Emotional Intelligence and Psychology

EFT Universe: Powering up your daily affirmations with EFT (Dawson Church)

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Casual Emotional Freedom TechniqueWhere have all those daily affirmations gotten you?  Have you manifested all that you hoped for?  How can you combine affirmations with tapping to super charge your intentions?  Join CJ as she talks to Dawson Church, a researcher in the Emotion Freedom Tapping (EFT) and author of the EFT Manual and find out why EFT is one of the most successful self-help techniques ever developed.

How tapping can help you effortlessly maintain your weight goal during the Holidays?

  • Dawson Church will walk us through how you can take an affirmation, such as “I effortlessly maintain my weight goals”, and use EFT to make this a reality before you dig into that bowl of candy, that slice of pecan pie, or those holiday cookies.
  • Why don’t our affirmations generally work?
  • How can you use EFT to locate those parts of you that are working against your affirmations (tail-enders)?
  • How long will the effects of EFT last?
  • What is the science of EFT? How does it work to rewire your brain?
  • What is it related to acupressure and acupuncture and how does it work with your energy?
  • What kinds of things does EFT work well for? What has research shown with respect to EFT’s efficacy?

Book Review: The EFT Manual written by Dawson Church

by CJ Liu

The EFT Manual is a great book if you are unfamiliar with Emotional Freedom Tapping (EFT) and want to learn more about all the different ways you can use EFT in your life.

The best thing about EFT is it’s super easy to learn.  If you want to prove to yourself that it works before investing in the book, then try it now?  Watch this 8 minute video from EFT Universe and see what shifts  http://youtu.be/4ZDjAhuo_6Y -OR- go to the EFT Universe’s YouTube channel and pick the one that you can relate to (e.g.- reduce chocolate craving, public speaking fear, etc).  As you are watching the video’s sub in your particular version of the story and make sure to tap as the instructor is in the video https://www.youtube.com/user/TheEFTUniverse

Here’s the biggest hurdle. It looks ridiculous while you are tapping on yourself. But, here’s the good news.  It’s easy to overcome your self-consciousness with tapping.  Awhile back, you could routinely see me tapping while running, on the stair master, sitting in the car, etc.  I viewed tapping as part of my daily routine for wellness.

What’s in the book?  The book offers a bunch of different stories from EFT practitioners that have used this simple to help clients who suffered from depression, PTSD, dieting issues, domestic violence, physical ailments, and more.  It’s pretty astounding all the creative ways that people have used this tool.  I’m a self-help junkie, so while reading the book I tapped through the case studies that I could relate to.  And trust me, I think you’ll find that in a few hours you can identify all sorts of things in the case studies that you can relate to.   For me, I had various physical pains in my back, foot, and jaws, trauma from various car/bike accidents, etc. and they all feel much better now.  In addition to the wonderful case studies, self-help geeks will love all the nerdy brain science and psychotherapy backgrounder on how EFT works.

Here are some of my favorite pieces from the book:

  • SCIENCE of EFT:  The human fight or flight kicks in when we feel a perceived threat, whether real (e.g.- car is about to crash into me) or perceived (e.g.- my boss is going to fire me and I’m highly emotional).  All of our philological resoureces are redeployed to meet the threat.  When we are in high alert, stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline)kick in, and our body responds by turning on/off genes, our digestive track, reproductive systems, and all non essential systems constrict, and our immune system shuts down. Blood drains out of our frontal lobes.  Meanwhile, our nervous system goes into overdrive (sympathetic nervous system).  Aside from running away and having fast reflexes, we are not fully resourced when we are under stress.   EFT helps soothe the body by signaling to the body that it’s safe.  In addition, it interrupts the emotional triggering and rains emotional intensity out of even long-held memories.
  • BETTER AFFIRMATIONS:  Affirmations were all the rage awhile back.  Now, manifestation has a similar feel to them.  Often people get discouraged when things aren’t manifested.  According to Dawson Church, here are some of the reasons: 1) Affirmations need to be charged with high emotion, 2) Affirmations have to be stated in the present tense, 3) Affirmations should be vivid and detailed.
  • WHY AFFIRMATIONS DON’T WORK:  Let’s say you have an affirmation “I effortlessly maintain my weight goals”. A part of you in the background, says “Sure, I will” or “Who am I Kidding?”.  These are your true beliefs and guess what you will manifest?  You got it, the negative after thoughts.  EFT can be used to get rid of these negative after thoughts that Dawson calls “tail-enders”.
  • WHAT CAN EFT BE USED FOR: Anexity, depression, pain and physical symptoms, better relationships, test anxiety, public speaking anxiety, aftermath of domestic violence, bee sting/burnt finger, cravings for sweets, workplace conflict, money problems, deeper meditations,etc.  If you think about the science part, it’s basically anything that causes you stress could benefit from EFT.
  • EFT Research:  If there are true physical manifestations of pain (broke toe) then EFT cannot heal the broken toe.  However, the 2/3 of the pain that was related to stress can be addressed with EFT. Addictions may be harder to clear with EFT.  “Even though studies show excellent results from EFT in most cases, they never show 100% success with 100% of cases.  It’s wise to approach any healing event with humility and a sense of wonder.  If healing occurs, we can be humbly grateful.

What I really appreciate about Dawson Church’s book is his approach.  This is a book written by a practical person who properly gives ode to the science, and the power of the tool.  The book is practical, informative, and easy to follow.  If you want a good primer on EFT, this is the book.  You will not be disappointed.

Question and Answers about EFT with Dawson Church

These are some quick notes from my interview with Dawson Church on EFT.

Q: How do “borrowed benefits” work with EFT in events like tapping circles or watching a tapping video on EFT Universe?

A: When you are working with a client either in a 1-1 private setting or in a group setting, the practitioner and anyone else who witnesses the event can get almost the same results and benefits as the person being worked on.  This happens due to the mirror neurons in our brain, which allow a person to witness something outside of themselves and still be affected on the inside.  It’s sort of the same effect as watching a really good movie, where we imagine we are the main character in a movie.

Q: What are mirror neurons?

A:  Dawson Church explains in his book “The Genie in your Genes”that the first researchers to discover mirror neurons were Italian scientists at the Unversity of Parma lead by Giacomo Rizzolatti. Mirror neurons are neurons that fire in our brain when we witness an act done by another that requires the same group of neurons. When the neurons in the other person’s brain fire and that person performs the action, the neurons in our brains fire in sympathy.  When another person do an EFT tap, for instance, the neurons in our brains that govern that action fire when we witness their action, just as the other person’s neurons do when they perform it. This whole process happens without going through the normal sensory-cognitive cycle that conventional brain models would suggest: visual images passing from the optic never, then the visual cortex, then to the parts of the brain that govern decision-making, and eventually being translated into signals sent via the nervous system.

Q:  How can you learn EFT?

A: There are a couple of resources for this.  Either check out the videos on EFTuniverse.com or on the YouTube channel for EFT Universe.  Dawson mentioned in the interview a mini manual too at :http://www.eftuniverse.com/images/pdf_files/EFTMiniManual.pdf or you can take a class and become an EFT practitioner or join a tapping circle :http://www.eftuniverse.com/eft-workshops-and-training/eft-training-level-1-2-and-3-workshop-training-dates-locations-and-prices
Q: In this interview, we had a goal “I’m effortlessly achieving my ideal weight”, but the trauma we tapped on didn’t seem to be related at all to this goal.  What is happening?
A: We have different parts of our brain operating when remembering a traumatic event.  We have the amegdelya, which is the part of our brain that detects a perceived threat.  When the amegdelya is triggered, it is like pulling a fire alarm. Our body reacts to this alarm by shifting all of our body’s resources towards dealing with the threat at hand (e.g.-running or fighting).  Further up in the brains is the hippocampus.  The hippocampus is trying to match and link that traumatic event with other traumatic events in the past and is primed for looking for clues in the future for potential dangers. During that matching process it can make pretty weird associations.  In my case, I was trying to maintain my ideal weight effortlessly and my hippocampus had it connected to a trauma at age 5.  With EFT you can send a safety signal to your emotional brain and your survival brain that “it’s ok, you can relax. you are safe.”  After tapping on that event, your brain can let go of the perceived threat.

Q: Why does one event that you have already tapped one before and got down to “0” come up and be addressed again?

A: You may have an event that shows up in multiple beliefs about yourself.  For example, I had an event in the video where I was feeling exposed.  This could have been tagged and put in several areas and relate to my beliefs (e.g.- perfectionism, safety, and weight gain) and show up again.  Plus, sometimes a traumatic event has many aspects and if you don’t tap into all aspects such as the smells, tastes, visual images, or feelings during that traumatic event, you have not removed it entirely and it will come up again.
Q: How do I know when I’ve done all the EFT work needed for an affirmation to truly work?
A: You won’t have a tail-ender, which is a part of you that doesn’t believe in that affirmation. In the video, I had an affirmation that “I will effortlessly maintain my ideal weight” and my tail-ender may be… Yeah, right.  This would be something I’d have to tap on.  If you have rid yourself of all the tail enders, you will say this affirmation and your body, mind, and spirit will feel congruent. When you have removed your tail-enders, you will be able to say your affirmation with absolute conviction and power behind your intentions and your goals.
Q: Why does tapping change the memory?
A: Dawson has found that before and after tapping the clients usually share different details about their memories as their stories about these events usually change.  You still may have a memory, but it no longer carries with it the same emotional charge. It’s no longer tagged by your hippocampus as a threat.  As a result, the memory becomes an emotionally neutral experience and you naturally start forgetting the details of the memory because it’s no longer tied to your survival.
Q: How do dreams get recorded in the brain?
A: Check out this book, “Dream to Freedom” for more details and how you would incorporate EFT with your dreams for dream recollection. Listen to 39:18min in the video. I can’t do it justice. Check out EFT4dreams.com

Dawson Church – Award-winning author and Researcher

Dawson_005Dawson Church, PhD,  is an award-winning author whose best-selling book, The Genie in Your Genes, (www.YourGeniusGene.com) has been hailed by reviewers as a breakthrough in our understanding of the link between emotions and genetics. He founded the National Institute for Integrative Healthcare (www.NIIH.org) to study and implement promising evidence-based psychological and medical techniques. His groundbreaking research has been published in prestigious scientific journals. He is the editor of Energy Psychology: Theory, Research, & Treatment, a peer-reviewed professional journal (www.EnergyPsychologyJournal.org). He shares how to apply these breakthroughs to health and athletic performance through EFT Universe (www.EFTUniverse.com), one of the largest alternative medicine sites on the web.

 

 

 

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