Sit comfortably. Check with yourself and rate on a scale of 0 to 10, with 1 being the most intense and 0 not at all, how much discomfort you have. This is called the SUDS level. SUDS stands for Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale. Notice the location, size, and shape of the bread. Choose a number from 0 to 10 that represents the intensity of the pain as you are experiencing it right now. If pain inhibits your movement, without hurting yourself, check the SUDS level while moving. Remember this number as your starting SUDS level for your pain. You will know that EFT is working because the number will decrease after one or more rounds of EFT. When asked to access your SUDS, check the location, size, and shape of the pain to see if it has changed. And test it by moving your body, if you like, because EFT will also sometimes affect range or motion or the ability to move comfortably and freely.
The first part of EFT is the preparation phase. This phrase is called the setup phrase because it sets up and aligns your conscious and unconscious to overcome psychological reversal, or the experience of being in conflict with yourself. Say the setup prayer out loud three times. You will fill in the blank with any issue you wish to focus on with EFT. Please specify the type of pain you have when you fill in the blank for the setup phrase. The sentence is: Even though I _____, I deeply and completely accept myself. For example: Even though I have this sore shoulder, I deeply and completely accept myself. Or even though I have this headache, I deeply and completely accept myself. Or even though I have this poison oak that itches, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Now say the sentence out loud to yourself and fill in the blank with your type of pain: Even though I have this ———- I deeply and completely accept myself.
With the index and middle fingers of your dominant hand, you will begin to touch the karate chop of your secondary hand. The karate chop is in the middle of the fleshy area on the outside of the palm of the hand between the little finger and the wrist.
While continuously tapping on the karate chop meridian, say the setup phrase out loud three times… Tap and say it now.
The second part of the EFT process is the tapping procedure.
Using those same two fingers on your dominant hand, tap with moderate speed and pressure intensity about seven times on the inside of one of your eyebrows, right where your eyebrow begins near your nose. As you tap and say, out loud, once, This____pain.” Be specific like “This headache” or “This shoulder pain.” Each time you tap on a new meridian, say the short statement out loud. one time.
Now, in the same way, touch the side eye. Remember to say the short statement.
Now touch under your eye. Now tap under your nose.
Now touch under the mouth between the lower lip and the chin.
Now touch the clavicle towards the center on either side of the base of the neck.
Now touch under your arm, about four inches below your armpit.
Now tap on the outside of your thumb where the meat of the thumb and the nail meet.
Now touch the index finger where the nail and the meat of the finger meet.
Now tap your middle finger, the same spot, skip your ring finger, and then tap the same area between your finger and nail, on your little finger, and say your statement out loud, once. Did you say the short statement once while tapping on each mereidan?
Tune your bread. What number represents the intensity of how much intensity you feel right now?
The number will generally be lower. Please note this SUDS number.
You will now learn the third part of EFT, the Nine Gamut process. It’s called range nine because you’ll be doing a sequence of nine activities in the process. This part of EFT balances your brain.
Do you remember that you stopped tapping on your ring finger a few moments ago? Now you will be tapping on the meridian connected to that finger, but you will be tapping on the back of the hand at the “nine gamete point” which is in the fleshy area on the back of the hand between the tendons of the little finger and the ring. Continuously touch this meridian and think about the pain. Now as you play, look straight ahead. Close your eyes. Open your eyes. Keep playing. Keeping your head stationary, move your eyes down forcefully to the floor. Now move them towards the floor, all the way to the left. Now circle your eyes on the right, all the way around… and circle your eyes on the left, all the way around. Keep tapping throughout this process.
Now you will activate the functioning of your right brain by humming a bit of a song that you know. Let’s use a simple one like Row Row Row your Boat. Done…keep playing and humming along with me. Hmm.
Now count to five out loud, quickly. Now hum again… Now stop playing and relax. What is your SUDS level now? You can test the level of SUDS by carefully moving your body. Don’t push yourself or your limits when you try SUDS.
In the fourth and final phase of an EFT round, repeat the original tapping sequence and say the short phrase once for each meridian.
Now touch the inside of the eyebrow and say your phrase out loud.
Touch the side of your eye. Now under your eye, under your nose. Under the mouth, The clavicle, Under the arm.
Now touch the thumb meridian, the index finger, the middle finger skip the ring finger and touch the little finger. Finish by playing the karate chop. Check your SUDS level. You have just completed a full round of EFT.
Repeat the four phases of EFT in the second round of EFT following the same protocol. Only this time he will slightly change his phrasing, acknowledging the changes. For the setup phrase, he will play the karate chop continuously and say it three times. “Even though I still feel this (fill in the blank) _______ pain, I deeply and completely accept myself.
And as you tap on the meridian sequence, say, Remaining (fill in the blank) _______pain.
A reminder that a full round of EFT includes:
Get the Suds level.
Say the Setup Phrase aloud three times while continuously tapping the karate chopstick.
The Tapping sequence, which always includes saying the short statement once for each meridian.
Range Nine.
The tapping sequence.
Finish with checking the SUDS level.
Keep repeating this sequence until your SUDS is at 0 or a tolerable level so that you can continue your day and activities more comfortably. As you tap, you will most likely notice the issue change from pain to an emotional aspect of the issue. For example, pain can turn into anxiety, sadness, or hopelessness. Pay attention to your feelings and your state of being and if the focus of your experience changes, just go with the new aspect and create a new setup phrase. You can stop in the middle of the tapping sequence and start over with the new setup like… “Even though I feel angry because I’m living in pain, I deeply and completely accept myself, or even though I feel drained and exhausted from so much pain… OR even though I feel sad because I lost my old life because I live in pain… ….” Be honest with yourself and be bold and go with whatever aspect comes up. Following the aspects is the art of EFT and will increase your success rate up the percentage scale.
Instead of using a basic setup like “this pain,” you can enunciate more elaborate phrases that capture more subtleties of your experience, such as “Even though this shoulder pain is driving me crazy… I still deeply and completely accept it.” myself.” Or, “Even though it bothers me that I can’t ride a bike anymore because of this knee pain…” Or, “Even though I worry that I’ll never be free of pain…” Be honest about your feelings and concerns and tap on them.
The EFT process will organically bring the deepest issues related to pain to the surface. Keep tapping and clearing feelings and issues as they come up.
What can I do if the SUDS does not go down? Focus on the pain and ask yourself, “what emotion do I associate with this pain?” Get the suds level on the thrill and tap it. For example: “Even though I have this anger in my back pain, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Or “Even though I carry this grievance in my jaw ache, I deeply and completely accept myself.”
How long of an EFT session is it effective? Play until you feel the pain go away or at least until you feel more relaxed. Periodically throughout the day, when you can take the time, tap on any related issues that come up around your stress and daily routine. It is very important to tap on any triggers that have caused you tension from stress or worry in the past. Stress contributes to physical and emotional pain. Do not limit this tapping process to physical pain.
There are shortcuts to using EFT that you can use whenever the SUDS level is going down.
A shortcut is to remove range nine. You can always add it back if your progress slows down.
You can use EFT successfully on habits, low energy, phobias, anxiety, pain, guilt, and negative thoughts and beliefs. You can apply EFT to anything and everything. For more training and support on the use of EFT, contact HCH about our classes and low cost clinic. You can also download the EFT manual for free on the EFT website.
And remember to keep tapping. EFT will only help you if you use it.
