I believe in the body’s intelligence. I have seen intense emotions come up at the perfect time for them to be healed, both for myself and for my clients. What I love about EFT is that it can very often process through the big, deep stuff in a way that minimizes emotional pain. Gary Craig even has a name for this variation, the Tearless Trauma Technique (although it isn’t always tearless or without discomfort).
But what if you are tapping for constricted breathing or for a physical pain or some minor emotional disruption, and suddenly a Big Pain comes to your awareness? It is making itself known, loud and clear. Ideally, you can stop right there and tap through it and achieve relief. When the core pains come up, we are given an opportunity to teach the body how to re-balance the energy system even when recalling “our worst.”
However, you may not be in a safe place to do this. You might be at a seminar, or heading into an important meeting. You might realize you are now ready to work through issues you had wanted to avoid, but these are intense enough that they demand professional support—and none is readily available. What do you do?
What you don’t want to do is just suck it up and suppress it! You’ve probably been suppressing it for a long time, and now your body, at least, thinks it is time to deal with it. Can you honor your body while still getting yourself under control? YES!
First, keep tapping. You don’t have to say anything. Just start tapping through the points. If you can say something or think clearly, here is one option as you cycle through the tapping points until you are calm:
“Thank you! Thank you! I hear you! I’ll write it down right now. We’ll work together LATER. I promise! RIGHT NOW, I choose to be calm and confident. RIGHT NOW, I choose to be calm and confident. Thank you!”
Next, keep your word! Write down a short reminder of the event, the emotion that is coming up, and the intensity on the 0-10 scale (for example, “Terrified when he hit me in the face: 10”) . This honors the messages coming from your body that want to be heard.
I strongly recommend that you treat them with the greatest respect. To me that means being no less conscientious than you would be if you accidentally stepped on a rusty razor and needed stitches and a tetanus shot! Seek professional support. Even if your choice of professional does not know EFT, you can use EFT yourself in their presence or while talking to them on the phone. At minimum have someone with you with whom you feel totally safe and supported, in case you do need to shed some tears on your journey back to peace and health.