After Sexual Assault

Please Note:  Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist.  To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the Gary Craig website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane at 802-533-9277 or jane@winterblooms.net for EFT coaching support.

Of all the challenges I deal with personally and professionally, none requires more sensitivity than sexual assault.  For most survivors just saying the term, or the more common word, rape, sets in motion a physiological chain reaction that often feels like someone’s fingers are probing around in our guts.  In survivors, this subject can trigger feelings of threat, of vulnerability, of shame, and – at the same time – of agency, of empowerment, and of triumph.  We can be terrified and in one and the same moment have the courage to speak out in order to honour our determination to heal and to support others in their healing.  We can rage against those who would blame us for the criminal acts of others and at the same time be calm enough to speak our truth, end the silence around these vicious crimes, and create community with others who feel vulnerable and ashamed and at the same time empowered to speak out against sexual predation and its coverups.

Continue reading After Sexual Assault

Tapping and Those Last Five Pounds

The exhilaration of shifting our weight after a long struggle with obesity is one of the most satisfying experiences we can have in life.  It is beneficial to our health as well, since our Body Mass Index is an indicator not only of longevity but of quality of life.  As diabetes diagnoses soar and reports circulate regarding the dangers of processed foods, many search for a successful route to a healthy weight and body image.  When used effectively, tapping supports both.

Continue reading Tapping and Those Last Five Pounds

Tapping to Acknowledge Personal Dreams and Goals

Sometimes the reason why we don’t accomplish what we’d like to is because we don’t acknowledge or even recognize our own dreams and goals.  Our days are filled with meeting our responsibilities to others – at home and at work.  Meeting others’ needs is satisfying and rewarding.  However, by focusing exclusively on being conscientious with others, we can misplace the precious, secret things we dream of accomplishing ourselves.

Continue reading Tapping to Acknowledge Personal Dreams and Goals

Food, Celebrations, and EFT: Part Two / A Place at the Table

In this time of seasonal feasting, it is inevitable that we remember fondly those stories, many made into films, that take us to a place of reverent nostalgia regarding our own past ritual feasts.  The Christmas Dinner in Little Women is always one of my favourites, along with a modern version of the crazy Christmas togetherness in The Family Stone.  Every time I see Elf I laugh and cry because the naive, child-like part of me wishes every orphan could end up a loved and valued Elf in Santa’s workshop.  Generosity, forgiveness, and love are always on the menu in our favourite stories, as well as a balancing portion of the kind of satire we find in Eating Raoul, Tampopo, and The Hunger Games.   Recent food documentaries A Place at the Table, The Power of Community, and Food, Inc. help us to understand why we are so preoccupied with food in our culture, and the First Nations peoples’ experiences recorded in Standing Silent Nation let us know why we need satirists like Jon Stewart to rival Jonathan Swift and his “A Modest Proposal”.  These films and many others illustrate how food brings us together and separates us but one stands above the rest because, while it is about food, it is also about the spiritual nature of life, even in the midst of great feasting.

Continue reading Food, Celebrations, and EFT: Part Two / A Place at the Table