I recently met Jessica Ortner at the publishing party for her new book, The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss & Body Confidence: A Woman’s Guide to Stressing Less, Weighing Less, and Loving More (Hay House). She’s amazing! And so is her book. I started reading it on the way home and I couldn’t put it down.

Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, is a form of psychological acupressure practiced by gently tapping meridians with the fingertips while focusing on a specific problem, such as emotional eating. The physical sensation of tapping combined with voicing positive affirmations works to clear emotional blocks that prevent many women from getting healthy and losing weight. Open about her own struggles with weight loss, Jessica handles complex and sensitive issues of body image in an intelligent and delicate way.

I really recommend that that you pick up a copy of her book, but until you do, here are some of my favorite pieces of wisdom from Jessica:

• Most issues we have come down to the basics of what we have learned in life and how we process our emotions.
• Events in our lives cause symptoms of limiting beliefs which all stem from our emotions.
• Loving and accepting ourselves releases us from negative patterns and gives us the freedom to choose more empowering thoughts.
• Food cravings are rarely about the food. In order to discover the root of emotional eating, we must uncover the emotions causing it. Tap through the layers to release some of the emotions that may be causing the craving.
• Sometimes we use emotional eating as a way to punish ourselves when we’re feeling down. Somewhere we picked up a belief that we aren’t good enough, and we think that punishing ourselves will make us better people. Self-punishment isn’t the answer; self-love and self-acceptance are.
• Holding onto our negative beliefs about ourselves is like wearing dark-tinted glasses all day, every day—everything in our world seems scary and threatening. But when we take the glasses off, the world around us seems bright and inviting.
• Feeling afraid or overwhelmed when beginning a new journey is normal, but it’s important to overcome the fear. Learn from the feelings without letting them control you.
• Celebrate every small step—don’t hold off until you’ve reached your goal weight. Celebrating each and every small victory along the way can help with confidence and motivation. Try indulging in self-care rituals that don’t involve food, like making small improvements to your living space, writing in a gratitude journal, or even just getting a few more hours of sleep.

Tell me which ideas rewire and inspire you!

Rose Caiola
Inspired. Rewired.

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