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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:00

The more stress builds up in your world, the more it's going to slow you down. The more you have stress pushing up against you, the more you're not dealing with the emotions and the things that are happening to you, the harder it's going to be to move freely through your day and accomplish the things you want to accomplish. Sometimes the challenge is finding the space to deal with stress, and sometimes the challenge is having the techniques to deal with the stressful situations and the things that are causing you stress. Today we're all about solutions and looking at a technique that you can integrate to help you better move through stress and move through the emotions connected to stress. I'm very excited about what we have in store for you today. Welcome to the Grit show, where our focus is growth on purpose. I am your host, Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be part of this community as we journey together with our grit intact to learn more about how to thrive and how to get the most out of life. It means a lot that you are here today.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:10

As you listen, I encourage you to think of who may appreciate the tidbits of knowledge we are sharing and to take a moment to pass this along to them. Everyone appreciates the friend that thinks of them and these conversations are meant to be shared and to spark even more connections. I'm excited for the guests we have today. We are going to get a chance to speak with Heidi books. She is the owner and founder of Tap in which we will learn more about in our conversation. She is an EFT practitioner and if you aren't sure what EFT stands for, you are not alone. That is actually a term I've heard multiple times and I wasn't actually sure what EFT stood for. And so I'm so excited that we're going to learn more today about EFT, which is emotional freedom techniques, which Heidi is a practitioner in.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:00

She's also a health coach and what really drew me to her and when her and I have been connecting is that she is focusing on reducing stress and helping you live an authentic life, which if you've been around the grit show, you know, that is exactly what we are focused on. She has a Facebook group and she's launching a wonderful opportunity for you kind of keep to learn on your own how to better integrate tapping into your life. So she has so much to offer us. She has life experience that led her to tapping. So this isn't what she's done all of her life. She's had a life and career that she had before she came to all of this that we will hear more about her transition, of how she balanced that successful career and then realized she wanted more. And so this has been part of her journey as well, which makes her a great person for us to learn from. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Heidi.

Heidi Books [: 00:02:48

Oh, thank you, Shawna. That was such a lovely introduction. It's my pleasure to be here.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:52

Yes. And it's so much fun because Heidi is actually speaking to us from Norway today, and she's from Australia, so she is a globetrotter, which I, you know me, I love that.

Heidi Books [: 00:03:03

It does make it a little bit more fun, right?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:06

Yes, yes. And is that part of, like, your transition into doing the work you're doing now? Is it part of the freedom that you found in doing this work as part of what helped with that transition and making that decision to pursue doing coaching versus doing the nine to seven, I mean, nine to five that you were doing previously?

Heidi Books [: 00:03:28

Exactly. Absolutely. Yeah, it really was. My husband runs a business that travels internationally, and we have two children, and we travel the world doing a bunch of different things in a bunch of different places, and me being in one place and doing the nine to five forever just wasn't working for us. And, you know, that kind of also coincided with me really feeling like I wanted and needed more. In my previous career, I had a fantastic career in human resources, and I absolutely loved it, and I knew that there was more. I knew there was something different for me to do. So, yes, EfT was a huge part of that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:04

That is so exciting. I love it when people find their, like, our tagline is growth on purpose, and part of that is people finding their way to where their true joy is and where that alignment is for them to find that joy. So it's so exciting that what you're doing has been part of your journey to finding that joy, true joy, and that freedom in your life to be able to live the life you want and that your family is able to do that together because that is such a great opportunity. So how long ago did you transition into focusing on this career you have now?

Heidi Books [: 00:04:33

Yeah, so it hasn't been all that long. Probably about four years ago was when I started to do more study and get involved in both the health coaching and the eft side of things. I was, I guess, you know, it was a bit of a journey up to that point, but at that point, my. My health was really starting to draw my attention, let's say. And I'm sure that there were many other stressors and I can tell you all about them. I'm an open book and happy to talk about any of it, but it was the health challenges that I started to have that really took my attention to be like, you know what? You actually need to make some changes here because something isn't right, something isn't feeling. I'm not in balance. Clearly, I had really, really severe brain fog to the point where I couldn't connect with either my children or people at work.

Heidi Books [: 00:05:22

I'd be looking at people and I'd be sort of dazing out, and I couldn't. I couldn't concentrate properly. And that really worried me. I was barely 40 years old. And, like, this is a problem. And that's kind of what got me into the health coaching side of things. I started to learn about functional medicine, which essentially is just like holistic health. Probably all of the things that you talk about on this show and more, you know, all about using food as medicine and exercise and movement and stress reduction and toxins and our environmental packs.

Heidi Books [: 00:05:50

And it was just fascinating. I thought, oh, my gosh, I have to learn more about this. And at the same time, I was like, and, oh, by the way, I wouldn't mind a career change, but, you know, I'm not sure that I'm really ready for that, so I'll just start studying. So I did. I started studying and I did the functional medicine health coaching first. And as soon as I got into that, it was like the penny dropped. I'd done some eft tapping emotional freedom techniques throughout my life, probably for 20 years, on and off with practitioners, psychologists, friends, and I loved it and I kept kind of being drawn back to it, but I hadn't done enough to really know how to use it myself. And when I thought of health coaching, I thought, oh, my gosh, the hardest thing for people is to actually make the change that they need to make.

Heidi Books [: 00:06:35

A lot of the time, people know what they need to do, they just don't know how to do it. And that's where EFT can be so powerful in helping us get through emotional and psychological and energetic kind of blocks. You know when you feel like you've just got a block and you just can't do the thing, that's where EfT comes in. So then I was like, yes, I must start tapping and I must learn more about tapping. And so, yeah, it was about four years ago that I learned the EFT tapping and did some study, and now I'm practicing and coaching clients. It's amazing.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:06

And here you are. Yes. And so it's so fun for me to realize what EFT stands for. Cause I've heard it so many times, and emotional freedom techniques is such a beautiful term that I almost wish people used it more. I know it's a mouthful, but I really love that it says so much in those three little words. And so I hear eft always with tapping. I feel like those two go directly together, but I'm guessing there's more to eft than just tapping. Can you talk more about what emotional freedom techniques are and if there's more than just tapping, that are emotional freedom techniques?

Heidi Books [: 00:07:43

Yes, absolutely. So emotional freedom techniques is a set of different techniques. All of them involve tapping, though.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:51

Okay, that's good to know. That's why I always hear them together.

Heidi Books [: 00:07:55

Yeah, exactly. And it's because it's easy for people to remember and people get less confused because I often tell people I'm an efT practitioner, and all they can think of is, like, an FPOs machine or something, and they're very confused. So using the word tapping helps people to identify what it is, because literally, we tap on particular meridian points on the head and upper body in EFT, and we're doing that while doing a few different things. So, you know, the most basic form of tapping can be literally just doing the tapping and breathing. Tapping and breathing is the simplest way of using tapping to help ourselves calm. Come into a centered, grounded place. You can easily just do a round or two of tap and breathe is one technique that you can use for that. And it's very, very simple and very, very quick and also will have an effect on your physiological system.

Heidi Books [: 00:08:48

And then there's other techniques that are more used for making significant changes, like we were talking about before, if you want to make a health change and you're finding that there's something getting in the way, we can really use what's called basic eft for that. And that's what I teach in my course is basic eft because that's the technique that gets used about 80% of the time by both practitioners with clients and also for themselves. That is the most used technique. And then there some techniques which are called gentle techniques. And these are techniques that are used for when we're dealing with traumatic events and events that feel really overwhelming. So it doesn't have to be a big trauma. Sometimes an event just feels like it's absolutely too much. And so we have some specific techniques, and they use, usually visual aids.

Heidi Books [: 00:09:39

And so we can do some visualization whilst we're doing the tapping while using those visuals connections within our subconscious mind, we managed to reduce the intensity of particular events, traumatic or just overwhelming, whilst tapping on something that isn't focusing on the really difficult thing. Sorry, that's probably a little bit difficult to follow without me telling you the whole technique. But essentially there are some, you know, there are some techniques that are used to help in more difficult situations.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:12

So there's different levels and layers and so that's the beauty of it, is it can apply to different things based on what you've been through and that's why you work with someone to utilize it.

Heidi Books [: 00:10:22

Yes, exactly. So the basic tapping and the eFT emotional freedom techniques, basic recipe, those techniques can be learnt for an individual to use themselves any day of the week. And then the other techniques are a little bit more advanced and would be used with a practitioner. If you're looking to do deeper work on something more traumatic or more difficult to process. And, you know, I don't recommend that people do use EFT for big traumas themselves. If they've got something like that they need to work through. Definitely worthwhile looking to work with a trained and trauma informed practitioner or therapist.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:00

That makes great sense. So is the thinking behind the techniques is to bring you more into your body, or is what's the specific thinking behind those techniques and why they're so effective?

Heidi Books [: 00:11:12

Yeah, so essentially what we're doing with EFT is we're focusing on the problem. So we're using a bit of, like, western psychology, where being aware of, we're exposing ourselves to the problem by talking about it or imagining the problem or identifying the problem. And at the same time we're tapping. So that's using the body, that's using a somatic practice, by tapping on our body. It sends an electrical signal along the meridian lines, which you would know from chinese medicine. And if you're not familiar with that, it's now called the primovascular system, as more modern science has become aware of this system and it sends electrical signals to our brain, it sends it to the amygdala, which is the fear or stress response part of the brain, and it sends a really calming signal to that part of the brain. It also sends signals to the hippocampus, which is our memory center in the brain, and also de escalates the elevated state of the hippocampus and also to our limbic system in our brain, which is that emotional part of our brain. And again, de excites that.

Heidi Books [: 00:12:17

It really reduces the stress response in those areas in the brain whilst we're focusing on our problem. So we think our problem brings us this intense emotion or this stress response. The tapping helps us to calm, and whilst we're focusing on that problem, become calm about that problem and in doing that, allowing that emotion to pass through and bringing us into a state of balance and harm about whatever the problem is that we're dealing with.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:47

Nice. So it's like if you're receiving a muscle massage for, like, a tight muscle, it's like massaging that muscle and helping it to loosen up and to kind of take the edge off of and soothe it and soften it. But the tapping is the way we access those parts of our brain because we can't massage our brain. So it's like actually loosening the response that our brain is having. By using tapping as a technique to send those pulses that are actually loosening what's happening there and making it less responsive or less activated to the things we're thinking of or talking about.

Heidi Books [: 00:13:21

I really like that. I really like that. I haven't heard it be described that way, but that's excellent. Yes, absolutely.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:27

That's the benefit of having somebody who doesn't know about it here at, huh? I haven't been taught how to think about it. I get to think about it in new ways. That's right.

Heidi Books [: 00:13:37

I might use that. Thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:38

You can use it all you want, Heidi, that's fabulous.

Heidi Books [: 00:13:41

That's wonderful.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:42

So that is a really beneficial way. So you just need to find specific points along the meridian, then that would be soothing and activating. Does everyone have, like, the same points or does some people have some points that are more sensitive or more effective?

Heidi Books [: 00:13:56

Essentially, in aft, we all use the same points every time, so it's not difficult to try and figure out which point do I need to tap on now? Which one is going to be right for me or right in this situation? There is a very simple formula to follow, to learn and follow every single time. Now, having said that, sometimes when you're doing some tapping, you might feel like, oh, I can really feel the release or the calm when I'm tapping on one particular point. So absolutely stay there a little bit longer. Tap on that point if it's feeling really good or it's giving you an extra bit of release. So that can happen, but it's absolutely not necessary. You can simply just every single time, go through the formula and it will work.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:38

Oh, wonderful. And that's for, like, that simple level that each of us can do that. Your course that you have actually focuses with tapping genius to lead you through that process and really do that. And it's something that you yourself can think of, or you can verbally talk with somebody through the problem that you're specifically focusing on.

Heidi Books [: 00:14:57

Yes, exactly. Yes. With EfT, we always recommend speaking your truth, acknowledging your problem out loud if possible. But if it's not possible, you can absolutely do it, you know, silently in your head and look to the point where right now I even sometimes just visualize myself tapping on particular points, and I can feel a release and a relaxation in my body when I do that. So I think the mind is a really powerful thing, but essentially the formula will have you saying it out loud. And I think part of that is because the tapping is really allowing us to acknowledge to our problem, acknowledge what our truth is and what's actually happening in our lives and how we actually feel about things. And I often talk to my clients about this at the beginning when we start, is don't be afraid to say whatever it is that comes up. Some of it, you might even be surprised yourself how you feel about something.

Heidi Books [: 00:15:51

You might end up saying, I hate this person, or, you know, I'm so angry at that person. And that's okay. That's, we want to just acknowledge that there is a part of us that is experiencing that emotion at that time. And it doesn't mean that you hate that person, whether it be a really close family member or whoever it is. Sometimes that can feel, like, overwhelming or confusing or embarrassed. You don't want to say it in front of your practitioner, but it's important to acknowledge that little part of you that has that emotion. And once we've been able to tap through it, maybe it takes one or two rounds of tapping on that emotion and we're able to clear it in that situation, and you don't have to be holding on to that anymore.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:16:30

Oh, that's beautiful. Because we do talk a lot about needing to actually work through emotions and experiencing them, and they're a tunnel. And when you stick and stuff and hold on to is when you keep carrying them and they're harder to carry and harder to have. So to have a practice that helps you to actually externalize them and get them out and to be able to actually look at them and see them and let go of them, as it sounds like the case may be, and let your body fully experience them and work through that, that's incredible. That's a great practice.

Heidi Books [: 00:17:01

That's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is. It's all about expressing what you're feeling. And the tapping in sending those calming signals to your brain is supporting you. To be able to do that in a really safe and healthy way, that's incredible.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:19

Well, it makes very good sense why you've connected so well to this. And I've decided to get further training to more folks and to be able to do more work with it. Yeah.

Heidi Books [: 00:17:30

Yeah, exactly. I think, you know, like I said before, it was, I had used it on and off with practitioners and with therapists, and I had felt the power, but I'd never really learned to do it for myself and for me. What I'm really coming to realize is that you can make so much more progress when you're able to do some of it and support yourself through some of those bits every single day or not every day, you know, whenever you need to, whenever it comes up, whenever it feels good. It doesn't have to be every day either, but you've got that there all the time. And then for me personally, I like continuing to see a practitioner or a therapist or a coach to work through some of those more difficult things because I become aware of them and I can see what my limitations are and what my blocks are and what's getting in the way, and I really enjoy working through them. And what were you saying? Being really intentional about, you know, about life that feels like what I enjoy doing and what, what I really, you know, love using aft for.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:28

Yes. And the more that you're able to use it on a regular basis, the more that you're not even just tabling or stuffing those things until the next time you're going to see the person you work through those things with. Right. It gives yourself permission to be able to work through those things as they're happening, as they're experiencing them, giving yourself permission to feel the things you're feeling and having a way to process them and experience, experience them while you're doing that, because I don't think we're taught a lot as individuals, and it's nice to meet someone who grew up somewhere else than where I did. You know, that where we grow up, that that's a common thing that as humans, we aren't always taught how to experience emotions and work to the other side. And this is a technique to help you work through those emotions and to be able to experience them in a safe way that helps you process them.

Heidi Books [: 00:19:15

Yeah, that's exactly it. You know, it really allows for that processing between sessions for supporting yourself, and then you become more. More clear about what's important. Right. Because we can get really hung up on things that maybe actually aren't that important. And if we're waiting two weeks or three weeks or however long in between sessions to I'm going to work on this thing, and then it's just like, oh, gosh. But I could have been taking a more proactive, positive step forward in my life in another area if I wasn't allowing myself to get hung up on something small.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:48

Yes. So what was it like the first time that you worked through it on your own? Because I'm just trying to imagine myself in a room by myself, tapping and talking to myself.

Heidi Books [: 00:19:57

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's a great question. It was a little challenging, right? I think some of the things that I found challenging when I first learned it, I did a level one and level two EFT trainers course, and that's how I learned to do it for myself. Now, it was wonderful, excellent training, and it was overwhelming because I wasn't just learning the basics. I was also trying to learn all of those advanced techniques that I mentioned before that realistically you do in a session with someone else, you don't do for yourself anyway. So it was a little overwhelming and I found that it was difficult for me to keep that simple formula in my head because I was kind of distracted by all these other techniques and tools at the same time. So it took a little while. And having said that, I think it's okay if it takes a little while.

Heidi Books [: 00:20:45

It's just about, you know, continuing to practice and recognizing that if once or twice when you do it, the first couple of times you're like, oh, that doesn't work, or it doesn't work. For this thing to know that it's okay, you're just learning, you know, it is actually a skill. It's a skill to get good at knowing what to focus on and knowing when to focus on something and when to shift the aspect or become more aware of something else within the situation to sort of change your focus a little bit. Those nuances take a little bit of time. So, yes, it's a bit weird saying it out loud. The whole thing is a little bit weird, let's be honest. Like, it is a bit weird. Have you seen people do it? They're tapping on the head.

Heidi Books [: 00:21:25

Like physically tapping. It's a bit strange. And then on top of that, you're saying, oh, I should say this out loud, oh, well, that's weird, too. Once you have learned how to do it, it's incredible. And I do think again. Once you get better and better at it, you find the times when you are okay. It's not appropriate for me to start blurting out all of my feelings and emotions in a particular situation right here, right now. So I know that I can say it in my head sometimes.

Heidi Books [: 00:21:52

I'm doing it at home and I'm, you know, in the house with my family, and I don't want to say all of the things very loudly. Maybe I just say it really quietly, like I'm in my room by myself, but I just can say it like so. There are many different ways to go about it, but it might take a moment to get used to, for sure.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:22:09

Yes. But I think that it's nice to kind of recognize that that's like, the thing of getting comfortable with it, recognizing it's a tool, but you got to get past that discomfort to use it. And the next time someone's at a light and they see me and I'm tapping and talking to myself, they'll know why. I just got frustrated with a driver and I'm working through it.

Heidi Books [: 00:22:27

No, that's definitely a thing. Absolutely. Do not be surprised when you see people tapping at the lights.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:22:33

That's why. That's right. That's right. I'm getting through this. I'm working through this.

Heidi Books [: 00:22:37

And sometimes it's the driver, and sometimes it's just someone in your car has said something, and sometimes it's even just a thought in your own mind or a memory of what just happened that morning. You know, all of these things, they come up and they play on our minds. And if we've got the tool to help us just regulate it a little bit so that we can realize, okay, that piece is all right. I've left that behind this morning at home, whatever it might be, and I can now move into my work day or something like that. It's super powerful and super helpful.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:07

Well, the truth is, as we go through our days, it's possible that twelve different things will pile up. And so if you have a technique to move three of them out of the way as soon as they happen, so that there's room for the other nine things like that, it's good to have a technique that can help you kind of move through those things because it's way life is.

Heidi Books [: 00:23:28

Right?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:28

Some days there's a lot that's piling up. And to have a technique, you can stop and take a minute to, like, clear the plate. You can have room for the next things that are coming on. It's definitely a nice technique to have. So is this something you've taught your kids or use with your family as well?

Heidi Books [: 00:23:44

Yes, I have. I have taught my husband and I've done a little bit with one of my kids. My kids are a little. Little bit resistant bit. They're teenagers and almost teenagers, so it's the type of. Not probably the age to be like, yeah, I'm going to do that really weird thing that my mum does, but I have used it a couple of times. When my son broke his arm, I did some tapping with him. Tapping has been shown to really support the reduction of pain.

Heidi Books [: 00:24:09

And so I did do a little bit of tapping with him in that situation. It didn't take away all his pain. He had a broken arm. Right. But just helped him to just stay a little bit more regulated and then post that as well. He had. He'd injured himself skiing, and so I felt like it was really useful to do a little bit of tapping around that so that when he came back to skiing, he, you know, he didn't come back to it with too much hesitation or fear and just got right back on with things. Definitely.

Heidi Books [: 00:24:34

It is so powerful with children. So I would highly recommend it, particularly if you've got younger children. I did do a little bit when my kids were a little bit younger, but like I said, my skill level when they were younger that many years ago, wasn't so strong. I didn't really know what I was doing so much, so I didn't. I haven't taught it to them. I'm hoping, though, that that thing they say about kids learning more from what you watching you and what you do than from what you tell them to do, will later in life become mean? That they either take this up or something else. Something else that really supports them in a way that works for them. Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:25:06

Yeah. It's one of those things that, like, I did a lot of work with early childhood, earlier in my career, and I feel like I was cheating by working with early childhood because it was so much easier with young kids to give them tools and opportunities to do stuff, and they're just like, yay, whatever you say. Like, I'll do that. That sounds great. And so my great success rate with kids is like, I'm cheating. I'm working with three year olds. This is why I get so much success.

Heidi Books [: 00:25:35

Yes. And how amazing, right, to even give them that experience, to experience the. You know, maybe it wasn't tapping, but. But those other little practices of being connected to themselves and being calm and I'm sure all that wonderful stuff that you did with them, it's incredible. And I definitely. There's huge value in teaching children of all ages.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:25:56

Yeah, yeah. We had things like calm down bunnies and other self regulation techniques that we utilized with them and breathing and different things we did. But it's one of those things that it was just so easy to teach to kids and they were so excited to learn, especially if, you know, the amygdala was a big thing. If kids are activated and their amygdala part of their brain, we're not teaching them anything and just know we just need to work on calming techniques. So it was a lot of common techniques, but tapping and working through emotions and doing that would have been a great thing that, if that had been around when I was doing that, to be able to work with kids on doing that.

Heidi Books [: 00:26:27

There are some programs that offer that. There is a psychologist who does quite a lot of the emotional freedom techniques research here in Australia, and she has a program called tapping in the classroom. So there is a program that teachers can learn if they want to include some basic tapping in their classroom environment for. For young children as well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:26:48

That is so exciting. That is wonderful. And I feel like I know somebody who, at a senior center actually was doing stuff with tapping techniques and mentioned some techniques that they learned. I feel like there's some more techniques they learned than just tapping, but that they were sharing with me at one point in time for that. So I love all of those things because the toolbox needs to be deep for handling and processing things. And I feel like as our world evolves, the more things we're all processing and handling on a consistent basis, the more stimulation we have with all the different gadgets and gadgets and ways of connecting that we need to have more ways to also be able to process things. So this is fabulous. Thank you so much.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:26

This is so valuable. So I would love for you to go ahead and just maybe talk us through some of the simplest techniques for us to consider and to start thinking about utilizing.

Heidi Books [: 00:27:37

Yeah, sure. So rather than trying to take you through all of the points, because we are mostly audio here today, let's keep it really, really simple. I'm going to show you the collarbone point because it's a beautiful one to be able to tap on at any time. I think you already saw me, you know, as we were chatting here, kind of refer to it and start tapping on my collarbone. I would just want to say all of the meridian points that we're tapping on are specific points. If we were doing acupuncture and we had needles. We'd probably want to be quite specific about it, because we're not doing that, and we're using our fingers to tap and activate the point. Don't be too worried about getting the point wrong.

Heidi Books [: 00:28:14

You can be fairly general about where you're tapping. There are specific points, but you don't have to worry about, oh, did I get it exactly right? I remember in the beginning being very concerned about whether I got the tapping point right. And I needn't have worried, because now when I work with my clients, there are some people, and I'm watching them and I'm thinking, are they even on the point? I'm not sure where they're tapping, but do you know what? It doesn't really matter that much. They change and it has the effect anyway. So, yes, let's aim for the actual point, but don't be too concerned. So, the collarbone point, if you just put your fingers, your fingertips on your collarbones, and then you run them down in a diagonal sort of line towards your armpit, I guess about an inch to an inch and a half. And right about here is our collarbone point, and so we can tap. You can use one hand or two.

Heidi Books [: 00:29:04

When I'm doing a full rounds, I usually use one hand, but sometimes I like to tap with both hands on this point here, you. It's like you're tapping someone on the shoulder. It doesn't have to be hard, but just so you can feel it. And I'm just going to suggest that whilst we're sitting here, you're just tapping, and you just take a breath, and just notice your fingertips touching your skin. Let's take a second breath, and we're going to do a little body scan in this position so you can continue tapping on your collarbone points if it feels comfortable. Closing down your eyes and starting at the top of your head. I just want you to notice where and if you're holding tension anywhere in your body. So noticing your head and your neck, maybe your jawline, and without judgment, just being aware of any tension or tightness or stress that you're carrying in your body, taking a breath, bring your awareness through your shoulders and your arms.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:30:15

Down.

Heidi Books [: 00:30:16

Through your chest and your torso, all the way down your back, into your hips and all the way down your legs and into your feet. And if there is somewhere that's feeling. Oh, yeah, I hadn't noticed that. I'm carrying some tension in my hip there, or my feet feel a little bit tight. Let's just keep our focus on that point just for a moment while we tap. Because ultimately, it's about just being aware and allowing the tapping to calm our body and our mind. And when you feel ready, you can just open your eyes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:31:04

It is nes. I do feel very calm. That's lovely. Yeah, it's just.

Heidi Books [: 00:31:08

Look, that's a really simple 30 seconds of tapping. But for many people, that will be enough. Really feel some release and some calm. And if you go to my website, you can download a free video which shows you all of the tapping points and some really sort of an extension on what I just showed you there, where I take you through all of the tapping points with a video and some short breathing exercises. And just an exercise that I call three easy steps to de stress. And it's just useful for when you're feeling really rushed in the day. And you just really need to calm down for a moment and just be aware of how you're feeling. So we just tune in and do a little bit of tapping.

Heidi Books [: 00:31:51

And just two to five minutes maximum can really change how you feel in the day. And that was just an even smaller example of that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:32:00

Nice. And so how like. So just that simple 30 minutes exercise we did. Is that something? And this is getting. We have each episode, we have what we call grit wet, which is like the takeaway in how to apply something. So just that little 32nd, like, body scan and tapping. Is that something you should be doing daily? Is that something you should be doing frequently or just when you need it, or how often would you be doing something like that?

Heidi Books [: 00:32:23

Yeah, I would say do that when you need to. So ultimately, tapping is about acknowledging how we're feeling and allowing the tapping to help us to calm down. So if you're feeling really rushed and you can feel that stress rising a little bit, that would be a perfect time to take 30 seconds. Just take a breath or two and use the tapping to allow you just to actually get a bit grounded and feel that little bit more of that calm response. Anytime. Anytime, you know, day or night or. I think, you know, if you're looking for something to do on a more regular basis, I would really recommend learning the deeper techniques so that you can really feel significant shift. But for just calming in the moment, any form of tapping will help.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:33:10

That's wonderful. So, yeah, so just find a time or place to practice that and see if you notice that difference. And then we'll have, in the show notes, an easy link to go check out your website and the potential to learn more and see more and do more if that's something you're interested in. And you have the wonderful timing of us having the opportunity of your tapping genius opening up so folks can even dig deeper if that's something that they want to be able to do. And what does that offer the online course beyond what the videos and stuff you have on your website?

Heidi Books [: 00:33:39

Yeah. So that takes us through really learning. I guess the core piece of it is learning efT, the basic recipe, which is the core foundational technique to be used to really change how you feel about different situations or challenges that you're having. And, I mean, the things that you can use the basic eft on are so vast, from, you know, like we talked about changing health habits to issues within relationships to feeling stressed from work or deadlines or public speaking that's coming up. It's never ending. So it really is about learning that skill. And around that, I also teach about where have those stresses really come from and how do we heal that next level of stress. And we talk a little bit more about where you want your life to go and that sort of forward thinking of what is it that I want to tap on? Like, why would I even bother doing this? It's because I really want to take that positive step forward and make a positive change in my life.

Heidi Books [: 00:34:38

So the thing that will make the difference, if somebody really wants to get involved in using some eft to reduce their stress response and make positive changes in their lives, that's wonderful.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:34:50

And it fits so nicely because just last week we had a podcast episode around turning down the noise to, like, figure out what isn't kind of running right and about the different resources you can seek out. So I think this is a great resource for folks to seek out if they really resonated last week with going, hmm, there is something rattling around that I do need to look deeper at, and this can be a great potential resource for them. So that's beautiful timing. So, yes, I love that. Yes. And the other thing we also do each episode is we're doing it out of order, but we always talk about our self maintenance minute. So what is something that you do for self maintenance? And obviously, we could talk more about tapping or if there's something else that you do for self maintenance you would like to share with the folks that are here with us today so that they can get a better sense of some of the different ways we're taking care of ourselves.

Heidi Books [: 00:35:38

Yes. So I do. I use tapping really, really frequently, you know, from when I'm feeling really stressed to, okay, this thing has come up and it's just not budging and it's bothering me. So, yes, that is, it's a huge part of what I do, and I do some other things as well, and they vary a little bit. I love doing some yoga. I just, a couple of weeks ago was at a yoga retreat with my sister and doing an EFT workshop, but also getting to do all of the beautiful yoga. I'm like, oh, thank goodness. I just remembered how amazing that is for me.

Heidi Books [: 00:36:10

I've been doing some journaling recently, just, you know, getting it all out. And for me, often what will happen is that is a great way to get out on paper what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling, what's come up for me at a particular time. And then from there, I can, if I want to, when something comes up, then I might use the tapping to actually make a significant change in that space. So it's kind of like. But I don't have to do all of them all at once. It's really important not to overwhelm yourself with too much things that we have to do. It's like you said, there are tools in the toolbox, and what feels good at any one particular time will change. It changes for me all the time.

Heidi Books [: 00:36:49

But those are some of the ones that I found really great. A gratitude practice. A practice on a course that I did late last year, which was, I am grateful for, and we would list down a few things that we're grateful for, and then I am a yes for, and this is what I'm looking forward to. So really setting that positive intention. I know. Really powerful. It's really powerful. Yeah.

Heidi Books [: 00:37:10

So, and again, I don't do all of these things every single day. I also love to meditate, and again, I don't do it every single day. But yes, many different things in the toolbox, and they are all so valuable.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:37:21

That's great. And actually, I'm all about gratitude. And lately that hasn't been making the top of my list. So this is a good reminder for me to remember to move that back up to the top of my list. That's very valuable. Thank you so much. Your website is a great place to reach you, and we will have that in the show notes. But could you say your website out loud so people can hear it or may not be driving or something, not looking at the show notes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:37:40

So what's your website?

Heidi Books [: 00:37:41

My website is tap in. So that's tap in.com dot au because I'm Australian and people can also find me, I think, on Facebook, at my Facebook group, which is eFT tapping tribe. So if you look up eft tapping tribe, you can find me there and connect there as well for more information and resources. And I'm there to answer questions, really, you know, if you're interested and you're like, oh, I want to know more about that. It's just a really easy way to connect with me there as well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:38:10

This has been so fabulous. Thank you so much, Heidi. You've been a wealth of information, and I really enjoy this because I've been curious to learn more, and I feel like I've gotten so much out of this. So thank you so much for being here today and sharing with us.

Heidi Books [: 00:38:21

That was an amazing experience. Thank you so much, Shawna. I really appreciate it.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:38:25

Thank you for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to jump on over to instagram and follow us at the Grit show. And if you aren't already following authentic Connections podcast network at 37 by 27, you should definitely be doing that as well. Don't forget, you are the only one of you that this world has got, and that means something. I'll be here next Tuesday. I hope you are, too.