EFT and the Body

In EFT we are accessing the energy of the body in order to bring about physical and emotional changes.

Energy medicine – of any kind – has a physical effect.

Think about it: What is the “big bang” that physicists tell us created the universe, other than an explosion of energy, resulting finally in space and matter. The connection between energy and matter is all around us. In the turning of the seasons, the natural world reacts to the change of energy by growing, maturing, bearing fruit, withdrawing and dying, only to begin again in Spring the following year; the life of a human being reflects this change in energy – the process of growing, maturing, creating relationships, working, retiring and old age follows the energy of the cycle of life reflected in the natural world; astrophysicists tell us that even such a powerful statement of energy in the universe as a star has a cycle of life in which it is formed, grows, matures and dies.

The Eastern traditions demonstrate to us that we are more than just matter – we are a bundle of energy streams, whether these be meridians, chakras, doshas or some other model of the flow of energy within the human body. These energy streams affect every aspect of our lives: the physical, mental/emotional and spiritual aspects of our own bodies and the way we experience the world. These energy streams are accessed through acupuncture, yoga, diet, meditation and spiritual practices and they have a physical effect. Even the UK National Health Service recognises that acupuncture is effective for pain relief.

In his book “Love, Medicine and Miracles” Dr Bernie Segal mentions a person with Multiple Personality Disorder. When the personalities changed, so did physical aspects of the body: one personality had blue eyes, while another had brown eyes; one personality was diabetic, while the others were not. Whichever energy was emphasised in the manifestation of the different personalities, the results were measurable physical differences in the body.

If we were to have a heart attack, the doctors in the hospital would give us an electric shock to get our heart beating again. Electricity is a form of energy. Passing electrical energy through the heart when it has stopped has a physical effect: the heart starts beating again.

The discovery statement in EFT is “the cause of all negative emotion is a disruption in the energy system”. With EFT we are accessing the cause of the problem – a disruption in the energy field – by addressing the emotional energy charge associated with specific events in our lives.

When we are afraid, our hearts pound and our hands sweat, we might shake and suddenly, because of all the adrenalin rushing around our bodies, we feel full of physical power to run or fight, or our energy might drain away in a “play dead” response. Just like a lightning strike leaves a measurable change on the landscape – a burnt and deadened tree, for example – fear leaves a measurable change on the landscape of our lives. So, for example, if your brother chased you around the garden with a plastic spider when you were 6 years old and, in trying to escape him, you ran into a real spider’s web with a big spider at the centre of it, it may be that you have a physical and emotional response –terror - every time you see or even think of a spider: a spider phobia that affects the rest of your life. Although the original trauma with the spider happened when you were 6 years old, the rest of your life is affected by the phobia with its roots in that one incident.

Equally, pain, for example, can be a response to a difficult time in our lives. Something as simple as picking up an item dropped on the floor, which most times would be nothing, may, because of tension in our body, result in a pulled muscle, a slipped disk or any one of a myriad of related back issues, which may or may not be curable by mainstream medicine.

As an EFT practitioner, my first question is always: What was happening in your life when this problem first started?

It is the tension created in the body by what is going on in the energy system that results in so many physical challenges. So, for example, someone with back pain might come to me for an EFT session for pain management – generally having tried everything else! – and be disconcerted by questions about when the pain started and what was happening in their lives at that time.

The connection between the physical, emotional and the energetic is often a total surprise to clients. They are feeling depressed now because of the pain, frustrated now because the pain prevents them doing what they want, angry now because they feel their body has betrayed them. However, in examining what was happening when the problem first started, we might find that a relationship broke down; they had to “shoulder” extra responsibilities; they were forced to retire; or the children left home and they suddenly had no focus to their life. The emotional “charge” created by those situations – or other changes in life - is the disruption in the energy field that manifests in pain.

When I support a client through the specific events leading up to the manifestation of the pain, tapping out the emotional charges as we go, there is often a profound and rapid change in the level of experienced pain – in fact, I will use the level of pain as a measure of how the session is going. If there is no change, then I will interpret that as an indication that some further digging needs to be done: “What did that situation remind you of?”, for example. Any increase in the pain level might indicate a different aspect rising to the surface: “It’s not so much the spider itself, but the way the web felt on my face”. A decrease in the level of pain is an indicator that we are on the right track and the energetic charge is being released.

As the session progresses, the client will often express amazement at how much better they feel on every level: “It’s like a weight has been lifted”

At the end of the session, I note a distinct change in the colour and tone of the client’s face, a spring in their step as freed energy moves into harmony and coherence and/or a difference in the client’s posture reflecting the release of long held tension.

To find out more or talk about how an EFT session with me can help you, you can find my phone number here, together with email contact details – or you can book a session with me here.