Stress. Anxiety. Guilt. Pain. Sadness. Trauma. These feelings and emotions are all part of our human existence. At times, however, one or more of these can become negative emotions and can block our ability to live life fully. We may find ourselves repeating patterns in relationships, with career choices, or with physical ailments, feeling stuck in situations that appear to be beyond our control.

We now have a simple but powerful tool that can help us regain our sense of choice over our negative emotions and recover our personal power. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT for short) allows easy release of negative emotions and turns the stuck energy into empowerment so we can freely choose what is best in our lives. After the release of the negative emotions we can be free to experience more of life's joy and happiness.

What is EFT?

EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques, is an easy yet effective method developed by Gary Craig that allows quick release of negative emotions. EFT involves tapping on certain meridian points that communicate energetic information throughout the human body while focused on the emotion we want to release.

Try EFT Now!

Take a few minutes to learn the fundamental steps of this powerful self-help tool. This is the short version of EFT but you can access the full version, and many useful and effective energy tools and techniques, at our Web Site www.TapIntoHeaven.com or www.selibre.net

1. Recall an experience when something happened that you felt was out of your control. What are your feelings as you think about that situation or the people involved? Name the feeling or emotional response that you have right now. If you cannot name the specific feeling, just call it "This emotion."
2. Rate the intensity of the emotional response on a scale from zero to ten, with ten being the most intense and zero being no emotional response at all.
3. Perform The Setup: With the finger pads of the index and middle fingers of your dominant hand, begin tapping lightly the "Karate Chop" point of your other hand. The fleshy part on the side of the hand below the little finger is known as the Karate Chop point. While continuously tapping this point, repeat the following Setup Statement three times: "Even though I have this emotion, I deeply and completely accept myself" If you can name the emotion, then replace the word "emotion" with the specific feeling such as "anger," "guilt," or "sadness." Physical pain or discomfort can also be treated with EFT. Simply replace the word "emotion" with a description of the problem such as "headache," " lower back pain," or "arthritis in my knee." For example, to treat my stress I repeat, "Even though I have this stress, I deeply and completely accept myself," three times while continuously tapping the Karate Chop point.
4. Next, perform the Tapping Sequence by tapping about five times on each point (see chart) to rebalance your energy flow. Keep focused on the emotion or problem by repeating a Reminder Phrase similar to the Setup Statement. To release stress, I repeat, "This stress" while tapping lightly about five times on each of the following points:

   EB = Beginning of the Eye Brow
   SE = Side of the Eye
   UE = Under the Eye
   UN = Under the Nose
   CH = The Chin
   CB = Beginning of the CollarBone
   UA = Under the Arm
   KC = Karate Chop Point
   Points on either side of the body can be used, and sides can be switched during the tapping sequence.

• Take a deep breath. Now focus on the emotion you were addressing. Rate the intensity of that feeling on the 0-10 scale. If you were feeling stress on a level of 5 or 6, is it still at that same level?

Complete Relief

If the feeling you had is completely relieved, and you feel no emotional response at all when you recall the experience from Step #1, great! You responded well to one round of EFT! You experienced, in a few moments, the power of this technique.

Partial Relief

Often, however, there is a reduction in the level of intensity of the emotion, say from a 5 or 6 to a 2 or 3. The remainder of the emotion needs to be treated with another round or two of EFT. In the subsequent rounds, it is important to adjust the Setup Statement and the Reminder Phrase to address the rest of the emotion or feeling. Use wording similar to, "Even though I still have some of this emotion, I deeply and completely accept myself," and repeat it three times while tapping the Karate Chop point. Then repeat, "This remaining stress," or "This remaining problem" during the Tapping Sequence. Do as many rounds of EFT as necessary until your emotional response is zero when you focus on the original experience from Step #1.

No Relief

If the first round of EFT did not lower the intensity of the feeling, try becoming more specific with the Setup Statement. For example, when dealing with stress you may need to define who or what is causing my stress to unblock the stuck energy. You could then repeat something similar to "Even though I have this stress about having to finish this article by today, I deeply and completely accept myself" during the Setup. Then you could use "this deadline stress" as a Reminder Phrase during the Tapping Sequence. Along with being more specific, persistence is sometimes necessary with this technique to reach a breakthrough. Try a few more rounds of EFT and see if the intensity of the problem or emotion eases somewhat.

This simple, or "shortcut," version of EFT is around 60 % effective and often results is some sort of relief for a specific problem. Coached by a skilled practitioner, who will know how to deal with special blocks that sometimes stand in the way of success, EFT has been clinically shown to be 80% effective.

How Will You Use EFT in Your Life?

Now that you have the basics of a powerful tool, try it on any negative or uncomfortable emotion you encounter and to help you gain control over many areas in your life. Try it on everything! EFT has no negative side effects, and the procedure only takes a few minutes to complete. Tap into your personal power with the self-help tool of the new millennium!

Gwenn Bonnell is a writer, teacher, lecturer, and Energy Psychology practitioner, at Heaven on Earth in West Broward, Florida. A member of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP), Gwenn also facilitates EFT and Energy Psychology training and workshops. For more information call 954-370-1552, email gwenn@tapintoheaven.com, or visit www.tapintoheaven.com.

Joachim Schubert teaches and practices EFT in Spanish and English in the Miami area. A member of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP), Joachim also facilitates training and workshops. For more information call 305-531-8129 or email contact@selibre.net

Visit our Web Site: www.tapintoheaven.com/ and www.selibre.net