Dear EFT friends,
Happy New Year! I’m sending you good wishes to accompany you on your journey. May 2011 be all that you wish it to be…
On that occasion, I’d like to send you a few words on the thorny topic of new year’s resolutions.
Far be it from me to prevent you from making any – it’s always good to aim higher and challenge yourself to reach new goals – but it’s sad to notice how much disappointment, failed hopes and crushed self-esteem they can leave in their wake…
Let me give you some pieces of information on how the human mind deals with change.
Change is implemented over a period of time through the use of repetition. This is in order to hammer things that require conscious attention at first into our subconscious mind so they can eventually be executed without any conscious effort. This is how we learn how to write with a pen without always thinking about the shape of the letters we’re tracing. This is how we learn to brush our teeth at bedtime no matter how tired we are.
And this is also how we shape what we perceive as being our identity:
After a few failures in math class, Victor is going to see himself as a person who cannot bring good math grades to his parents. It now is part of his identity, and his subconscious is going to filter the information surrounding Victor so that he only perceives what reinforces that perception. Finally it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and he finds himself entirely unable to improve in math class, no matter how hard he tries.
If your new resolutions are gritting against such an ingrained unconscious belief about yourself, there’s going to be a conflict between your subconscious and conscious mind. This often results in a short struggle against yourself, a display of courage and will, followed by a period of involuntary self-sabotage before finally giving up with either bitterness or festering disappointment.
Sometimes, the changes are more lasting, and the new behavior is implemented through much painful repetition. Sophia, for example, is able to stick to a gym routine for a rather long time. That is until she takes a vacation, stops exercising for two weeks, and finds herself completely unable to resume her routine when she comes back home. Or Erich starts that sculpture class he’s always dreamed of, takes the leap to become a professional artist, but never fulfills his creative potential (or never gets enough clientele to make a decent living with his passion).
What happened?
Well, humans, like other mammals, are driven by two types of mechanisms: those ensuring the survival of the species, and those providing them with a pleasurable sensation. It sounds overly hedonistic but it’s true: the only people sticking to good eating habits do it because it feels good, whether it’s a delicious taste, the satisfaction of treating themselves right, or the exhilaration of seeing their new healthy body. If there is displeasure, it is much harder to stick with anything: “It’s too difficult, I’ll never make it” or, “I don’t know where to start, I feel lost,” or, “It’s in the genes anyway; I can’t do anything about my weight.”
As if on purpose, those thoughts are not just a manifestation of displeasure, they’re also the proof of an internal conflict between unconscious and conscious mind… As soon as you have reservations about anything you want to change in your life, as soon as you feel less than enthused about a new prospect you’re contemplating, this is the sign your conscious mind is not in alignment with one or several beliefs you unwillingly hold about yourself.
And since our subconscious mind always wins – because our survival depends on it – this doesn’t bode well for the future of resolutions.
Fortunately, there is a way (there are even several) to reprogram your brain and change the self-limiting beliefs that stand in the way of your goals. Any technique that bypasses the barrier of the conscious mind and directly starts a dialogue with the subconscious can give you the ability to finally make those resolutions happen without feeling like you’re pulling your own teeth. Hypnosis, EMDR, TAT, Psy-K are only a handful of names in the wider field of energy psychology that serves just that purpose. But my favorite method – as you probably know – is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).
I love it for its
1. Efficacy: therapists report close to 98% of success with their clients, which is an unbelievably high number compared to conventional therapy.
2. Simplicity: it’s so easy to learn, anyone can use it.
3. Versatility: one recipe works for every kind of problem, whether emotional or physical.
4. Universality: whether you believe in EFT or not doesn’t influence the outcome; it can work on anyone.
5. Affordability: not only can you use it on yourself, but if you choose to work with a therapist, you typically need a lot fewer sessions than other therapies, thus saving a ton of money.
Most of all, I love the feeling of being empowered with my own health and well-being, and the knowledge that I can improve my life beyond my wildest aspirations!
Join me for a three-workshop series taking place on Saturday 15, 22 and 29 of January, from 3 to 5. Mixing quite a bit of instructions with a lot of hands-on tapping, these workshops are ideal to get you started (or put you back on tracks) with an energy tool designed to change your relationship with yourself in general, and with new year’s resolutions in particular.
- Workshop 1 will addresses the basics of the technique, and in particularly the tapping recipe on which everything else is constructed.
- Workshop 2 will focus on how to craft incredibly potent EFT sentences to achieve more autonomy in your practice.
- Workshop 3 tells you what to do when EFT is not working, and is dedicated to trouble-shooting your practice.
You can choose to attend one or more of either of these workshops. Each one is only $10 (this is an unbelievable value that is well worth $100 in price)!
Bring your issues and your resolutions list!
See you soon,
Lucie