Get into a routine. Make EFT a habit. Do it at the same time every day (as much as is humanly possible) and in the same place too if that’s something that works for you.

Getting habitual about EFT will make it easy for you to remember to work on yourself.

I work with a group of extremely traumatized people: parents whose children have been taken - often unjustly - by child protective services. Some will eventually get their children back but the entire family will still be trauma victims in need of emotional healing. Others will never get their children back, and will carry the scars of extreme loss for the rest of their lives. There’s no trauma worse than the loss of a child, and when that loss is inflicted by a government agency that claims a parent is unfit, the emotional trauma is increased with shame, stigma, extreme grief, a sense of frustrated helplessness, fear for the well being of the child, and perennial anger.

Parents, grandparents, and others in similar traumatic situations need healing from emotional trauma - otherwise they will deteriorate from unresolved stresses. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) causes exhaustion, impatience, aggravation, agitation, lack of ability to focus, and emotional outbursts. If left unresolved the grief of extreme trauma can lead to further stress on the body including increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Whatever injury harms our mental or emotional bodies will probably have an effect on our physical bodies as well.

These traumas must be dealt with, and EFT is one way to do it. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. By resolving energy blockages in the meridian system we can clear past traumas and promote emotional stability. As we heal our emotional body, the mental and physical bodies respond as well.

Here are some articles that explain more about how to heal trauma and PTSD using EFT tapping techniques:

An EFT Formula for Specific Trauma
EFT After an Attack in the Street
Healing Emotional Trauma & PTSD From a Car Accident
Healing Trauma Caused by Childhood Molestation & Incest
The EFT Story Technique Can Help in Healing Emotional Trauma and Clearing the Past
Using the Story Technique to Heal Emotional Trauma After a Rape
The EFT Story Technique for healing Emotional Trauma After a Bombing
Healing the Trauma of a Car Accident With EFT
Healing Emotional Trauma Caused by Date Rape
EFT to Heal Trauma After a Miscarriage
EFT Self-Healing After Witnessing a Violent Crime
Healing PTSD Caused by Domestic Violence
Using EFT to Heal PTSD of a Paramedic
How a Doctor Used EFT to Heal Abuse Trauma
Healing the Trauma of Guilt After Witnessing a Child’s Death

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

Melancholy can be defined as free-floating sadness, something like a dark cloud that obscures the sun of happiness from your consciousness. It brings forth emotional mind-wanderings and distress, and is a precursor to actual deep depression.

We must not let melancholy take over our lives! Life is meant to be enjoyed, not looked at through a fog of discontent. So let’s EFT it away.

How, you say?

Perhaps you don’t know the source of your melancholy. If this is the case, start there.

How much do you feel this? Assign a number, 1 to 10. (1=barely;10=extremely)

Setup phrase:

“Even though I don’t know why I’m feeling sad today I deeply and completely accept myself.”

Repeat three times. If you’ve been reading Gary Craig’s free e-book or watching his outstanding EFT DVDs, you’ll understand exactly how this is done.

Tapping: “Sadness”

Breathe deeply when you’re done tapping. How much do you still feel this? Assign a number, 1 to 10.

…

Perhaps as you tapped you realized some specific event that saddened you, and that’s the next thing to tap on.

Keep going. Tap out all the aspects.

Examples:

Aspect one - your mother called and reminded you of some stupid thing you did when you were ten.

Tap on it.

Aspect two - you’re reminded how your first marriage broke up because of your mother saying similar invasive and depressing stuff to your spouse.

Tap on it.

Any other thoughts that come up while you’re tapping on something - remember, that’s usually an aspect that needs to be resolved.

Tap on it.

Restore your joy. You were born to this world to be happy, and not to suffer.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

I recently made a Squidoo lens about EFT: EFT - Emotional Freedom Techniques.

If you’ve already worked on your most important issues using EFT to free yourself from emotional blocks, and now are unsure what to tap on next, then perhaps it is time to dig deeper. Keeping a journal is a great way to find issues that are bothering you. Simply write about your life in a notebook. As you do, things will come out… events you’ve forgotten that you still get an emotional charge from, or problems you have that have plagued you for years.

When, during the course of your journal writing, you find yourself aware of an issue that can be helped by EFT (and this includes practically any issue) then at the top of the next page write a word or two about what the issue is. Next write down your setup phrase, and a number from one to ten that indicates how important this issue feels to you. Then go ahead give yourself a round of EFT. Next, reassess the strength of your emotional reaction to the issue, giving it another number.

If you don’t know how to do EFT yet, get a copy of Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book about how to transform your life with EFT.

At this point you’ll need to either call this issue “resolved” or go on to tap about the remaining issue… or perhaps you’ve had some insight about another aspect of the issue that needs to be tapped on. Whatever your next step is, write it into your journal on that page.

A sample journal entry:

Consistency:
Even though I lack consistency, I deeply and completely accept myself.
7
2

This example illustrates a generalization… which usually isn’t the best thing to tap on. Using a specific event would be better:

Consistency:
Even though I don’t consistently do the dishes every night, I deeply and completely accept myself.
7
2

When you remember another issue in which you have consistency problems, you can tap on that too. Keep going until you tap on every issue that comes to mind during the course of your EFT session.

Keeping a record of your EFT tapping sessions in your journal will give you something to look back at and review. After using your journal for a few months, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come and how much your life has changed.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

Do you ever have a crick in the neck - a pain that lingers for days and keeps reminding you that something’s wrong there? Here’s my most recent story of having this problem - and what I did about it.
…

I’d had neck discomfort for more than a week, maybe two weeks this time. I didn’t want to call it a pain – though there were a few brief painful moments, especially at first.

Try as I might, I couldn’t stretch my neck far enough in any direction to unpinch a nerve. A friend lovingly kneaded my neck and shoulder muscles, relaxing them. Yet my misery continued unabated.

This Saturday morning, unimpeded by the need to leave for work, with spare time on my hands, I sat at my computer and opened a file named “Morning Ritual”. In there I’ve posted a few morning prayers I like to use, and a format for recording my morning inspirations, goals, and intentions. One section is for recording information about whatever EFT I choose to do that day.

EFT = Emotional Freedom Techniques.

When I saw that notation in my file today, I remembered I had the crick in my neck. It was the only problem I could think of as it was bothering me quite a lot, as usual.

My EFT setup phrase was “Even though I have a crick in my neck, I deeply and completely accept myself.” In EFT, the setup phrase is repeated three times while an accupressure point on the side of the hand is tapped repeatedly. Next I did the full ‘basic recipe’ adding in tapping points on top of my head and on my wrists. I also included both sides so it was a basic recipe, plus. (If you don’t know what a ‘basic recipe’ is, you need to read the free e-book!)

When I got done I still felt a tiny bit of soreness in my neck, but it didn’t hurt. I decided to leave it be, and went on to doing other things.

It wasn’t until about an hour later that I realized the crick in my neck was 100% gone for the first time in days. All day long, my neck has felt absolutely wonderful. No crick; no pain!

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

Many people want to know: does EFT work? More importantly, does it work on their specific needs?

The way to know is to try EFT by doing it daily for a while.

If you question whether EFT works, you’ll also need to know if changes in your life in any way relate to the EFT tapping you’ve been doing.

With that in mind, I’ve developed an EFT Progress Chart to encourage my clients to make a record of the EFT tapping sessions they do. Keeping a log of sessions not only helps organize our healing efforts, it provides historical context to the questions we may have about whether EFT works at all. Just like with any scientific inquiry, good records must be kept. Thus an EFT Progress Chart is what we need.

You can download my EFT Progress Chart as a word.doc file or as a pdf file. Either way, it is easy to print out and use.

Here’s a sample EFT Progress Chart I’ve filled out:

EFT Progress Chart for keeping a historical record of EFT sessions.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

Today I planned to drive out of town to do some shopping - but my paycheck, which I’d mailed to my bank, isn’t there yet. So the money I wanted to spend is suspended in time, waiting to be delivered. I’m grounded.

This caused a physical reaction - a narrowing and darkening of vision along with heat in the chest and arms, and of course there was accompanying emotional pain. I was worried about my finances! What if my check was lost or stolen? What if it never arrived? What a worry-wart I can be! Though life is full of disappointments, there are also ways to overcome them.

And what a great opportunity to use EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques!

I used the setup phrase: “Even though my money hasn’t arrived at the bank yet and I’m worried about it, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Then I tapped using phrases like “worry about money” and “disappointment because the check isn’t there yet”, and “very upset because my check is not safe at the bank”.

It is such a simple thing to deal with life’s disappointing moments with EFT. Rather than going off on the kids, the spouse or the neighbors, we can use EFT to instantly feel better about whatever’s upsetting us.

The uses for this technique are endless. Having it as a tool to call upon when we’re disappointed and upset is a gift to us.

If you haven’t used EFT yet, I’m happy to tell you, it is easy to be effectively dealing with disappointment by using this simple system of tapping on energy meridians while vocalizing and concentrating on what you’re disappointed or upset about.

To Do EFT:

Start with a setup phrase that describes what you’re dealing with - your exact feeling of disappointment. Start the phrase with “Even though…” and add to that, “I deeply and completely accept myself.”

Examples:
Even though I gained five pounds, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though my grandchild broke her arm while I was watching her and I feel responsible, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though my husband broke his promise to take me out to dinner, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though I got an F on my test, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though I didn’t get the job I wanted, I deeply and completely accept myself.

After you formulate your setup phrase, you’ll repeat that entire sentence out loud three times while tapping on what we call the karate chop point, which is the side of the hand near the little finger. Or you could say it while rubbing the sore spot about four inches below your shoulder. (You’ll have to experiment to find the right spot.)

When that’s done, start tapping on energy meridians - in the same locations acupuncturists use to insert needles. Don’t panic! We’re simply tapping, not using needles! The locations on which to tap are clearly explained in Gary Craig’s free ebook on EFT. See the link below. We tap on each spot seven to ten times then go on to the next.

After tapping on my problem this morning, dealing with the disappointment of having an insecure money situation, I felt a lightness. A burden lifted from me. The fear dissipated. I felt free - emotionally free - of my financial worries.

I believe that you too can experience emotional freedom by using the techniques explained clearly on Gary Craig’s DVD’s and in his free e-book. I read the book and bought the DVD’s, and have been living a happier, more joy-filled life ever since.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE pdf e-book or buy the DVDs now!

Worries about self esteem afflict millions of people worldwide. Too many of us worry about how we measure up compared to all the other beautiful, athletic, insightful and artistic people around us. We live in a goal-oriented society where our ideals of perfection, heaped on us by the media, are unattainable by most. In wasting time worrying about our shortcomings, we lose the opportunity to use each moment for the joy of appreciating our lives as they are.

When I was a child, I was shy beyond what I’ve seen in anyone else. I let my sister do the talking, feeling I couldn’t compete with her conviviality. I never knew what to say to people I’d recently met, and kept to myself as much as possible. I wondered what more popular girls had to talk about; I saw them chattering together incessantly.

I was worried I might say the wrong thing. I stressed over having nothing to say. My power of speech was blocked. I wasted precious moments in shy, suffering silence when I could have been speaking freely, enjoying friendships, and living a normal child’s life.

Since enjoyment of life makes everything worthwhile, boosting self esteem should be of primary importance to anyone who is concerned about issues such as not feeling loved, feeling inadequate, extreme shyness, or feeling a lack of success in life. Many if not all feelings of personal failure are tied into self esteem issues.

Boosting self esteem is easy with Emotional Freedom Techniques, EFT.* It helps to have confidence in the EFT process, but as we know, EFT often works whether you believe in it or not, and when nothing else produces results. EFT could have helped that shy child to learn to speak freely and without fear. EFT could help anyone feeling blocked socially, financially, or artistically.

One of the worst emotional problems I had when I started using EFT over a year ago was that I felt unworthy of being loved. I felt inadequate, which created a huge abyss in the relationship I was trying to build with my new boyfriend. In fact, for a while it looked like we wouldn’t make it through the forest of my fears and inadequacy feelings. Many of the issues I initially tapped on concerned my buildup of low self esteem feelings. I explored the reasons for my fears, and tapped on each of them in turn.

In my case the problems originated with my relationship with my older sister, who I considered in all ways better than me. She was the oldest, the pretty blonde one, the talkative one, the mother-child who tried to take care of us all. She got perfect grades in school and had the perfect boyfriends and the car and the college education and good career. My life has been a perfect contrast to hers! I had a lot to tap about, but working through these feelings of inadequacy was crucial to recovering from the fears that made my relationship-building incredibly frightening.

My first EFT sessions may have started something like this: “Even though my sister did better than me in school, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Or: “Even though my sister talked freely and I couldn’t because I was shy, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

When doing EFT for issues like these, other issues come to mind. While I’m doing the tapping process, I often have some secondary issue bubble up from my sub-conscious, and I take mental note of it. When I’m done tapping, I take a deep, slow breath, and meditate for a moment to see how much the original issue still bothers me. If I’m over it, I can go on to the next issue that occurred to me. In this way I can tackle many aspects or facets of a problem in one session.

When doing EFT it is important to address each of these aspects separately, and to tap on any individual hurtful events of the past that come to mind. Years later, we may still be psychologically reeling from the impact of painful or shocking events. Some things sink in and never totally go away, leaving us feeling blocked energetically and in our outward lives. EFT is a method for removing those blocks, restoring our health, and giving us back the emotional freedom to live life fully without fears or pain.

So if you are feeling anxious or fearful about life and think you’re not doing as well as others, take a few moments to explore the roots of your feelings. Write a list if you need to. Then start tapping.

I worked through the painful old feelings and thankfully, my relationship with my boyfriend is still thriving. Just yesterday we had the best day ever; we drove to Mt. Shasta for shopping and dinner out. Two women spent time talking to my boyfriend and I didn’t get stressed at all – I enjoyed seeing him have someone new to talk to for a change. I didn’t waste any time thinking I wasn’t good enough because I wasn’t able to talk exactly the same way they did.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE e-book now!

I’ve had a fear of crossing bridges for a long time. It started with a fear of heights which eventually included bridges, possibly starting around the time of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. If you recall that tragedy, it included the collapse of a double-decker freeway I’d been on many times as I was raised in that area, as well as a section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Last year I started doing EFT and one of my first projects for emotional freedom was to recover from my fear of bridges and cliffs. I live in a long, deep river valley and there are several highway bridges east of here that have frightened me for years. With the encouragement of my boyfriend, Bob, I did a lot of EFT and recovered from my fears, at least, while he was driving. *

Just yesterday I was driving on a road west of here that I’ve called “The Five Bridge Road” for six or seven years now. It involves driving along high cliffs and there are five bridges, two of which have frightened me severely, so much that I’ve avoided that road by driving a little further and taking the freeway to go around it.

My boyfriend doesn’t believe in driving further and spending money on driving over Anderson Pass just to get to Yreka. “Why not take the short road - it’s only eight miles!” He is so practical. So yesterday while I was driving I decided to do just that, hoping that my fear of bridges was gone thanks to EFT.

I had no problem getting over the first two bridges, but as I approached the third, my old feeling of tightening up around my arms and heart started, and I pulled off the road right before crossing the bridge. “I can’t do it,” I said.

“Why not?”

“There’s something I didn’t tell you,” I said to him. “I found out this week that someone jumped off that bridge recently.”

I’d been at work a few days before when a co-worker, who was reading the newspaper, discovered that a friend of hers had died. She started crying, then made some phone calls. Before long she found out that the boy, who was only 18, had jumped off the Pioneer Bridge. Now there I was, looking at the place where a sad and dejected gay teenager had jumped off, and it was like another aspect of my fear came to me. Someone had told the girl I worked with that lots of people had jumped off that bridge in the past, and I was wondering if my long-standing fear of this place had anything to do with my sensitivity. Maybe I’d been picking up the feelings of despair and depression around the bridge, and that’s why it had always frightened me so badly.

My boyfriend got out of the car as I sat there doing some emergency EFT on the feelings I was having.

Setup phrase: “Even though I’m afraid to drive across the bridge because of what happened here, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
Tapping: Distress over what happened…

I had to repeat this twice, then I knew I could do it. My boyfriend got back into the car and I drove across the bridge, without a twinge of fear. There was a wreath hanging in the middle of the bridge, a sad testament to the tragedy that had taken place and the suffering of the people he left behind.

* Learn EFT at home! Get Gary Craig’s FREE e-book now!