Hi-eft

Testing Testing - Sharks!

This article is to show the necessity of ‘testing fully’ whether the problem has gone after using EFT.

In July 1999 I was attending a Hypnotherapy Master class and met, by chance, Peter Callaway who told me about No-esitherapy – an interesting way of using hypnotherapy, which I’d never heard of before.  Well, in November that year I read an interesting article in one of the dailies – about No-esitherapy.  And Peter penned it. 

So I called him up to congratulate him on this achievement, and he told me about another brilliant, simple technique that I would really really like.  It was something called “EFT” and he’d just been on a training course in October at Gatwick.  He gave me Gary Craig’s website – www.emofree.com - which I went on and downloaded his free 43-page manual (version 2 I think it was).

Well this manual seemed ok.  So I started reading through it and found out about this thing called ‘tapping’ and where to tap and what to say.  So I thought what I wanted to ‘work on’ – and ‘sharks’ came up for me. 

Now since BEFORE ‘JAWS’ came out many moons before, I had hated sharks. I couldn’t watch them on tv or in documentaries, I certainly DID NOT watch JAWS at the cinema or on video – NO WAY!  If pictures of them happened to come on tv I quickly went to the loo or into the kitchen!  And it wasn’t as though I was going to meet a shark walking down the centre of Northampton – which is geographically located about the dead centre of the country - certainly about 70 miles from the nearest coastline! 

So I thought, “Yes, I’ll use sharks”.  And I didn’t read any further.

Well I tapped on the places the manual said, saying, “Even though I hate sharks I deeply and completely accept myself”.  Then I tapped the points on the page – on myself –saying I” hate sharks”. 

And after tapping the points, and doing this funny thing on the back of my hand – and I remember thinking “Why do I have to hum happy birthday – how silly!” - and then I tapped the same points again.  So then I asked myself “How do I feel now about sharks?  Mm - I feel ok about them I suppose, but I’m not gonna meet any am I?”  (I know now that that’s a great tail-ender) and then I went on to do something else and just left the manual on one side. 

I thought “Mmmm that was easy. Perhaps I ought to go on the training that Peter talked about”.    So I found out about THAT training and booked my self on it.  It was not until 4^th February in Manchester, and was being put on by AMTUK, but I could wait after all Christmas was coming soon, and my 50^th birthday.

Well my 50^th birthday came, and my dear loving husband had booked a surprise holiday, that I DID NOT want to know about until we were going for the plane.  So when we were getting ready to leave, he told me it was Australia.  I didn’t say anything to him but I would have preferred Sedona, USA – ungrateful of me I realise, but if I had been given a choice … I hadn’t even thought about Australia.  However I am sure glad we went there – it was a magical place.  And later when we did go to Sedona, I was very disappointed – so his decision was right.

Anyway, we were going to be returning about a week before the EFT training – brilliant.  So we set off on my birthday trip.  And it was to be just over 2 weeks where we visited Singapore, Cairns, Bloomfield in Queensland, Ayres Rock, Port Douglas then Singapore on the homebound journey.  Lots of places to visit and experience and lots to see.

So, we found ourselves in Bloomfield Lodge, Queensland and to get there we flew in a 4-seater plane from Cairns, landed in a field somewhere, went in a jeep, got in a flat-bottomed boat and went down a river to Bloomfield Lodge – we stayed in our own log hut, with no glass in the windows but shutters instead, and a mosquito net – which we found that if you leave the light on in your room you come back from dinner to be greeted by dozens of wonderfully startling yet beautifully patterned moths, bugs, creepy crawlies and geckos on our net  So there was no reading in bed at night!

There area around there was beautiful, true primordial forest, we had frogs which started up bang on time at night – and I though somewhere there was an engine switched on somewhere.  There was a lovely green snake sleeping it off in a tree above the swimming pool, it had a bulging tummy – probably it’s frog supper!  I managed to get ‘leeched’ twice on a forest walk – no one else did!  And THEN there was the picnic.

The picnic on the desert island on the reef!  And to get there we went on a wonderful 60-foot yacht.  There were about 6 guests and 3 staff on board.  We sailed for about an hour and then a small dot came into sight, a few trees on a blip of sand in the distance.  The yacht stopped!  “Interesting” I thought – “We’re a bit away from the island, I though we’d sail up to the island and get off directly onto it”.  The captain said, “Wet suits are downstairs, we need to put them on before we disembark into the dingy because it’s Box Jellyfish time, and wetsuits can help prevent stings.”

My throat clammed up, my stomach went hard and knotted, I couldn’t breathe properly, I was sweating like mad and not because of the heat I can tell you!  I was in full-blown panic mode – which was new to me, and I didn’t want anyone to know because they’d think I was weak.   

I was wondering how on earth I could get out of this – because THIS was GREAT WHITE SHARK territory!  Was that noise the ‘Jaws’ music or was it my blood pumping like mad?  People went down to change!  I simply couldn’t get out of this!  I had to go down. 

And I can tell you, it’s no joke being in the middle of the Great barrier Reef in the bottom of a 60-foot yacht trying to climb into a wetsuit – that was DEFINITELY wet on the INSIDE because I was sweating like billy-ho!  The yacht was rocking slightly, the engines were vibrating, I was trying to balance AND pull on this straightjacket clothing.  I had NEVER EVER been in a wet suit before!  The pink flippers were nice (just my colour!) and there was matching pinky snorkel and mask – but I DO NOT DO snorkelling, in fact I hated anything tight on my face and head.  I couldn’t even try on my eldest son’s motorbike helmet to see how it felt!

I was ALSO attempting to tap whilst I was getting into this straight-jacket clothing, I was beginning to feel sick but was that the motion of the yacht and the vibration of the engine, and I was hungry too …  I was tapping myself all over the place.  I couldn’t remember where to tap or what to do or what to say – I had never felt so powerless as this before.  All I could NOW think of was JAWS! – THE JAWS picture on the front of the videos!

I managed to get back up onto the deck.  I managed to climb down into the dinghy.  I managed to focus on the island and not look round for THAT black fin cutting through the water, which I KNEW was out there somewhere – just waiting for me.

We landed on the island, and “No thank you!  I do not want to go OUT THERE and look at the reef and coral, I’ll stay on this island!”  And because I wanted to stay on the island I had to have a ‘minder’ stay with me too – Health & Safety rules are alive in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef! 

So I padded around the island on the sand, noticed some very small box jellyfish, which are really quite pretty, didn’t go near them of course.  So I thought, “Well I could always just sit in the shallows around the island” – which I did.  Then I walked a bit further out to look at some nice small fish – in the shallows.  THEN I thought, I’d try out the snorkel and mask and maybe just go out so that my head’s just under the water. 

Unfortunately I kept on turning my head around – under the water – just to check that there wasn’t any looming dark shape gliding towards me, looking for its lunch.  Of course when I turned my head under water, I breathed in and as I didn’t know what to do with the snorkel I took in salt water!!!

However, I WAS just out of my depth in the Great Barrier Reef – what an invigorating feeling!!  Wowee!!  What a mixture of feelings coming at the same time – incredible.

Eventually, the others came back from their diving and watching, we had a lovely picnic and went back to the yacht.  Having changing back into my ‘normal clothes’ I was on the deck, breathing easily thank goodness.  After about 30minutes someone caught a baby SHARK, a little baby great white!  Phew!  It’s little teeth could only bite off the tips of your fingers – that’s all, but it proved there WERE sharks about.  It was only about 18inches long, and it looked sooooo cute.  I even have a picture of myself stroking it whilst it was being hand held by the angler.  And if any of you haven’t touched a shark skin, imagine a cat’s tongue, it feels like that – of course it must be to help it glide though the water, reduce any water resistance.  One way is very smooth, and the other is very rough.

We got back to terra firma and guess what, later there were a group of other baby sharks –‘Nursing sharks’ this time – swarming about near the small dock as people were throwing food to them.  Even more proof there were sharks around. 

Anyway, we got back to England boy! Was I looking forward to my EFT practitioner training.

Chrissie Hardisty was the main trainer, with Tam and Mair Llewellyn-Edwards assisting. It was Tam and Mair’s first EFT training session.  And I found out, several years afterwards from Tam, that he was about 1/2page ahead of the trainees on the training.  

Well one of the practical exercises was to tap between pairs of trainees.  I immediately thought of sharks but I couldn’t even say the word.  The problem had returned without me knowing about it.  So how could I deal with it?  Chrissie said, “if you have a problem saying something, just write it down on a piece of paper and read it to yourself OR simply choose a substitute or opposite word to use”. 

I tried writing it down – nothing shifted because I was still reading ‘sharks’. 

So I next tried the substitute word.  Now what could I substitute for ‘that word’?  Then it hit me, the feel of the skin, one way it was rough and one was it was smooth – like velvet!  So I chose the word “smooth”.  But that didn’t make any logical sense to me.  Anyway, I went along with what Chrissie had said, and tapped using “Even though I have a fear of smooth I deeply and completely accept myself”. 

And I felt so different after going through the tapping just the once - it was great!  Such a lifting feeling.   I felt I could say ‘sharks’ and I did; I even wrote it; and I drew a shark shape.  There were simply zero reactions (SUDs) within me.  This was great! 

And that clearing has stayed with me.  I love looking at shark documentaries now.  I enjoy taking my grand kids to Sea Life Centres and standing in those glass tunnels where fish and sharks swim past sooo close.

So what has all of this got to do with ‘Testing Testing’ you may ask?

THIS was a very big lesson I learnt about being thorough when using a technique AND ALSO testing correctly and completely to make sure that everything has been released.

When I first used EFT with my ‘sharks’ problem (in November 1999) I didn’t read go through to read about the SUDs or the testing.  Looking back AFTER doing my EFT practitioner training in February 2000, I would estimate that the problem in 1999 was at a 10 and went down to about a 4.  I left it at that level – leaving the SUDs to grow and come back.  And boy did it come back!  THAT holiday was a brilliant test – even though I didn’t appreciate it at that time.

I liken the SUDs of a problem to grass or a weed.  If you get the problem down to a 1, it’s like just 1 blade of grass.  You cannot grow a lawn from just 1 blade of grass.  Likewise a weed – we know to kill a weed we need to get rid of the root system  (aka the negative emotional energetic connection).  Now if you manage to get rid of ALL of the roots except one, THAT weed cannot sustain itself and re-grow itself. 

So when testing to make sure a problem has been released or cleared, make sure you get down to that 1 blade of grass. Test test and test in any and all possible ways to make sure it has cleared, so say it, draw it, watch it, touch it, replay it, think it, experience it – do whatever is necessary to test it fully.

The ONLY exceptions to this are if there is any evidence of previous anaphylactic shock reaction or heart attack/stress reaction.  Obviously NOT putting the client in any unhealthy environment goes without saying – even NOW I wouldn’t test my response to my released fear of sharks by going down in a metal safety cage into shark infested waters.  However I have tested it thoroughly enough for me to KNOW my fear has gone.

Hozho

Christina Elvin

World War 2 Phobia goes and Marriage turns up

It was early 2003 when a lady contacted me.  She was a retired spinster aged 68years, living next door to her father, who was in his mid-90s.  Indeed she had been his unofficial carer since she retired from her position in the financial services sector some 8 years previously.  Her mother had passed away just over 20 years previously.  She did not have any siblings and had had only one romantic relationship – in her mid-40s.  That relationship did not last, her father didn’t approve of it.

This client was extremely calm, in fact cool as a cucumber when she was giving me all this information.  She appeared very organised, very calm and very professional.

The reason she contacted me?  Well it took some time for her to say exactly what it was as she seemed to skate around the houses. 

She came for the initial consultation and the conversation was along these lines:  “It’s so silly really and I know I should have done something about it before now, but it has never been as bad as this, and it’s not there all the time.  But with all of this conflict going in the Middle East, and talk about British troops going over there, it’s all getting too much for me.  Every time I switch on the television there’s something about it, and I have to keep it switched off most of the time.  And father has the television on, so every time I pop round to see him, it’s on.  I just can’t seem to get away from it.”

She still had not mentioned what her problem was, however I was getting the hint it was something to do with conflict and/or war.  I asked her direct:  “So what is it you feel uncomfortable about? That you feel you don’t want to see or hear.”

“Well - it’s war” was her response.

Now I understood.  The time was early 2003 and Britain was poised to go into Iraq - together with the American troops.  There had been talk of this for several weeks on television, radio and the papers.

She had mentioned that it “has never been as bad as this“, so I asked her to expand on this some more.  Whilst she didn’t have any relatives or personally know of anyone involved in wartime situations, or indeed know anyone who had been hurt through wartime situations, she remembered all the details of:

q       The Falklands war in the early-1980s;

q       The first time troops went in to Iraq in the early 1990s;

q       She remembered about the genocide that had been taking place in Bosnia – with British troops going in there as UN peacekeepers;

q       She remembered September 11^th 2001 Twin Towers – and whilst she hadn’t had any panicky feelings at that time, she admitted that it was the pictures of it that had shocked and appalled her; 

q       And NOW this! 

Yet in none of these situations was she was aware of anyone who was involved in any way in any of these wars.  And I noticed, none of these situations involved the Northern Ireland conflict.

I asked her what happened to her on each of these occasions, to describe how she felt and what her actions were.  “Well I have to avoid television and radio and reading the papers or else I become very panicky.” 

So I prodded a bit further and asked her what she meant by “panicky”. 

“Oh my, now you’re asking something. Well it’s as though I can’t breathe properly, my breathing gets tight in my chest, and I get funny feelings in my tummy and I just don’t want to be there watching or reading or listening about what’s happening.  Which isn’t right as I am not going to war – other people are.  Why I don’t even know anyone who has been to war or been involved in any war at all.  When I was working I used to avoid talking to people about ‘those situations’, I’d change the subject.”

Well her symptoms were definitely a panic response, in fact a typical fight or flight response.  And this lady knew about her breathing patterns, as she was a very keen golfer, indeed a very fit 68year old.

So, as she had said that she hadn’t been ‘touched’ by any of these wars personally, I thought I’d ask her of her earliest recollections of war. 

“Oh that’s easy,” she said.  “It was when I was 5, or was it 6?  We, I say we but it was me really, I was evacuated from London.  I remember plain as day standing on the station platform with my little case, and my little gas mask and box, and the label tied on string around my neck.  And I didn’t know what it said because - I don’t think I could read at that time.  But I knew I was going somewhere – without my mother and father.”

And then I asked her what had happened to her – after her remembering the station and her evacuation.

“Well nothing really, my father and mother moved up to where I had been evacuated to shortly after wards.  In fact they stayed in that area after the war.  So did I really going to school there and making friends there, that is until I started working.  Then my work took me out of the area, but I came back here to live when my mother became ill, and I looked after her, father couldn’t, well men can’t look after others really, can they?  And then she passed away.  And so now I have my own place next to my father – I don’t want to live with him, we both need our space.  I pop round to see him all the time, make his meals, take him out, we go on holiday together with his friends who are his age.  Now I don’t work I spend a lot of my time around there.  He’s very active for a 90year old you know.  And I make sure he has all the right foods, everything cooked freshly for him.  In fact he doesn’t like pre-cooked foods and it is a bit of a chore really as we have to be so careful where we go, I like him to have freshly cooked foods, even though we may be away.”

I then asked her when her first recollection was of this ‘panicky feeling’.  When did that start?

“Well, that must have been around the time my mother passed away…  Oh my – I hadn’t thought of that!  But why should mother passing away start off these panic attacks?”

I explained the connection between ‘emotions’ and repressed feelings of situations that we had ‘forgotten about’ and that sometimes a shock to the system triggers off those ‘locked in feelings’. 

“It’s rather like getting sunburn” I said, “We know when we’ve been sunburnt how uncomfortable it is, so we avoid situations where we may get sunburnt again.  Hence each time something came on television, or radio or in the newspapers, you avoided it – but you didn’t know why.  Because you had been ‘sunburnt’ as a child and didn’t want to go back there”.

So NOW we had found the ‘emotional’ trigger that had brought on, or rather released, the feelings that caused, the panic attacks.   Feelings of a ‘you’re leaving me here for me to go somewhere where I don’t know’ situation.  A situation that happened a long, long time ago, to a helpless little girl.  A situation that had happened almost 60 years previously.  Repressed feelings of abandonment.  And the emotional trigger had been her mother passing away and leaving her ‘to be in that situation again’. 

And what she had been doing subconsciously was reliving those feelings she had felt as a child.  Reliving them through all ‘war’ situations that came up where British soldiers were involved abroad – replicating the situation that happened in the war where British soldiers were sent abroad to fight.  That’s why the September 11^th 2001 Twin Towers situation she was shocked and appalled yet not panicky – because British soldiers were not involved in that.

So what could we do, now that we had – through talking about her situation using careful questioning – uncovered what had happened to her.

I suggested she tell me the whole story, from her as a 5-6 year old on that station to her mother passing away and on through to now, whilst she tapped on all of the EFT tapping points.  We used the ‘Story technique’.

This took us just under 15minutes, as she had already told me ‘her story’ I could include something if she missed it out.  There were no tears, no sharp intake of breath, and no sign of any emotion at all as we tapped away.  We had uncovered everything by careful questioning – and that in itself had released a lot of emotion.  And at the end of that tapping she said she felt like another person.  And indeed she looked like another person.  She was a lot brighter in herself, her voice was lighter and her facial colour was pinker.

So where does the marriage come into it?  You may well ask. 

Remember she mentioned that she had only had one romantic relationship in her life, and her father did not approve of it, so it was finished.  Well six months after releasing this ‘World War 2’ emotional memory, this lady had met up with someone whom she hadn’t seen since her secondary education days.  They met by chance - even though they lived in different towns.  He had been widowed a few years earlier.  And they met up again, and again, and again.  And she took him home to meet her father.  And within 6months they were engaged to be married. 

And 12 months later, they were married.  A big decision for her as she was still caring for her father at home and all three of them had to take his situation into account.  He agreed to ‘retire’ into a residential home near where they lived. 

Both were 70 when they were married and both looked so radiantly happy, it was as though they were both teenagers in their first flush of youth getting married - and not people in their 70s.  I had an invite to their wedding – that’s how I know.  And she hasn’t had any panicky feelings since letting go of those - way back in 2003.

So, could releasing those World War 2 ‘blockages’ have cleared the way for happiness to flow into this lady’s life?  I like to think so.  After all, in the energy business we know that we need to release those negative beliefs and energy blockages before we can access the joys and happiness that are out there for us – just waiting to come in...

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

 

EFT and a bad back - when to use EFT and when not to use EFT!

A little incident happened to me only 10 days ago, in fact it was whilst I was meeting up for lunch in a local pub with a group of female carers who had all been on my' Caring-4-Carers' training project several months earlier.  This 'Caring-4-Carers' project  taught them EFT, TAT and EmoTrance to deal with their stress.  They enjoyed the training so much and formed a group friendship so we know meet up monthly to see how things are going with each of us.

Well  the assistant manager behind the bar appeared very distressed, not concentrating, holding
one hand to the small of her back when she moved, she walked very stiffly and slowly too, her face was very white due to the severe lower back pain (which seemed to be at her coccyx area) she had which started as she was getting up that morning.  So after she finished taking orders at the till, I sought her out and asked if I could have a chat with her about her back problem and she agreed.  She had been crying - because of the intensity of the pain - and so looked very very uncomfortable indeed.

Well, I asked if I could try "this tapping technique on her that Paul McKenna was using on the tv"- I know he's using TFT yet all everyone sees him doing is tapping, so THAT is a good bridge to introduce it.  I told her that I'd been giving training in this particular technique, called EFT, since before Paul had been using it - which broke the ice with her. 

Well, we spent approximately 8 minutes together where she told me when it started, how it started and why she wouldn't go to the doctors - because they were so short-staffed because some fo the staff were on holiday and others were off ill, "Like you are" I quipped, and raised another small smile from her.

And so what we did (after gaining her permission to tap on her of course as I very very very seldomnly tap on the person themselves) was that I simply asked her to keep telling me how her back was feeling whilst I tapped on each of her tapping points, starting with her crown point - including her hands - and also including the Gamut Point Procedure too. 

No Set Up or Affirmations or 1-10 SUDs were used, just straight forward tapping.  Plus of course what was she saying about her back pain - and she was simply describing it in terms of colours and shapes,
and it went from a dark purple with shooting zigzags down her legs through to a beautiful pale pink and a very very small dot about the size of a pea in her lower back. 

Each time she stopped talking and describing it I prompted her to "tell me about it now, what's happening now" - thus keeping her focussed on the here and now.  She did ALL the describing whilst I just tapped her.  And after doing the rounds a full two times she smiled as the colour and shape and size of the pain had changed completely.

And at the end of the time she tested it by moving her knees (which were painful to bend previously),
twisting gently and walking on the spot - although by this time I could see her posture changing, her skin colour coming back and her voice changing too aswell the description of the pain gave me the SUDs level. 

By the time my lunch arrived (5minutes after stopping tapping) she was back at the till chatting and laughing with customers, using both hands to 'talk with' and was moving around and bending easily.  I did ask her to keep an eye on it and go to see her doctor if anything came back OR alternatively contact me as we could do 'this tapping' over the phone. 

Now my belief is that had we been working on that pain after it had happened and cleared up, she wouldn't have been able to contact it with anywhere near as much clarity because she wasn't actually immersed in the pain at that time, so the results wouldn't have been as rapid although I believe that we would have been able to release the emotions surrounding it in a slightly longer timeframe. 

So tapping on 'what is there NOW' certainly helps and shouldn't be shied away from whenever it is needed.

To contrast this situation with when I believe it's not wise to use EFT - I'd like to tell you about another recent experience I had - here I KNEW that I should not use EFT at that time, and didn't.   

I was recently offering an EFT Level 1 workshop to a group of wonderful volunteers who work for a local charity - and each of them all have their own area of expertise with which they work with clients.  One plucky lady acctually came in whilst she was on sick leave to find out about this 'wonderful technique she'd heard so much about'.

She had 6-weeks previously slipped a disc in her back and had great difficulty walking even with the aid of a walking stick.  However she managed to get up the 2 flights of stairs to the training room.  She hadn't taken her pain killers that morning, and sitting around in mainly one position had started one of her ankles swelling and so she took a painkiller to ease the pain. 

This very strong painkiller then had a very soporific effect on her, so that she was spacing out at times - something that happens with strong painkillers.  Now, IF the group had  been considerably smaller I would have considered working on her in front of the group however I realised that she felt as though she was taking the attention away from the group learning what it was there for, PLUS she had said that she was down to receive physiotherapy on her back and legs in the next few days so I made the decision that she really ought to be at home resting, and let the painkiller does its work as she really needed to rest.

So she went home in a taxi even though she lived locally - the effort of keeping herself alert was simply too much for her in her pained state, and I didn't want to use EFT to alleviate the swelling and discomfort in her ankles when she had a slipped disc - what might have happened was that the  'pain' she was having in her ankle might have gone and so she may easily have done even more damage to herself indirectly. 

In this situation I erred on the side of caution - which my intuition was telling me to do rather than blithely go in and 'work on her' and possibly cause more harm than good - almost like going for the kudos it might bring - in fact working from the ego-level.  Going in to 'save the client/patient' is something that I am all too aware that some inexperienced EFT-er may have done (in my place) without recognising the possible damage that they might be doing.

At least this lady knows she can contact me for help at any time she needs it, which is a whole different kettle of fish to her feeling that she's in the way and stopping others from learning, creating even more levels of discomfort.

Happy tapping

Christina

"Tapping makes the lines LOUDER and CLEARER"

Just before Christmas 2007 my lovely grandson was in his school Christmas concert and he had some lines to say.  And as he was staying with me one weekend he mentioned that someone in his class had said "I can't hear you 'cos you talk too quiet so no-one'll hear you".

Now, at 9years old a comment like that can be pretty gutting - especially when you've just been picked in your new school's concert.  So as he said this to me I asked him what the words were this lad had sais to him, and to be honest he IS such a quietly spoken lad I couldn't hear them very well - at 3 feet!!

So I decided to play this 'tapping game' with him.  I asked him to say the words that THAT lad had said to him again and then I tapped on him.  Well, he rolled over in laughter as I tapped on him - because he's so tickish!   So I changed tactic and asked him to say 'his' lines out LOUD whilst he tapped on himself and I tapped on myself too - so he didn't feel silly.

Then I asked him to go further away from me (about 5 feet away) and do it again, only he'd "have to shout as he was further away now".  So he moved further away, and tapping himself under his eye, his collar bone and under his arm, he raised his voice and the words were nice and clear. 

Then I asked him to move to the other side of the room (about 15 feet from me now) and shout louder whilst he still tapped himself.  His voice was still nice and loud and clear. 

So NOW I asked him to move into the hallway and still tap and shout the words, and he said he wanted to do a little action with his hands to the words, and sure enough at about halfway down our hallway (about 25 feet away from me now) he could still be heard nice and loud and clear.

And now I moved backwards (about 5 feet) into our conservatory whilst he moved even further away into the porch at the end of the hallway, he opened the hall door and stepped into the porch leaving the door open - so NOW we were at least 35 feet away from each other - and again he tapped whilst saying his lines AND using his little hands action too.  And he was STILL loud and clear.

Then he said he'd had enough and wanted to go call for his friend.  Which he did.

On the evening of the school concert the hall was packed to the gills with parents, grandparents, carers, brothers and sisters of the 'actors'.  And me, his grandad, his mum and dad were on the penultimate row of the hallway - at least 40feet away from the stage.

The time came and he came on the stage, and said his words LOUD and CLEAR AND used his hand gesture too.   He was briliant, we were so proud of him.

And ALL he was doing when we were at my house was 'simply tapping on te Anxiety Stopper points' whilst repeating aloud his spoken lines.  No need to go into his feelings or who said what or how he felt.  'EFT tapping' working again - without even focussing.  Brilliant.

Just goes to show that you don't ALWAYS have to follow the set procedure - just be creative ... see what happens

All the best

Christina Elvin

Get your creativity flowing - again!

OK - you KNOW you're creative yet there's simply zilch going on in the 'creativity dept' of your brain at the moment.  So what do we normally do when our creativity stops - and we realise it has stopped - we panic!!

Don't panic!!

Focus on just HOW you are feeling, say how you're feeling aloud and THEN just TAP whilst you're saying it.  That's right - just tap on each of these accupuncture / meridian points whilst you're SAYING ALOUD just how you feel:

outer edge of your eyebrow

inner edge (just above your nose) of your eyebrow

under your eye on the boney part of your eye-socket

centrally under your nose

centrally in the crease of your chin

just across the top of your chest area (just below your throat area and below your collar bone area - as though you've just eaten some too hot food and are patting your chest to cool it down) 

under your arm on the side of your body (about a hands-width down from your armpit) OR in men and children level with the nipple

on the bottom of your thumb nail - the side nearest your body

on the bottom of your index finger's nail - the side nearest your body

on the bottom of your middle finger's nail - the side nearest your body

on the bottom of your little (pinky) finger's nail - the side nearest your body

on the side of your hand where it bends - when you do a karate chop

Just tap each of these places at least 7times, and when you get to your Karate Chop (side of your hand) see how you feel now.

And if you've just been saying and tapping and are feleing better - then you've been EFT-ing.  For more information on this EFT-ing, why not visit my website:  www.emofree.biz   

But the BEST thing is: how's your creativity NOW?

Happy tapping

Christina Elvin

Clearing out & Letting go - to 'Get Creative'

"The seasons they are a-changing" - and so are we. 

As the trees start to shed their leaves ready for the winter hibernation and conservation of their energy - well in a way, so do we.  Yet do we really need to hibernate and conserve our energy?  Not nowadays we don't!   But how many of us will traditionally put away our 'bright and light' summer clothes and get out of storage those dull and heavy winter togs?  Many of my colleagues are already talking about doing just this as the first winter frosts appear in the night.

Let's face it, before central heating and double glazing and roof insulation we NEEDED our winter togs to keep us warm.  Yet very few people nowadays do not have central heating or double glazing or roof insulation - yet they still dig out their winter-duty clobber.

So just what am I saying here?  Come on and spit it right out then Christina.

What I am saying is that nowadays, with modern technology and also recognition of global warming, our winters need not be for 'hibernating' as THEY have changed from winters we remember as close as only 40years ago.  Winters CAN BE used as a 'productive and creative' time instead.

So how do we get started on this 'productivity and creativity'? 

Well for a start only use heavy out-door clothing WHEN we need to go out.  Wear your bright and light summery clothes indoors, you wear them in the summer because you feel comfortable in them, and they cheer you up, so why not continue to wear them through the winter - in our homes, on our social outings (which let's face it are usually in pubs or restaurants or night-clubs - which are very warm and insulated places anyway) and workplaces?  Doing this will keep your energies 'brighter and lighter'.

PLUS something else we can do sooo easily (to help along this productivity and creativity) is to de-clutter - go on give yourself some 'space to breathe easier'.  Have a look in one drawer, one cupboard, one wardrobe - and decide what you haven't used or worn for the last 3-6months - then place that 'something' in a black bin liner or a box and put it out of your sight in the attic or car port or garage or spare room.  Put a date tag on it, and go back to it in 3-6months time, and if you find you haven't needed it during the intervening period, then get rid of it - permanently - and you'll be surprised at how liberated and free-er you feel. 

So by giving yourself some more 'breathing space'  space-wise and what with wearing your 'bright and light' clothes you'll soon get your productivity up AND along with that 'free-er' and 'lighter' energy comes creativity.

Simple when you know how.  Give it a go ... surprise yourself this winter

Christina Elvin

'Clock Alphabet Soup Aspects'

Hi

This is something that I call my 'Clock Alphabet Soup Aspects' technique, which is a technique I put together a few years ago in response to clients who asked for "something to help them get their mind focussed on stuff to do in between sessions".  In other words, they know there's something at the back of their mind, can't quite put the name (label) to it and so they can't get it to concretise and come to the front of their mind - so they can work on it and with it.

What you do is:

1. draw a clock face on a piece of paper;
2. place YOUR problem (or what you feel MAY BE your problem but aren't quite certain) in the centre of the clock face;
3. draw 24 'minute' hands around your clock - each of them being a different length - however each of them comes out from the centre of the clock (your problem area);
4. starting from the top of the clock face (where 12 oclock is) and working your way around the clock in the normal way, attach one alphabet letter to each 'minute finger' in order - following the normal A, B, C, D etc format until you reach X and then put XYZ on the 24th finger (which is just before 12 clock);
5. proceed to "look at the centre of the clock (YOUR problem area) and then
6. look at the appropriate letter (starting with A) and close your eyes then;
7. open them again and look at that letter now and;
8. put/write down (at the side of the letter) whatever comes into your head and;
9. move on as soon as you have put your 'situation or feeling or words or whatever' against that letter - and if you find you wait more than 10 seconds and nothing comes to mind, then repeat steps 5 - 9;
10. when you have gone through ALL the alphabet letters in this specific order (THIS is VERY important) and completed as many as you can;
11. close your eyes and using your pen/pencil/crayon simply jab/dot/mark against one of the 24 fingers (this is the soup bit) and then;
12. using that chosen 'aspect' (which  is whatever you have written down against THAT letter) you simply work on it with whatever tool or technique you want to use - EFT, TAT, BSFF, visualisation, meditation etc etc

What's happening is that you are concentrating on the problem (clock) at steps 5 & 6 with your conscious mind.  At steps 7 & 8 you're allowing your mind to do a 'free association'  connection via your subconscious mind with THAT letter (allowing your mind to concentrate specifically on that letter).  Then at step 9 you are swiftly moving on to the next letter (hence you are not allowing your mind to dwell on one letter or problem aspect too long).

And at step 11 you are dealing with the aspects of THAT problem in a non-linear, non-logical manner (because they are chosen randomly).  Which is what happens when you eat a mixed soup such as mulligatawny or mixed vegetable and meat or vegetable soup or indeed a chowder - you put your spoon in and it could come out with liquid or vegetable or meat or a mixture - and it's completely randomly chosen.

By dealing with the 'aspects' in this way you are focussing 'away from' and yet 'still on' the problem - almost like "I know the problem is there however I'm not confronting it and looking directly at it because that might be uncomfortable" scenario.

A word of advice here though:  to use this technique you do need to have plenty of time and NOT expect to deal with it as a 'one-minute wonder'!  Many of our problems have been long in the developing, and so often we need time to deal with their aspects and root them out as much as possible, for they are - and have been - a part of our lives.  So really, in my opinion, we owe these aspects (or parts) some respect when we are letting them go.  And thus, again in my opinion, they 'are leaving us positively' and not as though they 'are being yanked out painfully' - like having a tooth extracted without anaesthetic.

And with this technique you can pick up the 'clock' at any time, and put it down again, and all you do is simply look at each 'finger' randomly until you feel you do not need to do it anymore.  And of course you'll know when that happens, because when you look at the remaining 'clock fingers' that haven't been dealt with, there simply won't be any 'zings' - better known as SUDs - anymore.

Christina Elvin

Are your tanks dry? or are you just plain ol' cranky?

Are you hydrated enough?

Do you drink enough water?

Do you find yourself getting cranky about tea-time (late afternoon) and forgetful too? It could simply be that you are plain and simply dehydrated.

Many's the time when we, and especially self-employed people who often work alone, work through for hours on end, without any breaks, and often without even drinking anything.

Then we get forgetful, make mistakes easily and blame ourselves!

And really all we need is a drink of water or some fluid which will hydrate us (and not alcoholic because that dehydrates us even more!!) - and that water (plain old water is best really) will put the water back into our cells again because believe it or not water simply seeps away from our bodies by us having a wee, or sweating, or even just by breathing.  And how often do we realise this?  Not often I'll bet.

The accepted 'norm' for drinking water is 2 litres per day which can look like a whole bathful to drink if we see it all at once, in a large bottle. So just have the 500ml bottles around, 4 small bottles is best, and leave them around your place, to drink from when you are in THAT space. I'd keep one in my office, one in my consulting room (in a carafe of course), one in my bathroom and one in my kitchen.

I have found that having little sips throughout the day from small bottles does not make me feel "Oh I'll never drink all of that!". And then first thing in the morning - I'd clean them out and fill them up again.

Try it - and if it doesn't work for you - you may simply be 'just plain ol' cranky!'

Christina Elvin

'Energy Vampires'

Ok - so you know that you feel pretty yucky each time you meet with or talk with a particular person.  Yet you don't know why this happens.

It could simply be that this other person is what's called (in the complementary therapies field) an 'Energy Vampire'.

THEY feel such a lot BETTER AFTER they've met you or spoken to you either face to face or over the telephone or mobile or through emails.  YET YOU FEEL so much worse for the experience.  You might feel more tired, more exhausted, drained, energyless, 'down', lifeless, simply yucky. 

Each of these 'feelings' are normal in normal circumstances and the odd occurrance is acceptable.  Yet if you notice these 'feelings' each and every time you meet or speak with a particular person, then there's definitely energy drainage somewhere - even though it is not deliberately done.

So just what can you do about it?  Well there's really quite a lot you can do about it.  And here's some of the ways you can use to 'do something about it'.

For those who follow the complementary therapies (aka New Age) route, before you meet this person you can:

1. imagine a beautiful ball of white healing protective light surrounding you
2. imagine a beautiful pink and/or green light emanating from your Heart Chakra, enveloping your whole body and that of the the other person when they come into 'view'
3. ground yourself by imagining roots (like tree roots) coming from your feet and going through the ground and earth to the centre of the earth.  And when these roots reach the centre of the earth, allow whatever colour/s is/are there to flow back up these roots, into your body and allow this colour/s to flow out through the Crown Chakra to cover your whoe body and be taken up again to keep on enveloping your body with this colour
4. use the 'Cutting Ties' technique to release this person from your energy field
5. shake your hands, as though you are shaking off droplets of water AFTER meeting/speaking with them
6. carry around a protective gem - that you have chosen
7. cleanse the area AFTER your meeting by using energy cleansing sprays or white smudge sticks
8. clap the area to cleanse it AFTER your meeting, making certain you get right in those tricky corners of the room
9. have uplifting incense/burning oils about when you meet

And if you don't follow the complementary therapies route, then you could try these:

1. avoid meeting/speaking with them for 28 days
2. be assertive and explain to them how you "feel after you have meet/spoken with them and ask them for their help"
3. make sure you are never alone with them either in person or speaking with them over the telephone or mobile
4. if you do speak with them on the telephone or mobile, limit your time with them even if it means making up an excuse
5. use the NLP movie technique, and imagine them as a silly doll or animal and yourself as being confident and strong and full of vitality in the 3rd movie
6. write them a letter explaining how you feel after you have met/spoken to them, then tear that letter up into small pieces and burn it - DO NOT SEND IT

However, each of the above surmises that they person is not doing the 'draining' deliberately, it is accidental.  If it IS deliberate then they could be 'psychically attacking you' in which case you definitely need to seek professional help.

Christina Elvin

Here’s a new meaning to “ZIP UP!” – an Energy Protection exercise

This is a very powerful 10-second exercise that is beneficial for ALL therapists and practitioners AND is also very beneficial for clients too. In fact I include it as part of my ‘Therapists Maintenance’ advice.   

So, if you find you feel ‘low’ AFTER talking to or meeting someone in particular then this ‘low feeling’ could mean that your ‘energies’ are being drained! – non-intentionally  - by what I term ‘energy vampires’. 

Ok then – what do you do?  Well, before meeting or talking to them, try this out:

1. With the palm of your hand facing the front of your body and about 1-2ins (2-5cms) away from your body:
2. Move that hand down from your crown area to your pubic area once (UNZIP);
3. Now move that same hand from your pubic area up to your crown area 3 times (ZIP UP).

NB:  And when you move your hand back down for the top of your body, make sure you move your hand out to the side of you, else you'll be unzipping what you've just zipped up.

This little exercise protects us from ‘negative’ or ‘lower vibration’ energies – quite handy - wouldn’t you say?

Christina Elvin