EFT in the Philippines

I'll be leaving in a few days for the Philippines and I've started a little blog to chronicle my adventures there.  I'll be teaching two workshops in Dumaguete City (the city of gentle people), one for professionals and one for lay healers and invite you to tune in!

Here's the link!

EFT and Politics

Here in the US our elections have become increasingly polarized.  Whatever side you take, the Other Guys are clearly dangerous madmen, intent on the willful destruction of the government/environment/social contract through lust for power, control and/or shortsighted greed. 

Whether this government takeover is a triumph of Socialism or Corporate Fascism, those on either extreme have amazingly similar fears of a terrifying dystopian future. Talk about having common ground!

Many folks I know choose to tune out all the fear and doom saying—trying to stay positive.  But with more and more climate related catastrophes every year, it’s easy to feel a bit nervous…are there any grown ups in charge?  Shouldn’t we be doing something about the weather? 

Regardless of your own political views, wouldn’t it be lovely to help steer the Ship of State away from the Iceberg of Total Catastrophe?  Can tapping help?  I believe it can!

Here is my 3-step program for political progress:

Step One: Make a list

Tapping works best by clearing negative emotions—fear, anger, resentment, hopelessness, feelings of powerlessness…whatever is stuck.  So the first step is to make a list of the things that bug you.

And while you’re at it, don’t be afraid to get extreme here...and be as specific as you can.  I know you really want to stay positive and imagine a better future, but first let’s clear the decks.

Step Two: Tap Like Crazy

Put your negative thoughts and feelings into some EFT “set-up statements” and start tapping (if you don’t know how to tap, here is a simple tutorial on the basics).  For example:

“Even though I’m terrified that ________ will steal the election, and the economy will crash and all the jobs will be shipped overseas and I’ll be thrown out of work, and I won’t have health care, and there won’t be any safety net and I’ll end up homeless, living on the street, eating out of a dumpster or starving to death, I’d like to get to a calm and peaceful place”  

Reminder phrases: “this terror…lose my job….I’ll be homeless…etc.”

“Even though the ____________ party wants to round us all up and throw us into concentration camps and I’ll have to watch my family starve, or be tortured, or else die in a bloody civil war, I deeply love and completely accept myself and choose to trust that things could actually get better”

Reminder phrases: “being rounded up and put in a camp….bloody civil war…etc.”

“Even though the corporations are controlling everything, and the whole system is totally corrupt, and the candidates are just puppets doing the bidding of their corporate masters, and it doesn’t even matter who wins, all they care about is money and power and we’re all going to die in a global catastrophe, I want to get to a calm and peaceful place and open myself up to new possibilities”

Reminder phrases: “it’s hopeless…corporations call all the shots…we’re all going to die…etc.”

Okay, these are some fairly extreme examples.  It’s best to make your own list and really dig up whatever is bothering you so you can tap it away.

Step Three:  Envision a Brighter Future

Once you’ve tapped away the emotional intensity around your negative feelings, make a new list of the best possible outcome you can imagine.  Write out the headlines you’d like to see the morning after Election Day! 

Don’t worry about being realistic here.  In fact, give yourself space to be wildly utopian. Go into as much detail as you need to get a really nice picture and then tap:

“Even though I really don’t expect this to happen, and I feel ridiculous for even dreaming it could happen, I love myself for wanting this to happen”

Reminder phrases: just go through your list…say aloud every item as you tap through the points and once in a while toss in the line “I know this could never happen” (just to address your subconscious resistance) and finish us with “why is it so easy for me to imagine these good things will happen?…why is it so easy to allow myself to see this better future?”. 

The idea behind this exercise is to get unstuck.  By releasing your negative thoughts and feelings around the election, your personal reality becomes more fluid, so to speak.  You are much more likely to slip and slide into an Alternate Universe where wonderful things are happening.  Give it a shot!

Understanding the Tenth Dimension

I think this little video is very helpful in getting our heads around all those pesky extra-dimensions.  Enjoy!

I've got a new "fan page" on Facebook

I've been slaving over my new "fan page" on Facebook and I'm pretty happy with the way it's looking.  If you haven't seen it, please check it out and give it a "like"!

Back before Thanksgiving I presented a one EFT weight loss workshop.  I was totally blown away by the depth our little group got to, and the trust that made it possible.
I was able to try out some new ideas with that workshop and overall it seemed very successful.

But friends of mine who do Weight Watchers were amazed that I got anyone to come at all.  They told me that WW is a ghost town until after the holidays and then standing room only after New Years Day!

So here I go again, January 7&8, 2012.  This time I'm adding an optional second day.  I'm planning to teach the skills on Saturday, and Sunday will be for deepening them and exploring issues further.

I've booked a nice room at The Flamingo Hotel, which hosts many conferences.  I'm really excited about this offering!

Here's a link to the webpage.

Come Learn EFT in Chiang Mai Thailand!

I'm offering a Level One and Two EFT workshop in Thailand this November for EFT Universe.  Come join me!
November is the start of cooler weather there, and follows the rainy season, so everything should be clean and shiny!
Chiang Mai is one of my favorite places on this planet, and a great place to get any dental work done.  The clinics there are world class and very cheap.
Even though the airfare is a bit more (about $1000 right now from San Francisco) it's very inexpensive to be there.  Food and guest houses are absurdly cheap and it's a wonderful adventure.
I've written more about Chiang Mai here.
I'm also doing workshops in Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and Phoenix here in the US this year (2011).  These are all through EFT Universe and lead toward certification.  Check it out!

Language Barrier

On Sunday I had a client with a very lovely Russian accent.  We began doing some Matrix Reimprinting work with a difficult memory and everything seemed to be going well until it was time to ask her echo (younger split off self) what she was feeling.  My client got no response.  Very unusual!
We tried working with some of the other people in the scene and again...no response.  Hmmmm.  Everything else seemed to be working.  She was able to see them clearly and tap on them. 
When we went to an earlier memory, when her echo was only four years old, my client suddenly realized "Oh!  She doesn't understand me because I'm speaking English!  She only speaks Russian!"
I had heard of this happening but had forgotten, in part because my client's English was really good.  Once she switched to Russian we were very successful!
The very next day I was working with a Polish woman and knew enough to have her speak Polish to her younger selves.  I just thought that was fascinating!

My First Workshops!

I've just published a sign up page for my upcoming workshops in Santa Cruz, California and Ashland, Oregon. Both of these are in beautiful settings!  In Santa Cruz we'll be at The Garden Sanctuary.  In Ashland at the Crystal Room of the historic Ashland Springs Hotel.  I feel so lucky to have scored these spots.
These are official certification workshops for EFT Universe.  I'm excited to be teaching for them, as the curriculum and program are top notch.  I've discovered a burning passion for teaching and I can't wait to be doing these trainings.
Very soon I'll be adding Chiang Mai, Thailand (November) and Santa Rosa, California (January 2012).  

New Name and New Website

I've made a few changes to my business recently, including a new name: Tapping the Matrix, and a new website. It's a lot like the old one, but has a new page for Matrix Reimprinting, some new images here and there, and of course, a new name and banner.
I hope you like it!

Understanding Oneness Through Science

This beautiful video has a very positive spiritual message, courtesy of quantum physics. It also helps us understand the nature of the Matrix we're working with.

Matrix Reimprinting

I'm in love!
Matrix Reimprinting is a fantastic new technique that has captured my heart. This technique uses EFT but takes it a step further. The idea is that whenever we experience trauma (big or small) a part of us splits off and takes up residence in it's own energy field.

We call this split off part an ECHO (energy consciousness hologram) and it's very similar to the idea of an inner child--except that it can be any age (we have plenty of traumas as adults) and it isn't really "inner"--it lives in our energy field.

The amazing thing is that these ECHOs are real. They seem to have an independent, autonomous intelligence. I didn't fully believe this at first, but now that I've worked with enough of them, I know it's true. How do I know? When we ask them a question, the answer is often astonishing to my client. They have their own insights and desires. Really.

So how does it work? To put it very simply, I help my client step into the "matrix" (the field where the ECHO is living) and coach them to tap on their ECHO until the emotional distress is reduced. We then ask the ECHO what they learned about life from that experience. This provides immediate, clear understanding of the client's core beliefs. This is exactly where they come from!

We then ask the ECHO how they would like to change the situation to feel better about it. We can make all kinds of suggestions, practical and magical, but we want the ECHO to come up with the best solution. This is where the client gets some real surprises!

Once the situation is resolved in a good way and the original trauma has been replaced with good, happy feelings, we use an imprinting process to literally transform the original memory into the new picture.

When the client goes to remember the original event, they will see the new, happy picture instead. Or something along those lines.

This is incredibly profound work. Changing these memories seems to transform the original core belief, and bring about a fundamental shift in the person.

Right now it looks like I'll be certified as a Matrix Reimprinting practitioner by the end of April. I've been using it with great success in almost every session.
I'm in love!
If you'd like to book a session let me know. I can do this work over the phone!

Transformational Divorce - On The Radio!

I'm being interviewed on EFT Radio Online next month about my work with Transformational Divorce! The show is on March 9th at 10am and it's a live call in show. It's also available later as a download or podcast.

The program is Love Tap Radio with host Alina Frank, an fellow certified EFT practitioner and trainer in the Seattle area.

This is my first radio experience and I'm pretty excited, especially as it's a call in show. Lucky for me the work I've been doing is very interesting and exciting. I think it'll make for a good program.

Emotional Baggage

I like the term "emotional baggage". For me it conveys a sense of lugging something around. Something cumbersome and extraneous. A bother. But a bother with a handle. Emotional baggage can be dropped. Left at the station. Tossed overboard. Left behind. At least it can now that we have EFT. I love it.





















Packa Pappas Kappsäck (Pack Daddy’s Suitcases), 2006 by Swedish artist Michael Johansson.

The Signal

I’m starting to think that most of us have a little invisible antenna, sticking up from the back of our heads. It’s sending out a signal (beep beep beep) to attract very specific kinds of people and situations into our lives.

This image came to me while working with a very nice client I’ll call “Rose”. Again and again Rose would find herself in the same sort of peculiar situations, involving unusually selfish and narcissistic people who would make outrageous demands on her.

Her stories were remarkable, and I was astonished she’d been able to locate so many of these rare (and unlikable) characters. When I asked her about it, Rose was surprised: “What do you mean? Everyone is like that...at least, everyone I know”. This last statement made both of us laugh.

I’ve seen this sort of thing again and again in the couples counseling I do. It’s amazing how people come together to rub each other in just exactly the wrong way. Their issues mesh perfectly. Precisely. How do they find each other? It’s like a miracle.

I’ve come to believe our subconscious sends out secret signals. And of course we must also have subliminal receivers built in. These signals must be very subtle and almost irresistible, because no one would consciously choose to hook up with awful people, right?

So how do we kill the signal? How do we stop calling in the jerks from all directions? Let’s look at the energy powering the signal. My guess is that it comes from bottled up emotions. Unresolved traumas and memories laden with intense fear or shame, anger or sadness; these things “cry out” for resolution.

Unfortunately, the subconscious mind is very literal. It tries to resolve these feelings by reenacting the original scenario. And so the signal goes out, inviting new actors to come play the same old roles in these painful dramas. We may act them out over and over, but it doesn’t usually help.

With EFT, on the other hand, we now have a way to discharge the original emotional intensity. And as the energy behind the signal fades away, we have a new opportunity to change what we’re broadcasting. We can deliberately choose to attract kind, loving people who are generous and supportive. We can call in opportunities for success.

The power behind these new signals comes directly from our decision to “deeply love and completely accept” ourselves. This is the emotional freedom that EFT stands for.

Tapping for a Dog's Fear of Fireworks

Tonight is the Third of July. Even though the big fireworks happen tomorrow night, several towns nearby have their celebrations tonight and I could hear the booms and cracks quite clearly. So could my neighbor's dog. Usually a quiet little dog, he began a high pitched howling shortly after the explosions began. This was a really awful sound of panic and great distress. Very soon another dog joined in and it seemed that they were setting eachother off. They seemed to be getting more and more hysterical and I felt called to do something.

Without much thought I began tapping for the dogs. "Even though I'm so scared of the loud sounds, my master loves me and will protect me and I'm safe" "Even though the other dogs are scared too, so it must be something really bad, my master will keep me safe" "Even though these sounds are freaking me out, I'm going to be okay and my master will protect me". I began tapping through the points as if I were the dogs "these loud sounds" "so afraid" "these scary sounds". Within two or three minutes the dogs completely stopped howling and barking. Given that they'd been howling for 15 minutes straight and were only getting worse, I believe it was the tapping that made the change.

Since tomorrow night is the Fourth of July, I may get another chance to practice this surrogate tapping for dogs. If you encounter any freaked out animals, be sure to give it a try!

Great News!

Some Great News

For many years one of the great treasures of the EFT world has been Gary Craig's weekly newsletters, featuring articles from different practitioners on a host of topics.

When Gary decided to retire, near the end of last year, his website stayed up, but the newsletters stopped coming. And then he announced that the website would have to come down too, and eventually set a date of June 1st.

This was very bad news, since that website contains a treasure trove of information and hundreds of articles and case studies for just about every problem you could imagine. As a practitioner I've used the search bar countless times for ideas and inspiration.

The thought of losing this wealth of knowledge was devastating. Hundreds of thousands of us were holding our breath, waiting for Gary's final announcement.

Yesterday that announcement came. And though Gary's website emofree.com is indeed closing, it has been replaced by eftuniverse.com, run by Dawson Church and will contain all of the old information plus an ongoing stream of new articles and case studies.

And the newsletter is back! If you'd like to subscribe, and I highly recommend it, you can click here to sign up.

From the EFT community I'm hearing a vast sigh of relief.

EFT Free

One good thing that did come out of the months of uncertainty is another EFT website eftfree.net, which has become a parallel repository of EFT knowledge and case studies.

Recently they published their own EFT manual, a free pdf download. I recommend this site to anyone interested in deepening their knowledge of this powerful healing tool.

If you haven't been tapping lately, why not jump on board this energetic bandwagon and tap away some old emotional baggage?

If you'd like help, I've decided to offer half off your first session, phone or office for the month of June! Feel free to call me if you have any questions. 707-280-8134

Warm regards,

Rob

Letting Go of a Weight Issue

Recently I’ve been working with “Ken” who is seriously overweight. He’s about 5’8 but weighs well over 300 pounds and, as you might imagine, this is a real problem for him. However, it’s not a problem we’ve been working on. It’s actually well down the list.

Ken had it pretty rough growing up, with abandonment, brutal beatings and verbal abuse by his various caretakers, sexual abuse, you name it. All of these factors have contributed to a rather unhappy adult life, and we have been working steadily on discharging the negative emotions and beliefs intertwined with Ken’s traumatic memories.

After one particularly productive session Ken found himself “bingeing” all during the week. He was feeling very upset with himself and hopeless about ever returning to a normal size, so I came up with some homework for him around food.

Like most addictions, over eating is essentially a tranquilizer, used to quell deep down anxiety. As he begins to feel stronger, less anxious and more peaceful, Ken’s need to comfort himself with food will gradually disappear.

The problem is that his “tranquilizer” is generating its own anxiety! A classic vicious circle.

I asked Ken to notice every time he finds himself scarfing down the comfort food. Instead of struggling to stop himself, his task is to embrace that underlying desire to nurture and care for himself, and tap something like the following:

“Even though I’m eating this tub of ice cream, and I know it’s not really good for my health, I deeply love and completely accept myself, it’s been a rough day and I just need to feel better right now” and then as he tapped the points “eating this ice cream….I need some comfort….it’s been a hard day…..I love and accept myself anyway….this ice cream…etc.”

The idea is just to recognize that urge to take action to feel better. This “I’m going to eat sweets to feel better” program was probably adopted when Ken was pretty young, just a small child. Instead of battling against it with will power, the idea is to sidle up next to it and put his arm around its shoulders, so to speak.

The message is “Yes! It’s tough out there and we really want to feel better right now! And I love you for sharing that with me, we’re on the same side”. This is an honest and genuine message, because really it’s just the method for feeling better that’s in question.

Now even if Ken does this wholeheartedly, he’s liable to also feel a familiar sense of self-disgust or even self-loathing. He knows very well that ice cream is hurting him and feels angry, powerless and hopeless about not being able control his eating. And this is another level to tap on.

This “I’m going to hate myself healthier” program was likely adopted later on, possibly in the teenage years, but the motivation is actually just the same—to nurture and care for himself. Unfortunately this battle for control with the younger (and more powerful) “Eat sweets” program creates enough stress and anxiety all on its own to keep Ken bingeing.

I suggested a second and later course of tapping, something like this:

“Even though I’m so disgusted with myself for eating that ice cream, I deeply love and completely accept myself for wanting to be healthy and for wanting to take better care of myself.” And then tapping the points “This self-disgust…this desire to be healthy…this self-loathing…it’s been a hard day…. this need to take better care of myself…etc.”

So eat the ice cream. Enjoy it! And tap in appreciation for that desire to feel better, to nurture yourself. And then tap like crazy on any self-disgust that comes up. Tap in appreciation for trying to take control of your health, for trying to take better care of yourself.

I’m not suggesting this is all that’s required to lose weight, but it might take care of the issue enough to tackle the more fundamental issues. And as your anxiety is tapped away, the desire for that ice cream will go with it.

Specializing

I've decided to specialize! For years I've helped people with a host of different problems, but just lately it has become clear to me that I'm doing my very best work when I'm helping people deal with the aftermath of a divorce, and helping discharge emotional trauma and PTSD.
So I just ordered new business cards. They are double sided and here's the front and back.
Of course, I'll still help folks any way I can, but having this new focus is already helping me refine my skills, and hopefully reach more people who can use my assistance.

Someone asked me "Why divorce recovery?" and it took me some time to answer that question. What I've come to realize is that while divorce is usually a horrible experience to go through, it really sets the stage for tremendous personal growth. With just a little bit of assistance (tap tap tap), I've seen people go from flat out miserable to genuinely happy, energized and excited about their future. I live for this sort of quantum leap!

Helping people overcome trauma and PTSD isn't usually as much fun, but it's tremendously satisfying work that I seem born to do. I'm hoping in the near future to deepen my skills by working with war vets, police and emergency medical folks, who may have taken on severe trauma in the public service. But so many people have horrific experiences to offload, and every single time we tap the darkness away, the world seems a little brighter.

Core Beliefs

One of the things that makes EFT so exciting to me is that we can change our subconscious 'core beliefs' that so heavily influence (or wreak havoc on) our daily lives. These beliefs can be very powerful, even though we may be completely unaware of them, sabotaging our efforts to change our lives for the better.
This morning I came across a brilliant explanation of Core Beliefs by EFT practitioner Mary Jones of the UK. Her writing is clear, concise and thorough. Check it out here: Core Belief Change.

photo by Pierre Vossen