#48 Two Healing Strategies To Help During Troubling Times

Today, I’m sharing two efficient healing strategies to help you manage where you are right now during these troubling times and how you can move forward in a positive direction contributing wellness, understanding, and respect to these issues and to any other issues you need to gain control over. 

Critical Times

As we continue to experience COVID-19 and racial injustice in our world, these tools will help you during this critical time in our history and they will help you during a critical time in your personal life.  Whether you have a voice loud enough for all the world to hear; whether you prefer to do your part quietly from the sidelines; if you’re just not sure what to do, or maybe you feel your voice doesn’t matter. I’m going to teach you how you can contribute to your own personal welfare and to the welfare of our nation at large by helping you to create space in your body and movement in the world to unblock limiting beliefs like fear, guilt, worry, and shame.  

In a very short period of time and with a few simple steps, you will learn how to shift yourself to a state where you can be free from anxiety, social conditioning, and trauma. I’m also going to teach you how to help others by doing some surrogate healing.

The Peace Procedure

The Peace Procedure is the first strategy I want to introduce you to.  The Peace Procedure is about releasing what no longer serves you.  It’s an exercise that invites you to call to mind several issues you’d like to get control over.  It can be bad habits, uncomfortable memories, events, or a physical or emotional pain you would like to get rid of.  Because so many people are suffering from the effects of COVID and the racial divide in our country, you may want to put your focus on those issues.  Everyone is in a different place, so I invite you to remain where you are physically, and emotionally, and work with what presents itself to you today.

I’m going to walk you through The Peace Prodceure right now so you can experience it for yourself. Get yourself comfy now and close your eyes. Take three nice, deep inhales and exhales before we begin.  Breathe deep down into your belly and exhale audibly through an open mouth. 

Identify An Issue

I invite you now to simply call to mind an issue you’d like to gain control over.  It could be a memory, an unpleasant experience, or a physical or emotional pain you would like to get rid of. Again, keep it simple.  Whatever comes to mind is what your body is asking you to deal with right now at this moment, so stick with that.  Even if a lot of things are popping up, choose one. After learning this procedure you can always go back and work on the other issues that may be popping up.

Rate the Intensity

With the issue in the forefront of your mind, sit with it for a moment.  Be with it.  Breathe into it.  Notice it.  Don’t judge it.  Just notice it. What is it? Call it what it is, without judgment. Now, I would like you to rate the state you are in at this moment.  On a scale of 0 – 10 with 0 meaning “I’m totally fine.” and 10 meaning “I am freaking out!”, rate how you feel as you sit here with this visual, this memory, or this pain. The first number you see or hear is the number you want to work with.  This isn’t hard, so keep it easy. The number you see is the number to keep.  Remember that number. This is your Beginning Number: #_______

A Loving Remembrance

Now, put that visual aside for a moment and I want you to shift your focus to a loving moment in your life. It can be with a person, a pet, a movie, or a moment in nature.  A simple remembrance will do, there’s no need for a big production. Call to mind any moment or memory in your life that brings you joy, that brings you ease, that brings you peace.  I’m getting you to tune into your inner wisdom here, to tune into a greater source of love.  

You may find you have some competing mental chatter.  That’s ok.  There is no right or wrong here.  Your intention is enough to allow all your senses, all of your cells, and the mind and body to align and begin to work. If it’s necessary for you to pause, then do so.

Assign a Color

With this loving memory in your mind’s eye, give it a color.  Each one of you will experience a different way your vision will be colored.  Some will see the color wash over the image or feeling.  Others may see a swirl of color begin to make the change in the image or feeling.  Still, others may simply have a quick color change as if a colored lens was placed over the viewfinder you’re using to look at this image or feel the feeling. It doesn’t matter how it happens, just allow it to happen.

Assign a Texture

Next, give this image a texture.  Is it soft, furry, fuzzy, velvety, or silky? Be with that sensation for a moment. Feel it. Sense it.  Smell it.  Now I’m going to invite you to bring back the memory you started working with, the one that brings you discomfort.  The memory of an unpleasant experience, or a physical or emotional pain you would like to gain control over or get rid of.

And now, I’d like for you to wash the color from your loving memory over this unpleasant one.  Be with it for a moment.  See the color from the loving memory wash over this unpleasant memory or pain.  Maybe it’s dripping down or swirling around. Now work with the texture from your loving memory and wrap it around the unpleasant one.  Be here for a moment.  Enjoy the furry, fuzzy, velvety, silky texture, or whatever other texture you may have given it.  Be with it as it becomes a part of the issue you’re dealing with.  See, feel, smell, taste, and touch, the loving remembrance, color, and texture as they wash and wrap around your difficult issue.

Rate the Intensity

Slowly begin to pull yourself away from this experience.  Come back to the sound of my voice, to the place where you sit.  Sit at this moment with your eyes remaining closed, and once again, I’m going to ask you to rate the state of the intensity you feel around the issue you chose to work with today. From 0 – 10,  what is the number?  Go with the number that pops up first.  Don’t judge it or start arguing with yourself that the can’t be right.   It may be lower, or it can be higher, but we’re shooting for lower here to have success with the exercise. What is it? This is your Second Number. #___

Improvement? No Improvement?

Compare the Second Number to your Beginning Number.  Has there been an improvement? How so?  If there’s been no improvement, repeat the process as often as you need to until the discomfort levels out to a lower number or disappears altogether. The goal is to get the rate of the intensity down to zero.  

Physical Pain

If you were working with physical pain, did you notice a change in the form or location of the body? For example, a  sharp pain turns into an ache.  If so, consider this an improvement because the original form is no longer there or greatly diminished and has been replaced by another discomfort.  You’re making progress in your healing.

No Results

If you had no results, be patient. You are trying to access a power that has probably been submerged within you for your entire lifetime.  It’s like learning to ride a bike and it’s to be expected.  It is a part of the learning process.

If there HAS been an improvement, and your number went down, but not all the way to zero, then Tapping or EFT/The Emotional Freedom Technique is the second strategy I’m going to share with you today that you can use to continue to reduce your Second Number.

Tapping / The Emotional Freedom Technique 

The Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT for short, and many simply know it as Tapping, was founded by Gary Craig, a Stanford engineer. So for the cynics out there, knowing an engineer is the founder behind this form of alternative healing method might be interesting to you. He improved upon the tapping method he learned from his teacher Dr. Callahan in the late ’70s and simplified the process.  Gary Craig is my teacher.  I’ve been studying with Gary for the last several years.  He’s really lovely and I encourage you to check out his website emofree.com.

EFT works off of the 5,000-year-old ancient Chinese medical system of acupuncture. It works to unblock energies that are stuck in the energy channels of the body.   

Meridians, or energy channels run up and down each side of the body. At specific locations on the surface of the body are endpoints that are each associated with a different bodily organ or system. 

These endpoints can be manipulated by using needles as they do in acupuncture, or by using pressure as they do in acupressure, or by a simple touch like we use in EFT and they all work to release energies that are stuck in that particular meridian. 

Working With Clients

When I work with clients, I like to guide them through The Peace Procedure first, and typically I have them create a list of as many issues they’d like to get control over as possible.  I suggest they come with a list of 50, and often I get a list of so many more! Sometimes the work stops with TPP because the client gets themselves right to zero.  Other times, it’s necessary to add a little Tapping to the mix to help move any stubborn energy out of the body.  

What clients often find is that this enormous list of issues they came to work on collapsed by working on the first issue they wanted to tackle.  That one issue, in some way, was tied to all the others.  I LOVE that!  There is nothing that brings me more joy than witnessing those lightbulb moments in others! Clients enter with 50+ issues and leave recognizing that it’s really only one that’s the main culprit. So it’s that one that we focus on during our sessions. 

Remember, the negative energies that we’re talking about here are fear, guilt, worry, shame, anxiety, and trauma, they’re all stored in the nervous system of our body, not in our minds.  We need to work somatically to release it. That’s why TPP and Tapping are real lifesavers for so many because each is a simple process for complex issues.

An EFT Hack

I like to explain EFT to people as an emotional form of acupuncture. It can be done anywhere, anytime.  The simplest hack I share with my clients and my students when they are in a social setting is to excuse themselves from wherever they are, go to the bathroom, and do some tapping if someone or something has triggered them.  No one knows what you’re doing in the bathroom or a bathroom stall, so make it your safe space and come back to the party or to class with more balance and clarity.

The Process

There’s a five-step process to Tapping, and you’ve already completed the first two: Identifying the Issue and Rating the State of Intensity.  The third step is the Setup Statement. This is where you tap on the karate chop spot of one hand with the fingertips of the other as you repeat three times a statement that lets your brain and body know what it is you’re preparing to work on.  

Tap It Out

Step 1 - Identity the Issue

Step 2 - Rate the State of Intensity

Step 3 - Set Up Statements: 

*For emotional or physical discomfort:

Even though I have this ___________________ I deeply and completely accept myself.    

Even though I have this ___________________ I deeply and completely accept myself. 

Even though I have this ___________________ I deeply and completely accept myself. 

*Reminder Phrases:

"This sore shoulder"

“This migraine”

“This pinched nerve”

"This difficulty in singing that high note."

“This anxiety about the test”

“This feeling of loneliness”

“This feeling of shame about____”

“This feeling of guilt for _____”

*For an event:

The time when __________________ and I felt _______________ I deeply and completely accept myself.

The time when __________________ and I felt _______________ I deeply and completely accept myself.

The time when __________________ and I felt _______________ I deeply and completely accept myself.

Examples:

"My father embarrassed me...humiliated"

“My teacher yelled at me...embarrassed”

“I offended my friend when I said____...awful”

“Unintentionally ______...so ashamed”

In these statements, you are acknowledging the issue or the problem and accepting yourself in spite of it. The language that we use in EFT always aims at the negative. This is important because it is the negative that creates the energy disruptions. EFT clears those disruptions and brings peace to our system. EFT needs to aim at the negative so it can be neutralized.  This allows our natural positives to bubble up to the top and that happens when we move into the fourth step, which is the Tapping Sequence and Reminder Phrases.

Step 4 - Sequence  &  Reminder phrases

The Sequence

Move to the outside of your eyebrows as you tap, then to the bones underneath your eyes. You can say any variation of the phrase.  You will notice as you move your way around the body, you will start saying things that bubble up for you naturally.  You may even begin to ask yourself questions and as you move around the body, the answers may be revealed to you.  From under your eyes, move to the space under your nose above your top lip. Then to the crease under your lower lip just above your chin. Next, move to the inside of your collarbone, and finally under your arm around the middle of the ribs. This is one sequence.

You can continue the sequence as many times as you feel necessary and stop when you feel called to.

Reminder Phrases

Reminder Phrases keep you focused on the issue so you don’t get distracted, and they are said each time you tap on a different part of the body to remind your body what it is you’re working to unlock. Beginning at the crown of the head, tap as you say the reminder phrase.  Move to the inside of your eyebrows and continue tapping as you say the phrase. The amount of taps isn’t that important, but if you’re looking for an actual number, 3-7 times is fine. 

These can be anything you feel comfortable saying; there is no right or wrong here, as long as it keeps you focused on the issue. Here are some examples to use.  Simply insert the issue with which you are dealing.    

Examples of Reminder Phrases

Round 1:

TOH: This grief (sadness/pain)

EB: I can’t get over it. 

SE: The loss is too heavy 

UE: This grief (sadness/pain)

UN: I am very sad

CH: This grief (sadness/pain)

CB: I don’t know if I’ll get over it

UA: I accept that about myself

Round 2:

TOH: This grief (sadness/pain)

EB: I accept that I have it

SE: I respect the sadness

UE: This grief (sadness/pain)

UN: I can’t seem to let it go

CH: Maybe I never will

CB: This grief (sadness/pain)

UA: I honor the process of it

Round 3:

TOH: This grief (sadness/pain)

EB: I choose to let it go

SE: I want to let it go

UE: This grief (sadness/pain)

UN: I honor it and let it go

CH: This grief (sadness/pain)

CB: I love it and let it go

UA: I open my heart to it and let it go

Step 5 - Test Intensity

When you stop, test the intensity of your issue.  

This is where you’re going to get still, close your eyes, and take a nice inhale and exhale as you end your session.  Test the intensity of the issue on a scale of 0 – 10. How do you feel now after the work that you’ve just done?  Just notice, don’t judge.  The number you see, hear, or feel is the number to keep.  Write it down. This is your Ending Number. #_________

You’re working toward getting the Ending Number to zero, at the very least, below your Beginning Number.

This sequence can be done as many times as you feel necessary.  The goal is to work toward zero, which means what started out as an issue is no longer an issue for you at this time. The test is to see how you respond in an authentic situation where you typically experience this issue.  One-shot might now do it, although, for some, it does!  Make it a practice and work those negative energies and limiting beliefs out of your nervous system.

Video Tutorial

If you’d like to see a video tutorial of what this sequence looks like, visit the Coaching page. I get into more detail there about what points connect to which organs and systems in the body.  In addition to the systems of the body, I also address what healthy qualities are allowed to enter your body as it transforms into a more balanced state. You can also read some testimonials there from clients and students. You can also download the Wellness Workbook while you there and get 5 quick steps to wellness. The workbooks help you to be better equipped to relieve stressors, manage anxiety, and release emotional blocks that are stored in your body and gets you to begin to connect with your true spirit. The goal is to get in touch with your true essence and to feel safe at home inside your Self so you can begin to heal.

Tap For A Loved One Or A Special Cause

Surrogate tapping is tapping on behalf of another. There are ethical issues that surround surrogate tapping, but my purpose in sharing it with you here today is to show you a way that you can help during instances like the mass amounts of suffering during COVID-19 and the racial injustice that many of us are trying to wrap our heads around. Surrogate tapping allows you to send peace, love, and comfort, out into the world. 

It’s important first to tune into why you would want to tap for another, and once you’ve established that it’s in good faith, set an intention, then you would ask for permission.

Parents can certainly tap on or with their children, we can tap for our pets, and other individuals who are not physically able to tap for themselves. We are all energy. We are all connected. We can only give what we have to share. This process is not about getting someone to do what we want, it’s about us as individuals impacting the world by working on ourselves and by sending our love and light into the collective.

**SHIFT WORK:

The shift work I have for you this week is to have fun playing around with The Peace Procedure and Tapping.  I’d love to hear about your experiences with the practice, so please share your experiences on the Shift for Wellness Facebook page or on Instagram @jenncaputo.  

There you will be able to connect with and learn from other like-minded individuals who are purposefully practicing with the intention of bringing more ease into their lives. 

Testimonials

“With Jennifer's guidance, EFT has helped our daughter learn to effectively manage sometimes difficult emotions...and everyday stressors that kids face at school." - Rebecca F.

"Tapping is a good release." 11-year-old client

"It feels nice." 11-year-old client

"Since I have incorporated EFT/Tapping into my life, I have made some big decisions and experienced noticeable forward movement. It has been an amazing tool to add to my repertoire of coping skills. Thank you, Jenn!” -Linda R.

"When I first experienced it, it felt weird but oddly calming."

"I used it in class when things got stressful."

"I used it for tests usually. It was very helpful."

"I used it when I was upset."

"I used it when I got mad. It helped a lot."

"Tapping is very relaxing."

"When you first try it seems silly but it can be helpful to you."

"I experienced myself feeling calmer."

**Thank you @nickielindesigns for your graphic designs! xo

**Thank you DanoSongs.com for the lovely music you created for the Shift for Wellness podcast! xo