I was telling someone the other day that if time travel were possible and the old [pre-EFT] me met the me of today – (assuming this wouldn’t create the CATASTROPHIC  rupture in the time/space continuum that every sci-fi writer believes!) – that the old me would probably be rather irritated by the me of today.

The old me believed that choosing positive thoughts couldn’t possibly change anything, or even make me feel better, for that matter.

I was firmly entrenched in the “my circumstances need to change in order for me to be happy” camp.

I recently read Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert, I now understand that the old me was partly right. The circumstances of my cells needed to change, so that my thoughts could change, so that my life circumstances could change.

 

I was like Luke Skywalker

Just choosing positive thoughts is not enough for most of us, because most of us are not just not patient enough to allow that method to take action! For most of us who are feeling stuck in negative emotional patterns we are a lot like Luke Skywalker when he first met Yoda on Dagobah – frustrated, discouraged and impatient to feel differently.

The positive thinking route can take a long time – and so feel discouraging as a result - because the of the bio-chemical process – explained in Molecules of Emotion - that create the experiences we call emotions.

When we encounter and event (could be something that happens to us, something we witness, a memory, a thought) our body responds by sending out a cascade of molecules called peptides.

The peptides move throughout our bodies bonding to various cells all over our bodies. In fact, there is a scientific reason you get a ‘gut feeling’ about things – there are heaps of receptors for those peptides on the cells in our intestines!

What can happen, particularly if we experience an emotional state repeatedly (think: stress!) is those peptides can get stuck on the receptors, keeping us in an emotional state that we might rather move out of.

This body and cellular component of our emotions is why it can be so hard to just think (using a mind only approach) our way out of feeling a certain way. I think of it a bit like becoming a Jedi Knight: it can be done, but it takes lots of hard work and continual practice, and lets face it: Luke Skywalker had a one-on-one 24-7 coach in Yoda, not too many of us have that luxury!

Involve the mind AND body and get real results!

I believe the reason EFT (tapping) is so effective is because it involves both the mind and the body in its therapeutic approach. In EFT we think about the issue while tapping on points on the upper body, and in doing so address the body component of our emotional states that approaches like talk therapy do not. By involving the body we assist those molecules of emotion in getting unstuck from our cells.

Unstick some of those molecules that we experience as a negative emotion and you feel more positive. You feel more positive both because you’ve unstuck the ‘bad’ emotional molecules and because you’ve freed up cell receptor sites that can now bind with the molecules of joy, happiness, appreciation, inspiration, hope… you get the idea.

And let’s face it: when you feel more positive it sure is easier to unstick yourself from those life circumstances too!

You can set off a chain of unsticking actions with a relatively small amount of tapping – you can feel significantly better in as little as 20 minutes!

Now I’m like a Slip n’ Slide!

Now that I think about it, I think that stuck vs. free dynamic is the main reason the old me would find the me of today hard to be around. The old me was like a kid stuck inside with a bad cold on a beautiful, hot sunny day while all the other kids are outside having fun on the slip n’ slide. Thinking “couldn’t you all just enjoy yourselves just a little bit less so being inside with this cold would be a little less painful?”

The old me felt stuck, and without the power to change that.

Today I am enjoying the possibilities, and I know I have a tool to get me unstuck when I find myself getting bogged down. EFT is like water on the slip n’ slide – using it allows us to slide right out of a negative emotional state! 

 Who wants to join me on the slip n’ slide? I’ll supply the water

 

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