Introducing our guest expert-blogger, Angela Agranoff of https://myrefreshedsoul.com and https://theunclutterangel.com.
Angela is sharing from her wealth of knowledge and passion for this part of our healthy living…using TAPPING & EFT for anxiety relief!
Angela is a wife, mother of three, writer and EFT practitioner. She blogs about health and home organization on her blogs, My Refreshed Soul and The Unclutter Angel. She presents EFT on both blogs to help support the emotional side of the two topics. You can also find her books and journals on Amazon. Angela loves connecting with others through her blogs, books, social media and speaking to groups.
Here’s what she shares with us today:
Have you ever felt paralyzed by doubt or fear?
Is your anxiety triggered by situations that feel overwhelming or stressful?
Fear may tell us that we are feeling uncertainty, worry about not having control, or loss of control. Fear isn’t necessarily a negative feeling; it can have many useful purposes. But it can also cause us to get stuck or feel anxious.
ANXIETY (ang-zahy-i-tee), noun
1. Distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune
2. Earnest but tense desire; eagerness
3. Psychiatry. a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.
(Dictionary.com)
Some circumstances in our lives can bring on feelings of uncertainty. How we choose to handle these circumstances can make a big difference in how we operate in our everyday lives.
This year, for the first time, I experienced what felt like a panic attack. I was in Denver International Airport, a super busy airport with an insane TSA operation. The feeling of so many people, the noise, long lines, waiting to catch a plane. . . I was eventually in tears and felt like I was emotionally shutting down.
Strangest feeling ever!
I took deep breaths to get through the situation, and recovered by the time we got through security. The rest of our trip was fine.
That was an eye opening experience.
I felt my environment was out of control and filled lots of uncertainty. The good news is, I am self aware of this, and working with tools that can help me with these situations. We know that these situations can arise at any time and anywhere.
Do you have situations that cause feelings of anxiety in you?
When one has feelings of anxiety, there are a variety of ways people cope with them:
· Soothe through drinking or drugs
· Head to the kitchen to find relief in food
· Go shopping to feel better by making a purchase
· Turn to medication
This list is not judgment. I understand it because I have done some of these to dull the pain. But when we have newer and better option, we can use them.
FAITH AND ANXIETY
I wish my first thought when I feel anxious was always to pray.
Jesus can comfort instantly if we listen and allow Him to.
There are amazing tools that can assist us when working through anxiety. Finding comfort in our faith, and allowing God to carry the burden of our fear and anxiety, can be the greatest of comfort.
God cannot only change our thoughts in an instant; He can change the overwhelming and defeating patterns forever IF we allow it.
Being consistent and surrendering every time we get these feelings of anxiety can give us a break through.
God can also reveal to us why we are feeling loss of control, why we feel helpless, why we feel fear. Just ask Him for clarity. These feelings can tell us something, and God can guide the way.
What can God teach us and show us about ourselves through our anxiety?
Prayer is a powerful tool to help with anxiety! It can be used anytime, anywhere, just like the next tool we will discuss, EFT.
WHAT IS EFT?
This non-evasive tool is a calming way to help with anxiety. It can be used with prayer, scripts, ongoing thoughts or mantras.
EFT, the emotional freedom technique, is like psychological acupressure. It can help with a number of emotional and physical issues we have.
Eastern medicine describes how emotions and traumas get stuck in our body’s system. Using tapping can help to release those memories and emotions that are “stuck” in our thoughts and nervous system.
EFT doesn’t “cure” things, but it can help to relieve the stress of anxiety in your body.
Even though tapping uses practices adopted from Eastern medicine, it works well adding our faith and dependence on God. He made our bodies so extraordinary and complex and tapping is another amazing tool we can use to tap into what our heavenly Father has gifted us.
Please do not substitute tapping for any medical treatment or counseling that you are receiving. Talk with your doctor or counselor to discuss if it can be used in conjunction with your treatment.