This blog is written for all those people who experience a “fear of change” when they try to improve their lives or go for their dream.  Inevitably, they will come up against risks and demands that threaten to stop them. 

In my last blog, I outlined a simple exercise that will help you identify exactly what is causing your fear.  In this blog, we will go through the steps of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to eliminate the fear, so that you can stay on course and not give up on your dream.

1. First, you need to realize what your own personal signs of stress are…so that you can recognize them when they occur. Usually, when you think of a potentially stressful situation or event, you will have a visceral (body) or kinesthetic (feeling) response right away.

Possible physical responses could be:
– Your heart could beat faster.
– You could start breathing faster and shallower.
– You might feel pressure in your heart, throat or head.
– Your thoughts might speed up and start darting all over the place.
– You might freeze and not be able to think of anything at all.

2. Take the time to sit quietly with a pen and paper and write down all of the things that are upsetting to you about the situation. Write about every aspect of the stress in every area that you can think of: physical problems, emotional problems, relationship issues, financial issues. How many ways does this problem affect you.

3. Think about each issue/statement that you have written down, one at a time and tune into your body. What do you feel as you think about it? Choose the one issue/statement that creates the greatest physical response. Determine what your level of stress about this issue/statement, using a rating of between ‘0′ and ‘10′.  A rating of ‘0′ means there is no stress and ‘10′ means there is great stress.   Tip: If you are crying or feeling intense emotion, you are a ‘10′.

4. Once you have identified your main stressor about the situation, you can quickly and easily reduce it by applying a powerful stress reduction tool, called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. EFT is like Acupuncture – without the needles. Negative stress can block your naturally flowing energy pathways, causing you to not function properly.

Very simply, with EFT, you tap on the ends of the key energy meridians or energy channels with your fingertips, while focusing on your problem at the same time. The tapping or vibrating helps to shake up or release the energy blocked by the negative stress. Then you are able to think more clearly, function better and feel better. Your stress is reduced. It is extremely powerful and can be applied to any kind of stress, pain or illness.

Using the attached diagram, you are going to start reducing your stress on the issue/statement you have chosen by tapping on the karate chop point. According to the diagram, it is the fleshy side of your hand – what you would use if you were going to karate chop something. In this case, we want to karate chop or eliminate your stress.

While tapping on the karate chop point, repeat the following statement three times: “Even though (fill in the blanks with your chosen issue/statement), I love and accept myself and trust that I will respond in a calm and confident manner.” This is an example only. Use your own words to make it real for you.

Tips: — Be as specific and detailed as possible. The more detailed, the faster the stress relief. For example: “I am feeling anxious” is pretty general. A far more effective statement would be: “I am feeling anxious because I just lost my job and don’t have enough money to pay the rent”. Do you see the difference?

• The more feeling you can put into the statement, the more effective it will be.

5. Then you tap on each acupressure point (listed below) about seven to ten times. As you tap, you state aloud with feeling, a reminder phrase about your fear/issue. The reminder phrase is usually just a shortened version of the original statement. For the above example, the reminder phrase could be: “lost job”, or “no money” or “can’t pay rent”. Do you see what I mean? Just pick some words that create a picture in your mind of what you are afraid of.

The tapping points are:
a) Inner corner of eyebrow (on the brow bone)
b) Outer corner of eye (on the eye socket bone)
c) Under the eye (on the eye socket bone)
d) Under the nose
e) Center of the chin
f) Collar bone point - The easiest way to find this point is to use the flat of your hand and tap on top of the beginning of your collar bone (top of the breast bone,  in the “V” of your neck).   g) Under Arm point – under the arm, parallel to the bra strap for women
h) Gamut point – top of the hand, above and between the baby and ring finger knuckles
i) Top of the head, parallel to both ears

6. At the end of the round of tapping, take a slow deep breath. Check in with your body to see if the stress level has decreased on this issue. You will notice that as you tap certain points, you will probably start yawning or sighing. This is a sign that the stress is being released.

If there is still some remaining stress, repeat the tapping procedure, using the words: “Even though I still have some remaining (fill in the blanks with your issue/statement), I (repeat the above positive statement: (I love and accept myself and trust that I will respond in a calm and confident manner). Or say whatever comes into your heart or mind.

Tap each of the above points again, using the reminder phrase: “remaining (fill in the blanks). Continue until the stress is resolved.