Moving Past Fibromyalgia With EFT

Fibromyalgia is a devastating condition to live with. I lived with it myself, and I know. When you have fibromyalgia, you are in pain every minute of every day. Your general practitioner or rheumatologist will provide you with pain medication, from which you can get some relief, but the pain never really goes away. Living like that wears you down both physically and emotionally.

From my own personal experience, I know that doctors don’t leave you with much hope, in terms of possible improvement of your condition. My own doctor told me, “We’ve talked about this before. It’s always going to be this way, so accept it.”

His words did nothing to push me in the direction of acceptance. Quite the opposite, in fact. My doctor made me absolutely determined to do anything and everything that I could to move out of that world of constant pain.

I had discovered the wonders of EFT not long before my diagnosis.  I was tapping for work related stress, and getting some very good results.  When I look back now, I know that EFT was the only thing that allowed me to stay in a job that I hated and still be functional.

What I realized at some point was that the more stress I was able to tap away with EFT, the less pain I had.  On the days that my stress level was at its’ highest, my pain was nearly intolerable.

That was, for me, a wonderful incentive to keep on tapping.  The tapping not only allowed me to feel better emotionally, it also reduced my pain and made me more comfortable physically.

As it became more and more obvious that my pain level was going down, I dared to start dreaming of getting off the medications that I was taking, two of which were for pain, and one which helped me to sleep.  I continued to tap on the work stress on a daily basis, but now also tapped on the pain directly, and how it made me feel.  I found that I had anger, frustration, sadness and a sense that my body had let me down.  I tapped on all of it.

I began keeping a tapping journal.  I kept track of what I tapped on each day, what feelings that bought up, what kind of relief I got, and what outstanding issues (tail enders) came up during my tapping.  The journal really helped to keep me focused on my goal.

After several months of tapping and journaling, it became obvious to me that my pain level was low enough to start working on getting the drugs out of my system.  I started with my strongest pain killer, weaning myself off it, until I no longer was taking it at all.  Next came my second pain killer, which I also weaned myself off, being careful to keep journaling about what went on each day.  Next I reduced the medication that I was taking to help me sleep, and finally stopped it completely.  The last step for me was being weaned off of the Cymbalta that my rheumatologist had recommended.  This is a drug with most unpleasant side effects at times, and you should never stop it suddenly, or on your own.  I was taken off Cymbalta gradually, with reduced doses, under the supervision of my doctor.

After years of being heavily medicated, I was now drug free except for my medication for hypertension.  What a personal victory that was, and what a lesson it was for me as far as the closed minds of many doctors.  It never even occurred to my rheumatologist that my condition could improve, and since he had no hope, he took away mine, a terrible thing to do.

If you suffer from fibromyalgia, and would like to start tapping on your pain and what might be at the bottom of it, your best bet is to start a tapping journal of your own.  Start tracking:

• Your daily pain levels.
• How that pain makes you feel. (Sad, angry, helpless, etc.)
• What can you NOT do now, that you could do before?
• Is there a secondary gain for you in not being able to do those things?
• Would peoples’ expectations of you change if you were to stop having so much pain?
• Do you get more attention/care/nurturing because you’re in pain?
• How much relief do you get when you tap directly on the pain?
• How much relief do you get when you tap on the emotions around the pain?
• What kind of tapping seems to work best for you?

By keeping a journal about these kinds of issues, you track your progress and are able to easily see what is most effective for you.  Using EFT to address your condition is good.  Doing this while keeping a tapping journal is even better.

Perhaps most important of all on a journey like this is to be persistent, and try to not get discouraged.  Relief doesn’t happen overnight, and you need to be encouraged by each small victory that you have.  Hang in there, keep tapping, and you too can move past fibromyalgia.

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Visit my website at http://seeking-serenity.com.

Download the FREE ebook “The Forgiveness Workbook” here.

Putting Yourself First

Are you one of those people who is constantly doing things for others, while always putting yourself at the bottom of your own list of priorities? If so, it’s time to look at how you move yourself to the top of the list, where you belong.

When you consistently put others ahead of yourself, putting all your energy into doing for them, by the time that you get to yourself, you’ve used up all your energy. There is a big difference between being selfish and recognizing that you are important too. Always making yourself a top priority, to the exclusion of those around you who deserve some of your time and energy, is selfish. Taking the time and effort to treat yourself well, and to put some energy into keeping yourself well and happy is not selfish…it’s vital to your health and well being.

Some of us, particularly of the female persuasion, seem to be born to be care takers. We dote over our children. We wait on our partners. We fuss over family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. Everyone adores us for all the loving attention that we give them, but at some point we start to feel resentful of the fact that we never have time for ourselves.

People around us come to expect the attention that we lavish on them, and often start making demands of us. If you’re a caretaker that puts everyone else first, you almost certainly have trouble saying no. You may secretly get angry with the person making demands (“Why do they always ask ME?”) and angry with yourself (“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I say no?”), but in the end we usually do say yes, whether we actually want to or not. It feels selfish to say no.

The reality is that we all have just a finite amount of energy. There has to be a balance. Putting every bit of your energy into taking care of other people and ignoring your own needs is counterproductive. If you take care of yourself, you’ll ultimately have more energy for everything else in your life. You’ll feel better about you.

EFT can be a useful tool for helping you to refocus on yourself. Give the tapping script below a try, and see if you can move yourself to the top of your priority list.

Tapping Script For Putting Yourself First

Setup – Karate chop:

• Even though I get mad at myself for putting everyone else first, and forgetting about me, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though I seem to think that everyone else is more important than me, so I don’t see myself as a priority, I still deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though logically I know that I’m important too, and I need to give more attention to me, I keep using up all my energy on other people, but I deeply and profoundly love and accept all the parts of me, even the part that puts everyone else in front of me, and I’m open to the possibility that I can refocus on myself.

Reminder phrases:

Eyebrow: I’m at the bottom of my own priority list
Outside eye: I use up all my energy on other people
Under eye: No matter what they need, I don’t feel like I can say no
Under nose: Saying no would be selfish
Chin: But I get mad at myself
Collar bone: For always saying yes to others
Under arm: But always saying no to myself
Top of head: I think it may be time to change my priorities.

Eyebrow: I’m open to the idea that I’m important too
Outside eye: And I’m ready to start looking out for me
Under eye: Starting to release the feeling that I don’t matter
Under nose: And embracing my own value and importance
Chin: I don’t say no to other people
Collar bone: Because I think they’re more important than me
Under arm: And I feel like their needs should come first
Top of head: But it’s past time to take care of me!

Eyebrow: My needs are just as important as anyone elses
Outside eye: And I’m entitled to give time and energy to myself
Under eye: I’m deserving of that time and energy
Under nose: Continuing to let go of my feelings of not being important
Chin: Recognizing my value as a person
Collar bone: Feeling better and better about myself
Under arm: And realizing that I’ll be better able to take care of others
Top of head: If I take care of myself first.

Eyebrow: Releasing my need to always say yes to others
Outside eye: Because I’m just as important as they are
Under eye: I have the right to say no if I want to
Under nose: People won’t stop caring about me just because I say no
Chin: Feeling stronger and more confident
Collar bone: As I move higher and higher on my priority list
Under arm: Releasing the last of my feeling of not being important
Top of head: And bringing a healing energy to this situation.

Visit my website at Seeking Serenity.

When You Feel Stuck in a Relationship

I lived through a bad marriage…well, a terrible one…so I know all about being stuck in a relationship. I know what it’s like to be miserable every single day, and still stay. I know what it’s like to wish that you were anywhere except where you are. I know what it’s like to feel happy when your husband is gone, and sad when he gets back home.

Looking back from where I am now, I’m amazed that I was able to endure that marriage for as long as I did, but I was scared of leaving. Even though I had been a very independent woman prior to the marriage, after a dozen years I was terrified at the thought of being alone, of having to face all of life’s problems on my own.

I also know that I was far from alone in that fear. Since that time I have gotten to know many women who stayed in bad marriages because of fear. Can I really make it on my own? What if there won’t be enough money? How will I get by? How lonely will I be? Will I regret leaving?

There are a multitude of reasons that we use to convince ourselves that we’re better off staying, no matter how bad it is, than we would be to strike out on our own. This is particularly true if you have been in an abusive relationship, in which your self esteem has been taken from you. In that case, you may feel pretty darn sure that you can’t make it on your own. You’d be wrong!

In my case, taking the steps that I needed to take to divorce my husband was scary, but once I’d done it, with lots of support from family and friends, I felt like I had been let out of a dark, depressing prison. I found out how wonderful life could be if you weren’t miserable all the time. I got a good job, pampered myself and my daughter in a way I hadn’t been able to before that, bought a new car, and bought a home of my own. Life was good!

If you’re feeling as miserable as I was in your relationship, look inside yourself, at the real reasons why you stay.

• Are you afraid that you won’t be able to take care of yourself financially?
• Are you afraid of being alone?
• Do you feel that if you leave the relationship you’ll never find another partner?
• Would you rather be unhappy and with someone than happy and alone?
• Do you think that your feelings about the relationship aren’t important?
• Are you staying because you think it’s best for the kids?
• Have you convinced yourself that everyone feels the way you do their relationships?

EFT can make a huge difference, in terms of helping you to get unstuck, but in order for your tapping to be effective, you need to find your own truths and tap on those. It’s not easy to acknowledge those thoughts and emotions that we may consider to be weaknesses, but in order to get from where you are…STUCK…to where you want to be, it is extremely important for you to do so.

Even if you start off with a setup phrase like, “Even though I feel stuck in this relationship and I’m not really sure why, but I’d like to move forward in my life, and I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.” As you tap on a phrase like that, you may very well have thoughts pop into your head about the actual reasons why you’re stuck. Give it a try..you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Good luck in both your self examination and your tapping!

How Am I Angry? Let Me Count The Ways!

Anger is one of the strongest emotions that we experience.  It can range from mild annoyance to full blown, over the top fury that consumes you.  Feeling anger when something happens that is hurtful or upsetting is normal.  Unfortunately, for a lot of us it’s also normal to continue to carry anger for years, or even for a lifetime.

What we don’t realize when we continue to carry anger over our past is the toll that it takes on us.  Anger is an active emotion.  It takes energy to stay angry…energy that could be better used in any number of ways, if only we could let go of the anger.

Somehow, though, we feel that letting go of anger at someone who has hurt us would amount to letting them off the hook.  They did something awful,  they really hurt me, and they should have to pay.  The big problem here is that YOU are the one who is paying, over and over and over.

Many of us were raised to believe that anger was an inappropriate emotion.  As a child, we were warned against outbursts of anger.  We learned to hold that anger in, to hide it from the world.  We got so good at hiding the anger that at some point it even was hidden from us.  We hide it, and then somehow we manage to consciously forget all about it.  Anger?  What anger??

Because so many of us have gotten so good at hiding and forgetting about our anger, it’s not a part of our daily awareness, but it’s always there, in the back of our mind, working to protect us for all the hurt and pain in the world.  It’s always ready to pop out at a moments’ notice, ready to do its’ job, which is keeping us safe.

You will never forget the bully who lived down the block from you and picked on you every time you left your yard.  You won’t forget your fifth grade teacher, who singled you out from the class and embarrassed you repeatedly.  The reason you won’t forget them is that the anger at them is still there, hovering just beyond your consciousness.

This is an area where EFT can make profound changes in your life.  Once you have identified the core issues behind your anger, tapping can help you to let go of the anger.  It’s hard to imagine the level of relief that you can feel once you’ve tapped on some of your anger issues.  Suddenly you realize that you have reclaimed all that energy that you were sinking into maintaining the anger.  Suddenly you feel lighter, since the weight of all that anger has been lifted from your shoulders.

In order to be able to eliminate the anger, you have to be able to specifically identify the causes so that they can be tapped on.  The questions below are designed to help you do that. Get some paper and a pen. Sit down quietly and really give some thought to the questions. Write down the answers. Most important of all, be honest with yourself.

What’s My Anger All About?

1. Who am I mad at?
2. What did that person say or do to me to make me angry?
3. What was so bad about it that I’m not able to let go of the anger?
4. When this person did whatever it was that they did, how did that make me feel?
5. Did they cause me emotional pain?  If so, what kind?  How bad?
6. What would it take for me to be ready to let go of the anger?
7. Do I really WANT to let go of the anger?  If not, why?
8. How would I benefit by continuing to hold onto the anger?
9. How would I benefit by letting go of the anger?
10. Do I feel like letting go of the anger would be like forgiving the person who hurt me?
11. What is getting in the way of me being able to release my anger?

If you can honestly answer the above questions, you will probably have lots of thoughts, feelings, emotions and memories to plug into your own tapping statements in order to work on your anger.  Good luck with your anger work, and if you’d like some advice on crafting your anger tapping script, email me at pat@seeking-serenity.com.

An Attitude of Gratitude

There are times when all of us get into the “poor me” mindset.  My house isn’t big enough, my kids aren’t good enough, my partner isn’t attentive enough, my job isn’t fulfilling enough.  Somehow, it’s easy to see that glass as half empty.  At the time that we’re doing that complaining, we are overlooking some seriously important and wonderful parts of our lives.

Maybe your house isn’t as large as you’d like, but the fact that you HAVE a house is something to be grateful for, especially in this rough economy.  Maybe your children don’t always behave as well as you’d like them to, but there are lots of people who would give anything just to be able to have a child, so how fortunate are you?  Your partner isn’t attentive enough?  Did it ever occur to you to be thankful that you have a partner who cares about you, and that you aren’t having to deal with lifes’ ups and down all alone?  So your job isn’t quite what you’d like it to be.  In a time of massive layoffs and people going hungry or losing their homes because they no longer have a paycheck, you DO!  Be grateful for that.

You see where I’m going with this.  Instead of complaining about what you  don’t have and how flawed your life is, how about working on appreciating what you DO have?  REALLY appreciating it!  Even better, how about learning to look for all the little gifts that life gives us, and realizing how precious they are?

Life gives us gifts every single day, but if you aren’t looking for them, and don’t recognize them as gifts, you’re losing out.

I have found out that for me personally, the little gifts never have anything to do with money or prosperity or anything like that.  The gifts are smaller and more subtle.  There is nothing that I like better than waking up to birds singing right outside my bedroom window.  I can’t take that beautiful birdsong to the bank, but I can certainly appreciate how much the song brightens my day.

Another small gift that I love is the sound of raindrops on my roof.  There is something deeply relaxing about the sound, something that makes me look forward to those rainy days in a way I never did before.

I have learned to recognize many gifts in my life, and recognizing them as gifts enhances the quality of my life.  I have three spoiled and wonderful cats that I love.  Having one of them crawl into my lap and look up at me adoringly is always a gift.  I live far from my family, so a phone call from my son or my sister is always a gift too.  Dinner with an old and treasured friend…an unexpected card, letter or package…time in the bookstore with my daughter, who thinks as I do and believes the bookstore to be a perfect place to be.  So many gifts that I’m truly glad I haven’t missed noticing.

If you find that you have trouble seeing the gifts in your own life, maybe the tapping script below will help.

Tapping Script For Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

Setup Phrases – Karate chop:

Eyebrow: I don’t always notice the good things in my life
Outside eye: Even if they’re right in front of my eyes
Under eye: I don’t always realize how much I have to be grateful for
Under nose: But I always seem to notice the things to complain about
Chin: Wouldn’t it be nice if I recognized all those good things?
Collar bone: Maybe it’s time to start looking at life with new eyes
Under arm: So that I can see all the gifts that come my way
Top of head: And appreciate every one of them!

Eyebrow: There are miracles happening around me every day
Outside eye: If I’ll only open my eyes to them
Under eye: If the sun is shining and the birds are singing
Under nose: Those are miracles worth recognizing
Chin: If I have a roof over my head and food in my stomach
Collar bone: That’s a lot to be grateful for
Under arm: People around me that care about me are an incredible gift
Top of head: I’m so happy to be seeing all the gifts in my life.

Eyebrow: I really do have a lot to be grateful for
Outside eye: And I feel so much better now that I’ve recognized that
Under eye: Feeling more and more grateful for the blessings in my life
Under nose: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the people around me
Chin: So grateful for the blue sky, the white fluffy clouds and the shining sun
Collar bone: So happy to face each day with a smile instead of a frown
Under arm: I’ve made a choice in my life
Top of head: And I’m choosing an attitude of gratitude for all my blessings.

Visit my website at Seeking Serenity.

Forgiving Yourself

Forgiveness can be a contentious topic.  When someone has wronged you, and you’re carrying a lot of hurt and anger at that person, others around you will tell you that you need to forgive.

Forgiveness means different things to different people.  To some, forgiving means absolving someone of guilt for something they have done.  For many others, including myself, forgiveness does not mean that you’re saying that the person who hurt you is absolved of guilt.  It means that you realize that in order to live your life, you need to emotionally let go of what may have been holding you back.

Forgiveness is really about getting yourself to a place where you can release the negative emotions that you have about someone, because you’ve made the choice to no longer let what they did be a burden to you.  There can be tremendous relief in forgiveness.

I’ve found that it’s much more difficult to figure out how to forgive yourself.  We all have things in our past for which we hold ourselves accountable.  Sometimes there is a genuine reason for that feeling of accountability, and at other times we get into the “self blame game”.

Speaking from my own personal experience, I spent twelve years in a horribly abusive marriage.  Both of my children were forced to endure what went on in my home because I was too afraid to leave.  Even though I had been divorced for years, the feeling of guilt about what my kids were exposed to was still there.

Although my failure to leave was the cause of much unhappiness for my children, the fact is that it was a long time ago, and I couldn’t do a darn thing to change the past.  All I could do was work on making the future as good as it could be.  There was no longer a point to me holding onto all that guilt and self blame, but I couldn’t seem to let go of it.

Then I found EFT!

If you find yourself holding on to guilt and self blame, and you’re in a place where you’re having difficulty forgiving yourself, why not give the script below a try? It might help you to feel a whole lot better!

Tapping Script For Forgiving Yourself

Setup – Karate chop:

• Even though I’ve done some things in my life that I just can’t seem to forgive myself for, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though I feel like I can’t let myself off the hook for some of the things I’ve done, and I keep beating myself up about it, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though I realize that of all the people in my life that I need to forgive, I need to forgive myself the most, and I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself, and I’m ready to start working toward forgiving me.

Eyebrow: I feel so guilty about some of the things that I’ve done
Outside eye: And the way that I might have hurt the people I love
Under eye: Even though the hurt was unintentional
Under nose: I can’t seem to let go of the guilt about causing it
Chin: It makes me feel like I’m not a very nice person
Collar bone: And maybe I’m not even worth forgiving
Under arm: I could forgive anyone else in my life
Top of head: But I can’t seem to forgive myself.

Eyebrow: Carrying around all that guilt
Outside eye: Makes me keep beating myself up
Under eye: But maybe it’s time to start letting go of the guilt
Under nose: And recognizing that I deserve forgiveness
Chin: Starting to release some of that guilt, a little at a time
Collar bone: In a way that feels safe and comfortable for me
Under arm: Opening my heart to the idea
Top of head: That I need to forgive myself, just as I’d forgive anyone else.

Eyebrow: Continuing to release that guilt and self blame
Outside eye: Acknowledging that I was just doing the best I could
Under eye: Letting go of the feeling that I can’t forgive myself
Under nose: And embracing a feeling of forgiveness
Chin: Allowing myself to feel compassion for the person I am
Collar bone: As I continue to release those feelings of guilt
Under arm: Transforming the last of the guilt and self blame
Top of head: Into an energy of healing and forgiveness.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It is my pleasure to offer a free MP3 download of this script. Get your MP3 tap along here!

Download the FREE ebook Tapping Away Your Problems: Seeking Serenity.

Dealing With Divorce

Divorce is traumatic. Having been through it personally, I can speak to the fact that even if you are ending a terrible marriage, there is still trauma and grieving. You may not be grieving the reality of your marriage, but rather grieving the death of all your hopes and dreams..what you hoped your marriage would become.

When I ended a twelve year disaster of a marriage with divorce, I never expected to feel anything except relief that it was finally over with. I was shocked and dismayed to find that I felt a deep sadness over what my marriage might have become and never did.

Anyone who marries hopes for a happy and fulfilling relationship and a loving partner. My dreams were no different than anyone elses. We all want that happy ending. My marriage was so bad that getting a divorce saved my sanity, and probably saved my life, but in spite of that I grieved.

At the time of my divorce, I had never heard of EFT, so I toughed it out, and leaned on friends, family and coworkers to get me through the rough times. Knowing what I know now about EFT, I wish that it had been a part of my life back then, because I know it could have made a huge difference in my life.

The tapping script below is dedicated to all who are now going through a divorce, or have recently been though one, and still are feeling that deep sadness over the death of their marriage.

Tapping Script For Dealing With a Divorce

Setup – Karate chop:

Eyebrow: I’m feeling so sad about my divorce
Outside eye: I wanted to have a happy marriage
Under eye: I wanted to live happily ever after
Under nose: But my marriage was miserable
Chin: It’s painful going through a divorce
Collar bone: Even when you know it’s the right thing to do
Under arm: I feel so sad about what might have been
Top of head: And now that will never happen.

Eyebrow: Even though I know in my heart that my marriage is over
Outside eye: It’s still hard to let go of all my hope and dreams
Under eye: My heart hoped that we’d be together forever
Under nose: But there was no way that could be
Chin: It’s time to start letting go of all that sadness that I feel
Collar bone: Breathing out that sadness with each breath I take
Under arm: Letting go of the dreams that can never be
Top of head: As I move toward healing.

Eyebrow: I’m ready to let go of this pain that I’m feeling
Outside eye: Because I really want to feel better
Under eye: I’m releasing the sadness from every cell of my body
Under nose: As I leave the grief about the end of my marriage behind
Chin: Transforming all that negative energy
Collar bone: Into an energy of peace and healing
Under arm: Letting go of the last of my sadness and grief
Top of head: And feeling much more at peace with myself.

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Want to learn about how to use EFT to make your life better?
Visit my website: Seeking Serenity and download the FREE ebook Tapping Away Your Problems.

The Nervous Bridegroom and How EFT Helped

Recently I got a phone call from the distraught mother of a potential groom. This mother called me because her son was supposed to get married in just a few days, and was suddenly getting cold feet and telling his mom that he wasn’t sure he could go through with it.

Her first question to her son was “Do you love her?”, referring to her soon to be daughter in law. The answer was an immediate YES! The next question was “So what’s the problem?”.

It turned out that the problem was her son’s doubts about himself. What if he failed miserably at marriage? What if he was a terrible husband? What if he couldn’t make his wife happy? What if he went though all this big wedding stuff, and ended up getting a divorce? As his wedding day drew near, he was feeling more and more inadequate about his ability to be the kind of husband that he wanted to be.

The nervous bridegroom was scared to death that he would let down the woman of his dreams, the woman that he loved with all his heart.

His anxious mother asked if I would be willing to do a session with her son as soon as possible. Once I had determined that she had spoken with her son about EFT and he was open to doing a session, I said yes.

As we began our session, and the bridegroom spoke about his feelings, we began tapping on:

“Even though I love ________ with all my heart, I’m really scared that I’ll let her down…”

“Even though I really want to marry _________ I’m afraid that I won’t be the husband that she wants me to be….”

“Even though I’m scared that this marriage could end in a divorce, and I really want it to work…”

The bridegroom started to feel a bit more relaxed, and spoke about the thoughts that had come up during those rounds of tapping, so we moved on from there.

“Even though I feel like a phony sometimes, and I’m not sure I’m the person that ________ thinks I am…”

“Even though I’d rather die than to hurt or disappoint ___________…”

Next we worked on some reframing of the situation.

“Even though I’m afraid that I’m not going to live up to _________’s expectations, I’m willing to consider that I could be wrong about that, and maybe I’ll be a great husband for her…”

“Even though I’m wondering if I’m really the right man for ___________, I’m open to the possibility that maybe I’m exactly the right man for her, and we’ll have a great marriage…”

“Even though I seem to be focused on all my shortcomings, I know that __________ loves me and sees a lot more good in me than I see in myself, and I’m willing to try looking at myself through her eyes…”

As things started to shift for the reluctant bridegroom, he started feeling better about himself, and much less nervous about the upcoming marriage ceremony.

We worked for a bit on building his self confidence, and on helping him to take his focus off the negative and put it on the positive. We ended on a positive note:

“Even though I’m still a little nervous about the wedding, I know that it’s the right thing for me to do, and I really love _________ and I know she loves me, and this is going to be a wonderful turning point in our lives…”

The day after the wedding I got a thank you phone call from the mother of the groom. She told me that although he had a few butterflies, he went through the entire wedding and reception with a big smile on his face, and the entire family was now looking forward to this new chapter in their lives.

Learning to Like Yourself With EFT

Not liking ourselves is an issue for many of us. Even though we may project a different face to the world, deep down inside far too many of us don’t like ourselves very much. It seems to always be easier to find things to criticize about ourselves than to find things to praise.

How often have you found yourself making some kind of silly mistake, and then saying to yourself, inside your head, “You big idiot!”? Self talk is a definite indicator of how well we like or don’t like ourselves. Those instantaneous reactions that we have to the things we say and do are coming straight from our subconscious, and are indicative of our true feelings about ourselves.

I have often thought that if I judged the people around me as harshly as I judge myself, I wouldn’t have any friends! Nobody would tolerate the kind of comments that I make about myself, and yet it’s commonplace for me to belittle myself in that way.

For so many of us, we have expectations for friends, family and loved ones that are much more reasonable than the expectations that we have for ourselves.  We are vigilant, subconsciously, always watching for the things we do and say that, according to our rigid and unrealistic expectations, are not acceptable.  When we don’t meet our expectations, we’re quick with the self criticism, not ever giving ourselves an inch of slack.

With EFT, we can reach that inner critic and quiet that voice.

Wouldn’t you like to feel better about yourself, to genuinely like who you are?  Give this tapping script a try!

Tapping Script For Learning to Like Yourself

Setup – Karate chop:

• Even though I don’t like myself very much and I find it hard to see the good parts of me, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though it always seems much easier to see the things that I don’t like about myself, and to beat myself over the head about those things, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself.
• Even though I’m much harder on me than I am on anyone else I know, and I’m really getting tired of that critic inside my head, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself and I recognize that it might be time to start cutting myself some slack.

Reminder Phrases:

Eyebrow: I don’t like myself very much
Outside eye: I’m my own worst critic
Under eye: I’ve convinced myself
Under nose: That there isn’t much I do right
Chin: I spend lots of time criticizing myself
Collar bone: About every little thing I say and do
Under arm: How can I like me and feel good about me
Top of head: When I find fault with everything I do?

Eyebrow: I’m starting to feel that I’m being much too hard on myself
Outside eye: I would never talk to my friends the way I talk to me
Under eye: Why can’t I see all the good things I say and do?
Under nose: Because I know in my heart that I’m a good person
Chin: I’m considering that it might be time to fire that critic inside my head
Collar bone: Or maybe I just need to give that critic a new job
Under arm: Instead of picking me apart all day long
Top of head: Maybe I can have that critic help me to see the good parts of me.

Eyebrow: Starting to release that feeling of not liking myself
Outside eye: Choosing to focus on the positive instead of the negative
Under eye: I know that I’m way too hard on myself
Under nose: I’m firing that inner critic once and for all
Chin: Continuing to let go of the feeling of not liking me
Collar bone: And realizing that I need to accept and love myself
Under arm: In order to love others and have them love me
Top of head: Feeling so much better about me.

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Pulled Muscles: Can EFT Help?

Recently I had one of those experiences that we probably all have from time to time, but wish we had skipped it. I pulled a muscle, and anyone who has done that knows how painful it can be. I’ve done it before, so I knew immediately what was wrong, but the thought of dealing with a lot of pain for days didn’t appeal much to me.

The last time I pulled a muscle, it was in my chest, and every breath that I took hurt. The pain was so bad that it scared me, and I saw my doctor. The doctor prescribed some medication, which made the pain bearable, but there was still a lot more pain than I wanted to have to deal with.

This time around there was a difference.  I use EFT all the time now, for all kinds of issues, and though I hadn’t used it for anything quite like this, I felt confident that I could get some relief from tapping, so tap I did!

The pulled muscle was low on my left side.  Any use of my left arm caused the pulled muscle to go into painful spasms, as did getting up and down from a seated position.  When that happened, it felt as though someone had jabbed a sharp knife into my side, and initially, just after the injury, the pain was so severe that it literally took my breath away.

First I started tapping on the pain:

“Even though I have this pain in my lower left side that feels like someone just stabbed me…”

“Even though it’s really painful to stand up or sit down or move my left arm…”

“Even though I can feel the muscle in my left side going into spasms and that hurts a lot…”

“Even though the pain in my left side is so bad that sometimes it takes my breath away…”

All of this tapping was done with the goal of reducing the pain.  It was not immediately apparent to me whether I had done that, but I continued to tap, now focusing on the healing that I knew had to happen in order for me to feel better.

“Even though I have this painful pulled muscle in my left side, I want the healing to start and the pain to stop…”

“Even though I have this injury to my left side, I want the healing in my muscles, tendons, nerves and skin to start at a cellular level…”

I spent about an hour tapping on the pain and the healing that I wanted to happen.  By the end of that first day, I was fairly comfortable when I kept still, but was still unsure about the extent to which I had succeeded with my tapping.

When I woke on day 2, got out of bed, and started to move around, it was obvious to me that the tapping had made a difference.  I still had some pain and discomfort, but it was far less than it had been the day before.  I continued tapping on both the pain and the hoped for healing.

Day 3 was better still, and by day 4 there was so little pain and discomfort that I could easily move around in a normal way, and I could use my left arm without sending my left side into spasms.

Since this was a kind of injury that I had suffered through before, I knew just how bad it could be, and how intense the pain was.  There was a definite basis for comparison, so I knew without a doubt how much help the tapping had been.  I also believe that it helped for me to start tapping so soon after the injury.

Now, should I find myself in that unpleasant situation again, I know exactly how to handle it, and I hope that you’ll follow my lead if you should ever find yourself with an injury of that sort.

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