Counting Your Blessings with EFT
How to use the powerful
Emotional Freedom Technique
to help you bless your world.
The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a wonderful technique for removing the negative emotions that limit our success. Using this technique, you can not only eradicate any resistance you might feel toward blessing everyone and everything in your world, you can also gain the emotional freedom to truly pursue being, doing and having what you really want in life. This is a marvelous technique that anyone can use simply and effectively, time and time again.
EFT is a meridian-based energy therapy developed by Gary Craig from initial discoveries made by Dr. Roger Callahan. The protocol is simple and often provides rapid relief from physical-emotional issues such as trauma, anger, grief, guilt, anxiety, addictive cravings, nightmares, abandonment, and a multitude of fears and phobias.
It is also effective in dealing with all types of physical pain as well as the emotional pain often associated with loss and/or depression, and also works incredibly well in sports conditioning. Because it is safe, easy to use and amazingly effective, it can and should be, as Gary Craig suggests, tried on virtually everything. Please understand, however, that what follows is the only the very briefest of itroductions to this remarkable technique. For further information, including the EFT Manual and case-histories, I strongly encourage you to view the video below and then visit Gary Craig's informative website.
To visit the informative EFT site, click here.
The Very Basic EFT Basics
Before beginning with the simple EFT protocol, it is always helpful to take a deep breath and determine just where, on a scale of one to ten, your resistance lies. By rating your resistance level in this way before starting, you will be able to monitor your progess as you move along. Once you know how deep your resistance is, begin the technique by repeating a simple Setup Statement no less than three times. I call these statements "Even Thoughs" because they almost always begin with the phrase "Even though I..." followed by a few words describing the situation or difficulty encountered and ending with the words "I deeply and completely love and accept myself."
As an example, your first Setup Statement might be something like: "Even though I can see no possible blessing in what is happening in my life right now, I deeply and completely love and accept myself," or "Even though I don't feel grateful for anything at the moment, I still deeply and completely love and accept myself."
Each Setup Statement is repeated three times and as it is being repeated, you'll use one or two fingers on your dominant hand to gently tap on the Karate Chop Point (see photo) of the opposite hand. Now, picking a key point from your Setup Statement to use as a Reminder Phrase — the Reminder Phrase for the first statement above, for instance, might be "no possible blessing" — you move into a tapping sequence tapping six or seven times on each of the energy points listed below while repeating the Reminder Phrase.
Eyebrow(EB), Corner of eye (EC), under the eye (UE), under the nose (UN), in the indention between your bottom lip and chin (C), at the V created by your collar bone (CB), under your arm, four or five inches below your armpit (UA), and finally, at the crown of your head (CH). (Refer to photo at left.)
Now take a deep breath, and move through the sequence once more, tapping gently six or seven times on each meridian or energy point and repeating your Reminder Phrase. As you do this, other phrases may begin to come to mind. For instance, you may find yourself preferring to say "there might be a blessing" instead of "no possible blessing" or some other phrase may feel more appropriate. Give yourself the freedom to go with whatever changes in the phraseology occur to you. If none do come to mind don't despair. Just continue to repeat the original Reminder Phrase as you work your way through the sequence.
When you have finished the second sequence, breathe deeply once more and take a few seconds more to determine your level of resistance. If you still feel some resistance or the level has not changed, repeat the Setup Statement again, this time including the word "still" in each statement (ie; "Even though I still can see no possible blessing, I deeply and completely love and accept myself") repeating it three times while tapping on the karate chop point and then again at each point as you once more tap on the energy points in sequence, revising each statement as you feel empowered to do so. Here's a quick example:
- Eyebrow (EB): "Even though I still see no possible blessing in any of this, I still love and approve of myself."
- Corner of Eye (EC): "Even though I can't see how there could possible be a blessing, I still deeply and profoundly love and approve of myself."
- Under Eye (UE): "Even though I really don't think there is a blessing, I can still remember to love and approve of myself."
- Under Nose (UN): "Even if there is a blessing and I can't see it, it is still okay for me to deeply and completely love and approve of myself."
- Chin (C): "I don't have to see the blessing for it to be there. I can still love myself anyway."
- Collarbone( CB): "I am willing to let a blessing be there."
- Under Arm (UA): "I am willing to bless everyone and everything in my world."
- Crown of Head (CH): "And I am willing to be blessed in return."
Don't let the simplicity of EFT fool you, and don't let a lack of experience with the technique keep you from working with it. Just pinpoint whatever resistance you are feeling, use whatever wording feels appropriate and tap, tap, tap away. You'll find yourself blessed by the tapping.
