Eating as a Spiritual Practice with Marcella Friel
/Having cooked and taught in meditation retreat centers across North America, Marcella Friel is the founder of Tapping with Marcella, a food and body image coaching practice that helps health-conscious people love and forgive themselves, their food and their figure. She has cooked at or directed the kitchens of Gampo Abbey, Shambhala Mountain Center and Spirit Rock. Marcella is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, a certified EFT Tapping practitioner and a certified matrix reimprinting practitioner. A longtime student and teacher of Buddhist meditation, Marcella combines laser-sharp insight, playful humor and gentle inquisitiveness to help clients feel held, seen and at ease as they release their negative core beliefs about themselves and the foods they eat.
Here are some of the big topics we talked about…
Marcella’s book Tap, Taste, Heal: Use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to Eat Joyfully and Love Your Body
The links between food and spirituality, and our bodies and Mother Earth
Tapping: a tool to start new food practices and get around subconscious obstacles
The secret weapon of sabotage - a whole chapter in Marcella’s book!
When we’re transforming, our souls might want to revert back to a more familiar identity
Looking at the subconscious identities we get from our “tribe” - tap to clear that “subconscious underbrush” and develop the strength to be more authentically visible
Clearing your shadow sides - tapping helps the brain to let go of negative beliefs
A heart-centered 30-second practice to connect you into your inner voice
In Marcella’s Voice
“The food that we eat becomes who we are. I believe it also becomes our consciousness. When we take food as a spiritual practice, we’re likely to make wiser, more discerning choices.”
“We are the earth. There is no nature outside of ourselves.”
“To whatever extent we can, get off that wheel (of stress, inflammation, being too busy)!”
“Tapping is one of the great tools of being able to really resolve conflicting emotions.”
“Sabotage entails the feeling of intentionally thwarting your own progress. Everything’s good and out of nowhere there’s a twist in your behavior where something boomerangs.”
“When embarking on transformation, we hit a setpoint where behavior, lifestyle, and manifestation go beyond that identity. Part of us wants safety, love, protection. That identity, no matter how painful, is still familiar. Part of our soul that says, no, we’re not going any further.”
“Perfectionism is really the evil twin of shame. Both have their roots in ‘not good enough.’”
“For so many of us, not good enough was how we got by. There might have been a hidden blessing. Once we get this, it becomes so much easier to let go of the part that we don’t need.”