Episode #42: How To Tap Your Way to Food Freedom with Michele Santo
Michelle Fox: [00:00:00] Welcome to Nourish. I am Michelle Fox, culinary nutritionist, health coach, and your host for this podcast. I teach busy professionals how to get more nutrition in their bodies and how to have more fun in their home kitchens. If you struggle with consistency or sometimes forget to make your needs a priority, you my friend, are in the right place.
Join me each week for inspiration to increase your energy, strengthen your mindset, manage your hormonal woes, and so much more. You have a lot on your plate. But that does not mean your nutrition should suffer. You deserve to live in a body and have a life that you love. So let's dig in.[00:01:00]
So today's episode is for you. Yes, you. We are gonna be talking about tools, specifically one tool, E F T. You may have heard it. My guest has already given me the heads up. This is gonna be the newest, biggest thing, kind of like yoga in the world. We are definitely gonna get into that. But I already know you, you and my community, you need this conversation.
So sit back, buckle in, lean into this conversation cuz I want to bring you a new tool to help. Release some of your tension, release some of your stress, help you get more of what you want in your life. And you know me, I keep it real. This is the real deal, Michelle. Santo is the real deal. [00:02:00] Michelle is an inspired energy healer and a writer.
She helps women create more fulfilling relationships by asking for what they want without hurting a soul. Her YouTube videos are a portal to peace, and you know, will give you the link in the bio to check out some of her amazing work. So, Michelle Santo, welcome to the show. Thanks, Michelle. You are welcome.
Oh my goodness. I have to tell you, when I saw that you were on my calendar today, I'm like, thank you, God. Literally, because this has been, uh, you know, at the time of this recording this week has been more stressful than, than usual. And so just knowing. The bit that I do about you, which I, I don't think I've shared this with you before, like just looking at your presence, like you have a way of caring yourself.
It's just very like, I got this. Like, it's gonna be okay. It's, it's gonna be all right. And the fact that I know that [00:03:00] you're skilled with the tapping. I am very excited to learn more, to help me selfishly, to, to, to relax a little bit.
Michele Santo: That's sweet. Thank you.
Michelle Fox: Absolutely. So before we get into the tools that I know my listeners are ready to learn, I would love to invite you to play a rapid fire game with me.
Are you in. Yeah. Sweet. Okay, so let's start, because I also know you're a fellow businesswoman. Thinking about your inbox, do you see yourself as inbox zero or inbox 10,000
Michele Santo: in the middle? I try to get down to zero, but it's not necessary.
Michelle Fox: Actually, I'm making notes cause I wanna talk about that piece in a moment too.
That might help me relax too. Cause I actually inbox zero girl and I, I don't know that it's serving me, but I
Michele Santo: absolutely cannot [00:04:00] have, you know, on the phone where it says like 889 emails. I can't look at that. That'll make me nauseous.
Michelle Fox: That sounds like my husband. He is similar. Um, great. Okay, so next. Sweet, salty or savory?
Ooh, salty. Salty. Love it. Next question, because you are a fellow nutritionist and health coach, I would love to ask a new question that I have never asked any of my guests before, which is, I don't know if you're ready for this, put on your seatbelt. If you had to choose just one. In the perfect world, no autoimmune issues, no eating issues, no health issues.
But if you could only choose gluten or dairy, Which one would you choose? Oh,
Michele Santo: bread and butter all the way.
Michelle Fox: Although, does that count as both [00:05:00] the bread? It does,
but not least. Would you be willing to share a childhood memory in the kitchen?
Michele Santo: Oh yeah, sure. It's so funny. I don't remember how old we were. Uh, my brother's four years younger than me. Me and Joe and my father had this, um, camcorder that was literally look like, you know, big shoebox. And so we would make these home videos.
We called it the Doggy Diner. Oh, I don't know. We had no dog growing up. I don't know where this name came from. So we made a commercial or like a segment, you know, before YouTube was a thing and my brother and I were making a chocolate malted and you know, we were both born in [00:06:00] Staten Island, so I only lived there for four years and then we came to New Jersey.
So I had this horrible accent. Sure. Malted pour it in, Joe. He's standing on the. You know the chair. I'm like pushing
Michelle Fox: him out of the way. It was cute. I should put it, but it is adorable. Oh my goodness. Chocolate. All right. Well, I love, and actually just to bring my listeners in a bit before I have an interview with any of my guests, they very wonderfully fill out a form and Michelle Santo our energy healer.
On that form for the three topics I asked for. She said, let's talk about intuitive eating or canceling the diet culture or tapping on stressful events for a healthy body, mind and spirit. And as I'm reading this, I'm like, uh, yes, yes, yes, please. [00:07:00] So we're actually gonna talk about all three. So to begin with, when I to you, Michelle, when I say intuitive eating, what does that mean to you?
Michele Santo: That's such a good question because I feel that we can get caught in our mind. There's so many diet books out there and they're all a little different, and I find that they're all kind of based on what that person's journey was like. And I know, you know, from going to school that. Not every one. Diet's gonna work for everybody.
It's just not possible. We're so different in so many ways from our culture to our digestive system, to our energy, to our activity level. So you really have to weigh through all those diet books and kind of find, take a little bit from each, you know, like, I like eating Mediterranean, but I.
Anti-inflammatory, you know, but I, [00:08:00] I'm not very to it. So when I say intuitive eating, I mean try to stick to a guideline of a diet that works like 80% for you. And then when you're at that party and that wedding, have fun and like say to yourself, is it okay to have the champagne? You know, And if you know you don't do well with spirits, just drink a lot of water, have coffee at the end if you need it.
And don't like shame yourself about it. Like I try to be gluten free and you know, I eat lot a less dairy and less refined sugar, but when I'm out and I'm on vacation and I want the pizza, I'll just take my digestive enzymes and call it a day, you know? So, So ask your learn to ask your body, like, what do you think?
Should we have this? And just kind of ebb and flow. Like you could be super healthy, but I don't think it's, I don't think it's healthy to be [00:09:00] like obsessive about what you eat, cuz you're never like, I don't like deprivation. It's just no fun.
Michelle Fox: Mm. And that kinda leads into the diet culture, I believe living in America and I've traveled.
Literally all over the world. So I see how a lot of American ideals have crossed over into other countries. But I do feel like it's a very American ideal to be skinny and to starve yourself and to diet by all means necessary to fit, you know, a certain look and a certain body type. And I do believe in, you know, the hierarchy of, you know, the thinner you are.
You know, the quote unquote pretty you are, you are. The more power you have. And I do not love that at all. And so I feel like I am part of this beautiful movement that's been growing louder and louder, that's saying, let's [00:10:00] look at where we are. Let's eat for our own body types. And so, yes, to your point, we do have to have that intuitive eating of listening to, okay.
If I eat this, you know, piece of candy and I know it's going to, you know, in, in my population, lot of us get hot flashes if we're either drinking the wine or eating the sugar. So it's like, if I eat this piece of candy, I, I know I'm gonna get a hot flash and is it worth it? And so I absolutely agree with you about eating for our body type and just leaning in and, and listening to, to what works.
Mm-hmm. But as far as canceling the diet culture, oh my goodness. What have you or what has your experience been around diet culture? Well,
Michele Santo: I think, I don't know. I find myself pretty unique cuz I absolutely love to eat. And you know, I grew up in a third generation, you know, Italian American household. So grandma was always making [00:11:00] food, chicken cutlets and lentil soup and rice balls and.
Zeppelins Cannolis. I mean, we ate a ton of gluten, dairy, sugar all the time and it was normal before I learned, you know, how they actually affect the body. And you know, I wouldn't trade that upbringing for the world. But I never was on a diet really. I tried eating to lose weight. I think because I went to nutrition school, I.
I had the confidence in what I learned that if I overindulged in the holidays, I could get the 10 pounds off and it was kinda, you know, it's not fun in the beginning to restrict yourself when you're used to going off the rules. However, I don't agree with the messaging that women's A woman's worth is her external appearance.
[00:12:00] We get so caught up in. The way we look as our value, and I feel like that's stunted our growth in many ways. And I don't even like the word diet because to me it signifies things I cannot have and I don't like when anyone tells me what to do. That's probably why I work for myself.
Michelle Fox: So anyway, and that's very Aries as well.
I will just, yeah, put that in there for you. I, I noticed you shared your birthday with me. Uh, you're welcome me to share it on the pod as well. I know you had a really fun and big birthday this year.
Michele Santo: Yeah, I turned 44 on four four, so it just seemed like extra exciting and charged.
Michelle Fox: That is amazing. And I didn't share with you, I actually, one of my best friends, her birthday's on four four as well.
Oh cool. And so she has shown me over the last almost 30 years now that Aries, once you guys make up your mind for something, it [00:13:00] gets done. Yeah. And do not tell her that she cannot have something because then she will probably definitely go get back something. So, I dunno if you're similar in that way.
It's
Michele Santo: so. Yeah. And like, you know, my heart goes out to women that got stuck in the red tape, you know, the, the web of, oh, let me try Atkins and let me try low fed and let me try paleo. And it's a journey, right? We all have to, we around and see what works for us. So I think the main message is that you are worthy no matter what shape you are, and you could always improve.
So no pressure, just, you know, you'll figure it out.
Michelle Fox: Hmm. Yes, the improvement, I think in all areas of our life, I think we often get stuck or I, I'll just speak for myself. I get still stuck in my head sometimes if I fall off my nutrition at the time of this recording. I'm recently back [00:14:00] from spring break with my kiddos, and there were not a lot of options for.
Healthy eating, I will say, on this resort. And so I did make choices that I did not feel great about. And I came home and I was kind of like in a slump. I'm like, I've got this, you know, extra load and weight and I had to do some serious self-talk to be like, Michelle, that was some downtime. We're back at it now.
You know, I have my kitchen. I went and got all the yummy vegetables that I love and I've already been eating those now. And so, yes, to your point, it's all a process and. I just encourage us all to give ourselves more grace. For sure. Seriously. One thing that you said, actually two things I wanna highlight with what you said.
With growing up with the Italian-American background in Italy, I don't know if you're aware, but Italy, right behind Germany, they are actually some of. Are the two countries that [00:15:00] are in the forefront of looking at how gluten harms people, specifically because of the way wheat is farmed these days. It's not farmed in the same way that it was, you know, when our grandparents were eating it.
Mm-hmm. And so because the soil's been turned over so much and because of the chemicals actually specifically in America that are, you know, put on the wheat. It truly does attack our lower GI systems, and so one, I love that you can go to Italy right now and get some gluten-free, authentic Italian noodles.
Like love that there's the option there. In a lot of places. I know it's a huge country, but in a lot of places there. But two, I also like to meet people where they are, so I will never, ever shame a client or a friend. I just want people to know that there are alternatives, so it's like, yes, have your pasta, your lasagna even, but are there ways we could, you know, [00:16:00] add some alternatives to make it a bit healthier and and easier to digest?
Mm-hmm. Do you
Michele Santo: teach cooking classes? I do, I do do actually actually wanna get in the kitchen with you. I think it would be so fun.
Michelle Fox: Yes. Come on over to Michelle Fox com slash events and you'll see all of my. Options there. I'm actually cooking a lot with A A R P teaching the a r P community, how to cook healthfully and we meet every first Thursday evening.
Such a, a short little plug. I wasn't planning on this, but I so appreciate you asking cuz you do not need to be 50 to join us. And it, uh, a a r p picks up the bill so it's complimentary for any of my guests. But yeah, we have a lot of fun in the kitchen with A A R P. That's awesome. Which will be throughout the year.
Yeah, Nyla, I love that. I would love to have you join us. Well, it has to be cause Cause one of the [00:17:00] biggest complaints I get from a lot of my clients is I don't have time to cook. And I'm like, well, we can all take time for the things that matter to us. And truthfully, I. Really, I'm only in the kitchen maybe three or four times a week.
Cause I'm a big proponent of eating healthy leftovers. So I definitely try to make food fun and also accessible for people. That's so important. So enough about me. My audience already knows about me. We wanna know how to tap specifically. I will say. I use the word temptation. I wonder if there's a more graceful word I could use, but like I would love if you'd be willing to walk us through, I'm sorry, say that again.
Michele Santo: Are you thinking about like a craving?
Michelle Fox: Thank you. Yeah. They could help us with a craving, like in the moment when, let's say, [00:18:00] Uh, I can, I can just think of an example of a client who, you know, she's doing her best to make a healthy meal and her kiddo brings home, you know, all these homemade cookies from the baked good sale from school.
And she's like, I already know that that cookie might put me in a sugar coma, but I really want it. Like, is there something we can do in that moment to maybe move through that craving without touching that cookie if we want? You wanna eat the cookie
Michele Santo: right? I do wanna eat the cookie. Oh, you wanna avoid eating the cookie?
Michelle Fox: And I also wanna avoid eating the cookie. Yes. Ok.
Michele Santo: I'm just making notes. This is what I do. So basically, when people tell me what's triggering them, I, I literally write it down and I feed you back your own script while we tap on these acupressure points and they're the end points of the meridians in the body.
Points here under the [00:19:00] arm and the top of the head. And so when you're stressed, like think of it like a hose. You're kinking the hose when you're mad. Angry, annoyed, jealous. So when the energy can't flow, cuz it's like stopped, you're in, digestion will be off. Your sleep will be weird. You know, you won't be able to focus the blood.
You know, it's just, it's, the energy won't flow to the systems that you need. Um, and you'll also feel stressed, you know, cause you're hanging onto the anger, whatever it is. But I, right. Well this is great. So what I would do is we're just gonna bring awareness and compassion to what you're feeling when you see that cookie.
Hmm. Right, and that's all you already
Michelle Fox: get. Happy me. I'm done. I'm good. I'm done.
Just kidding. I definitely wanna learn[00:20:00]
body. I did not mean to apologize or interrupt you. Oh, it's
Michele Santo: okay. Go with it. Yeah. When you bring compassion and love and acceptance to what's going on, then the tension softens. It's just natural. You know, it's like trying to tell a baby not to cry. It's kind of hard. You have to let it be. So what you would do is just at the beginning of a session, which is rate how we feel on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst.
So will you be my will you be by subject?
Michelle Fox: I would be honored to be your subject.
Michele Santo: Okay. So when you just gently close your eyes, if it's safe to close your eyes, I. And just take a breath in through the nose and out through your mouth. You can wiggle your toes, just trying to bring awareness to the body. So when you tune into your body, and if you want, you can put your hands on your [00:21:00] heart or your belly to help you get there.
How stressed out is this craving with this cookie on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst? What do you notice?
Michelle Fox: I'm actually gonna put myself in that place at the resort with the kiddos on spring break, and I wasn't necessarily tempted because there was gluten in it, so I wasn't tempted to grab the actual cookie.
But I did have that thing like, Ooh, what kind, what other kind of sugar can I eat? So for me, I'll just say the sugar piece. And so for the sugar, my craving definitely hit an ate.
Michele Santo: Okay, beautiful. And then at the end of the session, we'll just check in with that number and see if it's changed. Okay. All right.
So I will ask you a question when you're craving that cookie. I'm just curious [00:22:00] if you're craving anything else, like is there a sweetness in your life that might be missing? And it's okay if it's no. Hmm.
Michelle Fox: Yeah. Do you want me to say it or just if you feel comfortable? Yeah. I, you know, spring break with three children and a husband and putting all their needs ahead of mine.
I, I fell into a trap. I won't even say it's a trap. I fell into old behaviors, I will say. And so, yeah, there, there was definitely room for more. Sweetness that I could have been giving to myself.
Michele Santo: Right. Okay. Beautiful. Okay, I'm just writing this down.
All right, so we're just gonna gently start tapping and we normally, traditionally start on the side of the hand, so you could use two fingers or three [00:23:00] fingers and you can tap along with me and I, I have
Michelle Fox: my eyes open to watch you. What should I have my eyes open to watch you or, oh yeah.
Michele Santo: Okay. Um, are you familiar with the points?
Michelle Fox: I am. A little bit, but I do wanna go a few steps back. I'll edit this part out, but if you could say something like, well open your eyes now and watch me. Okay. And then that way people will be encouraged, hopefully to go to our YouTube as well.
Michele Santo: Okay. All right. When you're ready, just gently flu your eyes open and repeat after me.
Mm-hmm. So we'll gently start tapping on the side of the hand. Does it? It doesn't matter which side. I'll just run through the points really quickly. So we started, and
Michelle Fox: actually before you jump in, um, for my listeners, if you didn't know, we are on YouTube at Michelle Fox [00:24:00] Love, and of course we'll give you the link to Michelle Santo's YouTube page as well in the show notes.
But if you wanna look at these points, which win, wink, I strongly encourage you to head on over. So you can do this with us even better. Okay, Michelle? I'm all yours.
Michele Santo: Okay, we're gonna start on the side of the hand. I'll just run through the points and it's kind of like you're tapping someone on the shoulder, not too hard, not too soft, and then you move to the eyebrow point here, right where the hair starts.
Then you go to the side of the eye, kind of where the, um, the temples are. Then you move down under the eye. Kind of high on the cheekbones there.
Then you move, so under the nose, that little [00:25:00] divot under the nose, right here you go, like this. Give yourself a mustache, whatever.
Michelle Fox: It also helps to remind me to breathe. I'm like, why am I holding my breath? I, I feel a little nervous, so maybe this is gonna help me relax.
Michele Santo: And then the chin point's not on the chin.
It's that little clef below your, your lip. Go like that. Like this. Oh. Or it doesn't matter. I just give
Michelle Fox: people options. Okay, love it.
Michele Santo: Then below that, um, even though your collarbone point is here, it's about two to three inches below, so I tap in circles. If you're on the phone, you can tap with one hand
and then below that, excuse me, under my armpit. So your armpit is here, but it's a hand [00:26:00] with below, like where your bra line is for ladies. Mm. Like right there.
And you could give yourself a hug and do both sides if you want. Mm-hmm. It's up to you. And then the top of the head, I can't get it wrong. It's literally the top of the head as well as the sides of the head and even the back of the head.
So you just did one round of tapping. Ah. So now we'll add in the words. So this, it's really good to go as slow as you can tap slow and talk slow so that you get like a bigger emotional response and then you can clear it faster. Mm-hmm. You ready? Or do you have any questions? [00:27:00]
Michelle Fox: When you say emotional response, do you mean I.
Anger, frustration, like any of those emotions I might be feeling around the sugar that I just mentioned.
Michele Santo: Yeah, it let allow yourself to feel annoyed, like frustrated, wanting it, longing it, like just tasting it, but it's not there. Allow yourself to go there because when we tap on these points, we're actually sending a calming signal to the amygdala in the brain.
It's just like this. M in shape, part of your brain that's responsible for fight or flight, and I'm amazed that it works. Every time I'm like, is this for real?
Michelle Fox: Mm. Oh, I'm excited. All right.
Michele Santo: All right, so we'll start on the side of the hand, and if anything I say doesn't match your story, just feel free to change the words.
Okay? [00:28:00] Okay. All right. We'll start on the side of the hand and we say, even though I'm craving this cookie, even though I'm
Michelle Fox: craving this
Michele Santo: cookie, and it might give me a sugar coma
Michelle Fox: and it might give me a sugar coma,
Michele Santo: I'm just honoring how I feel.
Michelle Fox: I'm just honoring how I feel.
Michele Santo: Okay? Even though I really want this cookie,
Michelle Fox: even though I really want this
Michele Santo: cookie.
And I'm not sure if I should go for it.
Michelle Fox: I'm not sure
Michele Santo: if I should go for it. I'm open to loving and accepting myself. I'm open
Michelle Fox: to loving and accepting
Michele Santo: myself, even though I probably shouldn't eat this cookie,
Michelle Fox: even though I probably shouldn't eat this cookie. But I
Michele Santo: want it, but I want it. [00:29:00]
Michelle Fox: Sometimes it's okay.
Michele Santo: Sometimes it's okay. All right. Tapping on the eyebrow point, my child came home with these delicious cookies.
Michelle Fox: My child came home with these delicious cookies, and now
Michele Santo: it's all I can think about.
Michelle Fox: And now it's all I can think about.
Michele Santo: Tapping on the side of the eye. Should I eat it? Should I eat it? I really want it.
I really want it, but I know how it's gonna make me feel,
Michelle Fox: but I know how it's gonna make me
Michele Santo: feel. Okay. Tapping under the eyes every time I have sugar.
Michelle Fox: Every time I have
Michele Santo: sugar, it makes me feel like, just fill in the blank. Like a few symptoms that you get. Gives
Michelle Fox: me hot flashes, and it makes me feel bloated.[00:30:00]
Mm.
Michele Santo: And that doesn't feel good in my body.
Michelle Fox: That doesn't feel good in my body.
Michele Santo: All right. You can put a hand on your heart for compassion and tapping under the nose, but I still want the cookie anyway,
Michelle Fox: but I still want the cookie anyway, and I deserve to have fun. And I deserve to have fun cuz I
Michele Santo: work really hard
Michelle Fox: because I work really hard.
Michele Santo: All right. Keeping the hand on the heart, tapping on the chin point. Let's just take a gentle breath in, just to clear the nervous system and through the nose and out through the mouth. Oh, I have a dilemma.
Michelle Fox: Oh, I have a dilemma. Oh.
Michele Santo: To eat or not eat this cookie to eat
Michelle Fox: or not eat this cookie.
Michele Santo: I don't know what to do.
I don't [00:31:00] know what to do, so I'm gonna drop into my body, so I'm
Michelle Fox: gonna drop into my body. Just check in and just check in. Okay?
Michele Santo: Tapping on the collarbone point. And just gently close your eyes and just ask your body what it wants, and you can repeat after me and say, do you mind if I have a nibble of this cookie?
Michelle Fox: Do you mind if I have a nibble of this cookie?
Michele Santo: And just notice what kind of reaction you get.
Usually if you feel free and light. And excited. To me, that's an indication of a yes if you feel confused, unsure, or like a tightness in the body. [00:32:00] That to me is an indication of a no. Let's just ask the question one more time and say, do you mind if I have a nibble of this cookie? Do
Michelle Fox: you mind if I have a nibble of this cookie
Michele Santo: and just tell me what you
notice?
Michelle Fox: Oh, immediate constriction down in my, uh, pelvic area.
Michele Santo: Good. That's amazing that you even noticed that. I'm proud. I'm proud to hear you say that. Okay. Tapping under the arm and say Thank you body. Thank you, body. Thank you for letting me know. Thank you for letting me know.
And instead of eating that cookie,
Michelle Fox: and instead of eating that cookie, maybe we can have something else. Maybe we can have something else. All right.
Michele Santo: Tap in the top of [00:33:00] your head and just check in with your body. What would you rather
Michelle Fox: have?
What would you rather have?
Michele Santo: No judgment. See what comes up.
Michelle Fox: Immediately it showed me the rotisserie chicken in the back of the, the kitchen, and at the resort.
Michele Santo: Always end with a thank you. I like to have that. Communication strong. So tapping on the eyebrow point and say, thank you for letting me know. Thank you for letting me know. Thank you for letting me know what you really want.
Michelle Fox: Thank you for letting me know what you really
Michele Santo: want. And you're welcome to [00:34:00] have the chicken,
Michelle Fox: and you're welcome to have the chicken.
Michele Santo: All right, top on the outside of the eye. And say, I know you have a lot on your plate. I know
Michelle Fox: you have a
Michele Santo: lot on your plate, and I know it's very stressful
Michelle Fox: and I know it's very stressful,
Michele Santo: and I wanna check in and see if any sweetness is missing,
Michelle Fox: and I wanna check in to see if any sweetness is missing.
All right. You can
Michele Santo: tap under the eye and just see what comes up. I know you, you talked about it before, but just check in again.
It could be anything that brings you joy that you [00:35:00] maybe haven't done in a while.
What are you noticing?
Michelle Fox: Um, so first image was a big bowl of the yummy soup I made last night, so I'll have that when we finish this conversation. And the second image was walking with my dog cuz it's nice and sunny here in Denver today. So that would bring me a lot of joy.
Michele Santo: Okay, put the hand on the heart tapping under the nose and say, that was really clear.
That was really clear. I'm craving a big bowl of delicious soup.
Michelle Fox: I'm craving a big bowl of delicious soup and
Michele Santo: some thyme with my dog in the
Michelle Fox: sun and some time with my dog in the sun. [00:36:00]
Michele Santo: And I want the same thing
Michelle Fox: as you, and I want the same thing as you. All right.
Michele Santo: Tapping on the chin point, keeping the hand on the heart and say, I honor the confused parts of myself.
Michelle Fox: I honor the confused parts of myself that
Michele Santo: thought they knew what I
Michelle Fox: wanted. The thought I, the thought they knew what I wanted.
And I have
Michele Santo: no judgment. And I have no judgment. Because I am human. Because I am human. All right. Tapping on the collarbone point and say is safe to indulge whenever you want.
Michelle Fox: It's safe to indulge whenever you want.
Michele Santo: But right now I know what I'm [00:37:00] choosing,
Michelle Fox: but right now I know what I'm choosing
Michele Santo: and it's gonna feel so good and it's
Michelle Fox: gonna feel
Michele Santo: so good to give my body what it wants to
Michelle Fox: give my body what it wants.
Michele Santo: Okay. Tapping under the arm and say, you are beautiful as you are. You are beautiful as you are, and I love and accept all of you. And I love
Michelle Fox: and accept all of you.
Michele Santo: And the next time I have a craving, and the
Michelle Fox: next time I have a craving
Michele Santo: I'll, I'll know what to do. I'll know what to do. All right. Tap on your wrist.
You can tap your wrist together. There's another point there and say bringing in peace. Springing in peace. Love. Love. And [00:38:00] acceptance.
Michelle Fox: And acceptance.
Michele Santo: All right, gently stop tapping and close your eyes if it feels safe. Not, you know, not driving and just take a gentle breath in through the nose was out through the math.
And we'll revisit the the marker again, and I want you to notice how stressful it feels to have that sugar craving on a scale of one to 10. 10 being the worst.
Michelle Fox: Yeah, it feels somewhere between three and four.
Michele Santo: All right. Beautiful.
You just lowered the stress around that craving by four points in half, and I don't know how long that took, but maybe 20 minutes, 10 minutes. I'm [00:39:00] not sure.
Michelle Fox: And I do feel more in control now. I. Sincerely, I'm craving that bowl of soup and the walk in the sun with Chloe dog. So, mm-hmm. It feels very embodied.
So thank you Michelle. That was amazing. So welcome.
Michele Santo: Thank you for trying it and being open.
Michelle Fox: Yeah. So two more questions. So, wow, I am feeling absolutely relaxed. Let's see how I can. Bring us to the close with this conversation. Before I let you go, I wanna ask as far as like you had me here, here, here. Like do I need to do the tapping in a certain motion for it to be effective or is it the words that are more important?
Michele Santo: It's both. Both. Okay. I feel like, [00:40:00] um, it's part. Like it's positive psychology, right? We're going from the truth of how we feel to the positive, like what are the possibilities here? And then the tapping, it's really based on acupuncture. Mm. So instead of putting the needles in these areas, we're still activating the meridian, you know, centers.
But you know, it's a non-invasive way of getting the energy to flow in the right direction. Mm. Yeah. And you're literally, I forgot to say this, Michelle, it's part neuroscience. Mm-hmm. So when you're trying to change a behavior or like upgrade your beliefs, when you're growing, you're literally rewiring new neural pathways in the brain.
It's, it's amazing. I mean, it's so simple and I will be i'll the first to admit it looks [00:41:00] funny. I avoided it for 10 years. I was like, I'm not doing that.
But then it came around and I was ready for it.
Michelle Fox: So yeah, it really is hard. Oh, go ahead.
Michele Santo: I think I explained it. I think I'm okay.
Michelle Fox: Okay. I was just gonna say, I do feel like I would feel funny doing this at a restaurant when like the whole table's eating cheesecake and I don't want that cheesecake. So I think you also had mentioned there's some things we can do where people don't quite know what we're doing.
I think you said something about tapping our fingers.
Michele Santo: There's other points. There's meridian points on the hand, so it's the top of the nails. The only one that's odd is the ring finger. It's the bottom for whatever. I think, because in between the ring finger and the pinky is what's called the gamut point.
Mm. I find it [00:42:00] extremely sensitive. I don't like tapping here. It gives me the heebie-jeebies. Mm.
Michelle Fox: So anyway, yeah, it's not great. Yeah. I'm with you
Michele Santo: tapping here. Here, here, here, here. And then here, the wrist. There's like a,
Michelle Fox: a weird bone. I love that you can, that if you want, and some of my friends who are sitting at a boardroom table where they have food that you don't want, but you kind of do want.
I can absolutely see you doing this, tapping with your hands underneath the table or if you're at a. Restaurant, I can see you doing like a silent affirmations and tapping under the table. How powerful. And so I know people are going to be rewinding this section so they can continue to practice this on their own.
Do you have other [00:43:00] resources people can look to to perhaps embody this practice even more? Yeah, thank you
Michele Santo: for asking. I have a blog with a lot of tapping resources on there. Um, I also have some videos on YouTube, but if you really wanna learn the, the way to calm yourself in public without anyone knowing, like tapping on the finger points.
I do have, um, A video, it's my free gift on my website, so if you just go to michelle santo.com, you'll find it there. And it's just a wonderful tool that once you learn the points, you can melt the stress and anxiety no matter who's around you and nobody's gonna know what you're up to. It's very powerful to, you know, have that sovereignty.
To feel calmer within your own body, like literally within like 10 minutes. [00:44:00]
Michelle Fox: Yes. I am a living testament right now. I'm like, I just feel like I'm relaxed and in control like I am. I am feeling really good. Michelle Santo, thank you.
Michele Santo: I'm so happy for you. Mm.
Michelle Fox: All right. Well we will put all of your links in the show notes.
Is there anything else you wanna add before we go? I
Michele Santo: just wanna remind everybody that no matter how awful the experiences that you've had in the past, it doesn't define your future and you could use E F T to become, you know, the person you wanna be. It's, it's really helped me believe in myself. And I've tried everything, Michelle.
I'm a seeker. I'm a learner, and this has really helped me break through in a lot of areas, and I hope that your audience can find value in it too.
Michelle Fox: This has been an [00:45:00] absolutely wonderful gift you have given to us. Thank you so much, Michelle. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you.
Thanks so much for listening to Nourish. Have you been driving, doing laundry or walking around the neighborhood? Sweet. I've got show notes for you. Hop on over to michelle fox.com/podcast. When you are ready, I will let you know that on the page you will find resources to support what you've just learned on today's show, and then of course, you can grab some health supportive freebies as well.
If you enjoyed this episode, I would be honored if you would leave a review on whichever podcast platform you are listening on. It will help me with my mission to build healthier communities. One person at a time and it will help you because you will be part of [00:46:00] that mission. I'll be back next week and I encourage you to keep showing up for yourself and know that you and your health matter.
Big love.
