Saturday, September 05, 2009

The freeze response and EFT

Wanting to get rid of something is a stuck and resistant energy. It is also the most common thing I hear when someone comes to me for an EFT session. If, for example, you have had neck pain for two years and it's not going away, more often than not, you'll feel frustrated, angry and helpless that nothing you're doing is 'getting rid of it'. This is totally understandable and you need to begin and accept exactly where you're at and acknowledge how you feel. It can be very difficult to take a moment and ask “Why do I have this neck pain”? “When did it start”? “What's the message here”?

Clearing and dissolving any resistant energy is necessary before addressing the neck pain directly. The good news is, dissolving the stuck energy will most probably have a knock on effect on the neck pain too. We can be pretty sure these emotions relate to other things that took place or are going on in our life and the pain (and our response) is manifesting in our neck.

Pain is always an indication. An indication to change direction, in that something we're thinking, believing or doing does not serve our body or mind and is causing dis-ease. Pain can also be a traumatic event that has frozen in the body - the freeze response. When we feel powerless and are unable to process an event, for whatever reason, we freeze. It happens often when the event is extremely traumatic or when we're very young and don't have the resources to cope. The body will hold this trauma for us until we release and discharge it. The problem is many people do not know about the freeze response, nor do they know how to discharge all the tension, pain, stress and other manifestations of the freeze response that they have been holding for years.

This is where EFT comes in. Your body is your subconscious mind. Make use of any body/mind symptoms as a way of releasing and dissolving any freeze responses, patterns and beliefs that no longer serve your highest good. The symptoms are your subconscious mind's way of communicating with you. One of the most important actions you can take is to listen, without judgement, criticism or resistance, this will enable you to gain clarity and take your power back to restore health. Some good questions to ask yourself are:

When did the issue start?
What was going on in your life then?
What does this issue/feelings/emotions remind you of?
How do you feel about having this issue?
If there was an emotional contributor to this issue what might it be? (If you don't know, guess)
How would you describe how you are feeling to someone else so they would know exactly how it feels to have the same issue?
Why do you think you have this issue?
Do you think the issue has a message for you?
What might that message be? (Guess if you don't know)
What do you notice about this issue?
Where is it located?
What are the sensations?
What quality/texture does it have? (Heavy, tight, constricted, dark etc.)
Does it have a colour?
What is the function of the part of the body where the pain/issue is?
How does that function relate to how you feel?
What is the advantage of holding onto this pain/issue?
What is the disadvantage of holding onto this pain/issue?
What image/metaphor springs to mind when you think of this issue?
What else is there to this issue?
If there were a person or event in your life you would rather have skipped, what might it be?

1 comment:

Ed Howes said...

Good Sister Noreen,

Thank you for this information. I had heard of a game called twenty questions and now we have a practical application. Seems they should be printed and placed in our personal EFT assistance manuals.

I think pain held over a long time can become addictive, our constant companion. Who would we be without it. I think it is wonderful EFT will work in spite of the addiction, only requiring more sessions.

Love and Blessings X 10,

Ed