The Empowerment Diaries with Carleta 'Lita': Goddess of Growth & Life Coach

Emotional Freedom Techniques: Your Path to Conquering Anxiety and Childhood Trauma (2)

• Carleta aka Lita • Episode 2

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Discovering freedom from anxiety and repetitive thought patterns is possible—and it might be simpler than you think. After decades of feeling trapped by childhood trauma and overwhelming worry that sometimes made me physically ill, I found liberation through Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). This powerful yet accessible practice transformed my relationship with anxiety and helped me heal deep-seated emotional wounds.

EFT involves gently tapping on specific meridian points while acknowledging difficult emotions and practicing radical self-acceptance. The technique works like psychological acupressure, creating profound shifts in our nervous system and emotional state. "Even though I feel overwhelmed, I deeply and completely love and accept myself" becomes a mantra that breaks the cycle of emotional suffering. Scientific research supports what practitioners have known for years—EFT effectively lowers cortisol levels and offers genuine relief from emotional and physical pain.

What makes this practice truly revolutionary is how it brings us into the present moment. Before discovering EFT in 2009, I spent countless hours ruminating on the past and projecting fears onto the future. Now,

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Lita:

Hi there. So it's Lita, powered by Riverside FM. Continue with presenting the space, hoping to connect with somebody at some point. With regards to this podcast, my last recording I introduced myself. I gave a brief summary of my transformational life journey that took me to this place I had mentioned.

Lita:

Towards the end of the podcast, I would dive further into EFT Emotional Freedom Techniques which I believe has significantly helped transform the way I live my life and, most significantly, how I handle anxiety, repetitive thoughts, behaviours, patterns. Eft has really been significant for me, helped me to address scars in childhood and also develop resilience in life, where I can feel more confident as a creator. Goddess of growth is me. Yes, the past is past. In that past, I did feel trapped in childhood trauma with repetitive thoughts. Today, life is a lot freer. I've discovered a level of freedom that allows me to be more present. I deal with quite a lot of issues, to the point where I am in more of a space to forgive myself, which is priority, and to forgive others. Emotional freedom techniques is a core technique that I use in my life to look after my thought patterns and also, as one would say, rewrite my personal narrative. The chatter that happened for a number of decades is no more. Some of it, I understand, is really linked into my age as well Age 50. Life looks different. I'm now in a position to identify how it is I feel, take ownership of it and tap into it. Less projection, less relying on others to make myself feel better. I'm able to create the space of comfort and security all on my own. The past is what I discussed. In the first episode, I mentioned the fact that I grew up in a single parent home with my mother, and I talked about corporal punishment at the time being the norm and, of course, the stories and beliefs that we develop based on our childhood experiences. Times change, so what was normal then isn't seen as normal now.

Lita:

In 2009, I took up a course in alternative therapies. The plan was to study psychotherapy counselling. I ended up qualifying as a consultant hypnotherapist practising emotional freedom techniques, hypnoanalyses and a number of other alternative therapies. Prior to that, I had started to read astrology intensely also, which also helped me understand and heal the mother-daughter mother-father dynamic Breakthrough healing, I would say, happened really from 2009, as much as my reading of astrology happened many years before that.

Lita:

Now it's about learning to focus on the present, and that's what we're talking about now Tapping into our feelings and really getting behind the why that we feel the way that we do, not pretending tapping into it. This is the way I believe we release, tap into and release our connection to the trauma from our childhood or any experience that we've been through. Emotional freedom techniques allows us to tap into our emotional intelligence and, as I've said before, practice self-forgiveness. Finally, we're in a position to understand how our childhood or life experiences create our belief systems that affect us throughout our life all the way in our decision making as an adult, which can free us Finding purpose in astrology I still read it.

Lita:

Understanding the time and the season, especially when it comes to transitions, has also been empowering, kind of a reminder that everything is in perfect order. Being mature enough to look at a story and understand it really is just a story and it is up to me to decide how much that story will affect my life. And yes, being human, there are times I still get anxious. I still want things to happen quickly or slower, depending on how vested I am into the situation at hand, but I do often hold the reins and take a step back, take a breath, tap in. I spoke about the contrast in life. I know many of us we try to block out what is because we don't like what we see, and I understand that actually embracing the contrast in life is really the most positive way to move forward in life, acknowledging that at all times there's positive and negative emotions and those are really important for growth. It is our litmus test to actually decide what we like, whether it be hot, whether it be cold. Contrast is important to keep us tapping into what we like, what we don't like.

Lita:

So today we're looking at emotional freedom techniques and I'd like to show you how it can help you with anxiety. I understand there'll be people listening and they will not be able to see a video of myself, so I'll do my best to illustrate what I am doing so that you will be able to practice emotional freedom techniques as well in your own time. You will need to be in a safe location, so definitely no driving at this point. I'll be showing you how to tap into those moments in life when you might feel out of balance, anxious, upset maybe. I would really love to hear your own story reminding you this is a judgment-free zone and in hearing your story I could also give hints and tips on how to use emotional freedom techniques to tap into that story that is holding you back, keeping you stuck. Right now. You can message me at this website link via Buzzsprout, I believe. You can send me a text message of sorts and I'll be able to respond accordingly to include the setup.

Lita:

So to today's focus. Tell me if you have ever felt physically sick from worry. Not all of us do, but have you ever felt physically sick from worry? Well, I identify with you.

Lita:

So today we're tackling anxiety with this very simple tool. You've got it Emotional freedom techniques, so easy to use. Intention is key. We're talking about light tapping and the light tapping. One says it's like doing acupuncture with the tapping. I have had acupuncture before that worked wonderfully as well. But we're tapping the meridian points whilst voicing our fears and then just shifting our focus spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally. It's called Emotional Freedom Techniques. Why? Because it's about releasing the emotion. I did say in the last session, we tend to remember those things for which we have an emotional attachment. So we're here now trying to release the emotion.

Lita:

The basic setup involves us tapping the eyebrow, then tapping the side of the eye, so we do the eyebrow under the eye, we'll be doing a slight tapping under the nose, on the chin, on the collarbone, under the arm, the chop karate chop, so to speak, and some people, if you'd like to, you could also tap the head, tap your head at the end. It's so good now. Even just tapping without thinking actually helps me just get a bit zen. So we're thinking about what it is that has us feeling overwhelmed, the trigger, what's keeping us off balance. And the idea is you'll say something to the effect of even though I feel overwhelmed by whatever X feeling is, a situation, a scenario, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. And you do that whilst you're tapping. So, even though I feel totally overwhelmed by whatever X is, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.

Lita:

Now, in a coaching session, one would give a rating score. Ask you to identify how you're feeling about the subject, from 1 to 10. The idea is subject from 1 to 10. The idea is the more anxious you feel, we've got 10 and the least you feel is down to 0, 1. So the lower you feel, the better you feel. The higher you feel, the more anxious you feel. The idea is to get it down to 0, okay, think about the feeling that has you feeling uncomfortable.

Lita:

Breathe in, think about it, really feel it and then start tapping. So, even though I feel overwhelmed by I deeply and completely love and accept myself under the eye, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself under the nose, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Collarbone, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself under the arm, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself under the arm, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Chop, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself on the head, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. And just, there's something about the breath. You know, taking that deep breath and letting it all out helps us really just get into this moment, get into this space.

Lita:

The EFT process one could say it's scientific, one can say it's spiritual. It's not woo-woo and out there. It is about tapping in and really focusing on the emotion, really focusing on the emotion. There have been scientific studies that indicate EFT emotional freedom technique can lower cortisol. There have been studies that have shown with pain relief, emotional freedom techniques can also be quite good. It's a spiritual process. You're telling your body, your mind, yourself it's safe In this moment. There's nothing to fear. It's okay to just be here, to be present. I challenge you to start using emotional freedom techniques.

Lita:

There's so many resources online if you want to continue identifying the setup that best suits you, and the idea is not just to remember the setup, but also to think about what is causing your anxiety and being in that position to identify it, tap it and remember. Even though this is how I feel, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. One of my sessions, one of the clients asked me well, if it says something like even though I don't love myself, and then the setup is I deeply and completely love and accept myself, is that not a contradictory in terms? Go with it, even if it sounds contradictory. Still do the setup the same way. Even though this is how I feel, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Keep going with it, you will see. Even if it doesn't make sense, you will start to feel a huge difference.

Lita:

You'll notice that opportunities come to you without you even thinking about those opportunities. One such opportunity came to me only earlier today. I was on the call to my sister and a number that I didn't know called through Turns out an allotment that I registered for five years ago now has become available, so I will be having access to a patch where I can start growing some more vegetables. I had not even thought about it in such a long time. These things happen in our lives all the time. We become more and more aware of the synchronicities and the many blessings that come our way, encouraging us to focus less on the closed doors. Of course, there will be many of those also focusing on the doors that's opening and opened, being thankful and grateful for those. So I challenge you to start doing this practice daily, each time you feel uncomfortable.

Lita:

Emotional freedom techniques is the technique to go to before you call a friend, before you call a parent, a priest, whoever. This is about self-care and being in a position to manage your emotions, release your emotion. Emotional freedom technique is our technique to develop self-control. Let me know how you find it. Let me know if it's easy for you to incorporate in your daily life. My personal experience is in noticing how great it has been to deal with my repetitive thoughts. I often will seek it out when I'm not feeling the best. As I say, I'm human, so I do go through ups and downs, just like everybody else. The difference is that prior to 2009, I had spent so much time thinking about the past, particularly my childhood. I was not present in today at all. Now I find I can be in today. Emotional freedom techniques is also a good and great complement to meditation Simple breathing exercises, relaxation exercises. One of the earlier things that we learn when we're studying hypnotherapy is just how to allow the body to relax Again, be present, learn to breathe, learn to allow the breath, learn to identify when you're not feeling the best in this moment and then start the technique again.

Lita:

Emotional freedom technique is about identifying the emotion where you're not feeling so comfortable and basically tapping on it. I am going to do the setup again Do join me if you're in a safe space to do so and it goes as follows Even though I feel, whatever that feeling is I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I feel, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself under the arm, even though I feel like I deeply and completely love and accept myself, even though I feel like on the head, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Sometimes, when we're practicing emotional freedom techniques, we may find tears, we may find sadness. The idea is not to drill down onto that too much, but go behind those emotions.

Lita:

And it's not about hiding what you feel or trying to get rid of what you feel. It is about tapping into what you feel and when you identify the reasons that you feel the way you feel, you're then in a better position to tap on it and release it. It's about self-acceptance. This is not a rejection of how you feel. And what's nice about this process? You're doing it yourself. So there is no judgment, except for the judgment that you have for yourself. And as you continue to practice the technique, you'll get into positions where you're asking yourself well, why? Why do I feel that way? Why should it be that way? Who said it could be that way? And ultimately, in this time and space, does it matter. How is it affecting you right now? I understand it had a huge effect on you 10 years ago, last week. In this moment, this space, where we are right now, just here, how is it affecting you? And when we talk about how it's affecting you in this space, we're not talking about the past in this moment, in this time, in this space, being able to breathe and say, actually in this moment, in this space, I'm okay, breathe.

Lita:

So emotional freedom techniques can be easily incorporated in your life to deal with anxiety. It's a great tool to tap into your belief systems. Maybe take some time to journal your ideas about a given scenario. For example, you might find that there's someone in your life you really do not like. We're humans. Some of us have really strong distastes for others. Maybe use the time to write down all of the things that you do not like about that person, that scenario, that event and, when you've finished, breathe and take then each item from the list to tap on it so you could, for example, say even though I don't like X for X reason, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I don't like X for X reason, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. What this does is encourage us to be more self-accepting.

Lita:

Often, the rejection of other is a rejection of ourself. The idea is to raise our energy, our connection, to understand that ultimately, we are one. Remembering contrasts are important because that is how our souls, our brains, evolve. We need to understand, hot and cold, the differences between the two. So emotional freedom techniques can help us address our belief systems, challenge the things that we think of in autumn auto, really question if the things that we think today are really true. Now. They may have been true yesterday, decades ago. When scenarios happen and we ask others about the scenarios, they often come with different ideas as to what happened. So the question is what is really true? Sometimes the truth is about what's true for you Doesn't necessarily mean that that is the whole truth.

Lita:

Emotional freedom techniques is about rewiring our thought processes and evolving, developing, maturing in our expectations, not just from life but, most importantly, from ourselves. You see, each time we let ourselves down, we easily become fearful that others will let us down as well. So emotional freedom techniques can start tapping away at our true beliefs. We no longer need to sit down and justify what we believe to others. We can use emotional freedom techniques to find what is true within us, because only we know right. So if you're looking for a technique to eliminate and it will eliminate repetitive thoughts that fill the mind so you can't have rest, you can't sleep at night or when you're connecting with friends and family, that's all you talk about. If you're looking for a technique that will help you move beyond, move into more faith, connection, forgiveness of self and others, I highly recommend emotional freedom technique.

Lita:

In your daily life, every single time you have an emotion that you don't feel comfortable, in those rare moments that I have where I have felt physically sick from worry, I know it's because for me again, as I said in the last episode, there are some things in life that I really have a strong vested interest in. It becomes so important to me where I feel I have to have that situation, I make myself sick with worry. I am hoping to evolve where worry isn't a feature of my life, but even if it comes up, emotional freedom techniques helps me get grounded, helps me get present, reminds me, in fact, we had no control over the past, no control over the future. All we can do is breathe into this moment. In fact, we don't even know if the next breath is ours. We like to behave as if we know that the next minute is promised and it isn't right, and to get comfortable in the not knowing, because that's the reality of life. No one knows.

Lita:

So let's tap, look online to find guidance. And again, if you would like to do a bit of coaching, I can coach using emotional freedom techniques. Work with you to tap onto your belief systems. Just send me a message on this podcast and I will be able to get back to you. Alternatively, you can send me the story that has you feeling blocked in life. I am more than happy to start challenging your belief systems so that you can start experiencing more flow and connection and self-forgiveness, self-love, self-confidence in your life.

Lita:

It is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. It's about your intention and frequently, as soon as your emotions change to something that you find uncomfortable, working on those emotions so that your soul, your spirit, your energy elevates high energy attracts high energy. Facts, sadness and happiness cannot reside in the same space. You're either one or the other, even if they all happen within the same few minutes, and that's possible, but you can only have one at the time. Choose your focus. Emotional freedom techniques can help raise your energy. So thank you so much for being here and for listening, and I hope you did get something from this session. I'm sharing it with you because it's helping me greatly has done since 2009. And I can tell you, as the time has gone on, I realise just how significant it has helped me in my life, to the point where there are some things that don't affect me as they used to. I still get tearful at some things, but the majority of the things have definitely gone. I've definitely let them go and it's amazing to be free of them, also to understand the time and the purpose, the season of life. So I am going to leave you now. I hope the emotional freedom technique is one practice that you do daily. Let me know if you achieve that.

Lita:

In the next episode I am hoping to go over again, tapping into the divine feminine, looking into the energy presented. What does softness mean? And also think about burnout. Lots of us have spoken about burnout of late. We've got loads of energies happening. The economy, life changes in the family. I'm 50 years old, so there's people coming in, there's people going out. Health is a big issue at the moment, things like alzheimer's, dementia. Yeah, let's not forget the trend to look at those family members. That's narcissists, and, yeah, but again, those outside of us. That is a projection. I will talk with you about tapping into your own energy so, no matter what is going on around you, you're able to go back within self and start manifesting more environments, more situations that match your soul desire. I look forward to tapping with you soon. Have a lovely, lovely, lovely day. Stay empowered.