Report from Dallas EFT Seminar, Feb 2005

The Mastering EFT seminar in Dallas once again showed how even significant symptoms of chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, breast cancer, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue can be alleviated by addressing core emotional issues, as well as by using EFT on the symptoms themselves. EFT founder Gary Craig spent the entire three days working with individuals on stage (not the easiest venue for people to address deep emotional pain typically). What is striking is how relatively painless and tearless these transformational changes are, when approached with sensitivity and art, as Gary demonstrates.

What each person who has been diagnosed with a chronic disease needs to understand is that there is a recognizable difference between what we may “logically” know and what our body “feels is true” emotionally and physically. For example, a person may be a high achiever with success in many areas of her life, and yet when she says the statement “I am not good enough” it feels totally true in the body—a 10! This disconnect between the thinking brain and the energy system appears to create significant, ongoing tensions and disease in the body. EFT’s purpose is to directly address this imbalance. When the “I’m not good enough” feeling is released, by applying EFT to specific events connected to this feeling, what is left is the logical awareness: “Gee, I am good enough!” It’s so exciting to witness how relatively quickly this kind of shift can occur when EFT is applied artfully.

Another observation is that the most intense physical manifestations of the disease regularly act as a barometer to measure emotional pain. For example, let’s say that a person with cystic fibrosis uses EFT to take his breathing from a “4” (very constricted) to a “10” (totally deep breath). Then, when he touches on a painful memory, the breathing constriction shows up again (e.g., a “6”). As the painful emotion is tapped down to a zero, the physical symptom often is reduced—even though we are not tapping for it specifically unless the intensity becomes distracting. After addressing core aspects, addressing any remaining breathing constriction can often take the depth of breath well above the old limits. (See our instructions in the article with audio Anxiety Constricted Breathing.)

What we did not witness were any One Minute Wonders. It often took Gary less than three minutes to calm anxious participants around their fear of being on stage and telling their story. This type of performance anxiety responds quickly to EFT. Physioemotional symptoms manifesting as life threatening or debilitating disease may someday be addressed completely in minutes; for now, we’re still learning how. PERSISTENCE is absolutely required. Gary and I both recommend that individuals with compromised energy systems taps a dozen times a day or more.

I was also honored to be an emotional assistant at the seminar. I worked with individuals who, in the process of Borrowing Benefits with the individuals on stage, found themselves needing some extra support. The guidance I’d give to anyone who finds themselves “surprised” by the intensity of emotions while applying EFT is to not be surprised and keep tapping even if you can’t say anything. One participant was shocked that this “stuff I thought I’d dealt with in therapy so long ago” was suddenly bringing forth tears. One of the traps of “talk” therapy is that it often leaves potent energy disruptions; EFT can quickly release the intensity of those when they come up. Furthermore, it often integrates the energy in a way that we can’t even force ourselves to get upset about those past events anymore. I consider this optimally healthy, when even the worst crud from our past now feels like rich compost from which a thriving life can grow.

We’re also encouraging those suffering with diseases and even “death sentences” to remember that a disease diagnosis is just a label we put on a collection of signs and symptoms. Growing evidence points to the emotional root cause of many of these conditions. While it is WORK to make a shift, and healing demands persistent attention and support, every professional I asked reported often dramatic reversals of symptoms with their clients. Of course, we also see failures, particularly when after dramatic (even miraculous) improvement in symptoms, some clients just stop tapping! We have some clues as to why they stop, and we know that addressing the “benefits” of having the disease can reduce resistance to taking the self-care steps necessary to heal. There is still much work to do to help people make EFT a consistent practice, until the person is truly emotionally free.

It was an honor to have this experience, and I thank the individuals I worked with during the seminar for allowing me to support their healing process. In my role as an emotional freedom coach, I want to help individuals learn how to use EFT themselves, to have it as a powerful, transformative tool that can be used right in the heat of the moment. Indeed, that is when EFT is most effective. However, if you are using EFT alone and have never worked with an EFT artist, you may not get the results you want. If that is the case, you need to find someone to work with, to get you over the hump. In just this one seminar there were over 100 practitioners with a strong commitment to EFT. Many of us enjoy working with individuals by phone, as well. A consistent message amongst those who were addressing their own chronic conditions was that working with an intuitive EFT practitioner helped them make shifts that made the personal use of EFT that much more effective.