Please Note: Winter Blooms is an educational website in no way meant to replace building a relationship with a trained EFT practitioner, counselor, or therapist. To find an EFT Practitioner, visit the AAMET website, the ACEP website, the EFT Universe website, the Tapping Solution website, or contact Jane for EFT coaching support.
The recent politically motivated San Bernardino shootings and the Paris terrorist acts present irrefutable proof that our ordinary, everyday world has become as unsafe as any war zone. Paralleling this terrorism, murders of children and adults in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and movie theatres paint a grim picture of mental illness manifesting as hatred that is not politically motivated. How do we continue to go out into the world with enthusiasm and purpose when so many of our ordinary settings and activities seem increasingly precarious? There are no easy answers to quell our fear and foreboding, only vitally important conversations to be had. Tapping can help us to navigate these very troubled waters with one another.
Having the Conversation
Talking with loved ones directly about these events acknowledges the Elephant in the Room. Denial of danger doesn’t work because denial forces us to carry the dread of something happening unconsciously; naming the possibility of danger helps us to live in the present moment with the awareness of our full selves wherever we may be. We are emotional and spiritual as well as physical and intellectual creatures; this means that talking about our fears with others who can similarly share helps us to return to a calm, optimistic centre because we have forged both an emotional and spiritual bond, the bond that connects us as hopeful as well as mortal beings. Put another way, we need to verbalize the worst in order to connect with others who have similar feelings. This is our most sacred work because it allows us to continue to do and be our best while acknowledging the possibility of random acts of violence that may end our or our loved ones’ lives.
Tapping allows us to talk about the worst without traumatizing or retraumatizing ourselves. A conversation with a friend, coworker, or family member in which we simply express our anxiety while tapping on the finger points or the back of the hand while it rests gently on the heart gets the dread out of our energy field and creates the space for the empowering feelings of agency. Whatever is happening in our world, however horrific it may seem in the moment, is making the space required for Post Traumatic Growth, that long-term knowing that “what ever does not kill me makes me stronger.” (See http://www.janebuchan.com/blog/posts/post-traumatic-growth-and-tapping/#more-981 for an introduction to this side effect of trauma.) Despite trauma’s many negative short-term consequences, it brings in its wake many opportunities to discover our personal resourcefulness and the loving kindness of others.
Sharing the Tapping Technique
Tapping is a technique that is readily shared. Even if others do not want to learn to do it or feel foolish tapping on the body, we can transform the active energies of trauma by tapping for our families, our workplaces, and our communities. Tapping for San Bernardino, and for Paris, and for Newtown, and for all the other sites where tragedy has instilled fear is something we can do alone or in company. We need never worry about what to say. Our feelings are enough to shift the energies of fear and rage.
Over the years since I have been using tapping personally and professionally, I find there is a lessening of resistance to acknowledging the vital importance of keeping our energy field free of negativity. Using tapping prayerfully is a profoundly powerful way to spread peace, even after the worst of tragedies. If you doubt this, view the marvelous EFT work being done with survivors of the Rwanda genocides at http://tappingsolutionfoundation.org/tapping-in-rwanda/.
Cultivating Peace
More than ever, we need to believe in our ability to change circumstances for the better, and more, we need techniques and skills that will keep our energy levels high and optimistic, regardless of what is happening around us. Tapping is easy to learn, easy to share, and easy to test. One highly effective way to experience tapping benefits personally is to make a contract with the Self to tap daily, for 10 or 15 minutes, for one entire month. Write down the terms of the contract, including the time of day of the tapping sessions and the method to determine if and how the practice is bringing about transformation. Note the Subjective Units of Distress (SUDs) on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least concerning and 10 the most concerning) before and after each session. Record the results to determine how tapping is influencing both your feeling and spiritual life over the course of the month.
Even more important, keep a journal to describe your general mood each day, especially noting whether you feel optimistic or pessimistic about situations. If life feels too overwhelming to take this on yourself, tap with any of the great YouTube tapping videos, or engage a personal coach. Life is too short for us to live in dread. Learning how to manage our fears is at the heart of the most sacred work of all – becoming a fully present and loving human being in every situation. We are all capable of achieving this goal; we need only learn how to achieve it. Tapping is an indispensable tool to support this empowering work.
Until next week
Jane
Jane Buchan, MA, AAMET Advanced Practitioner, jane@winterblooms.net, 802-533-9277
Jane is a Learning Coach specializing in neutralizing cultural age, gender, and race constructs to support learners of every age. To engage her coaching services, please contact Jane by phone (802) 533-9277 or email, jane@winterblooms.net. Be sure to put Coaching Query in the subject line.