By Pamela Mortimer
There’s someth
ing to be said for traditional therapies, particularly if the patient has a life threatening need. However, the age old practice of self healing has its own merits.
“I Can Make You Thin” by Paul McKenna, a new television show on TLC, has introduced a simple but powerful technique to the viewing public. It involves using meridian pressure points to release blocked energy. Actually, the technique is very old, dating back thousands of years in the form of qi gong and acupressure among other remedies. But the new, abbreviated method can be used by an individual, at home, at no cost.
The current version of the therapy is known as Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. It was popularized by engineer Gary Craig, a man who has devoted his life to bringing the technique to people in every walk of life. People may discover the technique and applications – for free – at emofree.com.
It works like this: When a person experiences a negative emotion, there is a disturbance in the body’s energy system. Many compare it to electric shock or the “zzzt!” when there is a short in the system. Those negative emotions, including fear, trauma, anger, phobias, negative behavior patterns, etc., can be erased by correcting the errant path of the electrical current. It’s much like rewiring a lamp but easier.
It’s difficult to explain the technique without a visual but the essence is that one will create a “set up” statement of the problem at hand. This statement needs to be as specific as possible. The added component is that even though there is this problem, one accepts oneself anyway. For example: “Even though I’m deathly afraid of heights, I deeply and completely accept myself”. This statement is repeated throughout a series of touches on the meridian pressure points, also known as tapping. The pressure points are easily reached and include the inside and outside of the eyebrow, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under the arm, side of the hand, etc. There are several ways of doing this which can be discovered through further study.
It is important to know how bad the problem is before the tapping begins. The easiest way to do this is to imagine you are in a movie, in the particular situation that you find most disturbing. If you are afraid of heights, a very common phobia, you might picture yourself standing at the top of the Empire State building or at the peak of a mountain, whichever works for you. On a scale from one to ten, rate the fear. Let’s say it’s a ten. After a round or two of tapping it is imperative to go through the movie in your mind again and then re-rate the experience. Most likely, it will decrease in intensity with each round, eventually rating a zero. This can happen in a matter of minutes. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat the procedure several times, depending on the depth of the problem.
Gary Craig suggests using it on virtually everything since the results have been positive on a vast number of issues. Naturally, one should not forgo medical or psychological treatment but rather, use EFT as a side treatment. While there are hundreds of documented case studies, some of the initial problems include: fear of water, post-traumatic stress, shoulder and back pain, insomnia, obesity, smoking, money issues, sexual abuse, relationships, and so on.
All in all, the process is extremely simple and the outcome easily outweighs the effort. I personally have used EFT for quite some time and have had remarkable success with the technique, from physical pain to sinus infection, phobias, and the like. Honestly, I wasn’t a total believer until I saw the results for myself. If I can make it work, so can you.
Comment by: L. Kessler
Although EFT can relieve the symptoms of minor traumas, that doesn’t mean they’re gone. Quite often they will reappear in a new manifestation–digestive problems, skin eruptions, nervousness,sleeplessness, etc. And more serious traumas require a more serious approach. Working with energy is fine, but the survival mechanism that spawns traumas involves the body, the nervous system, and the brain. This suggests a more structural component to trauma and not merely energy.
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