That's where persistence is key. Something just happened, we are on the right track!
Let's say you have a pain in your shoulder. You address it with EFT, and it disappears. But now, it appears again... in your neck! Well, your body is telling you something! Listen to it, and address the "pain in the neck"! It might then move to your lower back, your head, your arm, who knows... But like when you're peeling an onion, each time you solve one pain, you're getting closer to the core!
So keep chasing that pain, wherever it might decide to show up! Check up Louise's story for a practical example.
Every single disease comes with a set of symptoms. Whether they are symptoms of the body, the mind or the spirit. Each one of them is a clue. Identify the symptoms for your disease, and even side effects form whatever medical treatment you might be following.
On a daily basis, you might choose to write a list of these symptoms, or maybe keep a diary of the symptoms you experienced during the day. That will help you to identify them faster and react more swiftly when they appear, so you can start tapping them away immediately, reducing pain and any fear or anxiety attached to symptoms and side effects.
Whether you choose to write them down or not, the number one EFT golden rule applies : TAP! Preferably as soon as you identify the first signs. Even if you don't say anything, just focus on the symptom.
Another tip, while you are tapping, is to visualise your symptom... and its solution!. E.g. if your chemo creates stomach burns for you, imagine a fire in your stomach, and (still tapping), imagine you pour water over it. If your muscles feel like there's a knot, imagine you can SEE the knot and see yourself untie it, as if it was a piece of string. It might seem a bit too simple, but just try it. What do you have to loose?
You can also focus on emotional reactions. For example, if you are unable to move, tap on the frustration or anger that you need help to do anything.
When symptoms are quiet enough, you can also consider your disease from a little afar, and focus on the future are you see it. Ask yourself a few key questions. Do you think you are going to heal? Henry ford said that “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” And this applies to your healing.
If you think you can heal, tap on the path to healing;
Even though I know I will heal, the road ahead is so long, I don't know how I am going to do this, I choose to keep my focus on my healing.
If you think you cannot heal, tap to open new possibilities, such as :
Even though you can't heal form this disease, and I am a lost case, I'd like to be open to the possibility that I don't know everything. Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe even doctors don't know it all? What is I could unexpectedly heal?
You can also work on what the disease means to you, what it prevents you from doing, (and maybe what you can avoid now without having to make excuses?), the impact on your loved ones, all the feelings it triggers for you. And get some help. You might know how to change a bulb, but when there'a short circuit somewhere in the house, you'll call in the electrician. Same here. Anybody can tap “small things” away, but when it becomes too big, professional help is invaluable.
Did this help? Let me know here.
There are many ways to go about it. First, the earlier the better. The more used you are to daily tapping, the faster you'll think of it, the stronger the effect.
Physical symptoms.
You can tap on the instant of the sting:
Even though I could feel the sting, but it was too late, I deeply love and accept myself.
Even though it was soooo painful, and I'll have this for a few days...
But I'd suggest to tap on what you feel right now
Even though I have the scratchy sensation on my arm, ...
The feelings about the moment of the sting... and the future
What was happening at the very minute of the sting or bite? Were you already in a “bad mood”? Why? You might have seen the insect, tried to chase it away, unsuccessfully apparently! That could make you slightly angry at the culprit (or at yourself?):
Even though I could see it coming, this thing was after me, I know it was targeting me...
Even though I'm furious, it doesn't really make it any easier at all, what if I let the anger go? I wonder if the sting would be easier to cope with?
You might have taken some kind of inconsiderate risk.
Even though I was so stupid to walk there, no wonder it stung me....
You might have been taken completely by surprise:
Even though I didn't see it coming, and I should have...
The more annoyed you get, the more difficulty your system will have to cope with it. It might be a good idea to consider the point of view of... the insect! And put in a little forgiveness for it, for you?
Even though it's unfair I got stung, this insect reacted according to its nature.....
Also, tap away your anxieties about the coming days. In most cases, your body will need a few days to eliminate the venom, but until then, it WILL be painful (or will it? ;0)
Even though I”ll have to walk around with an arm like Popeye....
Even though I will have to restrain from scratching my leg....
The possibilities are endless. Most of all, be persistent about it.
I had various results about this for myself, including times when it didn't really “work”, I think just because I got fed up with tapping, and decided I'd live with it. Yes, even I rebel against tapping some times when the resultas are not fast enough! But it can be worth spending 15 minutes to save 3-4 days of itching?
On the other hand a visiting friend stepped on a wasps nest in the woods and got 9 stings as a result. He chose to tap, as well as using cream on the stings. We tapped for about an hour. Considering that he had an history of allergy for 2 bites as a child, and that he was on anti-histamines, the result was quite impressive. He found that it removed all his fear of the possible reactions. It was itchy for a couple of days, but he could tap it away if it was too annoying, and the swelling was minimal. Interestingly enough he mentioned that the 2 bites on his arm, the most visible, which he was watching closely as we were tapping, healed faster and were even less swollen than the others. All of them disappeared faster than for a (non tapping) neighbour who had been stung a day before him and felt the pain for many days after him.
So see where your tapping takes you.
Please remember to ALWAYS consult the appropriate specialist for ANY medical condition. While tapping has been shown to help with this, remember EFT is NOT a medical procedure. But pending the medical treatment, or in support of it, you can certainly tap!
Clic here for a free tapping script that might help you.
The mere fact that two people have the exact opposite reaction to EFT just highlights two points: 1. EFT does "something", and 2. like everything else in life, each of us responds to it in our very own way, depending, amongst many other aspects, on our personal history, our beliefs about life and ourselves. EFT has NO POWER in itself. EFT, like any other tool, has the power we are allowing it to have, consciously or unconsciously.
Then we might wonder why Jean-Paul experienced that reaction. Jean-Paul's visible issue was to let go of that deeply rooted anxiety. He wished for it, and got that wish. However, unknown to him, this anxiety might have been there to cover up for something deeper, something too big to face it. If this happens to you, please do as Jean-Paul did: ask! As it happens, despite "getting nowhere" on his own, when we started tapping together he immediately noticed an emotional reaction.
Jean paul is not the only one to experience this. As I'm writing, he has a lot of tapping to do, on his own and with support from a trusted person when he gets stuck, but the key is that he keeps his focus on what he ultimately wants, what we all ultimately want: real happiness, whatever it means for each of us.
So in a nutshell, if you have a similar issue I'd suggest the following:
- Acknowledge that this is ONE STEP in your healing journey, not the final one. As long as you're alive, you have many other steps ahead.
- You have a choice: (A) Stop your healing journey there ("it never works for me anyway") or (B) keep going, use your reaction as a clue, and build on it. What is YOUR choice?
- If you are still reading, I assume you chose (B). So ask for support (contact me), talk to fellow EFTers if you know any... They might give you clues and trigger ideas on what you could do next.
- Ask yourself "why could I be reacting this way"? List all the issues/trauma you had in your life, even if you don't have any feelings about them at this stage. If you still remember when your mother didn't compliment you on a drawing you did aged 5, then, there's some level of emotions attached to it. Therefore, this IS important to you, even if as an adult, you find it ridiculous and unimportant. Also list all your personal limiting beliefs such as "I'm not good enough anyway", "I'm a lost cause", "some things are impossible to heal, if it was possible, people would know it", etc... These two lists will be precious to keep track of your progress and check that these traumas and limiting beliefs really have been cleared for you.
- Keep tapping, meditating, breathing, using ho'oponopono, etc... Create your own recipe. Whatever works for you is good. (Of course, I'd suggest double dose of tapping!). Use the tips-to-tap that appeal to you in the FAQ section of www.christinedisant.com.
- Get somebody to help you. If you are a driver, remember your first times at the steering wheel? Once you had the basics, you could more or less find out how to move on, but an instructor was important to make you really safe on the road, watch out for dangers around you until you were able to see them yourself. Experience has taught you much more since. Tapping is like driving: help is key to begin with, practice makes perfect, on going support helps, but in the end YOU have the steering wheel, so YOU have the solution.
Did this help? Feel free to make any comment or ask a question.
Session times can vary but they are usually 9 pm, 10:30 pm, 12 noon, 1:30 pm, 3 pm, 4:30 pm and 6pm.
How long is a session?
A session lasts 1 hour.
Where are the sessions happening?
Face to face session in Carrigaline: Click on the map to get directions from your own address. You can access my office on the car park accross the road from Supervalu. The glass door (now a black frame) to the right 4 star Pizza and Tino's and Tony's. Ring the EFT intercom.
Skype sessions: please ensure that you are in a "safe space", meaning a room where you feel comfortable and where you will not be disturbed during the call (phones off, make sure somebody is in charge of the children...).
How much does a session cost?
There are diferent options depending on the program that best suits your needs and/or purpose. Please contact me for more information on these.
Face to face sessions can be paid in cash or cheques.
Skype sessions are paid by credit card via Paypal before the session.
How can I book a session ?
Use the contact page to send me a request and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
You can also email eft AT practicallearners DOT com (no spaces, replace the AT with @ and the DOT with .)
WHY:
As EFT founder Gary Craig puts is, tapping with EFT is a bit like clearing a forest. You find many things in a forest, in all sizes and shapes.
Weeds: these are small inconveniences in our life. One example could be a child having lost a toy, but then finding it back very fast, so it was a brief enough fear. It could be a flat tire a day when you had time and all you needed to get it fixed. It was annoying, but it was easy enough to fix. No big concern. Just step on it!
Brambles and prickly shrubs: these are bigger annoyances, we might not see the roots of them, but they sure are prickly. They grow insidiously, duplicate themselves and have a tendency to take over if we don´t watch them. Let´s say Noel let a glass of water fell when he was 6 years old. Aunt Rosie commented on Noel´s clumsiness. For many children, that really wouldn't matter. It wasn't even said in a mean way. But Noel happens to be a bit over sensitive that day because his cat died. The comment is quickly forgotten by all involved, but every time Noel sees somebody who reminds him event remotely of his aunt, every time a child lets a glass spill, every time he hears a slightly derogative comment, he has this slightly uncomfortable feeling. It doesn't really matter, but it grows slowly in some form of mild anxiety. This anxiety feeds on other events that life throws at him. And one day it becomes a bigger anxiety. Again, this how Noel reacted. His pal Kurt would not have been touched at all by the comment.
Or take Marguerite´s story. She´s taller than other people. At school, other kids used this against her, and everywhere she went, she felt out of place. Her size is an hindrance to her. So much so that every cell in her body tries to get her shorter. She´s literally carrying it on , or even IN her back, and develops an arthritic pain. A very prickly shrubs indeed.
Small to large trees: They range from the single frail birch, to the solidly grounded, strong oak, or these poplars colonies where what appears to be dozens of trees, dozens of trunks, is actually one single root system, one single being (some of these colonies have been estimated to be 80,000 years old. How's that for longevity?!. More on wikipedia if you´re interested!en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Aspen). Back to our comparison, these might range from what happened to Noel, in different circumstances when he took it so badly that he remained strongly insecure in every move he does, every word he says (check up Soairse´s case study for a similar case), to more ¨obvious¨ traumas, such as the death of a loved one, abuse, either sexual or not, a divorce, a car accident....
SO?
When we start tapping, we are literally tapping into our subconscious mind, where all of our history is stored, with its associated memories. Even when we don´t identify the source immediately, the feelings start coming up. And sometimes it can be overwhelming.
Remember though that EFT does NOT CREATE emotions, but it digs them out so you can deal with them and free yourself from them.
WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?
Well, depending on your personality and preferences, there are many ways to get through this. Take EFT as a Swiss knife. You can use it in many different ways.
Technique 1 - Head first:
You might be willing to get through this as fast as possible, no matter the intensity. You pick the first strong event you can think of. Again depending on your personality, you might want to get ready for an emotional roller coaster, and then again, it might go very smoothly. Experience will tell, we're all different. Feelings might get very strong. For some people, it´s instant, and so is the relief. For others, it takes longer, and you might feel it in your day to day life for a while. Some people might even feel a kind of a physical ¨detox reaction¨, with body aches, that then evaporate. These can be tapped away of course. The difference with the side effects of medication, is that it does not leave long term damage anywhere, on the contrary, every small reaction is an opportunity to tap away a few brambles or weeds. One word of caution, if you are facing a big trauma, I would advise you to seek support when you tap, either from a trusted friend or from a trusted practitioner. Whatever you do, remember you are taking full responsibility for your own well-being.
Technique 2 - Beating around the bush, so to speak:
You don´t want to get through this roller coaster, this is scary, you can´t deal with so much. Then take a slower road. Start looking at minor hindrances and tap them away. With time, you'll build your strength and your skills on how to use EFT in your OWN way. Then one day, you will either be ready to face ¨the big one¨, or you´ll realise that the generalisation effect worked for you : you tapped so many brambles and bushes away, that the big tree in the middle had no more protection and just collapsed on its own.
Technique 3 - Building up:
Even beating around the bush might be too much for you. Then you can take an even softer route. Start rebuilding your strength and positivity. Use the Gratitude round, the positive tapping script, tap with ho´oponopono whenever something happens. Tap away minor annoyances as they show up. Physical pains are a good target as well. In time, you will feel safer and stronger enough to get to the aspens and the oaks of your forest.
And in all cases, if you feel you're not making the progress you expect on your own, get some support from a qualified practitioner.
Did this help? Any comment or question are welcome.
When can I get a one to one EFT session?
I am available Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm GMT.
(Convert to your time zone here)
Session times can vary but they are usually 9 pm, 10:30 pm, 12 noon, 1:30 pm, 3 pm, 4:30 pm and 6pm.
Where are the sessions happening?
Face to face session in Carrigaline: Click on the map to get directions from your own address.
Skype sessions: please ensure that you are in a "safe space", meaning a room where you feel comfortable and where you will not be disturbed during the call (phones off, make sure somebody is in charge of the children...).
How much does a session cost?
There are diferent options depending on the program that best suits your needs and/or purpose. Please contact me for more information on these.
Face to face sessions can be paid in cash or cheques.
Skype sessions are paid by credit card via Paypal before the session.
How can I book a session ?
Use the contact page to send me a request and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
You can also email eft AT practicallearners DOT com (no spaces, replace the AT with @ and the DOT with .)
Quite often, the person might be doing it on their own, after only one reading of the manual or one session with a practitioner. Then they might need a little bit more assistance or guidance in order to use EFT at its best to get the results they'd be looking for. And if they are experienced EFT-ers, they'll know that sometimes we just need someone else to show us the way out, and they'll request help from a fellow EFT-er or a practitioner.
If they are working with a practitioner already, maybe the exact issue is still to be uncovered? Maybe, the person is not ready to accept healing or resolution (and even that could be "tapped on"!)? Maybe it needs someone with a little bit more expertise to find out the key and unlock the problem? Persistence sometimes opens unexpected doors.
EFT has now gathered thousands of highly improbable successes, from cancer to PTSD including MS or getting people out of wheelchairs. And that's excluding all these everyday worries and bruises that you might have already solved by yourselves. Coincidences? Scientific research is on the way to support these successes with scientific evidences. Meanwhile, you can decide for yourself.
You can never be sure that all avenues have been explored. If you ask a practitioner about their success rate, they'll probably state something between 80% and 99%. Never 100%. So yes, I guess you could say it doesn't always work.
But if you don't put all the chances on your side to try it out, how will you know if it could work for you?
EFT founder Gary Carig's motto is used all over the world: "try it on everything". What do you have to loose?