A Visual Approach for Anxiety: The Overeating Gremlin

I had been struggling with weight issues and used and worked through umpteen programmes, Energy Psychology ones as well, but still there were theses extra 5 - 7 pounds that seemed to be jumping back onto my body as soon as they were gone - or simply did not want to leave.

With all the EFT et al I had no issues left on body size, protection etc., but still struggled with eating for a couple of specific emotional reasons.

From the newsletter of Gwyneth Moss I learned about the Anxiety Gremlin  - it was just what I needed.

First step

I turned the Anxiety Gremlin into an Overeating Gremlin and personalised it, using:

"My anxiety is like a ____________." She is (was) a sleek, slinky and manipulating temptress, looking quite like one of those beautiful members of Cirque du Soleil. She used to whisper into my ears as soon as one of mainly three different unpleasant feelings seemed to creep up.

And so, using Gwyneth‘s anxiety protocol, I tapped the Karate Chop three times:

Even though my overeating is a temptress I accept myself anyway...

Then I went around the tapping points and described the personification of temptress in specific detail as I went.

Eye brow: sleek
Outer eye: slinky
Under eye: smooth soft voice
Under nose: undulating
Chin point: staring hypnotising eyes
Collar bone: multicoloured silky
Under arm: sensual
Liver point: hypnotising voice
Top of head: so sensual

I pictured the gremlin again and notice what had changed; She now looked a lot less colourful and almost stiff. And I tapped another round with the new description, using, "still a little ________" as I pictured her again, she actually looked quite bland and stiff, so I moved to the second step.

Second step

I described to myself the body response to the Overeating Gremlin’s whispers:

My brain/mind gets stiff, my only focus is on food, I feel tenseness in my neck and in the lower jaw; I feel defiant, my eyes become tense, staring, my breath becomes tense and short, there is a knot in the stomach.

Third Step

The Gremlin gets that response in me by whispering to me:

Oh, come on, you deserve it, who cares how you look like, it is not so bad anyway, it's the insides that are important, do not short change yourself, only this last time, oh, come on, just one more little bit - and another one... and anyway you can drink some digestive tea later.

I realise that she is actually an ogre in the disguise of a temptress. Now I put the steps together and tapped the karate point three times with:

Even though the Overeating Gremlin makes my mind/brain focus only on food, my neck, jaw and eyes tense, the knot in my stomach keeps me from breathing deeply, I love and accept myself anyway...

Eye brow: the overeating gremlin makes me focus only on food
Outer eye: by telling me it‘s not so important how I look
Under eye: that I deserve a little bite and another one
Under nose: she making my neck tense
Chin point: my eyes narrow
Collar bone: the Overeating Gremlin makes me feel defiant
Under arm: makes my breathing short and tense
Liver point: she gives me a knot in my stomach
Top of head: and that‘s how the OG does it

After the second round of tapping my breathing around the midriff has become regular and deeper even than it normally is, my shoulders have relaxed and I hadn't even noticed that they were tense... I have a feeling that I am in control of deciding, not the temptress, what and how much to eat; I do not feel to be in her grip anymore - all the while she was beguilingly talking to me she had my neck in a firm grip with one hand; interesting I only notice it now, that it is gone.

Fourth Step

I repeated out loud how the Overeating Gremlin does her tempting: she tells me that I deserve to satisfy my immediate wish to eat and that it does not really make any difference, and that I can always loose weight later on, as I have done before, and I am only slightly overweight. The real truth is that I feel really very well when I eat to nourish myself instead of stuffing myself in order to "follow her temptations," and I know that it does make a difference to my over all well being, physically, emotionally and mentally, even socially; it makes a difference to how I feel about myself.

And so, tapping the Karate Chop point:

Even though the Overeating Gremlin, the Temptress, tells me that I deserve to fulfill my desire to eat, and makes me feel that this is my own thought, the real truth is that I love to feel light, and that I feel really good when enjoy food to nourish me in just the right amount.

I also used the meridian points with the same ideas until the temptress had morphed into a combination of St. Bernard dog and Golden Retriever.

The St. Golden is soft and caring, "feeding'" me with warmth and tenderness, gets me to drink water and to go outside for long or short walks and to go and meet other people, HE is loving and encouraging...

It really works! I do not own a scale so I do not know how much I have lost in the last 10 days, but my trousers fit easier and I have not binged at all. (I have also not starved myself.) So far, whenever a situation popped up when the Overeating Gremlin would have tempted me into eating or stuffing myself, I felt a tender warmth around my shoulders and neck whispering into my ears:

I love you, you do not need this food... the best about it is that it happens automatically, I do not have to think about it.

With gratitude to all involved, starting with Gary 🙂

Christina Hurst-Prager
Zurich, Switzerland

From the EFTfree Archives, which are now a part of EFT International .
Originally published on June 23, 2010.