After applying EFT to myself and clients for years I kept wondering why sometimes it didn’t seem to work.
Why was it that for some people it worked instant miracles and for others it just didn’t?
Why was it that even with all my experience and literally having done hundreds of hours of tapping on myself … I was still stuck in some parts of my life and seemingly unable to move forward?
Why did the same old patterns keep showing up in my life, like attracting potential partners into my life that just did not nourish my soul?
Most importantly, why was it that I was never happy for any significant amount of time?
Sure, I would have times when I was almost deliriously happy, but before long the doubts would start creeping back in, things would start to go wrong … and before I knew it I would be in that o-so-familiar place of experiencing my life as totally and utterly pointless.
What made it worse was that people who knew me would be seemingly unable to understand why this happened as, from what they could see, I had everything to be happy about!
But then – initially, I couldn’t understand it either and when I started the practice that I’ll be sharing here and in Part 1 (Body) I didn’t actually see the beauty in what I was doing; I didn’t quite appreciate that I was finally addressing mind, body and spirit, simultaneously, persistently, every day – maybe for the first time in my life.
It was only recently that I could being to understand why it had so significantly changed my life experience but then, as Neville said:
”We must practice what we have heard, for without practice the most profound understanding in the world will not produce the desired results. So a little talent…, if you really expand it, if you exercise it, will be far more profitable than many talents that you do not exercise.”
Over the years I have literally spent tens of thousands of pounds (and rands and rubles and dollars and dirhams and francs and euros!) on books, seminars and therapy – but rarely did I consistently apply what I learnt, with persistence.
For some reason most of the people reading this, even if they think it’ll work for them, won’t actually apply it and so will never get to experience the benefits – are we an interesting species or what!? (You may also want to read the article ‘Nobody is Coming’)
Anyway, I digress.
In Part 1 of this series we looked at the “Body”; and I’ve just added something to it so even if you have read it you may want to revisit it.
So part 2, will focus on the Mind, and this (part 2A) will I know that you will forgive me for repeatedly emphasising two key concepts in this article: the first is that most of what I’m talking about (and mystics and poets have been talking about for millenia) is now being proved by science.
I am in no way suggesting that just because you’re reading this that it’s possible for you to reach even higher levels of joy, or satisfaction, wealth or health; your life may already be pretty good and exactly the way you like it and if so, then you’re probably already doing the things I talk about here –consciously or unconsciously.
Please also forgive me if I caution against extremes and play devil’s advocate at the same time; having a very sharp mind myself I’ve heard (and come up with!) all the ‘yes buts’ in the book so I habitually pre-empt the remote possibility (an occupational delight) that you may have a mind even half as cynical as mine!
So just on the off chance that you sneaked onto my distribution list (or I forced you to sign up!) and you think this tapping stuff is all a bit aerie fairy (no pun intended) then I want you to know that there is an ever increasing amount of scientific evidence that tapping works; I refer to a couple of references in this regard..
- Bruce Lipton PhD – bridging science and spirit all the time
- “The Genie in Your Genes” by Dawson Church
- A controlled comparison between EFT and EMDR
The other thing that I emphasise here is that thoughts become things. I learnt the phrase from Mike Dooley (http://tut.com) and his book ‘Leveraging the Universe and Engaging the Magic‘. It’s impacted me so much that I’m creating a tapping webinar series around this fabulously inspiring yet practical book – more details later.
Now minds in general often get a bad rap and that’s because they usually make trouble for us if we leave them to their own devices and let them roam around freely.
It’s a bit like leaving a young puppy alone
in your art studio, stamp collection of unfinished stack of Jenga (picture right).
Now when, while you’re out, the puppy does what puppies do, and you come back to a mess, you could blame the puppy … or you could take responsibility and next time put the puppy on a leash, or train it, or simply and probably better, never ever ever ever allow it close to your works of art again!
The mind is the same.
Left to its own devices, untrained and being allowed to roam where it wants easily leads to unhappiness and living an unfulfilled life and here’s why:
THOUGHS BECOME THINGS.
And not only do thoughts become things, your thoughts also have a significant impact on your energy system and how you feel.
Now (like) gravity, you don’t to believe in thoughts become things for it to work; it works anyway and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it! If you’re not convinced, write down your top 10 beliefs (how you think) about yourself, money, health, life, love, and relationships on a piece of paper. Now compare that with what you have in your life today. Yep, 100% fit, right?
For some reason and for most of us, if left unattended, the mind tends to spend a lot of time churning around unpleasant thoughts about the past and future.
Science has taught us that a habit results in a group of neurons in the mind firing together and then wiring together; the more you do something (anything), the stronger this ‘neural pathway’ becomes and the easier it is for you to repeat the behaviour – sometimes even if you don’t want to!
Science also coined the phrase neuro-plasticity which is a fancy term for ‘teaching old dogs new tricks’; you can learn new behaviour and change a habit by creating new neural pathways; the stronger you can make those pathways the more inclined you are to go down this new track and the less you go down the old track, the weaker it becomes.
Fact.
So, the more you say ‘Life is really hard’ or ‘I am clumsy’ or ‘I am really bad at remembering names, or maths, or relationships’, well guess what … the more that will be true. Because, yes, thoughts become things and the more you say it, the more inclined you and your brain will be to down that route (making life hard, being clumsy or forgetting names).
Most of this happens unconsciously and people I talk to are often dumfounded when I reflect their own words back to them or replay a recording of our conversation because they just had no idea the extent of their negative use of language. [That is why ‘reflecting’ is such a powerful way to communicate; read here for tips on how to listen effectively]
BELIEFS
We all have beliefs, and just as well! Believing that the sun will come up tomorrow makes it easier to schedule your diary. Believing that you know how to walk or that it is safe enough to leave your home is helpful to get around.
What’s really important to know is that beliefs are not right, wrong or real – the just ARE – and you can (and I strongly suggest you do!!) change the ones that no longer work for you.
If you used to believe that a certain route to work was the shortest and you find out that there’s actually another route that shaves 30 minutes of our commute, would you change your belief or would you stubbornly insist on the old belief?
Now if you said ‘I’ll let go of the old and start believing the new, do you think I’m stupid?’ great.
Yet isn’t it true that sometimes in life we stick to old beliefs like “I’m not good enough” or “My dreams won’t come true” or “I can’t make a living doing what I love” – even though we know that they’re not true? The main problem with these types of beliefs are, of course, that thoughts become things…
Fear not … in Part 2B you’ll learn an array of techniques that you can start using immediately to
- Consciously use your mind to create what you want (because thoughts become things)
- Erase old beliefs and install new ones in a way that’s quick and easy, slightly wacky, and works
- Find out what thinking this way has to do with a boomerang!
Read more:
Part 1: The Body
Part 2A: The Mind
Part 2B: The Mind
Part 3: Your Spirit
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