Before you start, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 meaning you’re feeling very “good,” and one “not so good,” write down a number indicating how you feel. Now, without thinking about it, intuitively pick a color that you sense will help you feel better. Without thinking or analyzing, choose whatever color comes to mind. You have free rein. Got your color?

Now, sitting in a comfortable position that’s right for you, visualize that color as fully as you can. See it as colored air or light. While visualizing this color, do a round of EFT tapping. Relax and take your time. Go slowly. Imagine the color surrounding your body. Now breath your color it in and out. No words, just tapping, visualizing and sensing. If you’d like to change the form of the color to colored water or a liquid, feel free to do so.

After doing a round of tapping with the color, stop and take a deep breath. Notice if there’s an improvement in how you feel. If so, do another round of tapping using that color to go higher to a positive feeling of 10. If there’s no improvement, use your intuition or information from the color chart below to select a different color. Play with color tapping to see how you might release negative feelings and install valuable ones to positively affect you emotionally and physically.  

* * * * *

Your Soreness May Not Be What You Think It Is!

By Stacey Vornbrock

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had with athletes is getting them to look at a sore part of their body in a whole new way and then tap for that. Athletes are so conditioned to think that if some part of their body is sore, it’s because they were over-using that part of the body either in competition or practice. (I’m not talking about soreness that accompanies a real injury or after workouts.)

I’ll illustrate this by sharing a great story. I worked with an MLB catcher for three seasons before he retired. During the season, we would do weekly sessions to stay on top of issues that arose. For three solid seasons we had the exact same conversation, and it went like this:

Me: How is your shoulder and how are your knees?

Him: Well my shoulder is a little sore because I’ve been catching a lot this week (or my knees are a little sore because I’ve been catching a lot this week).

Me: Your shoulder (knees) isn’t sore from catching, it’s because there’s something you are emotionally upset about that didn’t get processed out of your body and it’s sitting in your shoulder (knees). Do you have any idea what that might be?

Him: No, not really. (Sometimes he did know.)

Me: How are things with your wife? How are things with your kids? How are things with your teammates? How are things with management? (After getting to know him, I narrowed it down to this list of questions.)

Him: He would name what he was upset about.

Me: Okay, move your shoulder (or bend your knees) and tell me on a scale from 0-10 how sore it feels.

Him: It’s about a 6 (that usually seemed to be the level of soreness).

Me: Let’s tap on the emotional upset. We do the tapping and then I ask him to move his shoulder or bend his knees and now tell me the level of soreness.

Him: He giggles and says “that’s amazing, it’s gone.”

Me: Yes, that’s because the soreness wasn’t from throwing and catching, it was the emotional upset that got stored in your shoulder (knees) to get your attention.

On the very last day I worked with him, we had this conversation again and tapped one more time for his soreness. Only this time we had a different ending (after he giggled and said “that’s amazing, the soreness is gone”)!

Him: So what you’re telling me is that when I’m upset about something it can settle into my shoulder and knees and cause soreness.

Me: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.

Him: So all these old retired catchers that are walking around all crippled, it’s not from catching all those games, it’s from all the emotional stuff that happened during the course of their career that never got processed and is still sitting in their body.

Me: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.

Him: So what you’re telling me is that I don’t have to be crippled when I’m older.

Me: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.

It brings tears to my eyes every time I tell this story. This man believed he would suffer the same fate as some other retired catchers and have to live a life crippled and in pain from years of catching. He now knows this isn’t true.

My experience with him is a common one among all my athletes. From golfers who believe their shoulders and backs are sore from swinging too much to runners that believe their legs are sore from practice, time and time again I’ve been able to show them it’s not what they think it is.

While emotions have an energy and frequency to them, first and foremost, they are chemicals that are released by the brain and flood the body. When you are angry with someone, that chemical of anger releases from your hypothalamus and floods your body, docking onto cell receptors made just for anger. I have come to believe that our body will place that anger (or whatever the emotion is) in a location that will be sure to get our attention. For athletes, that location is usually in the part of your body you use the most in your sport. It sure does get your attention!

With the use of Emotional Freedom Techniques it’s easy to speak to the body and release that soreness. The biggest challenge is the athlete’s conditioning around this issue. I spend a fair amount of time retraining athletes to ask this question when they notice soreness and their mind says it’s from competition or practice, “what’s happened in the last 24 to 48 hours that I’m upset about?” Your mind will do a “computer search” and pop up the answer and that’s what you tap on. Keep tapping on the issue and all the aspects around it until the soreness is gone. I promise you’ll be amazed!

* * * * *

Visit Stacey Vornbrock’s Websites at:

www.byebyeblocks.com
www.breakthrougheft.com

In this short video, you’ll learn some basic ideas about Gestalt therapy.

Here’s how you might use Gestalt therapy to create EFT setup statements. If you’ll slide the video time control to around 3:40, the client, Rob, who is on the right, says when he’s exaggerating his hand movements, “it” feels silly.” In Gestalt therapy, you embrace “it.” and say “I.” For example an EFT setup statement here might be:

“Even though I’m feeling silly, and I’m supposed to be serious, I deeply and completely accept myself anyway.”

As you watch the video further, here are examples of other potential EFT setup statements:

“Even though I’m feeling that I don’t have any control, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

“Even though I’m feeling that I don’t want to be here, I choose to stay and fully experience the present moment.”

“Even though I want to hide from [say whatever you want to hide from here], I deeply and completely accept myself.”

The beauty of Gestalt therapy is that you can discover what you might want to tap on by simply becoming more aware of the present moment. What are you feeling in your body right now? What is your body trying to express? What are your hands and feet doing? Trust in the process that you’ll uncover the gestalt to tap on using EFT.

You’ll find several sites that cover Gestalt therapy via Google, Bing and other search engines. Many of the books on Gestalt therapy are difficult to find because they were published in the seventies. If you want to read an autobiography about the person who is most well known for Gestalt therapy, get In and Out the Garbage Pail which is the story of Frederick “Fritz” Perls.

The EFT World Summit 2009 features some of the top minds and practitioners in the world of Emotional Freedom Techniques. The instructors include Carol Look, Brad Yates, Dr. Patricia Carrington, Dr. Alexander R. Lees, Carol Tuttle, Gwenn Bonnell, Lindsay Kenny, Rick Wilkes, Bob Doyle, Margaret Lynch, Nicolas Ortner, Steve Wells, Rue Hass, Jessica Ortner, Loretta Sparks, and Dr. Sandra Radomski Kost, and me.

I’ll be talking about Enjoying a Higher Quality of Life by Managing Your Workplace Stress. Here’s what I’ll cover:

• What causes stress? What’s the difference between “good” stress — eustress — and distress?
• Why your health and quality of life depend on how well you manage your stress.
• Examples of how stress overload damages your body over time.
• The four essentials to managing your stress.
• The simple 3Rs of stress.
• Tips on how to use EFT when you’re in stressful situations at work.
• Examples of EFT stress relief daily routines to start and end your day.

Every day, you’ll have the opportunity to hear two quality presentations. Just take a look at what you’ll receive at no charge to you:

==> REGISTER HERE FREE <==

The EFT World Summit 2009 begins on Monday, April 20 and continues over nine days. All of these world-class EFT experts will gather together their combined knowledge to immerse you in the world of EFT. Never before has a panel like this been assembled … and it may never happen again, so I’d like to encourage you to register right away for the EFT World Summit 2009. We’re telling everyone we know and you can feel free to pass this information along to anyone you feel would benefit!

TappyBear is a cuddly teddy bear that has buttons on it which show the EFT Shortcut tapping points. Each TappyBear includes an embroidered cotton bag for easy storage and convenient transport. TappyBear was developed by Till Schilling’s daughters, Maria Christina and Anna Daniela.

TappyBear has come a long way since it was introduced because there are now other complementary products. Tap Along with Tappy is a playful way to teach EFT to children. It includes both a DVD and CD. The DVD is divided into two tracks and a total of eight parts. The first five parts include finding the tapping spots, the tapping song, and tapping along with TappyBear on two different issues.

Dr. Patricia Carrington does the voiceover instructions accompanied by Joanne Adler singing and Ben Blakesley on guitar. If you want to teach young children how to do EFT, it’s important to keep it simple and repetitive. The song is an easy one for kids to learn, and Dr. Carrington taps along at both slow and high speeds. The short instructions included are important to getting the most out of the package.

While the DVD/CD combo is a nice introduction to Tappy and EFT, the book, A Guide to TappyBear, provides more in-depth ways to use Tappy. The guide is also authored by Dr. Carrington and has the “how to” information you need. At just under 100 pages, you can breeze through the book in short order. The guide includes chapters on how Tappy works with children, using Tappy in a medical setting, and TappyBear for adults.

While, you’ll be happy just ordering Tappy alone, I recommend you get the TappyBear Instruction System because it includes Tappy, the guide and the DVD/CD. This way, you’ll get maximum value out of TappyBear. If you’ve got kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews or children you care about, getting them a TappyBear as a gift is an investment in their well-being. It’s a fine way to teach EFT to kids of all ages using a lovable bear.

By the way, TappyBear lives all over the world in countries like Australia, Chile, Europe, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa. You can see all of the places on this map.

Lastly, even if you don’t have kids, you can help. The TappyBear Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 Public Charity. If you’re a US citizen, your contribution to the foundation is 100% tax deductible. By making a tax deductible contribution to the TappyBear Foundation, you’ll have the satisfaction of bringing the comfort, help, and loving presence of TappyBear to children and adults worldwide who can benefit from his gentle form of healing.

Hold on, help is on the way. EFT is my favorite way of tapping away physical and emotional issues. Another method I like is heart-focused breathing taught by HeartMath. Doc Childre, founder of the Institute of HeartMath, has written the De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times, a free e-booklet that provides a few simple practices to help you intercept and manage stress during this period of challenge and uncertainty. You can download the free e-booklet right now by clicking on the graphic below.

This 24 page e-booklet is full of wisdom in dealing with the change and uncertainly we’re all experiencing today. On page 15, he suggests an exercise to tell yourself some phrases. I recommend doing EFT tapping while saying the following:

I understand why I’m living in fear and anxiety, but it’s draining my energy, putting my health at risk and interfering with clear decision-making.

I’m tired of being overshadowed by fear and I’m ready to shift to an attitude that’s easier on my nervous system, my health, and those around me.

I’m aware that fear has repressed my spirit and it hasn’t made anything change for the better.

I don’t expect to eliminate all my fears and projections, but I intend now to at least practice reducing my fear to a more balanced attitude of practical caution and discernment.

I realize that any progress in reducing fear will make me feel better and free up more of my spirit to move on.

HeartMath is demonstrating leadership, compassion, and doing a real service by offering the De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times. Feel free to share with your family, friends and others that may find it of value.

EFT is keeping many practitioners busy. Almost two-thirds of the EFT practitioners surveyed do it full time. Around a third are part time. Some practitioners are in the process of building their practices. Most offer EFT and other methods of energy psychology and healing.

The predominant occupation for EFT practitioners is coaching, whether it’s working with individuals for personal coaching or in business. The other major areas are mental health professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists, plus hypnotherapists.

Almost three-quarters of EFT practitioners are general practitioners. They work with their clients to resolve a range of issues. With those who specialize, the top areas of specialty are:

• Stress and anxiety
• Fears and phobias
• Trauma from accidents
• Addictions, weight issues and phobias
• Pain management

Other specialties highlighted include spiritual matters, self-esteem issues, sexual abuse, PTSD, grief, and women’s issues.

You’ll be pleased to know that if you’re looking for an EFT practitioner, those who are practicing have significant experience. Although EFT is fairly new to the general public, EFT practitioners have been doing EFT with their clients for quite some time. Eighty percent of those surveyed have been offering EFT for at least three years. Only a few practitioners have been doing EFT for less than a year.

What was surprising is even though most EFT practitioners can offer clients EFT via the telephone, that’s not how most EFT practitioners do their work. It’s mostly in person. Almost 70 percent of those surveyed do less than 25 percent of EFT services by phone. Several people mentioned that they would like to increase their telephone clientele.

We asked EFT practitioners the single most important way they learned EFT. The majority mentioned it was by viewing Gary Craig’s video libraries. We can attribute some of this to the fact that until the last few years, other than the EFT manual, that was the only comprehensive learning tool available. Today, the videos continue to be the most in-depth, cost effective way for lay people and practitioners to learn EFT.

Most EFT practitioners focus on offering their services and do not offer their own products. Many practitioners provide handouts or free information on their Websites. Of those who do offer products, it’s usually products developed by other EFT practitioners sold through affiliate programs. Some practitioners would like to develop products. Others don’t feel they have the time nor inclination to deal with business issues such as stocking and ordering. Some practitioners said that their profession prohibited them from offering products.

Recently, Gary Craig, the founder of EFT, started a certification program to emphasize EFT video instruction as the standard, and to bring more consistency back to the instruction and practice of EFT. Another purpose was to help prospective clients find a qualified practitioner that focused on EFT. We were surprised to find that only about one-third of EFT practitioners plan to be certified under the new program. The majority of practitioners aren’t sure or were not aware of the program.

Several practitioners mentioned that they didn’t only specialize in EFT. They offered other energy healing modalities. A number of practitioners said that they had developed a healthy client base and didn’t feel the need to be “re-certified.”

]]> http://www.eftzone.com/2008/09/12/eft-practitioner-survey/feed/ 4 http://www.eftzone.com/2008/09/04/eft-for-batting-slump/ http://www.eftzone.com/2008/09/04/eft-for-batting-slump/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:32:27 +0000 Ron Ball http://www.eftzone.com/?p=300 Until a week ago, I didn’t know that there were a lot of men playing serious baseball well into their thirties, forties and even fifties. We’re not talking slow pitch softball, but fast pitch hardball. The Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL)/Men’s Adult Baseball League (MABL) is a national organization with 325 local affiliates, 3,200 teams and 45,000 members who play organized amateur baseball in local leagues, 30 regional tournaments and six national tournaments, including a “World Series.” The MSBL/MABL is the fastest-growing adult baseball organization in the country. It started in 1986 with 60 members and now has over 45,000 players. Members are blue collar workers, doctors, lawyers, local businessmen and even former professional athletes. All of the players share the common bond of a passion for playing and enjoying baseball.

Recently, I was working with a baseball player in his fifties who is a “star player.” He has three MSBL World Series rings. The problem is that he’s been in a batting slump. This batting slump feeling was at a SUDS (Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale) of eight. Within five minutes his batting slump blues went from five to two to zero using EFT. What was behind his slump? It was his core belief in the expectation that he’d lose his athletic abilities as he got older. He was essentially letting the belief and expectation speed things along. I suggested that he set aside the belief and choose instead to stay attuned to his body. His body would let him know. I had him tap on the following phrases.

I am attuned to my body and constantly listen to its wisdom.

I make the mental picture and feeling of playing in my peak state.

My body is in a constant state of rejuvenation.

I cultivate strength, stamina, flexibility and energy in my body and mind.

I feel younger than my chronological age.

I am connected with the vibrancy of life.

EFT is an excellent tool for releasing limiting mental and physical blocks in all kinds of sports. My favorite EFT practitioner for sports performance is Stacey Vornbrock. Stacey is a pioneer in this field and has worked with both professional and amateur athletes for several years now. Check out her Website at www.breakthroughperformance.net. Also do a search at Gary Craig’s Website on “sports performance” or a specific sport like “baseball.” Get out there and play!

You’re gonna wear this book out. Highlight it. Mark it up. It’s full of “how-to” gems. I absolutely love Maryam Webster’s book, Everyday Bliss for Busy Women. Let’s start with its user-friendly format. At 5×7, it’s a handy size that feels good in your hands. The book is nicely laid out and inviting to read.

I like that, Everyday Bliss is written by a woman especially for women. Sorry guys, but society expects women to play and juggle more roles in life than men. Women also have different needs than men.

Everyday Bliss starts out explaining why it’s important to create bliss in our lives and balance our energy. We can choose to take the time to focus our energy instead of reacting and dispersing it in different directions. Maryam talks about the toxic effects of negative energy as well as negative beliefs and how harmful and limiting they can be.

What I like best about the book is that Maryam shares her knowledge, providing specifics for cleansing and relieving tension, plus ways to create everyday bliss using cutting-edge methods like EFT, TAT, ZPoint Process and others.

Ultimately, this book is about getting in touch with your spirituality. Everyday Bliss is a soothing wave of caring and encouragement. I wish I had a beautiful tool like this when I was in my twenties or thirties. Maryam, thank you for sharing your life experiences and methods, reaching out to the women of the world to show us that there is a way of being, doing, and having a life of everyday bliss.

Oh, and you’ll also want to check out Maryam Webster’s Everyday Bliss Website. On the site you can read her blog, join and participate in forums and get a free Blisskit. Be sure to create your profile to attract bliss.

Although, you can’t control outside conditions, you can control how you respond to and feel about them. Instead of reacting with fear, trepidation or panic, choose to keep a pulse on things, take wise actions and avoid emotional distress. Be conscious of your inside conditions and use tools like EFT to release any negative emotions.

I recommend starting with EFT Talk with Carol Look and Rick Wilkes on How Do I Stop Worrying? Also, listen to Jessica Ortner on EFT Revealed interviewing Carol Look about Using EFT to Attract Abundance. Click on the folder “Abundance” to find the interview (January 15th.)

And, use EFT to address whatever you’re feeling. Create your own setup phrases based on specifically what you’re feeling. For example:

Even though I’m worried about financial events, I choose to remain calm in my actions.

Even though I’m afraid of what might happen, I choose to feel comfortable in trusting myself to know what to do.

Even though I’m afraid of what might happen to my finances, I choose to feel and know I’ll be all right.

Even though I’m afraid of what might happen to my money, I choose to focus on all of the other areas of abundance in my life.

Everything is interconnected and woven together. Any change in the financial markets in America ripples into international markets. A downturn in the housing industry not only affects builders, roofers, electricians and plumbers, but car dealers, retailers and restaurants. One of the things about financial turmoil is that it makes us conscious of how interdependent we are worldwide.

The more calm and centered you stay, the more you help everyone else. And you have EFT to assist you in doing so.