Energetic Self-Care for Teens – now online!
- At June 01, 2020
- By Bonnie
- In Uncategorized
- 0
So many of our children have already been struggling with the effects of modern living: feeling anxious and overwhelmed, overly affected by others’ emotional energies and the environments they are in.
Then came the Covid 19 pandemic and the associated changes in their schooling, social and physical activities, and increased fear in society, and a lot of our kids (and their parents) have been feeling especially challenged.
Now add to this the recent events sparking protests across the nation, and the intensity of the time is difficult to manage, to say the least.
This course is designed to help you and your teen find new ways of managing these stresses in healthy ways that will positively affect all aspects of your life!
As Energy Medicine practitioners over the past fifteen plus years, we have seen a distinct increase in the number of children and teens who are highly sensitive and struggling.
We have found several tools that have been especially helpful for the families we’ve worked with, and we are passionate about making this more widely available.
Energetic Self-Care for Teens is not your typical stress-reduction class. Parents are strongly encouraged to take this course together with their child for best outcomes.
In this course we talk about newly-emerging science on the nervous system and the vagus nerve to give you a clear understanding of why your teen (and you) may be challenged with: overwhelm, anxious feelings, frustrating behaviors, feeling overly affected by others’ emotions and what’s going on around them.
We will then share evidence-based practices to help you work through these issues with greater ease and confidence.
Here’s what one mother who took one of our classes with her son shared:
“All of the exercises were great!! I think this is something that anyone can use and find helpful in their daily lives. Adults & kids alike. Thank you so much for offering a class like this. Very needed & helpful.” –L.L.
In this online course, you and your teen will:.
- Learn more about yourself and why you behave the way you do.
- Learn how stress and overwhelm affect your mind, your physical body, and your energy body.
- Practice simple techniques for staying “grounded” and learn why it is so important.
- Learn to use EFT Tapping to process emotional energy in healthy ways and to incorporate self compassion.
- Learn how to help the body experience a sense of safety, allowing the mind and emotions to calm.
What You’ll Receive:
- Two 60-minute live online video trainings
- Recordings so you can review specific exercises and watch again as many times as you’d like
- Pre-course information packet
- Post-course summary of the course teachings and practices
- Free Q&A session 1-2 weeks after the course to review techniques and ask questions
The two live video portions of the course will be held online via Zoom on Tuesday, June 23 at 11:00am MT/1:00pm ET and Thursday, June 25 at 11:00am MT/1:00pm ET
“Loved it! We learned so many things that will be helpful for everyday challenges.” –J.B.
“Very helpful information.” –D.L.
We want this to be accessible and affordable, so the cost is a low $60 per household.
Instructors:
Kristi Joy is an Energy Medicine Practitioner and Instructor with over 20 years of experience in the healing arts and meditation. She has a private energy healing and teaching practice in Fort Collins, CO.
Bonnie Thompson has been practicing Energy Medicine with clients and with her four “sensitive” kids since 2006. She is passionate about educating and empowering parents and children to live healthy, happy lives.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have questions: Bonnie and Kristi
Caring for Ourselves during Challenging Times
- At April 09, 2020
- By Bonnie
- In Uncategorized
- 0
How are you?
You might answer that with a simple word or two: okay, worried, frustrated, angry, etc. I’d like you to pause, though, and check in with your body. Right now.
Without changing it, notice your breath. Where do you feel it? How is your body moving with the breath? Take a moment to acknowledge that this is how your body is breathing.
Next, notice where your body is. Where is it contacting the chair or the floor or the sofa you’re sitting on? Where are your arms? Legs?
Now that you’re aware of your body, pay attention to it for a minute.
What do you notice? Are there areas that are painful or uncomfortable? If so, acknowledge that area. Maybe even thank that area for giving you this information. In my experience, discomfort is the body’s way of trying to get our attention. Sometimes all it wants is to be acknowledged.
Are there areas that feel especially good? (My stomach is happy with the lunch I just ate.) Take a moment to acknowledge an area of your body that feels good or at least neutral.
If I ask you again, How are you?, what, if anything, is different about your answer now?
I hope you’ve actually done this exercise, not just read through it. There’s a reason I want you to try this out. I’ve been listening to various experts for their advice on how to care for ourselves during this social-distancing situation. Combining their suggestions with what I know from experience about how to manage stress, I’m not surprised to see that it generally comes down to staying present to our body.
Here are my thoughts on some of the best advice I found:
Limit information intake
It’s all too easy to get sucked into the 24-hour news and social media feeds of how terrible this virus is. Too much time spent viewing/listening to this information gets us stuck in our heads and feeds our ruminating brain. Yes, it’s important to be informed but taking in information, especially fear-inducing information, tends to distract us from our body and feed an already anxious mind.
Stay present
Your body is the key to staying present and responding in healthy ways. Look around you; notice the space where you are sitting. Use your eyes to slowly scan your environment. Pause and take note of colors or interesting textures you come across. Bring some curiosity to your exploration. What sounds are you hearing? Take a moment to tune into those sounds. Can you identify all of the sounds and where they’re coming from? Notice any smells or the sensation of a breeze on your skin.
Now, check in with your body again. Has anything changed? What do you notice about your breath or your posture? Again, acknowledge the sensations in your body, thank it for letting you know how it’s doing.
When we are fully present, we can better access our internal resources and we can recognize that, in that moment, we are safe. Anxious thoughts are future oriented and while anxiety has its usefulness (it allows us to look to the future and make plans), it’s not meant to be overwhelming or constant. Take a moment again to notice that in this moment you are safe and let your body take that in.
Find ways to feel a sense of agency
We are swimming in an ocean of uncertainty and lack of control. Talk about bringing up fear! It is important to acknowledge the fear and recognize that fear is not a bad thing. Fear is a healthy emotion that helps us orient to danger and find ways to survive, WHEN we use it properly. Fear fueled by excessive information consumption, fear stuffed down and ignored, fear without an outlet, is not healthy.
What fear wants is to be acknowledged and acted upon. It asks us to pay attention to what’s happening around us, to orient to the perceived danger; it wants to be aware so we can take appropriate action. Right now, it’s difficult to know what action to take beyond social distancing and washing our hands frequently.
Taking action helps us experience a greater sense of agency. Simply doing or creating things can increase our sense of control. It’s no wonder so many people are excited to be sewing face masks. How about house projects or gardening? Any kind of art-making works as well. It’s also a wonderful way to give expression to our emotional state. What can you be creating during this time?
What else can we do when we don’t know how to respond to this threat? Give your body something to do. Allow it to move and feel its strength. Get outside and walk or run. Climb something. Lift weights. We may not be able to literally run away from this virus, but we can let our body feel its power and ability to move away from danger figuratively.
Get outside
Beyond just moving our body, there are so many benefits to getting outside every day! Sunshine, fresh air and, if you can, getting barefoot on the earth (earthing) have many health benefits. I won’t go into all of those benefits now, but you might enjoy this article on how sunshine dramatically decreased death rates during the 1918 flu epidemic: https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065.
Maintain your usual routine and rituals
While life around us is feeling out of control, having a regular routine helps us create a sense of control. Get up and dress for the day, prepare regular meals, continue your spiritual practices.
Find ways to connect
Humans are made to survive by being with other humans. In spite of the constant messages around us to take care of ourselves and self-regulate, we do best when we have other (safe) humans to co-regulate with. Obviously, the current situation puts severe limitations on this. If you are home with family members: talk face to face, give each other hugs, cuddle up on the sofa while you watch a fun show, share how you’re feeling with each other.
If you are alone at home, call and talk with friends or family who you feel a good connection with. Better yet, connect with them on Skype or Zoom so you can see each other face-to-face. Visual connection is important. Our nervous system takes cues from other people (Dr. Stephen Porges calls it neuroception) and a friendly face can be very calming. You can also bring a sense of safety into your own system by holding yourself: hug yourself, rub your upper arms, place your fingertips just below your ears and hold your jaw.
Pets can also provide connection!
And finally
I want to acknowledge here that you may find it difficult to do many of these things. Please recognize that we are in the midst of a collective trauma. You may find yourself feeling anxious and stir-crazy or you may be feeling numb and low energy. Whatever reaction you are having is probably normal, given the circumstances and your personal trauma history. Be gentle with yourself and with the people you are sharing space with. We are all doing the best that we can.
If you can find just one thing in this list that you can implement now, great. Give yourself space and time to try it out and see how it feels. If it helps, wonderful; if it doesn’t, maybe try something else. I encourage you to just find a way to take some action that feels right to you.
Of course, if you are feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope, reach out for appropriate professional support.
We will get through this time best by working together and supporting each other. I’ve seen so many wonderful ways that people are doing this. Humans, as a whole, are amazing and kind. Please reach out if you need support and don’t hesitate to check in on your friends, neighbors and family who may need connection.
Energetic Self-Care for Teens
- At February 11, 2020
- By Bonnie
- In Events, Workshops
- 0
We have had many requests for a class for teens. If your teenage child is struggling with overwhelm, feeling anxious, and seems overly affected by others’ emotions and the surrounding environment (highly sensitive or empathic), this class is designed to help.
Sunday, February 16th , 10:30am – 12:30pm
Ages 13 – 18
$40 per teen, accompanying parent is free
To register: https://healingtreewellnessllc.as.me/?appointmentType=12286459
In this class, we will:
• Learn how stress and overwhelm affect our energy bodies.
• Practice simple techniques for staying “grounded” and learn why it is so important.
• Learn to use EFT Tapping to process emotional energy in healthy ways and to incorporate self compassion.
• Learn how to help the body experience a sense of safety, allowing the mind and emotions to calm.
1101 E. Elizabeth St, Fort Collins, CO 80524
To register: https://healingtreewellnessllc.as.me/?appointmentType=12286459
Instructors:
Kristi Joy, HTCP/I, LMT is an Energy Medicine Practitioner and Instructor with over 20 years of experience in the healing arts and meditation. She has a private energy healing and teaching practice in Fort Collins, CO.
Bonnie Thompson, HTCP, CECP/CBCP has been practicing Energy Medicine with clients and with her four “sensitive” kids since 2006. She is passionate about educating and empowering parents and children to live healthy, happy lives.
The Vagus Nerve and Polyvagal Theory
- At January 16, 2020
- By Bonnie
- In Announcements, Workshops
- 0
For those who may have missed it, I’ve finally got the video of my presentation at Sunrise Ranch in Loveland, Colorado uploaded to youtube and available for viewing. If you’d like a good introduction to Polyvagal Theory (hint: I believe everyone can benefit from understanding this), please watch.
This information has been life-changing for me and many others as it explains so much of why we experience certain symptoms and sensations and why we behave in ways that don’t always seem to make logical sense. I call it the Theory of Everything because it brings together answers to so many seemingly-unrelated issues.
I’d really appreciate your feedback on this information. And I love discussions on these topics, so please share your comments and questions.
You asked for it! EFT Tapping Practice Group
- At January 25, 2019
- By Bonnie
- In Uncategorized
- 0
I’ve had a number of people asking about learning to tap on themselves. Can I tell you how excited I am to have people asking me about Tapping? Twelve years ago when I first started teaching EFT workshops, no one had heard of it before and it was kind of a hard sell because it was unusual (weird).
Fast forward to today and EFT Tapping has grown tremendously in popularity. It is also very solidly supported by research, with over 60 studies published in peer-reviewed journals, twenty of which are RCTs (randomized, controlled trials). Of these studies, 98% show Tapping to be highly effective on a variety of issues such as reducing pain and relieving PTSD. And the results hold over time. EFT Tapping is a great self-care tool that I believe everyone should have in their personal toolbox.
So, I am leading an EFT Tapping practice group on Tuesday, February 12 at 6:00pm at my new office in Fort Collins.
This is for you if:
- you’ve maybe tried a little Tapping but don’t feel confident using it on your own
- you are new to Tapping and would like to try it out, or
- you already use it and want to enjoy the benefits of doing it in a group setting.
A bonus of tapping together in a group is the Borrowing Benefits effect: the combined energy of the group boosts the effectiveness of the tapping for everyone present. This effect is even noted in some of the research. There is a lot of power in community, people coming together to hold space for each other. I call it the Field Effect.
I hope you’ll join us in the Practice Group. We’ll spend a short time with basic instruction and then jump right in with hands-on practice together. You can register online through my website appointment scheduler under Workshops or click on the button above. Consider coming with a friend or a family member–you can then support each other in your personal practice. If you’re considering coming, please sign up soon; we have limited space and it helps me prepare when I know how many people to expect.
Please comment below if you have questions or want to share your personal experience with EFT Tapping. Thanks!
The New Healing Circle
- At October 12, 2015
- By Bonnie
- In Announcements, Events, Uncategorized
- 0
The NEW Healing Circle
I’ve decided to change the focus and structure of the Healing Circle to better serve our community!
Join us for Thursday Night Healing Circle where ordinary people come together and practice using EFT Tapping and other techniques to free themselves from pain, stress and fears.
First Thursday each month
Next event is November 5, 2015
7:00 – 8:00 pm
This group is for ordinary people who have physical and emotional issues they want to eliminate in a safe, supportive environment and who wish to experience greater joy in their lives. All levels of experience with tapping are welcome so come let us help you get started!
Topics will vary depending on the group and individual needs. In this group, you will learn how to better use EFT Tapping for yourself and experience surprising shifts in your own issues!
It’s easy and fun and FREE!
How does it get any better than this?
To register or for more information, please contact Bonnie here.
Healing Circle starts in July!
- At June 08, 2015
- By Bonnie
- In Announcements, Events, Workshops
- 0
Thursday Night Healing Circle
Join us for Thursday Night Healing Circle where ordinary people come together and practice using EFT Tapping and other techniques to free themselves from pain, stress and fears.
First Thursday each month
starts July 2, 2015
7:00 – 8:30 pm
This group is for ordinary people who have physical and emotional issues they want to eliminate in a safe, supportive environment and who wish to experience greater joy in their lives.
Topics will vary depending on the group and individual needs. In this group, you will learn how to better use EFT Tapping for yourself and experience surprising shifts in your own issues!
It’s easy and fun!
What have you got to lose?
(Besides your old fears, pain, stress, bad habits, emotional junk…)
$15-$30 per session*
*Offered on a sliding scale. You decide what you pay.
To register or for more information, please contact Bonnie here.
Healing Touch for Families – Introductory Workshop
- At May 26, 2015
- By Bonnie
- In Announcements, Events, Workshops
- 0
I am excited to announce that I’ve scheduled another Healing Touch for Families workshop in June!
Saturday, June 13th
10:00am to noon
Thrive! Wellness Center classroom
383 West Drake, Suite 201
Fort Collins, CO
Perfect for Beginners! Learn:
- Basic energy anatomy
- How the human energy field functions
- Two simple Healing Touch techniques that you can start using right away in your family!
(Ages 14 and up are welcome)
Contact Bonnie to register. Space is limited so get your spot now.
Emotional Freedom: Making Peace with Your Emotions — NEW WORKSHOP!
- At February 09, 2015
- By Bonnie
- In Uncategorized
- 4
Do you feel like you revisit the same emotional patterns over and over?
Do you find yourself responding way out of proportion to certain situations?
Do you get caught in a vicious cycle of pain and anxiety?
Are you ready for something different?
If you are frustrated and confused about dealing with emotional energy within yourself or in your family, this is the class for you. When you complete this class, you will be proficient at using EFT Tapping on yourself and you will learn many different strategies for working with your emotions for optimal health and wellbeing.
Join this 3-week group experience to:
- Learn how your emotional baggage may be influencing your physical health and what you can do about it now
- Gather tools for self-managing and releasing your emotional energies
- Practice EFT Tapping in a safe, supportive group
- Understand how your body’s energy systems affect your emotional wellbeing
March 5, 12, 19 Thursdays, 10:30 am – noon
Sliding scale $25-75 for entire series
Registration required. Space is limited so please register early.
Accepting Ourselves, Accepting What Is: How EFT Tapping Can Open the Door to Healing
- At September 19, 2014
- By Bonnie
- In Articles, Uncategorized
- 2
Do you deeply and completely love and accept yourself?
In my work with clients over the years, I have seen many people who found it difficult to say yes to this question. They can accept parts of themselves, but other parts they just don’t like or they are ashamed of or they outright reject.
Pause for a moment here and say this out loud: “I completely love and accept myself.” How true does it feel to you?
Why should we care whether we love and accept ourselves or not? What difference does it make? I believe it makes ALL the difference between our ability to heal versus staying stuck in dis-ease and pain.
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” Carl Rogers
Self-acceptance is an important, if not essential, factor in releasing negative emotions and physical discomforts through Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT is an evidence-based* technique that is simple and easy to learn and apply, and it is often effective on difficult issues such as phobias, PTSD, anxiety and pain. It involves tapping on specific acupuncture points while focusing on the target problem with verbal statements and affirmations.
The initial statement used in EFT is, “Even though [fill in the blank with the problem], I deeply and completely love and accept myself.” Before anything else, we use this setup phrase to clear resistance and set the stage for processing the issue at hand.
Let me use a simple example to show you how the tapping process works. A client came in to my office one day complaining that she was feeling angry toward a friend after a conversation that morning and couldn’t seem to let it go.
We started by tapping on the side of the hand (Karate Chop point) and I had her repeat after me, “Even though I’m so angry and frustrated with [my friend], I love and accept myself anyway.” We repeated that phrase three times while continuing to tap the Karate Chop point. (See the figures for the locations of the tapping points.)
Then, we tapped through the other eight EFT points while repeating a short reminder phrase at each point, “This anger, this frustration.” The tapping round was completed by taking a deep, cleansing breath. We checked in with how she was feeling toward her friend to assess if there had been any change. After just a couple rounds, she reported feeling a release and no longer felt attached to her anger. Just a few minutes of tapping diffused an event that had been stuck for most of the day in her mind.
I have seen an issue that had been stuck for over fifty years resolve just as quickly. A veteran who had lived with PTSD since a traumatic explosion in Vietnam experienced dramatic relief from just one session of EFT. He had judged his experience to be less traumatic than so many of his fellow soldiers and felt he had no excuse for having problems because of it. In other words, he could not accept how his body and mind were reacting to that event. As we tapped, he began to accept that he had good reason to have a strong response to the explosion. Accepting himself and accepting what happened opened the door for him to release the entire event. Later, he reported, “The result is a calmer [his name], in and out. I really hadn’t thought that it was So Big Deal in what happened that night. Obviously it WAS.”
Years ago, I had an experience using EFT with a friend that illustrated clearly to me the power of self-acceptance and the direct connection it has to our physical experience.
On a crisp winter day with a fresh layer of snow, my kids and I met my friend, Karla, and her kids at our favorite sledding hill. The kids had a new snowboard that Karla wanted to try. She always was a bit of a daredevil! She started out great, but about halfway down the hill she went down hard and injured her shoulder and thumb.
She was upset and frustrated because she had plans to go skiing the next day and didn’t want to miss it. I offered to do some energy work on her when we got home to see if it might help. As we headed into my home office, I noticed that she was expressing a lot of frustration with herself, so I decided to focus on those feelings first.
We did a few rounds of EFT focused only on her feelings of “doing something dumb” and “shouldn’t have done that.” We were both surprised when she checked her thumb and shoulder and found that they were feeling significantly better; in fact, her thumb didn’t hurt at all now. I still remember the look of shock on her face as she wiggled her thumb and couldn’t find any pain. We had focused only on her feelings around judging herself for getting hurt, not on the actual injuries.
In other words, healing had begun (or at least her experience of pain had decreased) merely by clearing her self-judgments and negative feelings about the accident.
Our thoughts and feelings about ourselves are powerful. Negative thoughts and judgments can stall the healing process. Acknowledging our faults, our mistakes, and our pain and loving ourselves anyway opens the door to releasing the feelings that keep us stuck.
“The moment that judgment stops, through acceptance of what is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.” Eckhart Tolle
“The first step toward change is acceptance. Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That’s all you have to do. Change is not something you do, it’s something you allow.” ~ Will Garcia
EFT is a great process to use for releasing self-judgments that block us from healing. It creates awareness and acceptance of what is, and then allows us to process our feelings and thoughts in a healthy way.
If you would like to learn more about EFT, you can go to the EFT page on my website: http://www.healingtreewellness.com/home/information/about-eft/. I also offer introductory classes in EFT Tapping here in the Northern Colorado area. Contact me if you’re interested!
If you are serious about learning to use EFT professionally, I recommend that you go to the source: Gary Craig (emofree.com). I am forever grateful to Gary Craig for his vision to share this work with the world for free.
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* Based on a comprehensive review by Dr. David Feinstein published in the journal Review of General Psychology, the results of 18 randomized controlled trials using meridian-tapping therapies lead to the conclusion that “they consistently demonstrated strong effect sizes and other positive statistical results that far exceed chance after relatively few treatment sessions.”
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