Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT): What Is EFT? EFT is a meridian therapy and was originally developed for use on people but due to its remarkable effects, quickly spread to use on the animals. It can be used to clear any situation you can imagine, on any level and is done by simply tapping on major body meridian points to clear blockages and imbalances and bring about desired results. Unlike acupressure, you tap very lightly, sending small shockwaves or soothing pulses through the meridian system, balancing and re-energizing it and clearing blockages as you go. Another main difference between EFT and acupuncture and acupressure is that you use your intention and focus to direct which particular problem you are working on. Emotional Freedom Technique by Gary Craig of www.emofree.com - is the easiest and most user friendly of the meridian therapies (sometimes also called Energy Psychology). You can shift your own or your animal s energy system, and in doing so release whatever you want, simply by focusing your attention on it. What Is Animal EFT? When people first learn about Animal EFT, they often think that they will have to tap on their animals however this is not the case. Although of course animals do have a meridian system, many of the points are in places where animals may not want to be touched, never mind tapped. The wonderful thing about Animal EFT is that you don t tap on the animal directly, but you tap on yourself to make the changes happen for them. This is called Surrogate Tapping and has lots of advantages:
You can do it at any time and even anywhere - you do not have to be in the same room with the animal. You can do it much more often than an animal would generally want. You can help wild animals, animals that don't belong to you, and animals that you can't usually touch, such as mountain lions, birds or fish. Once you have learned the simple technique, you can use it on any problem, on any animal and you don't have to know anything at all about their meridian systems or meridian points. How does Animal EFT work? When you focus your attention on an animal, you connect your energy system with theirs. When you keep the focus of your attention on a specific aspect of that energy system (a problem, disease, behaviour, state of mind etc.) and you change your system by tapping on the points, you are also changing theirs through your connection. I read that this was originally discovered when a lady, distraught because she was sitting by the side of her premature baby's incubator and unable to touch him, treated herself for the baby's problems and the baby responded by breathing more easily and slower, and finding from somewhere the will to live and to fight on more strongly than before. Since then, thousands of people all over the world have been absolutely astonished to find that by tapping on themselves while holding another living being's problems in their mind, they can make changes without touching them or even being in the same room. The Animal EFT Protocol (or basic recipe) 1. Focus Your Intention (I always ask permission) Think about the animal, and specifically what you would like to release, clear, soothe or change for him or her. 2. Make a Statement of Intent Find a phrase or a sentence that describes the problem succinctly and clearly to you. You can say, "Sidney has this terrible allergy." or "Sam never stops barking." or, "This brown horse is distressed" (if you don't know the animals' name or are working with a wild animal). This is the main part of directing your attention to the problem.
3. The Blessing We surround the statement of intent with the words, "Even though (Sam) (is hyperactive), I deeply and profoundly love and accept (Sam)." It helps bring you closer to the animal for deeper changes and handles permission issues as well as having positive benefits for your system. 4. The Full Opening Set-Up Place your flat hand on your chest, either left or right, just above your heart. Wait until you can feel the warmth of your hand through your clothes, rub the hand round in a small circle and say the opening statement which is the statement of intent inside the blessing: "Even though (insert name or description) (insert statement of problem), I deeply and profoundly love and accept (name or description)." Repeat this opening statement three times in all, continuously rubbing the chest area just below the collar bone known as the Sore Spot. 5. Tapping All the Points We now use a shortened version of the opening statement which is called the reminder phrase and tap lightly with one or two fingers, about seven to nine times, on the following spots on yourself (either side of the body is fine) as we say the reminder phrase on each point once. From the example in number 3 above, the reminder phrase could simply be hyperactive : Inner Edge Of The Eyebrow - Where the bone behind your eyebrow turns into the bridge of your nose. Corner Of The Eye - On the bone in the corner of your eye. Under The Eye - On the bone just below your eye, in line with your pupil if you look straight ahead. Under The Nose - Between you nose and your upper lip
Under The Mouth - In the indentation between your chin and your lower lip Collarbone - In the angle formed by your collarbone and the breastbone Under Arm - in line with a man's nipples on the side of the body Thumb - all finger points are on the side of the finger facing towards you, in line with the nail bed Index Finger Middle Finger Little Finger Karate Chop Point - on the side of your hand, roughly in line with your life line. Gamut Point - on the back of your hand, just behind and between the knuckles of your ring and little finger. When you're all the way through, take a deep breath in and out. You can repeat the treatment with a different statement - often something comes to your mind as you do this. Different statements create different changes, so experiment with many different forms of wording and ways of saying something until you feel comfortable. Use EFT for everything you can think of: training issues of any sort illnesses, injuries and other health related issues temperament issues, attention seeking relationship difficulties, with yourself, other humans or animals (jealousy, aggression etc.) fears, phobias, self esteem unhappiness, resentfulness, lack of social skills allergies, skin disorders pain, discomfort, disease past trauma, abuse, abandonment, mishandling
any issue or situation that you can fathom and focus your attention on EFT is excellent for your own immune system and state of mind even when you re doing it for another and practice makes you much better and faster at it. Try it on your own animal companions, and on wild animals, and watch them respond, to what you are doing for them with your energy, with visible changes in their behaviour. Communicating With Our Animal Companions: Naturally, and left to our own devices, we communicate well and clearly with our companions and they understand us and communicate to us clearly in return. Stress, upset, past problems and experiences, and our belief system can and do get in the way of this flow of communication and energy, and this is where meridian therapies can help dramatically. Tapping for such things as, "I don't know what I need to do to communicate more clearly" "I don't understand why my companion does what they do" "I don't know what's blocking me from communicating more clearly" "I release all experiences and learning that is blocking the flow of communication and of love between my animal companion and I" or even "I don't believe that I can communicate directly and that my companion understands me"... can bring amazing revelations and quantum leaps in the depth of your relationship. With rescued animals and those who had traumatic early experiences especially, the problem can be the companion's beliefs about people. Whether the issue is overattachment, general fear and anxiety about the world at large, or lack of trust in humanity, surrogate or proxy-tapping can help clear some of the emotional debris that rescued animals invariably carry over from their past. When Your Animal Companion Has a Problem or Illness: It can be very hard on the caregiver of an animal when... the companion is sick or suffering; the physical attributes of taking care of an ill companion become exhausting behaviour problems cause constant stress, strife and unhappiness
problems are long standing or chronic in nature, or cannot ever get any better. Especially when an animal is living with someone who is a healer, behaviour specialist or supposed to be "an expert" on problems, there can be a feeling of hopelessness and of "somehow having failed in some way" experienced by the owner. This is a very common problem and is shared by parents of ill or disabled children, too. EFT and other meridian therapies can be a true godsend to alleviate stress and strain for the owner, thus allowing them to be more resourceful, more centred, more grounded and more positive and proactive in their daily dealings with the problems. A good suggestion for dealing with problems of this nature is to ask, "How do *I* feel about my animal having this problem?" Answers can vary, from "sad" to "disappointed", from "very angry" to "terribly helpless" and many, many other deep and often desolately destructive emotions. For the owner to deal with these emotions and to be able to release them is a true gift and can truly help both the owner and their animal, to cope with the circumstances better and to find courage and peace to continue on. Thunderstorm Phobia: Use an opening statement such as "Even though (this animal) has a fear of thunderstorms, I deeply love and accept her." Generally it is recommended that tapping be done by proxy on the human, but this particular technique has been adapted for use directly on the animal. 1. Between the eye and the base of the ear, about 1/3 of the way from the eye. 2. On the sternum (collarbone) 3. Behind the shoulder joint on the angle where the shoulder blade and the upper "arm" join. 4. The under-arm equivalent. 5. In the middle of the loin 6. Either side of the spine just above the root of the tail. Repeat your opening statement 3 times and allow the dog to breathe in and out once between statements.
Past Traumas: Another aspect which can and does cause many companion owners intense pain are "old" injuries and past traumas revolving around decisions they might have made regarding their animals; other animals who died or perhaps were put to sleep; and similar aspects of a traumatic nature. Every time such a situation re-occurs, or even threatens to re-occur, the old traumas come to the fore again and can make it very difficult to respond to current challenges or situations. Generally, people or therapists who are not pet owners themselves, have no appreciation for the depth of pain nor the depth of trauma involved, and so it is likely that such old traumas were never really fully addressed at the time. Re-visiting such times using EFT in order to clear them and release the negative emotions can often be tremendously helpful in being able to overcome current challenges. DNA/Vaccine Damage: Excellent for hot spots, neurological problems, allergies, immune related dis-ease, and many other conditions brought about by vaccine damage. Ask or dowse, is there a problem with RNA/DNA vaccine damage?, then ask if you should fix it now? 1. Cup hands over the crown chakra and say with intent: "I now open the genetic code." 2. Rub your sore spot (just left of the collar bone notch) and say: "Even though (animal's name) has RNA/DNA damage, I deeply and completely love and accept him/her." Say this three times. 3. Tap yourself on the following points while resting your attention on the animal: beginning of the eyebrow, side of eye, under eye, under nose, chin, collarbone point, under arm, side of thumb, karate chop point. Say at each point: "I replace old cells with new healthy, cells. I replace old genetic code with new, healthy genetic code." 4. Cup hands over crown chakra and say: "I now close the genetic code." Bereavement: The death of a companion can devastate. Unfortunately, many times this is made worse by people who do not understand the depth of trauma and have an unhelpful "but it's just a (dog/cat/horse/etc), not a human!" type of attitude, even extending to some healing professionals. I have recently worked with my own companion bereavement issues, and also with that of others, and have noted with interest that the processes involved are
EXACTLY the same as in any other form of deep trauma, be it rape, abuse, or surviving a disaster, or having had terrible experiences in a war. It is therefore little surprise to also note that the symptoms experienced by the bereaved person are classical PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sleeplessness, nightmares, depression, neuro-somatic illness, mood swings are all to be found. The fact is that bereavement that has led to extraordinary problems in its wake, way above and beyond just a deep sadness at the passing of the companion, has somewhere moments of intense shock or stress so profound that the mind simply couldn't cope with it at the time. And, contrary to public belief, "time" does not heal such trauma. For example, one lady who had been unable to overcome her bereavement related problems for five years, told me that she remembered telephoning the veterinary surgeon to find out when she could collect her dog, only to be told "Oh haven't they told you, it died under the anesthetic." The next thing she remembered was standing in the surgery, looking down at the body of her dog laid out on the top of a refrigerator in a back room. There was a huge piece missing from the memory; she could not remember how she got to the surgery, or any detail at all from what happened in between the telephone moment and the moment when she "woke up" in the surgery. I helped her reconstruct the memory by tapping from one stage to another, relieving the painful emotions each step of the way. By the time we were done, she could remember everything clearly, had come to many new insights; most notably that it had not been her fault that this terrible thing happened, and felt "a tremendous sense of peace and relief". Further, she was now able to remember "the good times", something that had been denied to her for so long because of the trauma and the intense grief and pain involved. She went on to finally let go of the dog's collar, bedding and lead, and planted a rose in her garden in the memory of her dog - steps that she could not have taken before because the trauma was frozen in time in her mind. The Photograph Release If someone is too emotional or distressed to talk, a gentle and very magical way of beginning to unblock the traumas and releasing all the aspects of severe grief is to just look at or hold a photograph of the companion, and to tap without saying anything at all, until such time as a feeling of peace and resolution has arrived. After an initial session which will take care of the most important aspects, this should be repeated at least once a day for a week, because so many different aspects of grief and loss are involved. The treatment can be concluded when there is no more deep
sadness, but only feelings of love and gratitude when focusing on the photograph and the memories of the companion. Bereavement Amongst Companions: All companions suffer from bereavement too. Whether it is an owner who dies or a divorce, or another animal from the household leaves, this is very stressful for dogs, cats and horses alike. Proxy tapping and tapping both can help calm the animal, boost its auto-immune system and make it feel better; and, of course, the owner's own calm state of mind is a great help too. Training & Competing With A Companion: Whether it s competitive obedience, breed showing or show jumping, whenever we endeavor to work as a team with our companions, our own state of mind has EVERYTHING to do with the team's performance. EFT, for example, can help with basic issues such as ring nerves which accounts for about 75% of all failures and problems during any kind of competition or performance; on a deeper level, it can help with beliefs such as "We'll never be good enough" and "I'm not a winner" and the like, which, if held by the human part of the team, will lead to self sabotage and problems of all kinds. Like all Meridian Therapies, EFT is also extremely effective to apply to specific problems, be they training or attitude problems. One lady had given up trying to train her dog not to bark in the garden at night which had brought about complaints from neighbors, but in spite of her best efforts over a period of three years, the dog would still spook at the slightest crackle in the leaves or night noise and start to bark uncontrollably. She tapped for both the dog, "Even though I'm afraid in the dark" and "If I bark, nothing bad will happen to me", as well as for herself, "Even though I've tried everything to stop her from barking and failed miserably". Other issues arose along the line, but the dog and the lady both began to relax after just a few applications, and the dog has not barked in the garden at night for a month now - thus approached from both angles, the problem was resolved successfully. Another lady always found a specific competitive obedience exercise especially stressful, and had no confidence in either her teaching of it, nor the dog's ability to perform it. She tapped herself for, "Even though scent is the most difficult exercise there is." and came upon a memory from many years ago, when she was a
beginner, and had been told these very words by her instructor at the time. Once this was released through the tapping, she became aware of where she had been going wrong all this time, and corrected it. She then tapped the dog by proxy for, "Even though I've been taught the wrong way for three years " and, between the two of them, they recovered their confidence in their respective abilities, their trust in each other, and now the exercise no longer holds any challenges and they have become a truly "winning team". The 9 Gamut Procedure The 9 Gamut Procedure is a 10 second process whereby 9 "brain stimulating" actions are performed while continuously tapping on one of the body's energy points...the gamut point. It has been discovered, after years of experience, that this routine can add efficiency to EFT and quicken your progress towards emotional freedom (the main goal)...especially when sandwiched between 2 trips through the regular sequence. The gamut point is on the back of each hand and is a 1/2 inch behind the midpoint, between the knuckles at the base of the ring finger and the little finger. While tapping the Gamut point continuously, perform the following 9 actions: 1. Eyes closed. 2. Eyes open. 3. Eyes hard down right while holding the head steady. 4. Eyes hard down left while holding the head steady. 5. Roll eyes in a clockwise circle as though your nose was at the center of a clock and you were trying to see all the numbers in order. 6. Same as #5 only reverse the direction in which you roll your eyes so it s counter clock wise. 7. Hum 2 seconds of a song (such as Happy Birthday to you ). 8. Count rapidly from 1 to 5. 9. Hum 2 seconds of the song again. Recommended use of EFT Memorize the basic recipe or protocol. Use it on any emotional or physical problem by customizing it with an appropriate setup affirmation and reminder phrase. Be specific where possible and aim EFT at the specific emotional events in your animal companion s life (or your own life) that may underlie the problem. Where necessary, be persistent until all aspects of the issue have vanished. Try it on everything you can imagine!!
The above info on Animal EFT comes from the following sources: EFT Founder Gary Craig www.emofree.com www.animal-eft.org Silvia Hartmann Catherine O Driscoll www.canine-health-concern.org.uk