I look stupid, at least in my opinion.
It was the spring of 2004. I sat alone, turned on the computer screen, started talking to myself, and then tapped different parts of my body. If you happened to see me through the window, you'd probably think I was crazy.
In fact, I was a little crazy at the time. When I woke up early that morning, I had severe neck pain and I really didn’t know how to spend the rest of the day. You know the kind of pain I'm talking about? I slept in a bad posture the night before, and then I felt a "click" in my neck when I got up... It takes you a day, two days, or even three days to slowly turn your head, which looks almost robotic to others.
At that time, I could say that I was willing to do anything to make this stiff neck pain go away, including seemingly weird things like hitting my body.
I've heard a lot about tapping or Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), which are said to combine ancient Chinese acupressure with modern psychology and can treat a wide range of problems. I read one amazing story after another and thought, why not? I'll try it too and see what happens.
To my surprise, the pain that usually took several days to go away disappeared within 10 minutes. What a relief! I could move my head like a normal person and didn't feel any discomfort all day long! This tapping technique really works.
Finally, I could live the rest of the day well. Just when I was satisfied with the pain relief effect, it suddenly occurred to me: This matter is much more than just neck pain. If the tapping technique works for my neck, what else can it help me change? Like many people, I have a certain worldview, and it doesn't include "immediate pain relief."
In the future, this little experiment opened my eyes to endless possibilities that I had never thought of before.
Get ready to beat yourself up
Let’s face it! Many of us have been taught that it takes a certain amount of time before we can fix or change a problem, if it can be fixed at all. But what if pain, health conditions, addictions, weight issues, emotional distress and financial problems could actually be solved, quickly and easily? What if it’s impossible, but actually possible? After my first experience with tapping, these thoughts started running through my head. It sucks, maybe the neck pain from the stiff neck has been blocking blood flow to the brain so I can't start thinking clearly until now! I began to see, or imagine, how I might be able to change things in my life, and how I could help my friends and family.
At first, tapping was just a hobby. I used it heavily on myself and then gradually on friends and family. Soon, I was doing casework, and the people around me were quickly learning that if there was any kind of life problem, from health to depression, they'd better be prepared to start beating themselves up! I insisted that everyone try this incredible program, and no one "survived" it.
Time and time again, I am amazed by the results I see. At the time, I just classified these results as "not sure how, but it works"! Later, when I further learned that the latest scientific research could explain the principles behind the tapping process, I became even more convinced of why it could bring such radical and positive changes.
When I discovered EFT, there were already some people using it, but it was still a very small minority among the huge population of the world. There is a thriving community of members discussing these principles and sharing the results, but there is still a lot of skepticism about the process, so I am eager to promote this tool to more people.
So, without any film shooting experience, my credit card has reached the limit, and the list of participating producers only has a few lines, I decided to make a documentary to record the Amazing results with EFT. I enlisted the help of my sister, Jessica, and my best friend, Nick Polizzi (yes, there are two Nicks here!), to document the effects of the tapping technique from a practical and practical perspective, hoping to make a film about it. A video that is not only fascinating but also educates people on how to use this technique and shows the incredible results.
We spent the first 6 months on a cross-country trip, interviewing many experts, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, self-development speakers, and best-selling authors who themselves used EFT along the way. Writers etc. During the process, they continued to share with us their passion, love and positive experiences for this technique.
While these excerpts are fascinating and educational, they fail to tell a complete story. We had to capture real-life examples of using this technique, and we didn’t want to just describe users’ past experiences, but we wanted to present the actual results of EFT live and in real-time.
Jodi’s True Story
In the fall of 2007, Nick Poliggi and I came to Jodi McDonald’s home.
Jyoti has been living with fibromyalgia, an excruciatingly painful and often misunderstood condition. We visited her home in Austin, Texas to shoot some teaser footage for an event taking place in a few weeks. This event will bring together 10 participants who are struggling with serious problems, including chronic pain, fibromyalgia, grief, insomnia, etc., to see if EFT can help solve their problems.
We will be on hand to document Jodi’s condition and the challenges she faced before adopting the tapping method. I am very excited because I will soon be able to meet with Jodi to learn about her life and find out whether EFT can help her.
Seeing Jodi’s energetic smile and energetic eyes, you would never imagine how serious her pain problem is. She was often crawling on the floor in pain, and on a typical night of pain, she would wake up as many as 15 to 20 times in the middle of the night. And you wouldn't guess, but her chronic knee pain has forced her to give up her favorite outdoor hiking activity for years.
In fact, Jyoti was in so much pain that she had difficulty even climbing a short flight of stairs. In the eight years since she was diagnosed, fibromyalgia has not only hijacked her life, but slowly destroyed it.
As a teacher, therapist, aspiring writer, wife, and mother of four, Jyoti is determined to continue living her life to the fullest, no matter how much the pain causes her. Accepting that her disease was incurable, despite what her doctor said. A firm believer in "positive psychology" and "the law of attraction," Jodi is determined to keep smiling and refuses to give up on her life. After chatting briefly with Jyoti for a few minutes, two things were clear. First, she had experienced several traumatic experiences as a child, including witnessing her mother being beaten by her father. Second, despite this, Jyoti remains a positive and creative person who devotes most of her time to helping others.
She did everything she could to stay happy, visiting all the specialists and trying alternative therapies. She had tried everything to overcome and cure the pain, but nothing worked. In a situation like this, could this seemingly strange tapping technique help? I felt so much sympathy for Jodi and wanted to be there and start helping her with EFT right away, but I had to wait and we agreed to introduce her to it at a 4-day event a few weeks later. Skill.
Basic patterns of repetition
After Jodi shared her story with us, Nick and I hit the road again.
One by one, we met with the other people who would be participating in the event, and they were all people who were desperate for answers and desperate for change.
Donna was diagnosed with breast cancer and suffered physically and emotionally. Her mental state deteriorated due to insomnia.
John, a Vietnam War veteran, has been suffering from severe back pain for 30 years. Doctors, surgery or painkillers have not been able to resolve the pain.
Rena, who just lost his wife in a car accident 3 months ago, is suffering from grief.
Jackie is afraid of speaking in public and is too shy to pursue the things she longs for.
Of course, there are many more. It’s no exaggeration to say that my heart was completely opened after meeting these amazing people. If these 10 people have suffered so much and are still searching and trying to find the answer to their life's dilemma but can't find it, are there millions, or even hundreds of millions, of people like them? The ultimate question is: Will the tapping technique actually help them?
I will share more stories throughout this book, but let me tell you about Jody first! Jyoti, who was diagnosed with an incurable disease and for which no one had been able to help her, found her pain completely gone on the second day of activity! Several years later, she remains pain-free and her life has been transformed in all aspects as a result (I will describe this inspiring story in detail in Chapter 6).
If Jyoti was able to achieve such unusual and amazing results despite facing such difficult situations, what might happen to you?
Now, it's your turn. Are you ready for this change?
Have you encountered any problems or situations in your life that you want to change? Childhood trauma, anxiety, health issues, weight issues, financial difficulties, relationship crises? No matter your situation, using EFT has been proven to work wonders. In this book, we’ll explore each of these problems in depth, how to use tapping techniques to solve them, and how to change the underlying patterns behind these challenges.
I don’t need to have supernatural powers to know that you have been repeating patterns throughout your life. I don't even need to meet you to guess that you are frustrated by doing the same thing over and over again, and predictably getting the same results every time.
You've probably said to yourself a thousand times: "Oh, I can't believe I did that again!"
Why did I say that to him "again" Those words?
Why did I eat that thing "again"?
Why don’t I exercise again?
Why am I short of money "again"?
Why am I feeling frustrated “again” (angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, anxious, tired, whatever it is)?
My tone is quite gentle, you may not be so kind to yourself! Most people add a $#@X or two in the middle of these sentences!
Get to the Root of the Problem
Beyond your negative thoughts and actions, there is also the fact that you really want to improve the situation. However, you always fail to get the results you want, which is just rubbing salt in the wound! It would be one thing if you were unaware of your basic patterns, but you are actually aware of them! However, the problem continues to run.
We will discuss in this book that most of your current patterns actually started before you were 7 years old! And it is learned from parents, teachers, society and friends.
The challenge in the past was that we could point out these patterns but couldn't find a way to remove them or actually do something about them. We can visit psychologists and psychiatrists and discuss our problems for weeks on end, but the results are often limited. At least, the effects are slower than we expected.
We can also meditate on a problem, but we find that it comes back days, or even hours later. We can use "willpower" to make ourselves change, but this is usually a painful process that cannot last. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes not. All in all, none of the existing methods can give us an unshakable feeling of being in control of our lives.
Things are different now.
The effect of EFT is completely different from my past experience. It is destined to bring revolutionary changes to the world. In fact, it has already revolutionized parts of the world, and as you'll read in Chapter 13, we explore some of the outstanding work being done around the world to heal trauma.
But before we talk about what it can do for the world, let’s first try to understand how it can change one little life: yours.
Remember those basic patterns we talked about? Finally, there is a way to interrupt it, break away from it, eliminate it, defeat it. Tapping can get to the root of problems, balance the mind and body, and change our behavior, feelings, and the way we experience the world. Tapping works for everything, and I'll explain why in the next chapter. We will focus on the key areas of your life, those that are likely to impact you the most. Then you'll learn how to apply EFT to anything, teach it to others, and share it with the world.
It’s time for a change
Throughout this book, you will see the “tapping script” that helps you integrate this program into your life, and I will also describe it in detail Several physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists who use EFT in their practice, and who use tapping in part in mainstream medical settings, will expand your horizons.
I am honored to guide you on this journey, and I sincerely hope that you will find within the pages the hope, magic, wonder, and possibility that I have experienced using EFT. My life has been transformed through this set of procedures, and it continues to transform every day. I know the same thing can happen to you and your closest friends and family.
It’s time to change those basic patterns...
It’s time to have a healthy, fit and energetic body...
It’s time It’s time to achieve abundance, success, and joy…
It’s time to have a satisfying, nurturing, positive relationship…
It’s time to release that It’s time to become a better, more comfortable version of yourself.