Emotional Freedom Technique and Spiritual Development by Samantha Carr

As part of our spiritual journeys we are often faced with challenges and sometimes dis-eases that when tackled help us to grow into a higher level of consciousness. Since beginning my spiritual awakening journey I have been faced with many challenges and have finally begun to confront many of the health issues that I have been carrying during this lifetime.

I have experienced many different healing therapies including spiritual healing, reiki, shiatsu and crystal healing – each of these has helped me to come to a greater level of trust and understanding of the universal forces present within me. Most recently I attended an introduction to emotional freedom technique course taken by a fantastic energy healer called Isy Grigg.

When I first heard about emotional freedom technique or EFT as it is better known, I was very interested but also a little bit sceptical. Even though I have a deep interest in the Paranormal, esoteric matters, healing and am a developing medium I always like to have at least some logical understanding and evidence of what is happening. This probably makes my development harder because it would be easier to just accept the material that I am faced with but I like to dig a little deeper and find the facts.

Of course, the best evidence that we can ever have is experience – far better than believing anyone else. I went along to the first class with two friends from my spiritual development group. I was excited but also hoping that I wouldn’t be let down as I still wasn’t sure how this EFT could apply to me and even whether it would work.

We had met Isy before on our introduction to crystal healing course so we were looking forward to catching up. Isy is a wonderful inspirational teacher – she has a knack of instantly getting to the root of the problem no matter how much you are trying to disguise it with fluffy words. In this respect Isy is much like your best friend – she will say the truth no matter how much it hurts!

Within the first 10 minutes of the first class Isy had demonstrated to me beyond doubt that EFT worked. She had asked if any members of the class had a physical problem that they would like to try to relieve. Instantly one of the class jumped up – she had arthritic pain in her neck that never let up. Isy said “Great!”

This is the best thing about Isy – when you say you have problems or a particular emotional response she always says “Great” or “Marvellous”. This is because if we don’t admit or feel our emotions then we can never release them – so acknowledging them is the first step to healing.

Isy asked the lady for a score from 1-10 of the neck pain and a descriptor. She explained that the descriptor needed to be the truth – not ‘I have this pain and it’s a bit annoying’ – but ‘I have this excruciating, annoying, irritating pain in my neck that’s with me day and night and feels like a red hot poker’.

Isy then tapped the 14 points on the ladies’ body which we learned in the course relate to the energy meridians of the body. As she tapped she asked her to repeat the phrase ‘even though I have this agonising, irritating pain – I deeply and completely love and accept myself.’ After she had completed approximately 2 minutes of this tapping she asked the lady to take a deep breath and then to say how she felt.

The lady stared at her in amazement and said that the pain was gone and she had the most stunned expression on her face. That was the clincher for me – this lady had experienced this pain relentlessly for ‘as long as she could remember’. She sat down smiling and I sat up and paid attention!

The rest of the day was amazing and we all had an opportunity to face at least some of our demons. Isy came around and helped us with the phrases as her experience has taught her how to get to the root of the issue. I sat with 2 others who wanted to use EFT for the same emotional issue of ‘control’. When Isy spoke to us she immediately got to the core of the issue which was that we always put others first and therefore we always needed to stay in control so we didn’t let anyone else down. Again with this revelation we each looked at each other with slightly stunned expressions knowing that this was true but we hadn’t realised it until now.

EFT works by releasing blocked energy from the meridians within our body. These are the same meridians that are used in acupuncture and shiatsu. The most liberating thing about EFT is that in order to release the energy block we need to name the exact ‘frequency’ of the blockage. This differs from the technique of affirmation in which we replace a negative thought with a positive one. In EFT we have to name the negative thought in its entirety.

For many of us naming the problem is more of a challenge than releasing it! We may have ignored the problem or buried it for an entire lifetime – or more. But that is ok because we can use EFT to find out what the problem is. As you begin to tap and use the phrase ‘even though I have this pain in my back and I don’t know why – I love and accept myself’ – you will have a random thought. This thought will remind you of something that happened in the past or you will think of the exact phrase to tap for. Obviously, having a therapist present who has used EFT for many years also helps because he or she will be able to introduce the exact phrase that you need to release this energy.

Towards the end of the day Isy asked for a volunteer – someone who still held anger and resentment at someone who had passed into spirit. A very brave soul got up and admitted to an argument with a family member prior to passing that she felt guilty about. Isy began tapping as she asked this girl to engage in a conversation with her relative as thought she were present.

I noticed a change in the energy of the room as soon as Isy began this process. I could see orbs around them both as they used EFT and I also saw orange energy around the girl who was speaking to her deceased relative. My other friends who sit in the same development class also saw this energy. I firmly believe that the soul of the deceased relative was there in the room to help release and forgive this issue. After a few rounds of EFT tapping the girl said that she felt much better and couldn’t even remember what the issue was!

EFT is a tool that has limitless application – once you have learned the basics you can use it for anything. You can apply it to any emotion or stumbling block including your doubts about your spiritual pathway. Added to this you can integrate ‘choices’ into your energy system which manifest into reality. This creates a change in the way that you experience life for the better.

I would recommend EFT to anyone as a tool to use on their journey towards greater awareness and understanding of themselves. Group tapping is a wonderful ice breaker and bonding technique which could be used at seminars. The use of EFT is limited only by our imagination which itself is unlimited. But don’t take my word for it – try it for yourselves! EFT comes with a health warning – ‘Beware you will experience shifts in consciousness and be free of pain.’
EFT in your Pocket. Tapping into Emotional Freedom by Isy Grigg is available from most good bookstores.

Copyright 2008 Samantha Carr