Hey all,

have tried eft a few times now, and am kinda convinced that it does work, the problem is however bringing back those memories to actually tap them away. when your in the right situation they surface seemingly out of nowhere like if your in a group but theyre hard to get out when your alone, in fact its almost as if they try to avoid coming up. My questions are,  a) do you have to remember the exact event that triggered that feeling or is it more important to just actually have that feeling present within you. b) isnt the best way to do this to actually go into those situations and let the feeling arise, if you tapped on it then, would it work just as well ?( im aware this would look really inappropriate in a group :P) 

sometimes when i do eft several things happen,  i can feel myself going deeper into things that happened before, and sometimes when i tap on things, i have this feeling of lightness inside as if ive 'ive got rid of something inside'. any other similair experiences please do share. 

peace to you all

Hi there

Personally for me I tend to start with what it is I want to change or acheive, either a behaviour I want to change, a feeling that I can't seem to get past, or a goal I want to reach, and then work backwards to the memory.

I have never been able to sit down with a list of memories because a) as you suggested they tend not to want to come up, there are things I forgot for a reason!, and b) I can easily dissociate my feelings so can actually believe its not a problem.

What works for me therefore is if the feelings come up in a situation, I don't necessarily start tapping there and then, although when its at home, I take myself away and do it. 

Mainly this is why it is beneficial to work with someone else, they can help you go to the places you can easily avoid or sidetrack when tapping alone.  When I do tap for myself though I do find I can go very deep into things that happened, which sometimes surprises me, and if I keep on tapping with whatever feeling comes up, and sometimes they are very strong, then yes, you do feel lighter, like something you didn't even know you had is gone.  This has gotten easier with practice and confidence in the EFT process.

It sounds like you are doing some very good deep work. 

One of the ways I can get into my own 'stuff' is to be very aware of my negative reactions to people, or strong uncomfortable feelings coming up when watching films, reading books or listening to music.  Tapping on my reactions to those is allowing whatever is being triggered to clear as well.  For instance after my mother and sisters funerals, pieces of music would have me in floods of tears, often in the car, so I would note the music, get it on itunes or if I already possessed the track and tap until I can listen to it without emotion.  Doing that has been a relatively painless way of dealing with some of the strong feelings.

Gill

Yeah, although sometimes I can tap on issues that you just think up, youl probably make much more ground if theyre provoked like you said. Its interesting that someone else can bring out your own issues better than you can, I guess its just having someone to tell! Maybe with persistence you can delve deeper and deeper, ive noticed that happens with tapping also.

I also find music very emotive, so ill see what happens with that. Thankyou for your reply Gill, BW

 What I have found is that someone else can pick up where you are intense but you are tempted to gloss over.  On two specific occasions I can remember my practitioner inviting me to go back to something I had said, even though i was sure it was not a problem, and in fact these were the most outstanding breakthroughs I have had.  Someone else helps us go where we don't want to go.  There is nothing like a safe pair of hands whether a practitioner or someone you just trust to be with when you are doing this work.

Gill