Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for Procrastination

About 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered a complex system of energy circuits that run throughout the body. These energy circuits-or meridians-are the centerpiece of Eastern health practices and form the basis for modern day acupuncture, acupressure, and other healing techniques. In a nutshell, EFT consists of tapping with the fingertips at the end points of the body's energy meridians. Tapping sends pulses through the meridian and fixes any energy disruptions.

Furthermore, EFT is based on the discovery that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system. The process is as follows: a person has a distressing memory, that memory causes a disruption in the body's energy system, and it's that disruption in the body's energy system that causes the negative emotion. By using EFT people are able to get beyond negative emotions-such as anxiety, worry, excessive anger, depression, fear, frustration, stress, low self-esteem, guilt, and so on-in a few minutes, with long lasting results.

In addition to negative emotions, EFT can help you release negative beliefs you may have which are holding you back from achieving the things you want for yourself.

In order to avoid having to diagnose which energy meridian may be disrupted when you're feeling a negative emotion, the EFT Basic Recipe will have you tap near the end points of numerous energy meridians. Tapping on energy meridians that are flowing normally will do you no harm, and by tapping on several different meridians you'll probably fix what's wrong. In addition, a complete overhaul only takes a few minutes.

The Basic Recipe consists of four steps, which are the following:

I. The Setup
II. The Sequence
III. The 9 Gamut Procedure
IV. The Sequence

The Basic Recipe has a beginning routine to "setup" or prepare your energy system so that the rest of the process can do its job. The Setup takes about ten seconds to complete and it consists of a setup statement which you repeat three times while simultaneously tapping the "karate chop point" (I'll tell you where it is in a minute). The setup statement is basically the following:

"Even though I have this _____ I deeply and completely accept myself."

Fill the blank with the problem you want to address. If you're trying to conquer procrastination, then I suggest the following setup statements:

• Even though I keep procrastinating on this task, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though every time I intend to get to work on this task I get distracted by other things, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though the task feels overwhelming, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I can't seem to get started, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I expect perfection of myself, and it prevents me from realistically accomplishing what I need to do, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I am afraid that if I try this I may fail, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I feel like someone else is trying to manipulate me into this, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I'm afraid of success, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I feel frustrated, annoyed, and disappointed at myself for not getting this done, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I keep making excuses for not getting started with this, I deeply and completely accept myself.
• Even though I feel conflicted because part of me want to go out for a run, and part of me wants to sleep in this morning, I deeply and completely accept myself.

The setup statement acknowledges the problem while creating self-acceptance despite the existence of the problem. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe the setup statement, just say it. The setup statement also "tunes" you in to the problem so that so that your system knows which problem you're addressing in any particular EFT session.

The Sequence consists of tapping on the end points of the major energy meridians in the body. Completing one round of The Sequence takes about one minute.

While you tap, repeat a word or phrase--the Reminder Phrase--that reminds you of the problem you're addressing. You repeat the Reminder Phrase to make sure that you remain tuned in to the problem you're trying to solve while you tap.

Let's assume that your affirmation during the Setup phase was the following: "Even though I feel anxious about money, I deeply and completely accept myself". The Reminder Phrase you use while you tap could be to simply repeat the affirmation at each point you tap, or you can shorten it to "anxious about money", or even shorten it further to just "money". Always repeat the Reminder Phrase each time you tap a point during The Sequence.

Here are four tapping tips:

• Most of the tapping points exist on either side of the body; it doesn't matter which side you use.


• It's probably best to tap with your dominant hand.


• Use the fingertips of your index and middle fingers to tap. If you're worried about hitting the right spots exactly, try using four fingers instead of two. This way you're covering more territory and you can be sure you're getting the right spots.


• Tap each point between 5 to 9 times.

The tapping points for the sequence are very easy to locate. They are the following:

• Eyebrow (EB): At the beginning of the eyebrow just above and to one side of the nose.


• Side of the eye (SE): On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye.


• Under the eye (UE): On the bone under the eye.


• Under the nose (UN): On the small area between the bottom of the nose and the top of the upper lip.


• Chin (Ch): Midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lower lip.


• Collar Bone (CB): Place your forefinger on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone (about where a man would knot his tie). From the bottom of the U move your forefinger down toward the navel 1 inch and then go to the left or right 1 inch.


• Under the Arm (UA): About 4 inches below the armpit.


• On the hand (a lot of EFT practitioners concentrate on the seven points above and don't tap on the meridian points located on the hand, but it just takes a few seconds to tap on the hand, so you might as well):
  
  
  
  • Thumb (TH): On the outside edge of your thumb at a point even with the base of the thumbnail.
  
  
  • Index Finger (IF): On the side of the index finger (the side facing your thumb) at a point even with the base of the fingernail.
  
  
  • Middle Finger (MF): On the side of the middle finger (the side closest to your thumb) at a point even with the base of the fingernail.
  
  
  • Baby Finger (BF): On the side of the baby finger (the side closest to your thumb) at a point even with the base of the fingernail.
  
  

The purpose of the 9 Gamut Procedure is to "fine tune" the brain, and it does so via some eye movements and some humming and counting. Certain parts of the brain are stimulated when you move your eyes, due to the nerves that connect your eyes to your brain. Likewise, the right side of the brain is stimulated when you hum and the left side of the brain is stimulated when you count.

The 9 Gamut Procedure is a 10 second process wherein 9 of these "brain stimulating" actions are performed while continuously tapping on the Gamut Point. You can find the Gamut Point as follows: find the point between the knuckle of your ring finger and the knuckle of your baby finger; from there move half an inch toward your wrist and that's the Gamut point.

Perform the 9 Gamut actions while tapping the Gamut Point continuously. The 9 Gamut actions are the following:

1. Close your eyes.


2. Open your eyes.


3. Eyes hard down right while holding the head steady.


4. Eyes hard down left while holding the head steady.


5. Roll eyes once clockwise as though your nose was at the center of a clock and you were trying to see all the number in order.


6. Roll eyes once counter-clockwise as though your nose was at the center of a clock and you were trying to see all the number in order.


7. Hum 2 seconds of a song (suggestion: Happy Birthday)


8. Count rapidly from 1 to 5.


9. Hum 2 seconds of a song again (suggestion: Happy Birthday)

Go through the sequence once again. That is, you go through the Sequence twice, once before the 9 Gamut Procedure and once afterwards. And that's it, that's the Basic Recipe. It's simple, fast, and effective.