EFT for Fibromyalgia, page 6
When your list is finished, choose the biggest dominoes on your board, that is, the events that have the most emotional charge for you. Apply EFT to them, one at a time, until the SUD level for each event is 0. You might find yourself laughing about an event that used to bring you to tears; you might find a memory fading. Pay attention to any aspects that arise and treat them as separate dominoes, by tapping for each aspect separately. Make sure you tap on each event until it is resolved. If you find yourself unable to rate the intensity of a bad event on the 0-10 scale, you might be dissociating, or repressing a memory. One solution to this problem is to tap ten rounds of EFT on every aspect of the event you are able to recall. You might then find the event emerging into clearer focus but without the same high degree of emotional charge.
After you have removed the biggest dominoes, pick the next biggest, and work on down the line.
If you can, clear at least one of your specific events, preferably three, daily for three months. By taking only minutes per day, in three months you will have cleared 90 to 270 specific events. You will likely discover that your body feels better, that your threshold for getting upset is much lower, your relationships have improved, and many of your old issues have disappeared. If you revisit specific events you wrote down in your Personal Peace Procedure journal, you will likely discover that the former intensity has evaporated. Pay attention to improvements in your blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory capacity. EFT often produces subtle but measurable changes in your health, and you may miss them if you aren’t looking for them.
After knocking down all your dominoes, you may feel so much better that you’re tempted to alter the dosages of medications your doctor has prescribed. Never make any such changes without consulting with your physician. Your doctor is your partner in your healing journey. Tell your doctor that you’re working on your emotional issues with EFT, since most health-care professionals are acutely aware of the contribution that stress makes to disease.
The Personal Peace Procedure does not take the place of EFT training, nor does it take the place of assistance from a qualified EFT practitioner. It is an excellent supplement to EFT workshops and help from EFT practitioners. EFT’s full range of resources is designed to work effectively together for the best healing results.
Is It Working Yet?
Sometimes EFT’s benefits are blindingly obvious. In the introductory video on the home page of the EFT Universe website, you see a TV reporter with a lifelong fear of spiders receiving a tapping session. Afterward, in a dramatic turnaround, she’s able to stroke a giant hairy tarantula spider she’s holding in the palm of her hand.
Other times, EFTs effects are subtler and you have to pay close attention to spot them. A friend of mine who has had a lifelong fear of driving in high-speed traffic remarked to me recently that her old fear is completely gone. Over the past year, each time she felt anxious about driving, she pulled her car to the side of the road and tapped. It took many trips and much tapping, but subtle changes gradually took effect. Thanks to EFT she has emotional freedom and drives without fear. She also has another great benefit, in the form of a closer bond to her daughter and baby granddaughter. They live two hours drive away and, previously, her dread of traffic kept her from visiting them. Now she’s able to make the drive with joyful anticipation of playing with her granddaughter.
If you seem not to be making progress on a particular problem despite using EFT, look for other positive changes that might be happening in your life. Stress affects every system in the body, and once you relieve it with EFT, you might find improvements in unexpected areas. For instance, when stressed, the capillaries in your digestive system constrict, impeding digestion. Many people with digestive problems report improvement after EFT. Stress also redistributes biological resources away from your reproductive system. You’ll find many stories on EFT Universe of people whose sex lives improved dramatically as a by-product of healing emotional issues. Stress affects your muscular and circulatory systems; many people report that muscular aches and pains disappear after EFT, and their blood circulation improves. Just as stress is pervasive, relaxation is pervasive, and when we release our emotional bonds with EFT, the relaxing effects are felt all over the body. So perhaps your sore knee has only improved slightly, but you’re sleeping better, having fewer respiratory problems, and getting along better with your coworkers.
Saying the Right Words
A common misconception is that you have to say just the right words while tapping in order for EFT to be effective. The truth is that focusing on the problem is more important than the exact words you’re using. It’s the exposure to the troubling issue that directs healing energy to the right place; the words are just a guide.
Many practitioners write down tapping scripts with lists of affirmations you can use. These can be useful. However, your own words are usually able to capture the full intensity of your emotions in a way that is not possible using other people’s words. The way you form language is associated with the configuration of the neural network in your brain. You want the neural pathways along which stress signals travel to be very active while you tap. Using your own words is more likely to awaken that neural pathway fully than using even the most eloquent words suggested by someone else. By all means use tapping scripts if they’re available, to nudge you in the right direction. At the same time, utilize the power of prolonged exposure by focusing your mind completely on your own experience. Your mind and body have a healing wisdom that usually directs healing power toward the place where it is most urgently required.
The Next Steps on Your EFT Journey
Now that you’ve entered the world of EFT, you’ll find it to be a rich and supportive place. On the EFT Universe website, you’ll find stories written by thousands of people, from all over the world, describing success with an enormous variety of problems. Locate success stories on your particular problem by using the site’s drop-down menu, which lists issues alphabetically: Addictions, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, and so on. Read these stories for insights on how to apply EFT to your particular case. They’ll inspire you in your quest for full healing.
Our certified practitioners are a wonderful resource. They’ve gone through rigorous training in Clinical EFT and have honed their skills with many clients. Many of them work via telephone or videoconferencing, so if you don’t find the perfect practitioner in your geographic area, you can still get expert help with remote sessions. While EFT is primarily a self-help tool and you can get great results alone, you’ll find the insight that comes from an outside observer can often alert you to behavior patterns and solutions you can’t find by yourself.
Take an EFT workshop. EFT Universe offers more than a hundred workshops each year, all over the world, and you’re likely to find a Level 1 and 2 workshop close to you. You’ll make friends, see expert demonstrations, and learn EFT systematically. Each workshop contains eight learning modules, and each module builds on the one before. Fifteen years’ experience in training thousands of people in EFT has shown us exactly how people learn EFT competently and quickly, and provided the background knowledge to design these trainings. Read the many testimonials on the website to see how deeply transformational the EFT workshops are.
The EFT Universe newsletter is the medium that keeps the whole EFT world connected. Read the stories published there weekly to stay inspired and to learn about new uses for EFT. Write your own experiences and submit them to the newsletter. Post comments on the EFT Universe Facebook page, and comment in the blogs.
If you’d like to help others access the benefits you have gained from EFT, you might consider volunteering your services. There are dozens of ways to support EFT’s growth and progress. You can join a tapping circle, or start one yourself. You can donate to EFT research and humanitarian efforts. You can offer tapping sessions to people who are suffering through one of EFT’s humanitarian projects, like those that have reached thousands in Haiti, Rwanda, and elsewhere. You can let your friends know about EFT.
EFT has reached millions of people worldwide with its healing magic but is still in its infancy. By reading this book and practicing this work, you’re joining a healing revolution that has the potential to radically reduce human suffering. Imagine if the benefits you’ve already experienced could be shared by every child, every sick person, every anxious or stressed person in the world. The trajectory of human history would be very different. I’m committed to helping create this shift however I can, and I invite you to join me and all the other people of goodwill in making this vision of a transformed future a reality.
3
Tapping Options
and Variations
In many, if not most cases, the Basic Recipe is all you need for successful resolution of the issues for which you are using EFT. In some cases, for example, when a SUD level refuses to budge from a plateau of 2 while using the “shortcut” (the Basic Recipe), returning to EFT’s original formula, called the Full Basic Recipe, may bring it down to the desired 0. Some clients and practitioners simply prefer to use the Full Basic Recipe as a matter of course. Once you learn it, you’ll find that it doesn’t take that much longer than the shorter Basic Recipe.
The Full Basic Recipe includes a curious technique called the 9 Gamut Procedure. In this chapter, you will learn that procedure, the sequence of the full recipe, and additional optional points that you might find helpful in your tapping.
Here are the parts that make up the Full Basic Recipe:
The Setup Statement (tap on the Karate Chop point or rub the Sore Spot).
The tapping sequence (tap on the sequence of 7 or 12 points).
The 9 Gamut Procedure.
The tapping sequence again.
Alternative to the Karate Chop Point: The Sore Spot
In chapter 2, you learned to tap on the Karate Chop point while saying the Setup Statement (“Even though I have ____, I deeply and completely accept myself”). As an alternative, you can instead rub what is called “the Sore Spot.” This spot is located on your upper chest and, like all the EFT points, there is one on each side of your body (see illustration). You can rub on either of the two. The spot gets its name from the fact that this place is tender to the touch
The Sore Spot
The Sore Spot is located two or three inches below the notch at the base of your throat (just above your sternum) and to the left or right on your chest two or three inches. If you probe with your fingers in that region, you will feel a place where there is some tenderness. This Sore Spot is where you rub while saying the Setup Statement, just as you did while tapping on the Karate Chop point. It’s up to you which one you use. Using either the Sore Spot or the Karate Chop point is correct, just as using either one of the Sore Spots is fine. You may have had chest surgery, so can only rub on one of the Sore Spots, or use only the Karate Chop point. That is fine too. As always, if you have a medical condition and are uncertain about the advisability of the physical aspects of tapping, consult your health-care provider.
The Tapping Sequence for the Full Basic Recipe
After saying the Setup Statement three times, either tapping on the Karate Chop point or rubbing the Sore Spot, here is the tapping sequence you will use for the Full Basic Recipe. You start with the same seven points you learned in the Basic Recipe, add five more points, and end by tapping on the Karate Chop point.
Beginning of the Eyebrow (EB)
Side of the Eye (SE)
Under the Eye (UE)
Under the Nose (UN)
Chin (Ch)
Beginning of the Collarbone (CB)
Under the Arm (UA) Add these five points in this order:
Below the Nipple (BN)
Thumb (Th)
Index Finger (IF)
Middle Finger (MF)
Baby Finger (BF)
Karate Chop (KC)
The following are illustrations of the five new points. As with the other points, there is one on each side of the body. Either side is fine to use. In the case of the Below the Nipple point, some people tap on both at once. In the case of the hand points, you can use one side, alternate sides, or use the point on one hand to tap on the same point on the other hand. It’s up to you which way you choose to do it. Go with what feels most comfortable. That will increase the likelihood of your continuing to use EFT and achieving the relief you seek from problems that have been plaguing you.
Below the Nipple (BN) Points
Below the Nipple: For men, this point is an inch below the nipple. For women, this point is below the nipple where the elastic of a bra runs beneath the breasts.
Thumb (Th) Point
Thumb: This point is on the side of the thumb away from the hand at the level of the base of the thumbnail.
Index Finger (IF) Point
Index Finger: This point is on the side of the index finger nearest the thumb at the level of the base of the fingernail.
Middle Finger (MF) Point
Middle Finger: This point is on the side of the middle finger nearest the index finger at the level of the base of the fingernail.
Baby Finger (BF) Point
Baby Finger: This point is on the side of the baby finger nearest the middle finger at the level of the base of the fingernail.
Note that one finger is omitted in the hand tapping points. It is not necessary to include the ring finger, but some EFTers tap on the same place on that finger as on the other fingers because it is simply easier to include all. That’s fine too. It won’t hurt anything to add some extra tapping!
After the Setup Statement and the first round of tapping, the Full Basic Recipe proceeds to the 9 Gamut Procedure.
The 9 Gamut Procedure and Eye Movements
One of the oddest-looking parts of EFT is the 9 Gamut Procedure. It involves tapping on a point on the back of the hand, the Gamut point (see illustration), while moving your eyes in a circle, as well as to the side. Though the technique appears odd, research has demonstrated that eye movements are key to reprocessing old traumatic memories.
The University of South Florida conducted a study of people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, using a new method called Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). They found that ART rapidly reduced the emotional charge held in memories of traumatic events. ART uses eye movements, and also has clients visualize a desired outcome. Participants in the study experienced dramatic drops in both PTSD and depression symptoms, as well as improved sleep. The study was published in the journal Behavioral Sciences.
Another study, published in the journal Traumatology, was a collaboration between a psychiatrist and an optician. They were colleagues who happened upon the discovery that when traumatized people remember an emotionally charged event, they are unable to maintain stable peripheral vision; their eyes flutter when turned hard right or left. After successful psychiatric treatment and the traumatized individuals are able to recall the event without emotional distress, the fluttering disappears.
Neuroscientists don’t know exactly why this association between traumatic memories and eye movements occurs. It may be linked to the ability of the brain to process a disturbing event. The midbrain or limbic system contains structures that are responsible for turning short-term memories into long-term ones. This memory-processing function is impaired in patients suffering from PTSD.
Experience with tens of thousands of clients has shown the 9 Gamut Procedure to be effective even when the other parts of EFT’s Basic Recipe are unable to provide resolution to a problem. During Clinical EFT training and certification, the 9 Gamut Procedure is emphasized; slow eye movements covering every point in the field of peripheral vision are found to be particularly valuable. The 9 Gamut Procedure often helps with:
Disturbing emotions that can’t be linked to a specific event.
Traumatic incidents that occurred very early in a person’s life, before memory formation began (usually around age 4).
When there are a great many similar traumatic events, such as frequent childhood beatings.
Womb trauma. Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline cross the placental barrier; a child may be “learning” stress at the level of molecular conditioning even before birth.
Clients whose SUD level is not going down using EFT’s shortcut Basic Recipe.
For all these reasons, backed by the emerging science linking eye movements to memory reconsolidation, the 9 Gamut Procedure is useful for anyone using EFT to know and it is an essential part of every EFT practitioner’s toolkit.
The 9 Gamut Procedure is so named because you perform nine simple actions while tapping on the Gamut point.
The Gamut Point
The Gamut point is on the back of either hand in the shallow between the ligaments extending from the ring finger and the little finger, about a half-inch toward the wrist from the knuckles. If you tap in that area with the three fingers of your other hand, you are bound to hit the point!
While tapping on the Gamut point, here are the nine actions you perform in order:
Close your eyes.
Open your eyes.
Look down hard right (without moving your head).
Look down hard left (without moving your head).
Roll your eyes in a full clockwise circle, again without moving your head.
Roll your eyes in a full counterclockwise circle, without moving your head.
