After a recent episode of back pain I went in search of relief and I thought I’d give the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT a try.

I downloaded the Emotional Freedom Techniques manual from World Center for EFT

The technique uses pressure and a tapping sequence at various points on the face, hands and body.

It can be used for physical and emotional problems, such as phobias, weight loss, addictions.

Stage 1 – Setup

You repeat an affirmation 3 times…
Even though I have this _____________,I deeply and completely accept myself. (The blank could be something like craving for alcohol, fear of spiders, etc)

ie: Even though I have this knee pain, I deeply and completely accept myself.
or: Even though I have this debilitating grief, I deeply and completely accept myself.
…while you…

Simultaneously rub a “Sore Spot”….or….tap on the “Karate Chop” point (see KC on the EFT Sequence image).

There are two Sore Spots and it doesn’t matter which one you use. They are located in the upper left and right portions of the chest and you find them as follows:

Go to the base of the throat about where a man would knot his tie. Poke around in this area and you will find a U shaped notch at the top of your sternum (breastbone). From the top of that notch go down 3 inches (about 7cm) toward your navel and over 3 inches to your left (or right). You should now be in the upper left (or right) portion of your chest. If you press vigorously in that area (within a 2 inch radius) you will find a “Sore Spot.” This is the place you will need to rub while saying the affirmation.

Stage 2 – The Sequence

EB = beginning of the eyebrow
SE = side of the eye
UE = under the eye
UN = under the nose
CH = chin
CB = beginning of the collarbone
UA = 4 inches down from underarm
BN = for men, one inch below the nipple
BN = for ladies, where the underskin of the breast meets the chest wall
TH = thumb
IF = index finger
MF = middle finger
LF = little finger
KC = karate chop point

Tap about 7 times on each of the tapping points. See the manual available from http://www.emofree.com for full details about tapping points.

Stage 3 – The Gamut Procedure

First locate Gamut Point. It is on the back of either hand and is 1/2 inch behind the midpoint between the knuckles at the base of the ring finger and the little finger.

Next, you must perform 9 different actions while tapping the Gamut point continuously.

The 9 Gamut actions are:

1. Eyes closed
2. Eyes open
3. Eyes hard down right while holding the head steady
4. Eyes hard down left while holding the head steady
5. Roll eyes in a circle as though your nose was at the center of a clock and you were trying to see all the numbers in order
6. Same as #5 only reverse the direction in which you roll your eyes
7. Hum 2 seconds of a song (suggest Happy Birthday)
8. Count rapidly from 1 to 5
9. Hum 2 seconds of a song again

Stage 4 – The Sequence (again)

Repeat the Stage 2 sequence.

While it did not alleviate the back pain completely, I feel sure that it helped to ease the worst of the pain and I also recovered more quickly than I have done in the past.

Tags: Alternative Therapies, eft, emotional freedom, healing

This entry was posted by H Cook on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Alternative Therapies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.