscious about 10% of your brain. It's an unfair battle. It will never succeed.

LIZ: Your subconscious controls most of your waking and sleeping thoughts. You're just, you can't help it. It's just how it is. So yes, when we do this, when we do tapping, we are actually using our fingers to tap on specific acupressure points on our body. And I'm kind of, I'm a certified EFT practitioner, so I'm helping you to tap and guiding you through those tapping points.

MARTIN: Yeah, I would like to be your lab rat today and I would like to demo it just like that, because I think for people to see it in action will probably be a great thing. But before we get there, you started talking about all the education you took. So, you're not just,

LIZ: Yes. So, I'm certified through EFT International, which is the gold standard method of clinical EFT. It is the method that Gary Craig, who invented tapping, EFT tapping back in the '90s. That's the method that he used and it's the gold standard method. So, I took a rigorous training through a trainer I found here locally in Cleveland, Ohio. Her name is Betsy Mueller and she trained me for, it took about 9 months to get certified. And then there's continuing education. Every year I have to have 32 hours of continuing education plus eight hours of mentoring with a certified EFT trainer. So it's not anything like you'd go online and take a two-week course to do this. This is very rigorous and there were case studies involved. There were write-ups and case studies. There were a lot of clinicals. There were, it's not a willy-nilly thing. A lot of people can say that they do have capabilities to offer this to clients, but most people I know that are out of the circle of my practitioner group and say they offer EFT, it's not really EFT.

MARTIN: Well, there are two aspects to it, right? The tapping itself, that's a mechanical thing. Anybody can learn the map and do it,

LIZ: Right.

MARTIN: The second part, which is the more difficult or more skilled part is actually knowing how to direct the path to find the, I call it the frog in the spring, right? There's something blocking the normal expression,

LIZ: Right. Identifying the trauma or why this started, and basically what we're doing is, for lack of a better word, tapping into our subconscious to access this kind of stuck energy that is keeping us to have this behavior. To do these things, to keep us in the same, going in the same direction, not getting a better job, not finding that perfect partner, not moving forward in life.

Whatever those pieces of stuck energy are, there's usually a reason for that. And sometimes it could be a past life experience. Sometimes it could be something that happened during, when you were in utero. We don't exactly know, but this is the type of thing that I'm trained to help, that I'm trained to help find out with clients. So, that's where, when someone would call a practitioner, that's mainly why is because the way the wording is when you're tapping, it really does make a difference. The more specific you are with the wording that you're using when you're tapping, the better things work.

MARTIN: Yeah.

LIZ: But I have all kinds, I see all kinds of clients. My specialty is body-focused repetitive behaviors, also phobias, anxiety, panic; these are things that I've personally overcome. So I know a great deal about them and all the intricacies of them.

MARTIN: You know that the list is so long. Public fear of public speaking, fear of appearing stupid by asking a question. I mean the children, right? Children at school. If you could just unblock the jam at the logic,

LIZ: Yes.

MARTIN: I'm trying to say in the early stages of life you will open such a potential for people to, anyway.

LIZ: Yes. And a lot of these things, when you tap you do access your subconscious, and these memories come up. When Martin's referring to a child public speaking, if they have to get up in front of a class and speak and say something wrong or they get reprimanded in any way, that is trauma. A little trauma that will stick with them for years to come and it can be the reason why people aren't successful in a specific business or line of work or whatever. But these things come up during tapping. And we seek them out and clear them so that you can move forward, and that doesn't keep you from living your best life.

MARTIN: Yeah. For example, me as a businessman, I am atrociously bad at hiring the right people. I attract interesting and good people, but then I am such a softy that I end up being perhaps seduced by a presentation, right? It's a fault. I've solved it by asking somebody who's  better at it to do it for me.

LIZ: Yes. And that's the way you can cure that quickly and easily. But I wonder where, I'm curious Martin, where did that come from along, somewhere along the line?

MARTIN: Something in my childhood that would have me wanting to not give up on.

LIZ: Yes. Yes. giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Extra chances. 

MARTIN: Yeah.

LIZ: Something there, which it's not a bad thing, but for business-wise, it could bite you in the butt sometimes, right? It's not always good for business to hire someone that isn't in your best interest.

MARTIN: It's something like I'm stronger than everyone else. And therefore I can carry everyone.

LIZ: Right. Right. That makes sense.

LIZ: Yeah. So, we can use tapping for anything, and I do like I said, focus on a specific area of clients, but people come to me for all kinds of things. I just had someone message me today saying that they were recovering from a trauma, actually a physical trauma, and they hadn't worked in three to four years, and they were having some anxiety about getting back into the workforce, and would I be able to help with that? 

And I said, "Of course, I would be able to help with that." So, it's really anything that you can think of. And if I don't feel qualified, I have plenty of other practitioners that I could hand you off to. But there's grief. There's, and I love working with young children, too. They're the easiest people to work with because they have the least amount of trauma and baggage, usually, and it's easier to get to the bottom of what is causing whatever problem that they're having. 

Because that's why I'm so glad I wish I would have had this when I was young. I'm so glad I have it to give to my kids because although they don't think this little spat with their friend is anything, we can tap through it, and then you don't have to worry about that anymore. It's just, “oh, that happened to me,” but it doesn't hold a charge for me. Throughout the course of your life, when you're, if you're highly sensitive, which I am, if you have good intuition, you dream about things that are unresolved. If you remember your dreams, things can come back literally to haunt you. You'll have memories, a recurring memory that comes up at specific times of the year or with traumas. So, those are things that actually need to be worked on and cleared. Although they seem harmless, they actually are standing in the way of us being our best selves.

MARTIN: Right.

LIZ: But Martin and I talked, he was a guest on my podcast that we recorded last week and we talked a little bit about weight loss. And you can use tapping for weight loss. You can use tapping for manifesting. You can use tapping for pain management. Any type of ailment, physical, mental, emotional.

And you don't have to believe in it. It just works. It's not, the worst thing that could happen is nothing, actually, but I haven't seen “nothing” happen. On a rare occasion, I don't. My son, who is a teenager, mom, this doesn't work. But then after a few rounds, “Oh yeah, I do kind of feel a little bit better, Mom. Thanks for doing that.”

But it's, you don't have to believe in it. It's not, and it is science. It’s backed by science. There are many medical journals that have studies. Actually, the Cleveland Clinic here in Cleveland just came out in August, which it's a really big deal because the Cleveland Clinic has, although they have a holistic sector of the clinic, they have not said anything about tapping being a thing until just this August a wonderful article came out and actually the doctor who is mentioned in that article called me and we are working together so that she can refer some clients to me. And they say it's proven to work, and it also does work with PTSD specifically in veterans. 

And there are MRIs where people are,

MARTIN: The before and after?

LIZ: Before and after. They're put in a room, they're no tapping with an MRI, a few rounds of tapping 20 minutes later, a new MRI, and their brain chemistry has actually changed. So it's backed by science, and it does work, and honestly, I changed my career to do this. That's how much I believed in it. I was, my background is in graphic design and marketing, and I did that for 20 years until I found tapping, and I thought, you know what? This is too good to not tell people about. And although they did think I was crazy at first, they don't anymore because they've tried it and it works. Fears, fear of flying, anxiety over holidays, all of that stuff. It's just neat.

MARTIN: Well, my resistance to physical exercise, right? I do know I need it, right? But I'm not loving it. I have to make,

LIZ: I know. I’ve tapped on that a lot of times, and it does work, and I do have the resistance. Actually, on the other side of this wall is my gym where there's resistance, and yeah, tapping for resistance to anything. You know, is a really big one. It's a great one to tap on. There are so many things that we are resistant to. Life is always happening around us. There's never nothing to tap on because things are always happening.

MARTIN: All right. Yeah. I mean, my own example, see this little spot here?

LIZ: Yes.

MARTIN: That's an injury I picked at it. That's a scab of something that I picked.

LIZ: Okay. So, would you say it was skinpicking disorder?

MARTIN: Oh, I totally own it. Yes. Yeah. I like my skin to be smooth, and so there is something that pops up, right? You run your hand across that, and you find something that's popping up,

LIZ: And then you're addicted to that. Yeah, to smooth that out, to kind of get that off, to whatever. It's like your brain focuses on that one thing.

MARTIN: Oh, yeah. Totally. Well, it's just like a blank sheet of paper. You put one dot on it.

LIZ: That's where you go. That's where your brain goes. Yep. Exactly. Well, I’d love to do some tapping. What else before we get there, if there's anything?

MARTIN: Well, I don't know. It’s just, I'm just trying to pick something totally innocent and commonplace for the universe, right?

LIZ: Yeah, to tap about?

MARTIN: Sure.

LIZ: A good one to tap about is physical pain. That's a really good one because everyone can pretty much say, that's a good starting point, because everyone can pretty much say there's something on them that hurts. Whether it hurts even right now, 

MARTIN: I can find something that hurts, even though I'm quite well. I can find an uncomfortable spot here.

LIZ: Yes, most people can. And so that's a really good way to show how well this works. So what we do first of all is we give that pain, we find that pain on our body, we give it a suds number. And suds stands for subjective units of distress. So if you have a pen and paper, you could write down your number on a scale of 0 to 10. And this would be how intense is this pain right now? 10 would be the worst. Zero would be, I can't even tell it's there.

LIZ: So, what we try to do in tapping is to get that Suds number as low as possible. And if when we're continuing to tap, other aspects will sometimes come up around that specific reason that we're tapping. And those are like different aspects of the same problem. It could be an example, would be like, let's see, I have this hip pain. And it reminds me of, I don't know. I'm not giving a good example here. I'm trying to think of something. Let me think of a client that I actually had on my podcast, Martin, really one of my favorite ones was, a client came to me and she said, “I have this frozen shoulder.” And she had all these chiropractors, this physical therapist work on her, and nothing would,

MARTIN: Yes.

LIZ: But she came and saw me, and we talked a little bit about what was going on with her personally, and she had a son that was about to leave for college that relied on her a lot for some medical issues that he had growing up. And she said she felt like she had a broken heart, and so we tapped about, not that actual pain, but the pain of her losing,

MARTIN: Separation. Yeah.

LIZ: Yes. The separation of her from him and how her heart actually hurt. We tapped a couple rounds and she did do some crying during that time, but she left my office after that one visit able to lift her hand over her head when she hadn't been able to in a year or more.

So, there's things in our body that manifest in different ways. So, it's like peeling the layers of an onion. And that's what I mean when I say an aspect. Something else might come up that isn't related or it is related in some way to the problem that we're tapping on. So, we can tap on something very global. So, pain is kind of like a global thing to tap on, a big pain kind of encompasses a lot of stuff. But the more specific you get the better it works. So you can, you know right now for our audience, why don't you give me an example?

MARTIN: I'll pick a problem. So I have two hands, this one, this is my right hand. I can close it full force with no problem, left hand, as soon as I close it, this finger is resisting. There's something, it's probably arthritic but that has to have some kind of an emotional problem behind it.

LIZ: Mhm. Is there pain when you do that or is it just?

MARTIN: When I close it like that, it's a good six.

LIZ: Okay. A six in intensity. So, what kind of pain would you call it? Stabbing, burning?

MARTIN: Uh, yes. Both. Stab, burn, resistance, right? As soon as I close it, it just bites.

LIZ: Okay.

MARTIN: It just digs in.

LIZ: It doesn't want to close down all the way, right?

MARTIN: Oh, No, cannot.

LIZ: Okay. Can't close down all the way.

MARTIN: The grip strength is diminished quite a bit.

LIZ: And what percentage would you say that you're able to close your hand? 95% 90%? 

MARTIN: 75% at best.

LIZ: Okay.

MARTIN: Maybe less, even.

LIZ:  Okay. So to work with pain, I want you to give you one last question. If you could give that pain a color, what color is that pain in that finger?

MARTIN: Muddy brown.

MARTIN: No. No. No. Switching into orange.

LIZ: Orange. Okay. And give me a healing color. What would your healing color be?

MARTIN: Teal.

LIZ: Okay. So, let's do a little bit of tapping.

MARTIN: Male mallard teal.

LIZ: Okay. I got that color. I like that color. It's almost got a sheen to it. It's very, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Okay, so let's do some tapping. And we start with a setup statement that we repeat three times. So, I'm kind of, as your practitioner.

MARTIN: Yeah, let's role play it full on.

LIZ: Yes. I'm helping you to form some statements and some wording based on what we discuss, that you come to me for. And then we proceed to do the setup statement three times which starts with even though, and it ends with I love and accept myself. And then we start with the tapping points which I'll go through really quickly. The setup statement is the side of your hand. 

MARTIN: Should I tap the one that's ill or the one that's healthy?

LIZ: It doesn't matter. Whichever feels more comfortable for you. So we're on the fleshy part of the side of our hand. That's the karate chop point. And we're tapping with firm but gentle pressure with a few fingers, whatever feels comfortable for you. So, we do three setup statements there. Then, we move to the top of our head, which I'm just not counting when I'm tapping. I'm tapping between five or seven, nine times, however long I'm talking, I'm tapping for. And the way I was taught, we tap both sides of our body. But when you're just tapping, you don't have to do this. It's proven to work the same both ways, but I tap both sides, the next point is the eyebrow point. It starts at the inner part of your eyebrow closest to your nose. And then the side of the eye is the side of the eyebrow. It's actually the orbital bone here. You can feel the eye kind of the bone here. It's not your temple, that fleshy part. It's the actual orbital bone. Then we go to the under eye point, which is also the orbital bone. You can feel that bone there. Then under the nose. Then the chin point, right under your bottom lip,

MARTIN: Just between the lip and the chin, right?

LIZ: Correct. Between the lip and the chin. And then the collar bone point, which is if you can feel your collar bone, right in the middle of your collar bone underneath there. So you're not tapping the bone, you're tapping a finger width or two underneath your collar bone. And then the underarm point is the last point. And this for women I always say it's where your bra strap starts. For men, it's about two finger widths under your armpit. Anywhere around that area. And it's, this is a hard one to kind of access. I use my thumbs. 

MARTIN: I use thumbs.

LIZ: You can hug yourself, kind of wrap your hands around your center and tap there.

MARTIN: It works. It’s interestingly sore on me, on one side.

LIZ: Okay. So then, these all coincide to different organs releasing different energy. Allowing different energy in. So, if you're curious about that, there's some literature on that on my website which we can talk about later. But what we're starting with here is, Martin saying he's got this.

MARTIN: Okay.

LIZ: It's your right hand, right?

MARTIN: Left.

LIZ: Oh, sorry. Left hand. I wrote down the wrong thing. Left hand. And it's your ring finger, correct?

MARTIN: Yes. 

LIZ: And he has a Suds number of about a six. And can close his hand about 75% at the moment. It feels like stabbing, burning, resistance. The color of that sensation is orange. And we're going to tap two rounds, which consists of the setup statement and then two full rounds of those tapping points. And then we'll check back in after that and ask you some questions about how you feel physically. Okay? So, here we go. And it's best to start with your feet flat on the floor. Energy grounds through your feet. Hopefully being in a comfortable place with your feet flat on the floor. And here we go. Even though,

MARTIN: Even though

LIZ: Even though I'm experiencing some pain in my left hand.

MARTIN: Even though I'm experiencing some pain in my left hand.

LIZ: Specifically with my ring finger.

MARTIN: Specifically with my ring finger.

LIZ: There's resistance to closing my hand.

MARTIN: There's resistance to closing my hand.

LIZ: And it's a six in intensity.

MARTIN: And it's a six in intensity.

LIZ: I love and accept myself.

MARTIN: I love and accept myself.

LIZ: And even though

MARTIN: And even though

LIZ:  I don't know what's causing this.

MARTIN: I don't know what's causing this.

LIZ: It's annoying to me.

MARTIN: It's annoying to me.

LIZ: And I, it's orange in color.

MARTIN: It's orange in color.

LIZ: It feels like a stabbing, burning resistance.

MARTIN: It feels like a stabbing, burning resistance.

LIZ: I love and accept myself.

MARTIN: I love and accept myself.

LIZ: And even though

MARTIN: And even though

LIZ: I really would like to be able to make a fist with my left hand.

MARTIN: I would really like to be able to make a full fist with my left hand.

LIZ: Something is preventing me from doing this.

MARTIN: Something is preventing me from doing this.

LIZ: And I'm curious what that is.

MARTIN: Curious what that might be.

LIZ: I love and accept myself. I love and accept myself.

LIZ: Okay. Top of the head. This stabbing, burning sensation.

MARTIN: This stabbing, burning sensation.

LIZ: In my ring finger.

MARTIN: In my ring finger.

LIZ: On my left hand.

MARTIN: On my left hand.

LIZ: Okay. Eyebrow point. I'm really annoyed and frustrated by it.

MARTIN: I'm really annoyed and frustrated by it.

LIZ: Side of the eye. It's keeping me from doing things.

MARTIN: It's keeping me from doing things.

LIZ: There's a resistance there.

MARTIN: There is a resistance there.

LIZ: Under the eye. I'm not sure what I did to it.

MARTIN: I'm not sure what I did to it.

LIZ: But it's angry.

MARTIN: But it's angry.

LIZ: Under the nose. It's orange.

MARTIN: It's orange.

LIZ: And it's a six in intensity.

MARTIN: And it's a six in intensity.

LIZ: Chin point. It causes me pain.

MARTIN: It causes me pain.

LIZ: And it's frustrating. 

MARTIN: And it's frustrating.

LIZ: Collarbone point. I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

MARTIN: I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

LIZ: And be able to close my hand fully.

MARTIN: I want to be able to close my hand fully.

LIZ: Under the arm. At this moment I can only close my, make a fist at 75%.

MARTIN: At this point I can close my fist only at 75%.

LIZ: Top of the head. I'm frustrated.

MARTIN: I'm frustrated. 

LIZ: And my hand gives me problems.

MARTIN: And my hand gives me problems.

LIZ: Eyebrow point. Daily, I feel pain.

MARTIN: Daily, I feel pain.

LIZ: I notice it.

MARTIN: And I notice it all the time.

LIZ: Side of the eye. This resistance.

MARTIN: This resistance.

LIZ: In my hand.

MARTIN: In my hand.

LIZ: And my ring finger.

MARTIN: My ring finger

LIZ: Under the eye. I'm curious what's causing this?

MARTIN: I'm curious what is causing this?

LIZ: Why can't I figure it out?

MARTIN: Why can't I figure it out?

LIZ: And what do I need to be doing to solve this problem?

MARTIN: What do I need to be doing to solve this problem?

LIZ: Under the nose. It's a six in intensity.

MARTIN: It's a six in intensity.

LIZ: And I'm frustrated.

MARTIN: And I'm frustrated.

LIZ: Why do I have this resistance?

MARTIN: Why do I have this resistance?

LIZ: Chinpoint. I'd like to get to the bottom of it. 

MARTIN: I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

LIZ: Because I need my hands.

MARTIN: Because I need to use my hand.

LIZ: My hands are an important part of life.

MARTIN: My hand is an important part of life.

LIZ: And collarbone point.  I deserve to get to the bottom of this.

MARTIN: I deserve to get to the bottom of this.

LIZ: What's causing this pain?

MARTIN: What's causing this pain?

LIZ: And how do I get rid of it?

MARTIN: How do I get rid of it?

LIZ: Under the arm. This orange stabbing.

LIZ: This orange stabbing burning pain in my left ring finger.

MARTIN: This orange stabbing burning pain in my left ring finger.

LIZ: I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

MARTIN: I'd like to get to the bottom of it.

LIZ: Okay, stop there for a minute. Take a deep breath, and let's check back in, Martin. And a lot of times I'll say, you know what came up? And some people will say, I had something come up, and here's this memory. What’s going on with you after that?

MARTIN: Yeah, I wasn't getting that. I have a relationship with my wife with some friction points.

LIZ: Okay.

MARTIN: Me not being perhaps as good for her as I should have been. 

LIZ: Okay. And this is, I am intuitive. So, this is funny, it's not funny to me, but this is very interesting because in, I don't know, I'm in the States here. I don't know if you would wear a ring, a wedding ring, on your left hand.

MARTIN: I have not worn it. I have one. It's in a drawer. It's not that I'm hiding the fact that I'm married, but it just was an annoying piece of jewelry that I couldn't stand.

LIZ: Got it. But it's funny though that you're talking about your marriage and your wife and the ring finger is the finger that,

MARTIN: Symbol for that. Yup.

LIZ: Yep. So some things came up about that. You maybe not being what? Good enough. attentive enough?

MARTIN: Yeah, perhaps I could have done better.

LIZ: Okay. Anything else? 

MARTIN: Well, it's totally unrelated, but you know, spending more time on the business than I really want to. It's just, I'm having to drag it across the finish line, so to speak. It takes more of my time than I really want to give it.

LIZ: Okay. So, that to me also is I see something like holding on, wanting to let go.

MARTIN: Dragging it, like a dog on a leash kind of thing.

LIZ: Yes. But there's this resistance there. So, both of those things seem very relatable to the pain that you're experiencing. I don't expect this number to go down. It varies. People ask me, well, how many sessions am I going to need? How long am I going to have to do this for? Everyone is different. It depends. These are a couple of layers that came up for Martin. His wife, the situation with his wife maybe not feeling attentive enough or good enough for her and then his business situation. So those are two separate things that will,

MARTIN: They're actually connected because I spend too much time on the business, therefore,

LIZ: And then you can't be enough for her. Yes. And they are connected and so there are layers though, for the reason for this pain.

MARTIN: Yeah.

LIZ: So I am curious to know if when we check back in with your number, the pain.

MARTIN: It's different. It's dull rather than sharp, but it's still,

LIZ: Tight. Can't form the fist all the way.

MARTIN: Well, I can close it, but I don't have as much strength in it.

LIZ: Okay. The strength there is less, too. Okay. And what about your number for the pain there? It was a six.

MARTIN: I'd call it a five now.

LIZ: Okay. So, it's a little bit less.

MARTIN: Yeah. It's probably something that I really hung on to with full might.

LIZ: Yeah, I can see you, and it’s even giving you that weakness. It's like, I want to let go but something is making me resist, maybe you don't know, your business is your baby. I get it.

MARTIN: If I'm going to speculate right, I can't let go because I can't.

LIZ: Okay. Okay. So there's that. I can't, there's no way I can

MARTIN: Yeah. I'm the guy. I'm the boss. It’s all on me.

LIZ: It's all you. It's you or no one. It's all, I get that, too. I have my own business. I'm early on in my business. 

MARTIN: Yeah. Well, I have 20 people depending on me, right? 

LIZ: So, you can't just let go. There's probably a push-pull like, I'd like to let go, but I can't let go, there's a part of me.

MARTIN: Oh yeah.

LIZ: But part of me knows I can't. So, the color that you're experiencing there when you kind of tune into that color. Is it still an orange? Has it changed?

MARTIN: No, I got a blue now.

LIZ: More of a blue. Okay. So, should we tap another few rounds and see what comes up or are you pretty, this is kind of,

MARTIN: Well, I don't want to abuse the podcast. I would love to work with you. I may have to hire you now. As far as the podcast, 

LIZ: A snippet of what, yeah.

MARTIN: I think we've demoed it well enough. I don't want to stretch it into infinity, where, I appreciate your commitment to the outcome. 

LIZ: But this is how these things work. So we're kind of tapping into that subconscious for a brief moment, and these couple of layers that are pretty big things, for you and are tied, I believe to that pain. And I would love to get to help you with that. I'm sitting here thinking, wow, my elbow really hurts. I don't know what I did. So I'm thinking I need to tap on that after I get off this call. 

MARTIN: I lean my elbow on the desk all the time.

LIZ: After I get off this call, I better tap on my elbow pain. What is that about? But yeah this is just one example of something that you know, everyone has a pain. What is it related to? That's how tapping can help you get there.

MARTIN: Well, what I'm appreciating here is that you're dragging out of me these emotions that I didn't really want to face at all.

LIZ: Uncomfortableness.

MARTIN: Well, 

LIZ: Yeah. Emotions.

MARTIN: As we're discussing, I built a resistance around it because I'm in an impossible situation where there's always something with the business that requires attention and there's only so much money to go around.

LIZ: Right. Right.

MARTIN: At any given point.

LIZ: Yeah,

MARTIN: At the end of money, if it needs to get done, it's me who gets to do it.

LIZ: Of course it is, yeah, everyone's relying on you, it's a big responsibility to employ people. I'm lucky enough to just be me here at the moment, and that's good enough for me for now and hopefully always. But when you expand, and you want to be accessible to more people, you have to build your business, and it's a big commitment, and it's a lot of stress, and it's, how do you ever end that? My dad just finally retired at almost 80 because he didn't feel like he could do it because of how much people relied on him. It's a lot. It's a lot.

MARTIN: Yeah. It's hard to let it go.

LIZ: Yeah. It is. It's part of you, there's a lot of that there, too. I mean, it's who you are. But in the end, it's what's best for you. 

MARTIN: Well, at some point, I'll have to resolve it. Resolve it somehow, right? There has to be a solution because it could either get better or worse.

LIZ: Right. I was going to say, there’s going to be other pains that are going to come up, right? To kind of nudge you in that direction, like, hey, this is, it's time. If it's just this one little thing right now, then, hey, maybe that's good. You can deal with it. It's not that bad. But eventually, our bodies are pretty in tune with what we need. And most people,

MARTIN: You know, it's interesting just to outline as an illustration. So, this is what hurts, right?

 And then I found a spot right here. There's a muscle that's tight for some reason. So that must be because I'm leaning on my, whatever. And then under as I was tapping this underarm point. That is about as tender as anything.

LIZ: And you're just noticing it because of the tapping?

MARTIN: Well, yeah. I'm just trying to ignore it, right?

LIZ: Yes.

MARTIN: In my normal everyday life, I'm strong.

LIZ: No, because you have to push forward, and you know stuff needs to get done, and you have to be, I'm a mom of two young boys, and you know what? I have to do what I have to do.

MARTIN: You know the Monty Python scene where he says it's just a flesh wound? He's just dangling,

LIZ: Yes. Oh yeah, it's nothing. It's just a flesh wound, I'll be fine, yeah. Just shake it off.  Eventually though, our bodies are not built to be consistent, the self-care, keeping up with your self-care is the reason, it's a good reason to have to say, even if you think that it's selfish to do self-care, you cannot serve other people. Martin, you can't serve other people, you can't be your best self without taking care of yourself. So, even if you tap without a practitioner, just tapping for five minutes a day is all you need on anything.

MARTIN: Well, the difficult part is what words do I pick for this, right?

LIZ: I know so many people ask for words on that. And I do, for my trich clients, I do my Trichotillomania clients, I do have on my website, in my store, there's 30 days of tapping scripts that I recorded on a private podcast feed because people, they say, “Liz,  I don't know what to, say when I'm tapping.” So, these are like 30 days worth of my best scripts that most of my clients have used that I've personally used that work, things that come up. It's hard to come up with that wording. And it's also an excuse to not have to do it when you say, "I can't think of the words." You can tap about, "I don't know what to tap about. I have no idea what to tap about, but I'm tapping anyway." Because that will lower your cortisol around whatever is going on. It’s proven and it is our body's response to going into fight or freeze, saying that we're not safe in some way, is what our body was meant to do. But most people have an overload of cortisol in their body. And just tapping even one point, just touching and holding and breathing. There's all kinds of other ways to tap, inconspicuous ways if you don't want to be tapping at your desk or tapping while you're at a red light, which I don't care anymore. I tap all over the place. My kids think I'm insane, but you can tap. There are finger points that you can tap. There’s a gamut point on the back of your hand that you can tap very inconspicuously. If you put your hand on your lap, there's this point here in between, the ridge that runs in between your ring and your pinky finger. That might actually be a good one for you, Martin, with what's going on with you.

MARTIN: Yeah, I can tell there's some kind of a shared nerve or tendon, whatever it is between.

LIZ: Yeah. Uh-huh.

MARTIN: Yeah.

LIZ: Yeah. So, there's ways to lower that cortisol that I'm trained to help with, too. So, and you don't have to tap about one thing for the rest of your life. This is a tool that you can use for anything that comes up all the time. It's the best tool literally to have at your fingertips. You don't have to make an appointment to do it. You just do it. It's just, I'm thrilled that we could talk about it, that I could explain it to your listeners. I hope that that's cleared up a little bit of,

MARTIN: I would still promote or suggest that people first start out with somebody competent like you.

LIZ: Definitely. Don't just willy-nilly google someone. Make sure they're EFT International certified. They need to be a practitioner. They can't, not just someone that doesn't have credentials. So, yes, definitely EFT International certified. They're a UK- based company, but this is where anyone that is using the gold standard method,and is trained in gold standard method.

MARTIN: So where do we find you specifically?

LIZ: So, you can find me on my website, tapintohealth.net. You can email me liz@tapintohealth.net. You can listen to me on my podcast, Tapintohealth, on Spotify or Apple podcasts. And I would love to give any listeners a 25% off of a first session with me if you schedule a discovery call for free on my website. And I hope that this has helped and I'm happy to answer any questions for anyone as well. I'm very reachable. So I love to talk about tapping, if you can’t tell.

MARTIN: Literally. Because it works.

LIZ: I know, it's like this little magic trick. It's not. It just works. And it's, I feel just called to share it with people and that's why I do.

MARTIN: Awesome.

LIZ: So thrilled to get to be a guest here today, Martin. Thank you so much for having me. 

MARTIN: I am thrilled to be able to show off just how good it can be.

MARTIN: It is. It's great.

MARTIN: So, by the way, we're definitely better here.

LIZ: Really? I'm glad, two rounds of tapping and it does wonders. 

MARTIN: Yeah.

LIZ: There's something already that's trying to release.

MARTIN: I think just bringing the unconscious into conscious, just putting the awareness on it is just like, “oh, that's what this is about.”

LIZ: Yes.

MARTIN: It’s giving me some, I don't know what you call it, perhaps power over the problem.

LIZ: Yes. Yeah. Some motivation too to work on those couple of things that came up. Those are two things that you can tap about on your own unless, if you would work with me or another practitioner. Those are two really good things. But just tapping on your own about, “I feel like I wasn't enough for my wife or.” Those are two big things.

MARTIN: I will find a way to spend my time better.

LIZ: Yes, exactly. Yep. And yeah, I was glad to get to use you as my guinea pig and 

that you were willing. I'm always happy to help anyone that is willing.

MARTIN: Awesome. Well, Liz Fisher, it's been a real pleasure to have you here.

MARTIN: This is Martin Pytela for life-enthusiast.com. Find us on Apple and Spotify and wherever as the Life Enthusiast podcast. Thank you, Liz.

LIZ: Thank you so much again, Martin. Take care.