EFT – Clarity of Purpose

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), developed by Gary Craig, is truly a gift to the world. Also referred to as tapping, it a self-help method of activating the body’s energy meridians to ease pain of all types, physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual. There are many sites on the Internet from which you can receive instructions and techniques.

I have been using EFT for many years to help deal with many different issues in my life. Over this time I have learned that to have EFT work effectively for me, I must define both the problem and the desired outcome. I think of our unconscious mind (UM) as the collective intelligence of the billions of cell in our bodies. The prime directive of the UM is to maintain and defend the collective (our bodies). UM is responsible for all your physical experiences e.g.: UM says you are happy so it turns on the dopamine and the serotonin taps. If you twist your ankle, UM causes the area to hurt to remind you to take care of the sprain. You could think of the UM as very intelligent and stubborn five year-old and your conscious mind as its parent. UM is dedicated to maintaining the collective at all costs. It does not know or care about things like reason and logic. It leaves all that ‘stuff’ to the conscious mind, which, through discernment, deals with the outside world. The conscious mind then presents to UM only those things it considers serious. UM for its part is hard to convince because of its early experiences.

During the first five years of our childhood there is no logic, no reason and minimal discernment. Throughout this period everything presented to us is accepted as absolute truth. If our parents, family, neighbors, media, or government tells us that we are bad, thoughtless, inconsiderate and worthless we absorb all without question. Fortunately, for us, loving and nurturing word are accepted in the same way.

If before the age of six your UM hears hundreds of times that you are worthless, how often would you have to hear how worthy you are before your UM believes this? Therein lies the dilemma.

The UM takes every thing literally and is unable to process a negative statement. If you say to a five year old “Don’t do that —-!” the child will do” that—-!” because he/she can’t process a negative. If I say ‘don’t think about a blue tree’, what is the first thing you think about? This is how UM interprets every negative statement.

When you request UM to make a change to its collective you have to make absolutely clear what you wish to change. The requested change must have integrity and must be stated with conviction!

The desired outcome must be stated in positive way in present tense as if the benefit of the change had already been gained. Any condition – physical, mental, emotional or spiritual – takes something extra to convince UM to respond. That is where EFT comes in. By stimulating the meridians while holding the well formed emotionally charged positive request in mind, you can overcome UM’s resistance to the desired change.

Recently I was having a problem with my right knee. Once or twice a week my knee would become painful as if a strand of nerve had somehow shifted out of position. It would last a day or two then disappear. After another day or two it would happen again. While this condition existed, it severely limited my ability to walk properly. Even a vitamin B shot in that knee only provided temporary and partial relief.

I attempted to use EFT on the problem to no avail. The problem continued for just about a year. I was frustrated. In my EFT scripts, I made statements such as “I don’t want the pain!” or “Please make the pain stop, I can’t stand it!”

Then I realized I had been stating the change I desired in a negative way. I was stating what I didn’t want instead of what I did want. One day between attacks I changed my words. For the setup I said: “Even though my right knee causes me pain, I deeply and completely love and accept myself and my right knee!” Then with each tapping point I said, “my right knee is comfortable and moves freely and easily!” I performed six rounds of EFT using these or similar positive words. I then forgot about my knee completely and focused on other things. The condition never re-occurred and my knee has remained pain free for more than two years and counting.

My knee problem is an example of how EFT does seem to work on everything when you make your request using the right words. Using a negative statement is an ‘away from’ whereas a positive statement is a ‘toward’. Always move toward the desired state not away from the undesired state.