Monday, March 31, 2008

Tapa, Tapa, Squeeze

That darn tapping thing really works. I am overwhelmed today and want to inhale the house and the dog. So I have been tapping. I sit down (the first key I've decided) and begin my finger tap dance. I have still eaten more than my fair share, but not as much as usual.

Episode three of "I Can Make You Thin" was about craving control. This technique was aimed mostly at how to control the intake of specific trigger foods. Enter Karmel Sutra. I think Ben and Jerry should have a ring of their very own in Hell. Maybe Mrs. Field and those cookies could join them. And Colonel Sanders. So okay, I have been thinking about that awful ice cream since the dog and my ice cream and pizza party last week. I wanted more. I was prepped for this episode.

Paul, I'm now on a first name basis with him, said to visualize some thing that would make you gag if you ate it. I am an ex-nurse. I had a plethora of choices. Okay substance was visualized, then using your fork or spoon take a bite of the vile substance he said, I gagged and was not alone if audience reaction was to be believed. Next cover or mix your trigger food with the vile substance and take a take a bite of it, more gagging, then press the thumb and middle finger of your left hand together while still imagining the trigger food and vile substance mixture. The next time the trigger food sings its siren song, you are to press your fingers together and visualize eating the mess. He says you will never again feel quite the same way about the trigger food. It will lose its inflated pleasure quotient. (He says if you have done the exercise correctly you may even have to mourn the loss of the beloved trigger food.) What an awful thing to do to a perfectly nice ice cream.

Second step of the exercise was to visualize a most happy event in your life. Imagine the event in detail. See the colors, feel the breezes, smell the aromas, experience the joy. Then press your thumb and middle finger of your right hand together. This exercise is to follow the one described above. He says each time we eat the trigger food and experience pleasure we reinforce its power to make us happy. Many of our trigger foods have pleasure accretions years thick. The vile substance squeeze strips the accretions and takes the trigger food back to its origins...it's just ice cream. The special event squeeze reinforces the idea in our minds that true pleasure can be found outside of a bowl. All very Pavlovian. If it ever quits snowing(currently four inches and counting) I am going to go to town and get some of that ice cream. I will see if I can eat it. Should be quite a test.

Tap on McKenna. Love Bea

P.S. I am trying to unpack the remaining boxes upstairs. It's stuff I don't know what to do with. I am so frustrated. What do you do with old modems, answering machines, family photos and memorabilia , lamps, art work, and blankets you currently are not using but might someday? I do not seem to have the heart to give away perfectly good wool blankets, and art work I love but no longer have space for. So, I stand in the midst of the mess and tap my face. help

6 comments:

Vashta Narada said...
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Vickie said...

The black and white thing is hard. I feel for/with you.


I was there for a long, long time.

The black and white thing has worked itself out so that it isn't so strong/severe.

Whether this is time, therapy or medication - I can't tell.

It seems to have gone away - along with the rumminations - which were hand in hand with the black and white thing.

ar said...

The tapping sounds fun. It has to be working. You must have found a good connection with Paul. The craving control sounds like self-hypnotism. Powerful stuff.

I have the same dilemma with throwing things out. I had to go through all my aunt's things in Johannesburg in January and could not throw out the blankets and paintings (they were really good ones), and it was tough to throw away her keepsakes too. I couriered most of that to my sisters. Can relate with the tough choices. Not an easy task.

Helen said...

The tapping sure feels GREAT! DB and I both have tried it. I am interested in the humming part too -- I think that taps (ha ha) in to the same thing that makes me feel so good and cleansed after chanting. Thanks for writing it all down! :-)

Anonymous said...

Just the comment on being easily overwhelmed has given me food for thought (pun intended).
I am easily overwhelmed. I can come into work and just have myself in a frenzy when it just isn't necessary. I have been using the mantra "you are feeling overwhelmed, calm down" and it's working. I immediately relax. I may have to repeat it in 1/2 hour, but that's OK.
Thank you for your musings. very enlighting.
I do have a thought about your "stuff"
I too have a hard time giving away nice things. But, if it's for a good cause, I am happy to unload my burden. Ask around if schools or churches are having fundraising garage sales. Our school has a big white elephant sale to raise money for the all-night graduation party. I'll tell you, after helping out at my daughter's party last year, I truly learned the value of these grad parties. Not only does it keep the kids off the roads/drinking after graduation, but they have the time of their life and can completely change their outlook on their high school experience.
It's a good thing.

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