Modern science shows us that EFT tapping has some pretty spectacular effects.
What can you accomplish with Mindful EFT tapping?
We now have proof that tapping
- Destroys the neurological connections in the mind | body.
- Restructures the brain.
- Rewires neural pathways.
- Causes the brain to record itself.
- Changes the emotional attachments we have within us.
As you can imagine, this creates changes at a deep, unconscious, cellular level.
MEFT maintains that tapping breaks bad trances and creates a new trance of peace. The effectiveness of the tapping depends on the person and the depth of their trance. Some people get right into it. Others need to be prompted to move into their internal process.
All the tapping modalities cause chemical changes in the brain. Clients consistently report that they feel “lighter.” You can see their entire physiology lighten up with an onrush of feel-good endorphins.
Tapping creates changes that feel so natural that a client often forgets how bad things once were. That can only mean that profound changes have taken place in a person’s creative process.
MEFT liberates you from your problems, increases your freedom to choose, and makes life a lot more fun.
Proper MEFT tapping
The basic MEFT sequence is straightforward and generally takes you and your client only a few minutes to learn. With a little practice, you will be performing each round in under a minute.
While it is important to tap the correct area, you need not worry about being absolutely precise, as tapping the general area is sufficient.
It’s all in the fingertips!
The first thing to understand is that you will be tapping with your fingers. There are a number of acupuncture meridians on your fingertips, and when you tap with your fingertips, you are also likely to not only use the meridians you are tapping on, but also the ones on your fingers.
Traditional EFT has you tapping with the fingertips of your index finger and middle finger and with only one hand.
We recommend the use of four fingers because it allows you to access more of the acupuncture points. When you use all your fingers you will cover a larger area than just tapping with one or two fingertips, allowing you to cover the tapping points more easily.
Ideally, you will want to use your fingertips (not your finger pads), as they have more meridian points. However, if you have long fingernails you should use your finger pads
The whole MEFT protocol
Step 1: First energize your hands.
Step 2: Think about (or recall) the problem or event in detail. Notice the emotions and specific images that support the problem. The more specific the problem you are targeting, the easier it will be for you to notice the change. Find each time one emotion in the problem or the physical sensation associated with the emotion to tap on. Notice how you know and feel the problem.
Step 3: You will need to give the emotion/sensation a number on a scale from 0-10 before you start tapping. 10 being the worst/strongest it could be, zero being gone/nothing is there.
Step 4: Start tapping with four fingers
- Between the eyes,
- On the side of one eye,
- Under the eye and
- With the full hand on your collarbone
you focus on each point you are tapping say “Let it go, it’s safe to let (name the problem or feeling) go”, “it’s okay to let it (name the problem or feeling) go” or you can just say “let it go”.
Step 5: Hold your wrist, take a deep breath in, breathe out (loud) and say “Peace”.
While you say the word peace think of a peaceful memory, a memory where you felt good. Maybe a memory where you felt loved by someone or a pet. Make a picture in your mind of this memory. Really associate – step into the memory. I was always the same memory with the same picture for myself. Enjoy that feeling!
After each round of tapping (sequence 2-5), you will need to stop a minute and reevaluate the intensity of the problem. The intensity should come down by at least 1-2 points each round. The goal is to bring the intensity down to 0.
Step 6: Practice self-compassion.
MEFT is about words and feelings
Words are only words? We are always giving meaning to them. A word to one person may mean one thing and yet something totally different to someone else. Why is that? Words stir up reactions that resonate within us.
Words are triggers, metaphors, and symbols of how we perceive the world. It is our internal reaction that gives them power, not the words. Words represent our inner world and what we believe to be true. When you change the inner reaction to the word, you change your perception of the world!
You can only heal what you feel. So it’s important that you are open to your feelings because that is what you would like to change.
To name the feeling is helpful. Use this list any time you are having difficulty telling what you are feeling. Repeat these words out loud. Feel which words trigger you.
A list of negative feelings
| Abandoned
Agony Afraid Alone Angry Anguish Anxious Apprehensive Ashamed Betrayed Blame Bored Cheated Concerned Confused Crazy Crushed Cornered Defeated Dejected Depressed Deprived Desolation Despair Desperation Devastated Diminished Disappointed Discouraged Disgusted Dismay Disoriented Distrust Doubt Dread Drowning Emasculated Embarrassed ——————– |
Emptiness
Enraged Envious Exhausted Fatigued Fearful Frustrated Heartache Heartsick Heaviness Helpless Hesitant Hopeless Hostility Humiliated Hurt Impotent Imbalanced Inadequate Insecure Incensed Invalidated Jealous Lazy Lethargic Lonely Loss and grief Lost Mad Mean Melancholy Miserable Mortified Nervous Numb Offended Out of control Outraged Overwhelmed |
Powerless
Pressured Punished Put down Guilt Rejected Rage Resentment Sadness Self-conscious Shaken Shame Shattered Shut down Sorrow Stubborn Suffering Suspicious Tempted Tense Terrified Threatened Tired Tortured Trapped Troubled Traumatized Uncertain Unbalanced Unfeminine Un-masculine Weary Weird Worried Worn out Wounded ………………… ………………… ………………… |
You always get what you are focusing on!
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama XIV
- If you believe that your childhood determines your whole life, it will do.
- If you believe that you need something (for example a new car, a house, a TV set..), you will get needy.
- If you are focusing on what you do not have, you get sad or angry.
- If you are focusing on what you don’t have and what you can’t do, you maybe get depressed.
- If you are focusing on your fear of not getting enough, you will always find reasons that this is true.
- If you are focusing on other people and that they always have more, or have better life chances, you will get greedy.
- If you are focusing on all the good things in your life (get specific) you will feel happy.
If you are not sure what you’ve been focusing on, there’s a quick way to find out:
The results you’ve been getting are a reflection of what you believe and fear. You have given much energy and attention to these beliefs.
How do you figure out what you’ve been focusing on?
Identify areas where you’d like your results to change. These are results you don’t want. There may be some areas on your list you are not happy with. The first thing to do is:
Accept that your current results reflect your current reality.
Your current results are the reflection of your current beliefs and fears. This is your current view of the world. Once you accept and acknowledge things as being how they are, it’s much easier to change them to how you’d like them to be.
Acceptance and awareness of your current reality are the places to begin to shift that reality, by shifting your view of the world. It’s a hard job, but really important.
The power of what you don’t want
Many people become experts at what they don’t want and spend their lives getting what they don’t want. Their consciousness is focused on what they don’t want. And you now know: Because you are focusing on what you don’t want, you get this.
For example, don’t think about food. What do you think will happen when you suppress thinking of food? Test it and you will see you will think of food constantly. And that’s easily a problem if you want to be thinner.
If you have emotional or physical pain and you are telling yourself all the time: ”I don’t want this pain. I don’t like the pain. Go away.” Most probably the pain will resist and you will distract yourself with food, gambling, alcohol, ….
What we resist to feel will grow and you will get more of it.
Ask yourself now what you would like to change in your life. How do you want to feel different? Behave differently….
Make a list for yourself and then use the MEFT Protocol for goals.
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Tapping for Goals and get what you really want in life
Pay attention to your thoughts. Every time you catch yourself focusing on what you don’t want, stop and use the tapping skill to clear it out and focus on what you do want/have in that area.
If you want to get into a relationship, every time you find yourself feeling lonely because you’re not in one, stop, tap away from that lonely feeling, and think about the relationships you do have (or have had).
Affirm that you are in a loving relationship that starts with yourself. The most useful emotion to access is when you’re focusing on what you wish to increase.
The protocol tapping for goals will show you a technique that is really powerful.
“I am grateful” is the most powerful prayer for creating what you do want. Worry is praying for what you don’t want.
Before you start, make a list of your goal(s). Look for goals you have the power of. For example, you have no power over the weather and other people. We can only change ourselves. I personally don’t believe in a miracle pill, but we can change our attitude so that we can focus on what we really want. What prevents you from doing the things that are important for you?
Be as specific as possible. For example, if your goal is to become rich, write down how rich you would like to be in dollars. The tapping will influence your feelings so that you are doing what you have to do. Just to wait that the universe or whoever sends you money is, in my opinion, nonsense. You have to move your mind and body and do things. Be aware of the choices you will find. You will not pass your exam if you don’t learn your stuff. You have to move in the direction you like. If you like to meet new people, you have to move outside your home. If you always do the exact things the same way, nothing will change. “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” Albert Einstein
Looking for opportunities with self-confidence and trust in yourself, so that you become the person you would like to be, that is the goal of mindful tapping.
Write down your goals now
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- First, energize your hands
Pretend that you have already passed your exam, have your house, your weight, your body, your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, …..
How will you feel when you have reached your goal? Really associate (step into the future, imagine yourself really there, see what you will see, hear what you will hear and feel what you will feel) ‘The stronger you feel it the faster it goes’.
- Rate the feeling from 0-10.
While you are tapping
- Between the eyes,
- On the side of one eye,
- Under the eye and
- With the full hand on your collarbone
say: “Thank you God, or Higher Power, or Jesus, or Spirit, or Universe, or….. For blessing me, I am thankful.” Imagine as if your goal is already yours.
- Take a deep breath. Hold your wrist and say „peace“
Very important! End with the self-compassion exercise.
Do this exercise every day. You will see that “miracles” will happen.
Just do it, be persistent and curious. Look for a change every day. You will find it!
Changing believes with MEFT
But how can you have the awareness about what you are thinking and feeling (that’s what you focus on) to shift it?
Look for the areas you would like to change, for example, your weight or any other habit you don’t like. What comes into your mind when you think of food, of smoking? What do you think of you being fat, a smoker?
Maybe you think of your grandma or mom saying to your food makes you strong, you have to smoke when you feel stressed,..?
Look for beliefs and write down whatever comes into your mind and please don’t judge yourself about what you are writing.
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Then ask yourself: “Is it really true what I’m thinking?”
Tap on the believing you don’t like or aren’t true.
Feel these false statements or the result out of it, and while you are tapping tell yourself.
- Between the eyes,
“Even if I have the belief (name it) and I see clearly the consequences, I love and accept myself.” - On the side of one eye,
“I love and I accept myself even if I had these wrong beliefs and these feelings because of that” - Under the eye
“And I choose to let these false and wrong beliefs go, and I let them go… I let them go” - And with the full hand on your collarbone
“I choose to let these false and wrong beliefs go, I let them go… I let them go” - Hold your wrist and take a deep breath, breathe out, and say “Peace’!”
Do this for some rounds until you feel calm and secure. Then do the self-compassion exercise!
Getting to and working with core issues with MEFT
With MEFT it is possible to find the central, or core, emotional issues that contribute to the problem.
Core Issues are often formed in childhood as a belief, but can also be the result of a significant trauma like a car accident or sexual assault later in life.
As time goes by, these core issues can get buried beneath layer after layer of perceptions, justifications and protective devices, so they aren’t always easy to find.
Sometimes these core issues show up right away, but all too often, they are puzzles, hidden deep within the psyches and need probing and prodding before they display themselves. It needs the courage to open yourself to be aware of what’s going on in your mind.
You can only heal when you are feeling it, hiding and distractions don’t help you. That will make every problem bigger.
If you want to work on that, the best practice is to work on every layer.
Take your time.
Imagine an onion. You can peel it layer by layer.
For this work awareness is necessary.
You have to realize what is really going on in your mind.
You can ask yourself, for example, when are you:
- Afraid of rejection: Think of specific time(s) you have been rejected.
- Claustrophobic: remember a time(s) when you were uncomfortable about being enclosed in a space.
- Stressed at the job: Remember the times, you felt stress at work.
- Not treated well by men: Remember the first time, or other times, that men didn’t treat you well.
- Afraid of public speaking: Think of a time when you spoke in public and it didn’t go well or pretend that you talk.
If specific events are right in front of you, realize your thoughts and feelings without judging them. Accept the thoughts and feelings just like they are and then do with them (not against them!) the tapping procedure.
A lot of people find ways to cover up or rationalize emotional pain.
If you are afraid of doing this work with yourself, look for a practitioner who will help you. Skype sessions with me are also available.
Identifying the Problem with MEFT
You can use this protocol when you or your clients seem overwhelmed with emotions. It’ a good start for huge problems you have to work on.
First, energize your hands.
Think about (or recall) one problem or event in detail. (Notice the emotions and specific images that support the problem).
Do a rating of how intense you feel it. Zero you don’t feel it at all, to ten – it’s really bad.
The ‘cut the tree metaphor’: Imagine an old tree in front of you, you want to cut it down and to plant something different in this place.
If you like to go rid of the roads you have to pull them out. Then and only then you can plant something else in this place. You have to pull out the roots. With the tapping routine, you will do that.
Tap the routine points
- Between the eyes,
- On the side of one eye,
- Under the eye and
- With the full hand on your collarbone
Focus on the feelings or memory while you are tapping, and feel your fingers, while saying; “I release and let go of:
- All sadness’s
- All fears
- All emotional traumas
- All the anger
- Resentment
- Guilt
- Judgments
- Abandonments
- Betrayals
- Helplessness
- Hopelessness
- Feelings of no control
- Rejections
- Shame
- Secrets and anything else that supports this feeling (s).
Let it all go. It’s safe to let it go. I allow myself to let it go”.
Hold your wrist and take a deep breath, breathe out, and say “Peace’!” (Think of your peaceful memory, really associate – step into the memory).
Re-check the problem and notice how it has changed.
Look for remaining emotional or physical reactions and test the problem and rate it from 0-10.
If there is still some problem, repeat the same process, but modify the affirmation as follows: Even though I still have some of this (name the problem or feeling), I deeply and completely accept myself. Example: Even though I still feel some of this frustration, I am ok…
Continue the process until you reach zero. Then do the self-compassion exercise.
MEFT for a quick feelings release
I use the following technique to release negative feelings. Feelings I don’t like. These feelings are not absolutely related to problems. For example, if I’m feeling bored, or hungry (sometimes I have hunger just because of a habit and you?) lonely, or you just feel something in your body. Feelings we resist will persist so don’t say “No” to the feeling. Just release them. Allow them to go.
First, energize your hands.
- Identify the feeling and name it. If you have a problem, refer to the list.
- Notice how it feels and rate it from 0-10.
- While tapping says “Even though I have this…… I deeply and completely accept myself.” Or ‚” I’m okay.” Or “I totally love and accept myself”.
For each of the following energy points, repeating your phrase at each point:
- Between the eyes,
- On the side of one eye,
- Under the eye and
- With the full hand on your collarbone
Example: Even though I have this anger, feel the sadness, feel the greed to eat something…. I am okay.
- Think of “your” memory, your good feeling.
- Take a deep breath. Hold your wrist and say „peace“
Do as many rounds as you need to release the feeling completely.
Finally, do the self-compassion exercise.
Pain relief with MEFT – Working with chronic pain.
Most doctors recommend patients with pain to take medication and to distract themselves.
Do you remember that we can heal what we feel? That is true for emotional and physical pain. With MEFT we focus on our feelings around the sensations we are experiencing.
Talk about the pain as a sensation. Don’t use the word at all. Just do it and you will experience the power of the words!
Several scientific experiments with acute pain have shown that tuning to sensations, is a more effective way of reducing the level of pain experienced when the pain is intense and prolonged than distracting yourself.
Look for belief and thoughts you or your client may have while experiencing the pain and write it down:
For example:
Do you deserve the pain? “I deserve the pain, because…”
Is the pain a punishment for guilt? “I did wrong and this is my punishment. I deserve to suffer.”
Is the pain there to tell you something about you? “I’m a bad person.”
Do you deserve a better life? “That’s the life I deserve.”
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The MEFT process for pain relief
First, energize your hands.
- Identify the feelings, thoughts and or beliefs you have and name it (List above). If you can’t name the feelings and thoughts, you can name them as “all the feelings and all the thoughts”
- Rate the sensation (pain) from 0-10.
- While tapping says:
“Even though I’m thinking I deserve the sensation or I have done wrong and because of that I have these sensations… I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Or ‚ “even though I think that I deserve it I’m ok.”
Or “I totally love and accept myself”
On each of the following energy points:
- Between the eyes,
- On the side of one eye,
- Under the eye and
- With the full hand on your collarbone
Be curious and playful. You can’t do anything wrong, but you can release a lot of your pain.
- Think of “your” memory, your good feeling.
- Take a deep breath. Hold your wrist and say „peace“
Rate the sensation (pain) again. Do as many rounds as you need. Be persistent.
- End with the self-compassion exercise
Mental MEFT
“In the brain, imagining an act and doing it are not as different as they may seem.” Norman Doidge in The Brain’s Way of Healing.
A scientist has discovered recently that when people mentally practice an instrument, they improve almost as much as when they play the instrument physically.
So it’s not a difference in your brain how you practice MEFT. You can do it in your mind and you will get results.
Do everything as described exactly as possible just in your mind. You don’t have to energize your hands, but the self-compassion exercise you can do easily in your mind as well. It works!
And you are able to tap anywhere you are.
Whenever a feeling arises, you don’t like so much: just tap in your mind.
This is possible because of our conscious mind. There is really no difference between really doing it and just doing it in our mind. Isn’t that great?
Working with clients
All the processes described can be easily done with clients. Most important is that you work only with one feeling at a time when you work on a problem.
For example, your client wants to lose weight. There are many feelings associated with eating. Most of the people eat because they are feeling lonely, stressed, bored,….
For many people, eating is the only answer for every feeling they experience. You can start with the overall tapping. After that, your client knows the procedure and then it’s helpful when you tap on every feeling associated with eating and food.
Please take the time for yourself to heal your wounds. Then you really know the process and you know what you are talking about.
What can you do when MEFT isn’t working or the problem is getting worse?
People often leave a MEFT session feeling invigorated, alive and much lighter than when they started. On some occasions, however, they go in the opposite direction. It’s not uncommon for people to experience a negative reaction after (or during) a MEFT session, especially if you are tapping for yourself. Feelings such as anger, anxiety, uneasiness, sadness or even temporary worsening of the issue(s) might emerge. They are not side effects of MEFT, nor is there anything wrong with you.
There are several possible causes for these odd-feeling emotions you may experience during or after tapping. Here are some of them:
Sometimes there’s a reluctance to do, say goodbye for reasons that vary among different people. To change what’s become so familiar is disconcerting to some. I know it sounds strange but if you have had a feeling for a long time, you get used to it. It’s part of your identity and it can make you insecure when changes happen.
While in the process of clearing major traumas or issues with MEFT some people become anxious or fearful, sensing the possibility of living life with a different set of rules. They might feel like a fish-out-of-water as they begin to see life from a completely different perspective.
This is why compassion exercise is so important. Doing something for ourselves sometimes feels strange. With this exercise, you get a good feeling and get used to the idea that you have to put yourself first because you are important.
Another cause for anxiety or fear during or after taping is that there may be an unconscious payoff for keeping the issues.
Some people financially compensate for a disability, while others may get emotional support with attention, sympathy or special favors as a result of their issues.
The most likely cause, however, for feeling unsettled after doing MEFT is that you simply haven’t reached the core issue yet. Sometimes getting close to a painful memory is difficult.
Perhaps you’ve peeled the first layer of your onion. You may be only partially into your issues and are stirring things up before completion.
If you don’t know what your core issue is when you start a session and you proceed to tap on the various aspects you do know about, you may end a session without finding the actual cause of your problem — the Core Issue.
For example, you may be tapping on an uncomfortable emotion or body sensation that is happening at the moment, such as rage or tightness in the throat. But you would only be addressing a symptom, not the main cause. Underneath that rage, a deeper core issue, such as “he never really loved me” or “my mother abandoned me” still needs to be addressed for full resolution.
When the core issue is not dealt with, it is like chopping off the green weeds in a lawn but never getting to the roots. Also, there might be many core issues around a particular issue and one session only dealt with one of the core issues, leaving more work to do.
Confusion, anxiety, headaches, anger, or sadness often mean that you’re simply not done with the problem or haven’t found the all-important core issue.
It is often hard to discover the core issues on your own. It is sometimes hard for us to see our own problems clearly. That is where a good practitioner can help.
Why do we teach and practice Mindful EFT and why is it different?
Mindful EFT is simple to apply, easily remembered, works with people who cannot visualize very well, works with people without a memory of an issue, quickly transforms core issues, related traumas and limiting beliefs, and you can easily do it mentally as well.
With Mindful EFT we are practicing self-compassion the key to lasting changes.
With Mindful EFT, instead of tapping all the meridian points like traditional EFT, you only tap between your eyes, the side of your eye, under your eye, your collarbone. Then hold your wrist, breathe deeply and say “peace.” You also don’t have to do the “Even though…” and all the other scripts. Wait a little bit, in a little while I will explain the process in detail and you can also see a video.
What you say will vary, but if you are in a hurry, you can just imagine what is going on that is disturbing you and then just say, “let it go” at each tapping point and then after you say, “peace” you can evaluate the intensity again. You keep tapping until it is gone.
Let’s have fun. All the best to you
Birgit
… And if you have any questions, write a mail birgit@drzottmann.de
At least I like to share with you a poem of Rumi.
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rewire your brain and heal yourself with Mindful EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)