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Maggie’s Articles

EFT for Meditation
Freeing the Critical Mind into Self Acceptance
If a Client Starts Shaking
The Missing Migraine
Using EFT to Raise Levels of Minerals, Amino Acids and Vitamins in the Body
Working with the Emotions within Pain
Zach’s Fear of Dogs
An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma (Part One)
An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma (Part Two)
Difficult Decisions Can Be Much Easier With EFT   
Inner Dialogues with EFT   

Please know that this page is an ongoing project. As I write articles or “find” articles I have written in the past, I will add them to this page.

Using EFT for Meditation

EFT and Loving Kindness Meditation

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Freeing the Critical Mind into Self Acceptance

“Releasing critical mind is a door that, once opened, can lead to great healings in your life.” Maggie Adkins

If you hear yourself judging others, you DO judge yourself also!
If you are critical of yourself, you may as well be driving through life with your brakes on!

One of the challenges of working with the critical mind is that quite often we don’t even hear it until it has already done its dirty deed. It is inside us, just beyond reach, and we are so used to it that oftimes we don’t even hear it. Then we wonder why we don’t feel so good. Critical mind can affect every area of our lives and over an extended period of time, I believe it can actually make us sick. As a by-product, it also costs us our self esteem. In case you haven’t noticed, most therapies fail miserably at getting inside that voice and shifting it into self acceptance. EFT excels at discovering, acknowledging and changing that critical mind. Read on.

• Where does the critical, judging mind come from?
For many of us, critical mind has taken on the voice of a critical parent, sibling, friend, authority figure, or other significant person - usually in childhood. We don’t have the tools as children to discern that someone else’s criticism may have nothing at all to do with us and everything to do with that other person.
If we are judged often enough as children, there is a good chance we will take on those judgments as truth and repeat them in our own mind over a lifetime – or until we discover and apply EFT. We can become so good at being hard on ourselves that we often do a better job than the original person.

• Can you have critical mind without having low self esteem?
Each of these conditions adds fuel to the other. I can assure you that if you have a significant amount of one, you have both. I can also assure you that if you have an active critical mind, it is holding you back in at least one area of your life.

• Can we just judge others and not ourselves?
A resounding “NO!” An interesting thing about critical mind is
that it may tell us that we only judge others or that we only judge ourselves. If you judge yourself, you DO judge others. If you judge others, you DO judge yourself. The judging mind has no way to separate you from anyone else. There is a third piece to this triangle that most people don’t realize and that makes it even more interesting. If you judge, you are also looking at others to see if they are judging you. You can now add rejection and abandonment to the possible consequences of an active critical mind.

We may never know how critical mind has held us back from being all we can be. The good news is that EFT can replace the voice of critical mind with kindness and self acceptance. I have used the following program and programs similar to it with many of my clients with excellent results.

This is an EFT gentle awareness practice that can shift that critical, judging mind fairly easily. There are two main components - tapping consistently for a designated period of time and keeping track of what comes up in a journal. You can probably do a lot of this program on your own, however, there is usually a stumbling block that is difficult to discern on your own. You may want a skilled EFT practitioner to guide you through those portions of this life changing program.

The first step is to make a commitment to yourself to do this practice for at least two weeks. Have a beginning date and an ending date. You can always extend the ending date, but it helps some people to know that there is an ending date out there. After the initial two week commitment, you can evaluate your progress and alter the program to fit your needs.

Get a small journal and label it “Judging Journal.” It has to be small so you can carry it everywhere you go.

Every time you hear yourself judging yourself or others you do 2-3 rounds of EFT (I use the Short Cut version) on whatever the judging voice has just said. Here are some examples:

“Even though I am being hard on myself………..”
“Even though I’m judging myself again……..”
“Even though I said I was stupid again……”
“Even though I just said I was worthless again……..”
“Even though I just told myself I couldn’t do anything right again……….”
“Even though I get so angry when I tell myself I’m stupid……… “
“Even though I’m judging (her/him/whoever) again,……. “
“Even though I’m my worst nightmare, just like (name that person)……”

After doing 2-3 rounds of EFT, you write whatever the judging voice said in your journal. If you can’t tap immediately, you can write it in your journal first. Just make sure you do both – tapping and writing it down - each time.

One client told me that this practice made her judge herself. Tapping on the critical mind simply makes us more aware of the judging we have been subjecting ourselves to. The judging was already there – you are just catching it at its game. And the good news is that the more conscious you become of that judging voice, the sooner you catch it and the sooner you can tap it away and discover and cancel out core issues.

You may remember things that happened as a child. Either tap on them when you remember them or write them down in your “Judging Journal” for later. As always, the more specific you can be with EFT, the more powerful it can be. If you remember specific times that these criticisms were thrown at you, please tap on them as time allows. It is important to write them down if you can’t tap on them right away. If you remember several, ask yourself which is the most intense and tap on that. Then see what happened to the others – tap them away one at a time. This is one of those important plateaus where it can be very helpful to have a professional EFT practitioner guide you through the maze.

After at least a week of tapping and making notes, you will want to study the hidden gems in your journal. As you uncover important contributions to critical mind, make notes regarding what influences and circumstances have led you to these criticisms. As you go through the journal, ask yourself probing questions such as the following:

Is there a pattern?
What judgments are you laying on yourself most often?
Which judgments hurt the most?
Whose voice originally said those things?
Where did I learn that?
What or who does that remind me of?
What circumstances brought me to this judgment about myself?
Can I recognize the source of this/these judgments?

The answers to those questions can give us some very rich tapping.

You have now made some discoveries about that critical mind of yours – it is not really yours at all. You have been led to believe it is who you are, but it is really conditioning. As Gary Craig might say in his Palace of Possibilities, it is simply the “writing on your walls.” It is not who you are!!

It may be that you now recognize someone else’s ideas or voice. If you recognize that someone else’s critical voice has taken residence in your mind, you will want to tap on that, being as specific as possible where and when you can. If there is more than one person, please tap on each person individually. The more specific you are, the more powerful this can be. If both mom and dad contributed to critical mind, tap on each in separate EFT rounds. It may be that you can’t heal one of them totally until you tap on the other, though. In this example, mom and dad are different aspects of a bigger picture. Here are some suggestions:

“Even though I have this mom voice in my head…..”
“Even though I have this dad voice in my head……”
“Even though I have taken on mom’s criticism so well, I’m actually better at it than her…….”
“Even though mom taught me this, she was probably taught the same thing……”
“Even though dad screamed at me that I was stupid……..”
“Even though mom didn’t make dad stop screaming and just stood by and let it happen…….”
“Even though I don’t know where this came from and I want to know…….”
“Even though I took this on as a child, it does not serve me anymore and I choose to feel good about myself.”
“Even though I believed her/him, it isn’t the truth. It is safe to let this go now.”

After the initial two weeks, I suggest you take a short break in the process and then determine if you want to continue for another two week commitment. The reason I suggest two weeks is that most people can make an agreement to do this for two weeks and then keep that agreement with themselves. My experience is that it is a lot more difficult to just start this without an agreement with yourself as to specifically what you are going to do and when it is going to end. Remember we are dealing with critical mind and that mind can give you a hard time about stopping too soon, not doing it enough, failing at this too and other nauseating ideas. If you know you are going to do this for two weeks and then look at the results, there is less to blame yourself for and there is something to be proud of. You will have kept that commitment with yourself. And I feel sure you will notice some shifts.

I am not suggesting that everything will be healed in two weeks. You may want to take a few days off after the initial two weeks and then make a new commitment with yourself to continue for another two weeks. I personally feel that it is important – even nurturing - to take a bit of space when doing an intense practice like this. You can continue like this two weeks at a time, with some time in between for relaxing until you feel a significant shift in your daily life and outlook.

And if you don’t keep that commitment to yourself, when did being hard on yourself help anything? If you didn’t finish this, feel you didn’t do it right, whatever the judgment is, tap on that also. Gentleness is all important to this practice. The whole idea is to stop being so hard on ourselves!!

A teacher of mine used to say that it is not how we fall down that matters – it is how we pick ourselves back up. Here is some suggested tapping just in case you fall down:

“Even though I did it again – blew it – couldn’t do it right…….”
“Even though – once again - I couldn’t keep my promise to myself…….”
“Even though I can’t finish anything – they’re right, maybe I am stupid…….”
“Even though I’m really angry at myself…….”
“Even though I don’t deserve to have a better life…….”

Some Additional Help – Make A Contract With a Friend

“A Contract With a Friend” can be a very helpful addition to releasing critical mind. I only set up this up for a week. It can always be renewed and it is much easier to renew it than to explain why you want to stop it. You will want to see how this works with the person you have chosen before you commit to a longer period than a week. Make this easy on yourself.

This is the contract. Every time your friend hears you judge yourself or someone else, the friend simply says, “Judging.” Since you don’t always hear the judging voice inside you, especially in the beginning, this can be very powerful and can help you to hear that voice and start shifting it much more quickly.

Your friend does not lecture you or make other comments. This is an important part of the contract. Your friend just says “Judging,” and you respond in whatever way is appropriate for you. Sometimes it will be with grace, sometimes it will be with frustration. Be sure to warn your friend that you may or may not respond with pleasure.

Your friend may have something of their own to work on. You might help them by doing the same thing, either with judging or perhaps with rescuing or being a procrastinator or perfectionist. “A Contract With a Friend” can help with lots of conditions, not just judging. This wonderful practice comes from the work of Stephen and Ondrea Levine and I thank them.

Critical Mind Can Impact Your Whole Life

My experience is that working with critical mind in this way makes the rest of the work we do together much easier. When you take that burden of judgment out of any condition, many things can change.

If you have questions about this, want information about the book in progress on this work, or want to share the results of doing this process, please feel free to contact me.

Maggie Adkins
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au

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If the client starts shaking...

(Please note this was taken from an article I wrote for Gary Craig’s Newsletter.)

Hi Everyone,

Maggie Adkins has many years of EFT experience and is a seasoned pro at giving EFT workshops. As you will see, however, even the pros run into clients who respond in a surprising manner. Please note Maggie's use of a form of the Constricted Breathing Technique (demonstrated in our video set Steps Toward Becoming The Ultimate Therapist ).

Hugs, Gary

By Maggie Adkins

I have traveled a lot in the last 6 years and one of the ways I have created EFT clients and workshops while on the road is to give free talks and demonstrations. It has worked very well for me over the years.

I defined phobia, for the sake of the demonstration, as a fear that has no basis in a person’s actual physical experience. Part of my definition of phobia is that you have no idea of why you have the fear -- or terror.

At this particular demonstration, several people volunteered. Nancy said she had a fear of heights. I asked a second time if anyone’s fear had any experiential basis. I made it clear that if they had any actual experiences that might have resulted in this fear, in my definition, that is not a phobia. Everyone, including Nancy, said no.

We went through one complete round with everyone tapping on their particular phobia. As I was asking for people to check their Intensity Meters, Nancy fell to the floor, her arms and legs shaking more and more with each passing second.

This is the part I’m not sure I should own in public. However, I must admit that my first thought was, “D___n, she is ruining my demonstration.”

I immediately came to my senses, fell to my knees beside her and asked her, “Has this ever happened before?” She said it had happened many times before.

I then asked her if she had any idea of why she was shaking. She told me that when she did the tapping it brought up all the times her mother had thrown her down the stairs as a child. I would never have worked on an issue like this in a short group demonstration! But there we were.

I asked her how long it usually took for the shaking to stop. She told me it took anywhere from 3 hours to a few days.

I suggested that the rest of the group have their tea and cookies and that Nancy and I go off to a private room.

Once in a private setting, I realized I had no idea of what to do. And I remembered being told, “If you don’t know what else to do, do Constricted Breathing.”

I asked her if I could tap for her because she was shaking so badly she would not have been able to tap on herself. She shook her head yes, and I picked up her hand, began tapping the Karate Chop point and asked her to repeat what I said,

“Even though I have this constricted breathing, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

To tell you the truth, I felt a bit like God’s fool because I had no idea whether this would work or not. This is where I remembered Gary’s advice to trust your intuition and be willing to be God’s fool, and I just kept tapping. Constricted breathing is the only thing that came to my awareness and I trusted it.

I tapped on each point, saying, “constricted breathing,” suggesting she take nice deep breaths – no force, just easy and as deep as she could. I made the sound of release, “ahhhh,” as I was tapping. On each point, I said, “constricted breathing.”

Stopping the shaking was all I cared about in the moment, so an intensity meter was not necessary. Success would be obvious.

After just one round, the shaking subsided. Within 3 rounds, it was totally gone. I don’t know who was more relieved, Nancy or me.

Obviously this was not the first time she had experienced the shaking. However, it was the first time it had stopped before several hours or even a few days. We had only tapped for about 12 minutes.

(Note from Maggie: When doing Constricted Breathing, sometimes the breathing gets more shallow after the first round, then breaks free the next round. I’m not a doctor and can’t give you medical advice, and my own experience is that it is not something to be concerned about. I just keep tapping and it has always cleared into deeper and softer breaths. Doing this technique in a room full of people can quickly change the energy of that room. Another point I want to make about the Constricted Breathing technique is that, if you are stuck in an issue you are working on, you can switch to Constricted Breathing – I always do at least 3 rounds if I’m using it this way -- and then go back to the original issue. It can help un-stick the original issue or bring in other aspects of that issue that need work. I’d love to know about your experiences using Constricted Breathing in this way for a book I am writing.)

After the shaking stopped, I knew we weren’t finished. I asked Nancy if she was afraid the shaking would come back. Her response was a huge up and down shake of her head and an emphatic “Yes.”

This time we used the intensity meter – I asked her if it was a ten and I think she said it was more like 10,000.

Starting with the Karate Chop point, and this time with Nancy tapping on herself, we began with

“Even though I have this fear – this terror – the shaking will come back, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

We went through all the points saying, “afraid it will come back,” and sometimes saying, “terrified that shaking will come back.” We tapped on that until it was a zero, which actually took longer than it took for the original shaking to stop..

I feel that no matter what kind of issue a client has, it is always wise to ask if they have a fear the issue or pain or situation will come back. My experience of this has been very powerful and very important.

Maggie Adkins

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The Missing Migraine

One of my favorite Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) discoveries is that when we release negative beliefs or heavy emotions that might have something to do with dis-stress or dis-ease the body is feeling – pain may just go away. Releasing the emotions that may be (at least partially) creating the pain, as well as relieving the emotions that usually accompany having pain in the body, can not only relieve symptoms, it can increase the quality of many people’s lives.

I love to use EFT to help people who are afraid of speaking in public or who have performance anxiety. EFT quite often helps people who are severely limited in pursuing their dreams in the performing arts arena. My work with theatre folks is what connected me to a theatre mom named Cindy and her migraine.

Cindy was not a client. We both just happened to be in the same place at the same time and she happened to have “one of those” migraines. She didn’t think she could do anything to make “that thing” go away.

I was teaching EFT at a weekend Performance Anxiety workshop, sponsored by a singing school in SouthEastern Australia. I was working with a group of about 30 people. We were addressing fear of singing, dancing, microphones and other issues that are related to performing in public.

I had just finished teaching and noticed that Cindy, who was going to teach Stage Presence and Stage Make-Up, was standing outside holding her head. She was in a very agitated state and she was due on stage in 25 minutes. I left the workshop and went outside to ask her if I could help. She had “one of those” migraines, she said, and she didn’t know how she was going to teach. I asked if she would like to try something that couldn’t hurt her and might actually get rid of her headache. I also told her it might be a bit strange to her. She said, “Yes.”

There was no diagnosis or talk of curing or healing the body. My goal was to release any heavy emotions and negative beliefs that might have had something to do with her pain.

I knew a little about her life as a stage mother and supporter of theatre. She did everything from costumes and makeup to directing and being active as a stage mother for her own teenage daughters as well as many other theatre folks of all ages. I had never seen this woman when she wasn’t busy taking care of someone else. We only had 25 minutes before she was scheduled to teach, so I quickly began talking her through EFT, using my intuition and the information I already knew about her life. It was not a usual client situation.

We tapped on the various EFT points while saying, “Even though I have this head full of everybody else, no room for me. No room for what I want. I don’t even know what I want. Head full of things to do. Never enough time. No time for me. Head full of kids. Head full of costume making. Head full of helping, helping, helping, always helping other people. So much to do, so little time. Even though all these things are true, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.

After only a few minutes, she was laughing at some, nodding her head at some, and adamant about others – some of these were on target and were serious business. While some of what I said was probably not right at all, I knew we were addressing some pertinent issues. When we stopped, after about 5-7 minutes of continual tapping, her headache had gone from a 10 to a 4 or 5 on the Intensity Meter.

In EFT, we create an Intensity Meter to tell us whether an issue has gotten better or worse. The Intensity Meter measures the emotional intensity generated when we tune into a problem. The rating is from zero to ten, with zero being no intensity at all and ten being the worst intensity. If the issue or situation doesn’t bother you at all, it is a zero.

After the initial tapping, I asked her how she felt, if the headache had moved and how it might be different. Using the knowledge I had just gained from checking in with her, we then tapped on, “Even though there is no room for me, I gotta make room for me, get rid of some of these people in my head and let myself into my OWN HEAD and MY OWN LIFE. Too many people in MY head. Let them live in their own head for a while. I need me in my head. I’m gonna fill my own head. I’m taking care of MYself now. It is time. It is important. Putting me back in my OWN head. I still love them, but I need me now. And that’s okay and all right. Making space in my head for ME. Space in my head. All those things I’m supposed to do for everybody else are clearing out and making room for ME.” The whole time we were saying these words, we were lightly tapping on the EFT points.

We found ourselves both letting go of a big sigh and making that wonderful sound of relief, “ahhhh.”

Her relief was obvious. She was laughing a bit more and instead of holding her head, she was shaking her head in disbelief. This was NOT within her belief system of how things should work. I knew that, and that was all right with me. I simply wanted to help her get rid of her headache so she could teach the workshop in comfort.

When we checked her Intensity Meter, it was a 2. At that point, she said the key words that continually amaze me. She said something like, “I feel much better. I can cope with this now.” At this point, Cindy started to walk away from me. I gently took her by the arm, turned her toward me and said, “Do you want to cope or do you want to get rid of it?” We can probably just get rid of it, you know.”

She stopped and looked at me. She was shocked. That had not occurred to her at all. We did a couple more minutes of EFT, including, “Even though I don’t know how to nurture ME, maybe it’s time to learn. How can I take care of so many others if I’m so depleted? It is a good thing to take care of myself. My head is filling with me right now. Just me in my head. They can take care of themselves for a little while. Time to nurture me. It’s my turn. I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

When I checked in with her, her headache was totally gone. The migraine was missing and that was fine with Cindy.

This is not an isolated incident. Sometimes I won’t even know my clients are in pain. We’ll be working on an emotional issue or a negative belief pattern and they will mention that their headache is gone, or their knee doesn’t hurt anymore.

Energy techniques like EFT are now a part of the world we live in. EFT is easy to learn. It is gentle, it is ever so powerful, and you can use it for just about anything. When someone asks Gary Craig (the founder of EFT) if EFT will work on something, his answer is, “Try it and find out.”

I want you to pay particular attention to Cindy’s, “I can cope with this.” How many times in the past have we attempted to heal something, to let go of a trauma or memory that haunts us? After a while, we might give up. We might decide that if we can just get rid of the pain enough to cope, maybe that is as good as it gets.

The fact is that it might be a lot easier for you to rid yourself of those old traumas, fears and heavy emotions now than ever before.

Maggie Adkins

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Using EFT to Raise Levels of Minerals, Amino Acids and Vitamins in the Body

Introduction

Life Systems is a computerized diagnostic system that reads the skin to determine the amounts of minerals, amino acids and vitamins in the body. It reads the skin electronically through sensors placed around the head, wrists and ankles.

I had two readings 9 days apart. In between those readings I did EFT for 8 days on each of the readings that were 60 and higher. The higher the readings in this system, the less of that particular item is in the body.

The optimum (normal) reading for each item is 0-29.
A low reading is 30-65.
Anything over 66 is extremely low.
The operators of the system suggest extra supplementation for any reading over 30.

EFT for Eight Days

Life Systems reads 56 different items. I did EFT for the 17 items that had readings of 60 or more.

For 8 days, I did the following EFT. I did not alter my diet in any conscious manner nor did I change the supplements that I take.

Two rounds of EFT were done daily on each reading over 100. One round of EFT was done daily on any reading 60 or over and less than 100.

The following are the EFT affirmations I used:

“Even though my ______ reading is ____, I deeply and profoundly accept myself (sometimes I added “and my body”). I ask (sometimes I changed ask to choose or command) that my ______ reading be between 0 & 30, whatever is perfect for my body/mind/spirit right now.”

(Sometimes I added the following “I ask that my ____ reading come into balance for the greater good of my body/mind/spirit.”)

“I forgive myself for any contribution I may have made to my _____ reading being low. I forgive whoever may have made a contribution to my ____ reading being low.”

Readings Before and After EFT

The two readings were done on November 16 and November 25, 2005.
There are three categories: Minerals, Amino Acids and Vitamins. The readings here are only on the items over 60 that I did EFT for each day.

The functions of the various minerals, amino acids and vitamins listed below are copied from the Life Systems reports.

The Life Systems practitioners thought the few higher readings were a result of EFT putting my body in a detoxification process.

Minerals

* Please note that I did not know how to pronounce Molybdenum. Instead of saying it out loud in the EFT affirmation, I just looked at the word. I now wonder if that was not as powerful as saying the word. If I had to do this over again, I would ask how to pronounce Molybdenum and say it out loud with confidence.

Amino Acids

Vitamins

Summary

Out of 17 items in this study, 15 of the readings improved, some of them by a large amount. Two of the readings got worse. The Life Systems practitioners felt that doing EFT had put my body in a detoxification process, which would account for some readings being worse after 8 days of EFT.

I am delighted with the outcome. While this is not a controlled clinical study, it has proven to me, once again, that EFT can make a profound physiological difference in my body. As Gary Craig has said many times, “We are on the ground floor of the healing highrise”. What an exciting time for those of us who have EFT in our toolbox!

Maggie Adkins
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au

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Working with the Emotions within Pain

While this document does describe methods of working with pain using EFT,
if you have physical pain in the body,
it is important that you consult with your doctor or medical professional.

There are numerous ways to work with pain using EFT. Sometimes pain just shifts while working on another issue. That issue could be anything: past trauma; anger; grief; sadness, and a myriad of other issues. At other times, you may want to do EFT while focused specifically on pain in the body.

This document outlines three ways to work with pain in the body.

1. Focus on the actual pain.

Even though I have this lightning bolt pain in my side, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I have this throbbing headache in the front of my head, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I have this dull ache in my left knee, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.

2. Focus on how you feel about the pain.

Even though I’m afraid if this pain keeps up, I won’t be able to dance anymore, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I’m terrified I’ll lose my job if this pain gets worse, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though if I was the person I think I am, I would have gotten rid of this pain long ago, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I have these emotions about having this pain, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.

3. Find an emotion or quality in the pain or part of the body in pain.

Even though I have this resentment in my shoulder, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I have this anger in my lower back – nobody ever supported me and I’m tired of doing it all myself – I deeply and profoundly accept myself.
Even though I have this shame/grief/sadness (whatever it is) in my _____, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.

These are just a few ideas. Use your genius and your intuition.
Maggie Adkins
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au

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Zach's fear of dogs

(This was in Gary Craig’s newsletter on January 11, 2003.)

Gary,

Here is an example of working with children.

Zachary is 5 years old and had an experience where a dog almost bit him. Ever since then, he has gotten more and more scared of dogs. Just before I met him, he had seen a dog and just jumped off his bike and ran across the road without looking to see if a car was coming.

His mother was afraid that he would get hurt because of his fear of dogs. I spent about 10 minutes with Zach who couldn't even think about a dog-- at least he said he couldn't. I tapped on him anyway as I was talking to him. Then he went outside to play. We needed to prove to him that there was not a dog in the fenced yard first.

I worked with his mother regarding her fears for her son for about fifteen minutes and they left. After they left, I did two rounds of EFT pretending I was Zach. I said, "Even though I have this fear of dogs, I totally and completely accept myself."
GC COMMENT: An interesting use of surrogate tapping.

I had asked Zach's mother to test the work and they did that later in the day. Zach was not afraid of dogs later that day and hasn't had any fear of dogs since. Mom also reported that she didn't worry about Zach anymore. The session was about four months ago.

Maggie Adkins

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An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma (Part One)
Maggie Adkins, EFT Master

This is Part One of Two on using EFT on a specific trauma. Part One concentrates on the situations and methods that are involved in using EFT on traumas. Part Two will focus on particular traumas and the words and phrases that were instrumental in bringing about EFT’s incredible gifts of emotional relief and freedom from the sabotage of old traumas.

A trauma, such as a car accident or being betrayed by a friend or lover, can have impacts that reach deep into our subconscious, sometimes causing behaviors or fears   many years later. Those behaviors or fears may at first seem unrelated to the old trauma that is actually driving them; however, when we look for core issues to current behavior, those old traumas can show themselves as being huge saboteurs in our lives.

EFT surpasses anything else I know for releasing the negative emotions and resultant behaviors from a specific trauma. In my experience, the biggest obstacle to success in resolving traumas with EFT is people’s lack of specificity about the details or aspects of that trauma.

Sometimes, we just don’t know the specifics. If that’s true, we use EFT by working with what we do know, even if that information is very general. When we start off with general issues, sometimes that wonderful EFT journey will include remembering more specifics and sometimes it will not. We just work with what we have. When we do know specific details, it is best to do EFT on those details.

What follows is a formula for working with a specific trauma or event when you DO know specifics. This article does not cover situations wherein the client is overwhelmed at the beginning. If my client is overwhelmed, I would start off with very general phrases. The formula I share with you here is for those times when the trauma is still a major thread in our life, but we are not incapacitated by it.  

Central in using the technique is remembering to work with only one trauma at a time and not move around from one trauma to another. It is useful to incorporate different aspects of a trauma in a single round of EFT, however be careful not to switch to another trauma.   I often use more than one aspect of a trauma in a single round of EFT when using the free flowing language method. (The free flowing language method is found on many of Gary Craig’s DVDs and consists of rounds where the phraseology includes more than one aspect.)  If there are multiple traumas, the first question may be:

“Which is the most intense trauma?”
or
“Which one happened first — which trauma from the past may be overloading
the more recent trauma?”

If there is more than one trauma I find it is helpful to write them down. Then, consciously choose the one that you feel is the most pivotal in your healing at this time.

Making an Aspect List
Once the particular trauma is chosen, I like to make a list of all the aspects of that trauma, in as much detail as possible. The aspects are what make up the whole, collective trauma. My favorite analogy of how EFT works is Gary Craig’s image of a table top being the issue and the legs being the aspects that hold the table top up. Knock out enough of the aspects and the legs collapse, leaving perhaps a memory, but no more trauma. You don’t have to knock out all the aspects for the issue to collapse, just as you don’t have to get rid of all the legs of a table in order for the table top to collapse.

What follows are two examples of traumas and what might be the various aspects to work on with EFT. The first example relates to betrayal, the second relates to a car accident.

Sample aspects of a Betrayal trauma:

• He lied about me, said I cheated her.
• I feel like such a fool.
• I trusted him — how can I ever trust anyone again?
• I chose him as my friend/lover/whatever —can’t trust myself to choose again.
• I can’t believe he actually did _________ .
• I can’t believe he actually said __________ .        
• When I tried to counter the allegation, he lied again about me.
• When I told mom about it, she just said, “Get a life! .No support there.”
• They will think I’m a liar, a cheat.
• This keeps happening to me — must be something wrong with me.
• I feel so lonely — there’s no one to share this with.
• I don’t know what to do.
• I’m embarrassed to face the others again.
• I must be unlovable or people wouldn’t keep doing this to me.

Sample aspects of a Car Accident trauma:

• Saw that truck coming toward me and knew it was going to hit me.
• Woke up and smelled gasoline and couldn’t open my door.
• The car could have burst into flames any minute and I would have died.
• Had to wait a long time smelling gas before anyone got there to help me.
• What would my five-year-old son have done without his mother if I had died?
• I WAS going too fast — it was all my fault.
• The police didn’t even test the other driver’s breath for alcohol and I’m sure he was drunk

This issue may remind you of something in your past
The above aspects may all be for a trauma that happened recently and you may automatically do EFT on that trauma. .However, it is a very good thing to ask the core issue question, “What does that remind you of?”  

If a similar trauma happened long ago, it may be that the first experience that is not healed is stockpiling into the more current trauma and we may have to heal the first trauma before we can get great results with the more recent one. If there are multiple similar traumas, I get the best results by doing EFT with whichever trauma has the most intensity. Most often, the first incident has more intensity.

I determine intensity by using the Intensity Meter – 0-10 with 10 being the worst intensity. Clients rate how they feel before we work on the issue, then again during the work.

The Movie
Once you have decided what you want to work on and the aspects are written down, I ask a client to run the movie through his or her mind. After they have run the trauma movie through their mind, they may have more aspects to record. You can do EFT on the general movie name. Examples are: that betrayal, the car accident. However, faster healing normally occurs when you work with one of the most intense aspects rather than the entire trauma.

Which aspect is most intense?
If my client is in overwhelm or extremely emotional, I wouldn’t go immediately into the most intense aspect. However, if my client is calm, I would work with the most intense aspect first. Do several rounds on that aspect. Check the Intensity Meter to make sure the intensity is going down. If it does not go down, it is probably because  there is a much greater core issue that must be addressed first. If this happens, keep asking questions and probing to discover the appropriate core issue.

If the Intensity Meter does go down with the first aspect, keep with that aspect as long as you’re getting improvement. I like to get issues down to a zero, but often we have to work with more than one aspect before any go down to zero. Because all aspects are interconnected — like pieces of a puzzle — they may not release until more than one aspect is released.

After working with the most intense aspect first and bringing that intensity down, I’d then ask which of the remaining aspects is the most intense and do EFT with that aspect as long as I continued to get improvement.

Has an emotion come up?
After working with one or two aspects, several rounds each, I like to check in with my client and ask if an emotion has come up. I ask this even if my client is not showing any indicatory signs of an emotion. If an emotion has come up within the context of working with the specific trauma, it is a part of that trauma.

At this point, combining the emotion with the trauma can be more powerful than doing EFT on one or the other separately. An example is, “Even though I have this car accident sadness, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.” In this case, we are combining sadness and the car accident — two aspects of an issue in one round of tapping.

The emotions that present themselves most often are sadness, guilt, grief, anger, rage and shame. I have found that shame is the emotion least likely to be mentioned by my clients — it is important it be acknowledged if it is present.

After an emotion has come up and been tapped on, I would ask what Intensity level the person is now experiencing on the original issue and see if it has shifted.

Continue with original aspects/emotions/or ask if a body sensation has appeared
What is the most appropriate aspect to work on next with EFT? We can either go back to the aspect list and ask which is most intense now, or if any new aspects have come up, we can ask if any other emotions have come up. OR we can ask if any body sensations have arisen.

If a body sensation has come up when we are doing EFT on a specific trauma, I consider that body sensation as being part of the trauma. It becomes another aspect of that trauma that we want to release. If a body sensation arises, I might tap on something like, “Even though I have this car accident nausea in my gut, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”  Or, “Even though I have this betrayal tightness stuck in my throat, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.” Sometimes the body sensation will move and then there is a choice as to whether to chase it through the body or go back to the aspect list to see which is most intense now. If the body sensation gets down to a 2-3, I have found it most helpful to go back to the aspect list and see if other aspects are higher than the 2-3.

If you’ve worked on an emotion or body sensation
If you have tapped on an emotion or body sensation, go back to some of the original aspects you tapped on and check their Intensity Meter. Sometimes aspects will shift after releasing an emotion or sensation.

Continue until you are satisfied with your results
This formula reminds me of a dance – moving back and forth between aspects already known, emotions, body sensations, and any new aspects that arise, until the trauma is no more than a distant memory.

Summary
Be sure you use the Intensity Meter on all of the aspects mentioned below. This is an important benchmark and helps you to determine what to do next.

• Tap on one or two of the most intense aspects — doing several rounds for
  each.
• Ask if an emotion has arisen.
• Ask if a body sensation has arisen.
• Tap on emotion or body sensation or, if neither has arisen, keep tapping on the most intense aspect.
• Continue to go through this list until you have great improvement.

And remember to be as specific as possible.

If your trauma is a complicated one, or if you mix up similar traumas and have difficulty getting results, you may want to work with a skilled practitioner for a session or two. Sometimes we can’t see our forest for the trees….

Maggie Adkins, EFT Master
www.maggieadkins.com.au
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au
Maggie will be presenting at the Sydney Highlighting the Masters conference in October. For details, go to www.eftmastertraining.com and click on Sydney.

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An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma (Part Two)
Maggie Adkins, EFT Master

In Part One of “An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma,” we looked at the basic methodology of how to examine traumas using EFT. After determining whether any previous traumas might relate to the current one, we looked at identifying the different aspects of a trauma, using the Intensity Meter to determine which aspects to work on first, and how to deal with overwhelm by tapping without words until the client could again address the issues directly.

This basic overview is now extended in Part Two to provide more details about using the formula for working on specific traumas. Here we will take an example of a car accident and go into how to be as specific as possible so that all traces of the trauma can be released.

List all the aspects you can think of
As discussed in Part One, the best way to make sure you’re getting all the aspects is to make a written list, as shown below.

• My husband told me not to go out on such a cold and wet night for the treat I promised our son. I went out anyway.

• I was driving a little too fast for the slippery road.

• A child ran onto the road and when I slammed on my brakes, my car slid into a ditch.

• When I awoke I smelled gasoline and couldn’t open the car door to get out.

• I was trapped – the car could have exploded with me in it.

• No one was around to help and I started to scream and beep the horn.

• When a man came to help, he took one look at me and said, “Oh no.”

• I could have died — what would my son have done without his mother?

• All for a stupid treat that I forgot.

• My husband is furious that I went out against his wishes.  

• I feel foolish and ashamed that I had the accident for such stupid reasons.

• It’s just like all the other stupid things I’ve done — I’m just so dumb and worthless at so many things.

Ask which Aspect is the most intense on the Intensity Meter
Ask which of the listed aspects is the worst - which is the biggest on the Intensity Meter of 0-10?  10 is the worst, 0 means it isn’t there anymore.

For this demonstration, we’ll say that “I could have died - what would my son have done without his mother?” is the most intense and it is a solid 10.

At the Karate Chop point say,
“Even though I could have died – what would my son have done without his mother? I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

At the rest of the tapping points, say your reminder phrase,
Could have died – what would my son have done without his mother?

Do this for several rounds – until the intensity comes down to a 4 or less. This is merely a guideline – if you are stuck at 5 or 6, stop and go to the next most intense aspect or an emotion or body sensation.

If an Emotion or Body Sensation has arisen, shift to that now
If no emotion or body sensation has arisen, go to the next highlighted paragraph in this article.

If an emotion has arisen, incorporate that with the aspect you were working on. For instance, if sadness has arisen, you would say something like,

“Even though I am so sad I could have died – what would my son have done without his mother, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

When you combine the emotion and the aspect you were working on when it arose, that combination can often create more release from both the emotion and the original trauma. Do rounds on this until the emotion subsides.

If a body sensation has arisen, incorporate that into the aspect you were working on when it arose. For instance, if shoulder tightness arose, you could use wording similar to: “Even though I have this could have died tightness in my shoulders – what would my son have done without his mother, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

Do rounds on this until the body sensation subsides.

Which Aspect is NOW the most intense?
Choose the aspect that is now the most intense.

We’ll say that the fact that I was going a little too fast and I could have hit a child is the most intense now. That is a 10 on the Intensity Meter also, but it wasn’t as big as the first aspect we worked on.

Tap on the Karate Chop point with the following SetUp:
“Even though I was going too fast and could have hit that child - never would have forgiven myself, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

At the rest of the tapping points, use your reminder phrase:
Was going too fast - really stupid - could have hit that child.

Please note I have added “really stupid” in the reminder phrase as an example of how you can change the wording a bit and include another aspect. Feeling really stupid is another aspect and it may or may not need specific rounds of its own.

Do several rounds on this until the intensity comes down to a 4 or less. This is just a guideline - if it is a 5 or 6 and you feel stuck, go to the next aspect.

Has an emotion or body sensation arisen?
If either of these has arisen, proceed as described above for emotion or body sensation.

Which Aspect is NOW the most intense?
Choose the aspect that is now the most intense. Let’s say the next most intense aspect is, “My husband told me not to go out on such a cold and wet night.”  Let’s say this aspect has an intensity of 7 — it may have already gone down because of the work we have done on other aspects that were stronger.

Do the SetUp at the Karate Chop point:
“Even though my husband told me not to go out, he’s still angry with me, & I’m angry at me too, I deeply and profoundly accept myself.”

At the rest of the tapping points, use your reminder phrase:
He told me not to go out - I’m furious at myself that I was so bullheaded and he is too.  

I have again changed the reminder phrase a bit to encompass a bit more and show how flexible EFT is.

Continue the Dance
Continue to ask yourself if there is a most intense aspect left.
Has an emotion arisen?
Has a body sensation arisen?

Work with whichever of the above is present.

When you have worked with three to five (I can’t tell you the exact number for your trauma) aspects/emotions/body sensations, go back to the first aspect you worked on and see if the intensity has decreased. Check each aspect and see if any have gone to zero.

Continue with this process until the intensity has reached zero for all aspects, or you’re feeling enough relief to stop.

Summary
The above formula is meant to be a guide. I can’t tell you exactly how you - and your client, if this is the case - will respond. I have witnessed the effectiveness of this formula many times. If you do not have success with this or if you are not comfortable working with a complex trauma on your own, be sure to choose a competent EFT practitioner and allow yourself the freedom that releasing a trauma can bring to your life.

Choose the EFT practitioner who is right for you rather than the one who might be closest geographically. A good way to find a practitioner is through short telephone interviews, where you can ask questions that relate to your situation. You will be able to tell from their responses who among them has a perspective that meshes well with yours. Perspective, simpatico - whatever you want to call it - is far more important than where a practitioner is located. For example, approximately 95% of my client work is now done via phone consultations. Choose your practitioner as carefully as you would choose a physician, a friend, or a teacher in a discipline you care about.

Maggie Adkins, EFT Master
www.maggieadkins.com.au
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au
08 8388 3997

Maggie is presenting at the Sydney Highlighting the Masters conference 25 – 27 October – go to www.eftmastertraining.com for more information.

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Difficult Decisions Can Be Much Easier With EFT

I have long believed that the body is meant to be a wonderful diagnostic tool.   When we tune in, it can tell us what is right or wrong for us.  It can tell us whether we’re in integrity and acting for our highest good – or not.  Yet so many of us isolate ourselves from our body because it is too painful or we just don’t know how to connect. 

We have lost the fine art of listening to our bodies and many things in life would be much easier if we could reconnect and learn how to hear what our bodies have to tell us.  Doing EFT when we need to make a tough decision is an easy way to begin to reconnect and hear what our bodies have to tell us.  And it’s easy! 

Let’s pretend you are going to sell your house and you are not sure which estate agent is best for the job. 

Using EFT in this way works with positive affirmations while tapping – one affirmation at each tapping point starting with the karate chop point, then top of head, eyebrow, side of eye, under eye, under nose, under lips, collarbone and under arm.  This is called the Short Cut Technique.

For this exercise, do one round for each of the possible choices, stopping at the end of each round to see how your body feels.  Close your eyes and feel your body.  Did your stomach do flip flops?  Do you feel better about one person or choice?   If you get nothing, do another round and continue doing rounds until you receive some kind of information or feeling from your body.

Let’s look at this in more detail.  Using the example of selling your house, let’s say you are deciding between 3 different estate agents:  Rebecca, Darrell and Rodney. 

In no particular order, choose one to start with – we’ll start with Rebecca - and do a complete round of EFT using terminology similar to the following. 

          Rebecca is the perfect estate agent for us.  She gets a fast sale, a great price, and all goes well. 

Please notice that the above affirmation is positive and does not start with “Even though” and does not end with “I deeply and completely accept myself.”  There are different ways to work with positive affirmations and the one I’m explaining here is the one I like to use in the decision making process. 

Now close your eyes and check in with your body.  You may have strong feelings in your mind or body already.  If your belly is turning or you have a negative feeling in your body, you can cross Rebecca off your list right now.  If it’s not so clear, you might want to make a few notes on how you feel about Rebecca representing you now that you’ve done a round of tapping.

Next do the same for another agent.

          Darrell is the perfect estate agent for us.  He gets a fast sale, a great price and all goes well.

Again, close your eyes and check in with your body.  You may already know Darrell is or isn’t the one you will choose.

Do the final round of tapping on Rodney:

          Rodney is the perfect estate agent for us.  He gets a fast sale, a great price and all goes well.

If this were a real exercise, you would most probably know who you want to deal with already.  EFT gets us out of the mind and into the body so that you have more information about what is best for you on a feeling level. 

If you are still not sure, you might want to change the affirmation to one that has more clarity or specifics.  If that first round identified new aspects of importance to you within this decision, you can do more rounds on whatever has come up for you.  Keep going until you are clear about your decision.

________   It is easy to do this technique.  Just write down your choices and do a round of tapping on each one.   You can do this on any decision – which restaurant to choose for a special occasion, which personal assistant to hire, which location to visit on holiday – any decision that you’re not quite sure about. 

If you have questions about using EFT in this way, please know that I’m happy to answer your questions.

Maggie Adkins, EFT Master
www.maggieadkins.com.au
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au
08 8388 3997   0420 314 837

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Inner Dialogues with EFT

                                                                                Maggie Adkins, EFT Master

Inner Dialogues is an excellent technique for going within, directly to the source of the problem or condition.  The concept is to make friends – create a new and better relationship – with whatever part of you is presenting an issue.  Typically when the body presents an issue (such as pain), we tend to isolate it and blame it rather than give it our whole hearted nurturing and care.  When we release blame and judgment and reassure whatever part of us has the issue, the whole being can then bring the body’s natural healing ability to the scene.  My experience of this is that it can be very powerful and healing. 

There are four categories of Inner Dialogue:

          Whole Body Dialogues for when the body is exhibiting general issues such as tiredness, lack of passion, pain all over, chronic fatigue, body sensitivities to outside influences (allergies) or anything else that affects the whole body.

          Pin Point Body Dialogues for working with a specific organ or area of the body such as a broken limb, pancreas (if the issue is diabetes), liver, brain, or any system in the body (immune system, metabolism, digestive system, nervous system) that might be in need of healing.

          Inner Child Dialogues for when the Inner Child has not integrated with the whole being.  This happens when there is a lack of safety, nurturing, and lack of play..  It is a fact that when the Inner Child is in fear and acting out, we all act like a 3-5 year old, which is usually NOT a solution to the problem.  This issue can affect us more than we may realize!!

          Saboteur Dialogues for when something presents itself as being a block to healing.  It may have a colour or texture and also be a sensation of some kind.  Examples are:  heaviness in the abdomen, tightness in the throat, a brick-like wall in the solar plexus, a black hole in the belly.  The Saboteur takes away our motivation to move forward. 

What Exactly is Inner Dialogues?
Basically, Inner Dialogues is having a heartful conversation with whatever area is presenting the issue that you want to heal.  Most of us have parts that we don’t want to acknowledge and we have been taught to either ignore or judge and blame them. 

Examples are:

• a body in pain
• a saboteur that stops you from moving forward and makes you feel like a failure
• a part of the body that is limiting you by pain or immobility
• an inner child that is still stomping its feet and upset at the lack of nurturance and not being listened to or acknowledged 

All of the above could most probably use a new beginning – a relationship that is nurturing and that allows the body its natural healing process instead of the judgment and isolation we usually bring to all of the above.

How Do I Do Inner Dialogues
Inner Dialogues are done with Continual Tapping, beginning with the Karate Chop Point and going through all the points of the Short Cut version. 

I rarely use only Inner Dialogues in a session, however this technique can lead to deep insights and healings. When a specific trauma or event arises, I often shift to traditional EFT, using the Set-Up phrase at the Psychological Reversal point and a reminder phrase at the rest of the tapping points.  After the specific trauma is released, I return to the Inner Dialogue for further healing and/or to ask for feedback. 

When I ask for feedback from whatever part I am working with, I do at least one round of continual tapping without words, while listening for that still small voice or a feeling within to guide me.  I suggest that you not be too logical.

Inner Dialogues Protocol
You may add appropriate wording for your particular dialogue, however there are also  components that need to be included.  These are:

          Introduce yourself and state you have a heartfelt intention toward whatever you are working with.

          State that you never realized before that you cannot heal whatever it is you want to heal while isolated or blaming any part of yourself.  Explain that what your
heart wants to do now is heal all the old patterns and things that happened and
create a new life “together” supporting all parts of you.

          State that you know you have old patterns and can’t promise you will never go back to them, however, it is your heart’s intent to heal everything that stands between you and whatever part you are working on.

          Ask for forgiveness for everything you may have done intentionally or unintentionally that may have caused pain to whatever part you are working on.
Do NOT say you forgive the part you are working with as that is arrogant.  You ask for forgiveness because it is you that did not get the message from the rest of you.  Your forgiving of whatever part you are working with comes later - if still needed.

          Ask what the part needs from you now.  Then do at least one round of Continual Tapping until you get some kind of voice or feeling.  Please do NOT be too practical or logical about this.

          If you do not hear from that part, perhaps it is still not trusting you.  I would be persistent – gentle and persistent.  If you cannot make contact with the part you are wanting to befriend, you may want to use some of the techniques in the Inner Dialogues with EFT book. 

          If you make a promise while doing an Inner Dialogue, either deliver that promise or do another Inner Dialogue and tell that part of yourself you promised that you can’t do whatever you promised. 

_______________________________
One session using Inner Dialogues usually provides much insight and healing.  Maggie does client phone consultations worldwide.  Call or email Maggie if you’d like to learn more about Inner Dialogues with EFT.

Maggie Adkins, EFT Master
www.maggieadkins.com.au
alchemyatwork@aapt.net.au
08 8388 3997    0420 314 837

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