EFT: no tapping required?

[Lauxa]

I recently discovered a new method for working through negative emotions. For a long time, I have had a voice that says "I hate myself". This voice would surface whenever I was really upset. Because of this, EFT was kind of hollow for me. How could I believe "I deeply and completely accept myself" when the voice was saying the opposite?

The first step was to realize that I don't really hate myself. It is just something I say when I am upset. I asked myself if I hated anyone else, and concluded that I do not. I do not believe that I am the worst person in the world, so how could I possibly hate myself? It did not make sense.

So I decided to tell the voice "You may not talk to me like that. If you want to vent, you may describe the physical sensations you are experiencing." Maybe that would be tightness in the chest, or thoughts swirling madly in the head, or pain in the shoulders, or hyperventilating. But by just focusing on the physical sensations without judgment, then they would pass more easily. By this method, I have kept the voice at bay for the last 10 days.

But I realized that this was very similar to EFT, but without the tapping. Which made me wonder if the EFT tapping was really good for anything at all. I would be glad to discover that it is not! What do you think?

[VacMan]

Lauxa,

That's an interesting finding!

And congrats on figuring out something that works for you!

I wonder how many variations on EFT there are out there and how many are effective.

I've actually heard of another variation that seems to work well for people and that method is basically "visual" or "imaginary" tapping. Basically, you tap just like you would normally, but just do it in your head, and imagine yourself doing the tapping and how it would feel.

Some people seem to think it works.

Here's a quick link to someone who is keeping track of their journey using EFT: (You might find it useful.)

EFT Pdj - The Community for Excellence Forum

[Holistic Star]

Google "Emotrance" or Silvia Hartman as that sounds very similar to what you just described.

Ultimately it is all just energy - whether you tap ends of meridians, hold neurovascular points, use reflexology, stick pins in accupoints or any of the other miriade of energy techniques, it all is about getting to the same end which is to be happy and well.
Different bodies prefer different techniques at different times, so whatever works for you is best!

Awareness of your energy system and having the intention to heal are two of the fundamentals to healing.

Sounds like you are doing really well! keep us updated on your progress

[pinkgemini]

Hi there, I LOVE EFT and it has helped me tremendously this year. I lost my 22 yo son in February and I don't know how I would have got through without tapping. It is magic for me. Congratulations on finding something that works for you too.

Although I personally don't, I believe a lot of people have trouble with the accepting self bit. One way of getting around this is to use the choices method. Might be worth trying if you haven't already.

You can tap on something like "Even though I don't love and accept myself at all, but and it feels hollow saying it because I hate myself, I now choose to believe that I might be able to accept myself, just a little" or whatever choice feels right for you.

I read an interesting article about forgiving just 1% with EFT yesterday. I think that could work too for acceptance of self - which I see as really forgiving oneself. Loving and accepting oneself just 1% sounds like something most could do. If you are interested it is here:
New Uses for EFT

love and light
Jan

[uberinquisitive]

EFT is just one of many tools you can use. Inner child work, visualization, regular talk therapy...they're all useful.

When I use EFT and I'm not ready to accept a statement, I start with "even though" and end with, "I can imagine..."

"Even though I hate myself sometimes, I can imagine that I love and accept myself."

"Even though I'm angry at my mother, I can imagine that I forgive her."