
Times are tough, more so than in a long, long time. We are surrounded by situations that create a lot of stress, anxiety, fear, loneliness, and isolation. Much of this was made worse by the pandemic, and now we live in a very challenging world, filled with conflict, and a spiralling global economy. It’s little wonder that in 2022-2023, 86 million prescriptions for anti-depressants were written in the UK alone, for an estimated 8.6 million patients. That’s well in excess of 10% of the UK population, and this doesn’t include prescriptions for beta-blockers, often used for anxiety.
And now Christmas is looming, which can be a highly stressful time of year for many. It can be hard to stay calm and collected at this time of year, trying to stay on top of the ‘To Do’ list, managing finances, social calendars and emotions – life can become so overwhelming that it triggers feelings of immense pressure and panic.
How do you manage these emotions?
We all have different ways of trying to take control of our stress levels, whether it’s going for a walk in nature, meditating, writing in a gratitude journal or booking an appointment with a favourite therapist or masseuse. Emotional Freedom Technique (commonly known as EFT tapping or just ‘tapping’) is another tool that can potentially help reduce stress and anxiety, as well as benefit other mental health conditions.
I am excited to share this video discussion with Transformational Life Coach & EFT Practitioner, Nicole Grant, who specialises in helping people to manage stress, alleviate anxiety, and tackle emotional hurdles head-on.
Having overcome a number of her own very challenging personal issues, Nicole reached a point where she wanted to help others find ways to navigate their deep-seated fears and anxiety so that they too could emerge stronger, prouder and more in tune with themselves.
You can read more about Nicole here. Here’s her Facebook page or follow her on Instagram @nicolegrantcoaching.
In the video, we talk about, among other things, how Nicole uses ‘Tapping EFT’, a practical, down-to-earth therapy that combines elements of psychology and acupressure. This is a technique that you can turn to whenever life gets tough, providing both immediate relief and long-term emotional balance, which is what makes it so useful at this time of year when we can reach breaking point.
Nicole and I discuss how stressful Christmas can be, not just for adults but for children too and how tapping can help. These are some of the questions that Nicole and I answered during the discussion:
- How does stress affect your nervous system? Can you explain what the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems are?
- How does stress affect digestion?
- How does anxiety show up in our bodies and what causes anxiety?
- What is your experience in coaching people with stress and anxiety?
- How can you identify the root cause of stress and anxiety?
- What modalities do you suggest people can use to ease stress and anxiety?
- What is your ‘go-to’ something that really helps you?
- What are your favourite mantras and why?
- What can people do in the run-up to Christmas to ease stress and anxiety?
- What is EFT?
- Can you demonstrate EFT?
- Christmas can be a stressful time for children too. How can EFT help them?
- Many people are in a permanent ‘fight or flight’ state which means that they should not eat, but what can people do before eating if they’re feeling stressed or anxious?
Nicole also shares ways to protect yourself against negative energies when you are surrounded by high levels of stress (either your own or that of others), and how EFT can help with particular situations, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, financial worries, family breakdown.
You can find the daily journal that Nicole created and mentions in the video here.
We hope that you will find some of the content of the video useful in the lead-up to Christmas, and help you have a less stressful festive season.