and out of control whenever she was a passenger in a car. After one EFT session during which she tapped for the distressing memory, she was able to talk about the accident in a calm and relaxed manner. She realized that although she could remember everything that had happened, her fear had gone. The thought of the incident and the possibility of being a passenger in the future failed to produce an emotional response. Kirsty was pleased to discover that she could now travel quite happily as a passenger without the anxious feelings that used to haunt her.
ENERGETIC PATTERNS
The energy that flows through our body is unlike our physical energy – it is our own consciousness. Our energy is an integral part of our make-up. It forms an energetic replica of our physical and emotional being and is a balancing and regulating factor for the entire system.
Repetitive emotional reactions can be seen as an energetic pattern that becomes imprinted on our psyche, causing us to react in a similar way repeatedly. This may explain why so many people become stuck in certain emotional responses or modes of behaviour.
Phobias, fears and anxieties are good examples of this. Phobias can be likened to a ‘stuck record’ response that continually repeats itself. Rationally we know that a spider across the other side of the room will not harm us. Statistically, the chances of us being in an aeroplane crash are relatively small. We realize most of our fears are irrational, unfounded or unlikely to happen, yet the emotional intensity is just as strong.
Such patterns can be found throughout our personal lives. There are many recurring themes that appear within families and relationships, such as feelings of hurt, anger, abandonment or betrayal. These themes often reach far back into our personal history and may have been imprinted on us during childhood or occur as a direct result of an earlier experience. Liberating ourselves from these ingrained patterns has been made easier through using the EFT process. Roger Callahan referred to this as ‘breaking nature’s code’.
BREAKING THE VICIOUS CIRCLE
Meridian therapies have a way of neutralizing the energetic disruption within the body and returning it back to normal. By gently ‘tapping’ certain emotional release points on the body, the disrupted energy and emotional charge connected with a traumatic event is removed. Through making an energetic adjustment in such a way, you can alter the upsetting emotions that surface after distressing events. As a result, the energetic template is broken, allowing resolution of the original emotional state. This then liberates you from the emotional hold a situation or difficulty has had.
EXERCISE – EXPERIENCING YOUR OWN ENERGY FIELD
This exercise will help you to experience your own energy field. There are many different ways in which to do this. The example below is a good place to start:
1 Make sure you are sitting comfortably.
2 Relax and clear your mind, this is an exercise in feeling not thinking. It is important not to try too hard, just be receptive and let it happen.
3 Gently rub the palms of your hands together a couple of times.
4 In slow motion, gradually pull your hands apart approximately half a centimetre. For the best results keep your fingers closed.
5 Then slowly bring your hands together again, without allowing them to physically touch each other.
6 Repeat this process, slowly moving back and forwards, slightly further each time, until you work up to being roughly 15cm apart. (Remember not to let your hands touch.)
7 You should now feel an ‘energetic pull’ between your hands. This is experienced in different ways, but can be described as a feeling of static, friction, heat, tingling, or as a magnetic pull.
8 You may wish to bring your hands up to your face or move them gently around the body to experience the energy that surrounds you.
Experiment in finding a way that suits you. It may be easier to feel a friend’s energy first. Some people can actually see the energy surrounding people, so don’t be alarmed if you catch glimmers of light or colour while you practise this exercise.
THE ADVANTAGES OF EFT
There are so many advantages that EFT has to offer, not least of which is a genuine freedom from your deepest fears and lifelong limitations. EFT has at least an 85% success rate, which means there is a good chance that it will work for you. Most people experience significant, if not a total, release from their problems. An idea of the wide range of problems that can be addressed with EFT will be given later in this chapter. First, we’ll look at some of the unique benefits that can be derived from the therapy.
Relieving Pain, Not Reliving It
With most forms of counselling or psychotherapy, we are expected to relive the turn of events that has led us to our present state. In EFT, when the energy system is re-balanced, emotional shifts occur rapidly. All the usual stages of emotional healing are visited – they are just accessed much quicker. Lasting results are achieved in minutes, rather than months or, in some cases, years of therapy, so you don’t have to relive all your former painful experiences!
The therapy process should not be more traumatic than the original incident! Identifying the feelings or upsetting thoughts involved is all that is required in order to eliminate their negative effects. As soon as a feeling surfaces it is quickly neutralized. This technique does not teach you how to cope with your difficulty or to find strategies to manage your distress. It is designed to remove the emotional charge that keeps you locked into the problem. This makes healing through EFT gentle and relatively pain free.
Healing the Emotions
EFT can be applied to a broad spectrum of emotional difficulties, from niggling irritations through to fundamental core issues. The technique does not alter and it is exactly the same for all conditions. The process works as effectively for deep-seated suffering as it does for everyday problems, as was demonstrated in the case of Terry.
terry’s story – parent issues ‘My father died 12 years ago, but I did not grieve or mourn. I felt no sorrow or loss because I felt I had lost my ‘real’ father some 18 years before. His passing was something that I accepted would happen one day and I attended the funeral only at the request of my mother. Since his death I had spoken of him less and less, because my memories of him were all negative. It gave me no pleasure to recall them. My mother recognized my anger so did not mention her husband, who she greatly missed.
‘In recent years I had questioned whether my feelings towards my father were misplaced. It wasn’t until finding out about EFT that the prospect of addressing these issues came to the fore. The session was quite emotional for me, as I struggled with the emotions surrounding this unloved – dare I say, hated – parent of mine. Then, suddenly, it was all over and I felt as if a weight had been lifted from me. My world seemed a little lighter and more loving than before. I felt sorry for the man who I had despised and hated. I wished I had shown more compassion when he was alive, especially towards the end of his life. For the first time in years I could speak about my father to my friends and especially my mother who, despite his shortcomings, loved him dearly. Her joy alone made the effort worthwhile, because knowing of my feelings, she had never spoken of him, although she had desperately wanted and needed to.’
Lasting Relief
The changes and transformations that occur through