They’re not fantastic and were taken with my cellphone, but here for you Ms. A, are the latest pics of Ms. M. The first while hiking in the Santa Cruz Redwoods, taking a break around an abandoned campfire ring and restarting the fire with dry wood from the wood cache. At $2.50 in quarters, it was worth every penny, though it was bloody cold and drippity-droppity after a rain, and drips off the redwood branchess kept putting the fire out! Pity there were no marshmallows though…

The second, below, trying to catch the "Om" on my way out of practice at Willow Glen Yoga in San Jose, CA.

There’s no place like Om.

Ye gods, I need a haircut…I have become A Conehead. Or it could be that last Down Dog of the day…

Ok. Ms. A - tag, you’re it!!!

Here is another LimeTV video from Rodney Yee on how to maintain a sense of Calm and let go of irritating incidents from the past. Enjoy!

Rest In Peace, LimeTV. Lime was one of the only television channels I watched weekly, as it showcased environmental issues, green politics and alternative healthcare programming. Funding for programming seems to have run out in late 2005 and Lime existed for the last year in reruns. I tuned in to the "Everyday Yoga" program today only to find a short announcement:

"We regret to inform you LIME will cease broadcasting at midnight ET on 2/25/07."

Whatta bummer. You can still access a very limited set of offerings at the LIME website. And if you like LIME, you can sign up to become a member of their membership community :

http://lime.com/community

VIDEO 4U: Hottie Alert! My sister-in-law thinks Rodney Yee is the hottest things in yoga shorts. He’s not bad on the eyes and is an even greater yoga instructor for all levels. I’ll miss Rodney’s "Everyday Yoga" progams (one can only hope he’ll be picked up by public TV), but there are short segment videos still available at Lime.com. In this one, Rodney explains how to be at ease and breathe more fully and naturally, clearing chest congestion. If you have a cold, flu or other chest/head congestive condition, try this pose every day as much as you like to relax and open the chest. Enjoy!

Tapas Acupressure Technique, or TAT, is the meridian-based therapy that I’ve personally seen in my practice, that tends to be the most favored by women. It is deceptively gentle, thorough, and features a smaller set of acupoints than EFT. TAT involves holding – not tapping – three acupressure points on the front of the head, while covering the back of the head with your other hand and running through a short series of mental steps.

This procedure releases stress, mental friction, physical symptoms in many cases, and other problems that keep you from an experience of Everyday Bliss. 

Tapas is a Sanskrit word that means “transmutation through fire”. The points held create in Chinese medical terms, “heat” in the body and the process is transformative. Though you won’t necessarily overheat if you use this technique, it is suggested that you keep your practice down to 20 minutes a day, rest briefly afterwards, and as with all energy therapies, drink lots of water.

Tapas Fleming, creator of Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT) has announced many changes to the technique in the last year.  Here is a brief summary along with some truly bad cellphone pictures of me in the poses.  For the book, we’ll of course be having  professional models, but you work with what you’ve got .

Enjoy! 

Shortform TAT

This sequence was recently suggested by Sara Arey, TAT Education coordinator.

Tapas notes that identifying with a resonance is elegant and powerful but is still in the testing phases. An eloquent shortening, but as we’re still playing with it, use the original steps below for greater accuracy.

New Steps of TAT

The TAT Protocol has changed many times over the last two years. Here are both the Dedication and updated Steps of the Protocol:

1. Before starting the TAT Pose and general steps, affirm: "I dedicate this work for the benefit of all of my ancestors, all of my family, all parts of me and all points of view I have ever had, and and anyone else who might gain benefit from it."

We do this because we know that some conditions run through many generations of families ( for example: “the women in my family always have nervous spells/breast cancer/marry badly”). It is also important to deal with all aspects of a problem – most of which we may never know consciously. Taking this small extra step has resulted in deep healing for many people and their families.

The TAT Pose

2. Place your hands in the TAT Pose, front hand (either hand will do) with thumb and ring finger on the UB1 (1st point on the Urinary Bladder Meridian) or "Eyes Bright" points, 1/8" above the inner point of the eye. The middle finger lightly rests on the acupuncture point GV24 (24th point on the Governing Meridian) or Yin Tang - the third eye point in the middle of the forehead.

The other hand rests easily cupping the back of the head, with thumb resting on the occiput, or lower skull line. (see picture)

Practice holding this pose. It may seem awkward at first, but you doubtless remember seeing people in stress unconsciously rubbing their forehead between their eyes at these points, or you may have done so yourself. There’s a reason why – it’s a natural stress reliever!

You will take a slight break from the TAT pose when you finish with each Step, a few seconds will do. And given that the pose itself can build up a bit of heat in the body, spend no more than 20 minutes a day actually holding the pose.

3. Place your mind on the Problem and affirm: "Everything that led up to this (name the problem) happened"

4. "This (problem) happened, it’s over and I’m okay now."

5. Place your mind on the opposite of the problem. OR skip this step now, and do the "Choice Step" below

6. "Thank you for healing all the places in my mind, body and life where this has been stored"

Who are you thanking? And why? Good questions. Having gratitude for one’s life, present circumstances and transformations is not only important, but imperative to your healing and is the first of a Triad of powerful Attractor Factors built into the TAT process.

Address your gratitude to whatever your concept of Higher Power is, or simply just "Thank you" to the universe in general without qualifiers.

The Attitude of Gratitude is a powerful motivator and catalyst for the subconscious mind to move the forces of the universe into rearranging your world for you. Use it!

7. "Thank you for healing all of the origins of this now" (same inclusion of Higher Power goes here too)

8. "I apologise to everyone I may have hurt related to this and wish them love, happiness and peace"

9. "I forgive everyone who hurt me related to this, and everyone I blamed for this, including Higher Power (God, Goddess, Spirit, Universe…insert your wording here) and Myself. I wish us all love, happiness and peace"

It is equally important that you forgive others…and yourself. Like Gratitude and Apology, Forgiveness is the Third powerful Attractor Factor, motivator and catalyst that tells the universe that you have full intention to have your healing/emotional clearing be complete. Unconditional Forgiveness of all people, events, self and one’s concept of the Divine opens a nice clean space for you to receive the healing you are requesting.

10.  "All the parts of me that got some benefit from this are healing now"

All behaviors have some positive intent to SOME part of us, no matter how unwanted they might be to us. The positive intent of an unwanted behavior may not be immediately apparent to you, but one is there or the behavior wouldn’t be. There’s a part - perhaps just a wee tiny one, that is getting some positive benefit from your unwanted behavior or situation. You don’t have to know what it is however, to dissolve it with this Step. Just say the statement, hold the TAT Pose and let it go!

12. "Whatever is left about this is healing now"

13. The Choice Step: "I Choose __(whatever positive outcome you want) ____ "

Make your Chosen positive outcome as fully fleshed as possible. See it, hear it, smell and taste how it is, feel it deeply in your body. The more vivid you can make it, the more fully it will be magnetized toward you.

14. The Integration Step: In the TAT pose : "Thank you for completely integrating this healing now". Switch your hands around: "This healing is completely integrated now". Hands now cup ears: "This healing is complete".

Do this last step with the "Integration Three" series of new TAT maneuvers, explained below.

New Maneuvers

Here’s how to do the "Integration Three Series" on the new last step of TAT: "All of this healing is completely integrated now". To do this series, affirm the above statement and spend 20 seconds or so in each of the following positions:

1. The TAT Pose, beginning with right hand in front (you can start with either hand) "Thank you for completely integrating this healing now"

2. The TAT Pose, switching hands, left in front. "This healing is completely integrated now"

:

3. The Final Integration Pose - fingertips surrounding both ears as though you are cupping the ear flap, touching the temporal track crease in back of the ear flap snugly. Yes, it looks a bit silly but who cares, if it works? And it DOES work - very elegantly - by tapping into the entire bodymind.

In the second picture shows the approximate distribution of the fingertips around the ear, with the fingertips slightly off the body for illustration purposes only. Affirm: "This healing is complete".

This series has the remarkable effect of locking in all changes made during the TAT session, utilizing the TAT pose’s hotline to the visual cortex of the brain, linking that with right-left brain cross-stimulation as you switch hands back and forth, and sealing it with temporal track stimulation. This has the effect of embedding commands deeply in both the logical and creative halves of the mind

This last pose not only invokes the "homunculus of the body" in the ear (the main acupoints of all organs and systems in the body are reproduced in miniature on each ear) but also taps into the extreme suggestibility present when the temporal area is stimulated.

Be sure to end all your TAT sessions with this "Integration Three" sequence for greater effectiveness. And be sure to allow some rest and integration time at the end of each and every TAT session. You’ll come to relish it!

One of the key components to making Emotional Freedom Techniques work is a well-crafted Setup Statement, using the Choices format for ensured outcome. The Setup Statement you’ll recall is in the format:

"Even though I have this (problem), I deeply and completely accept myself"

And the "Choices" protocol adds to that: "…and I choose to…."

What I would like to help you do is to format this statement so completely and happily that your ENTIRE SYSTEM (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual) gets behind this goal and makes it an irreversable victory, a foregone conclusion.

How do we do this? By making sure the Setup statement reflects what in Neuro Linguistic Programming is called the "well formed outcome". A Well formed Outcome is based on correct ecology. This means that whatever you want - your goal - must be in synch with what your body, mind and spirit want and need. If you’re a shy, retiring sort and your goal is to become the next big rock star, you may well find yourself with an uphill battle. Ditto someone who wants to lose weight and decides they must lose a hundred pounds in three months. This just isn’t medically feasible and would in fact be dangerous. Your body and mind both are going to fight you on it.

So the first lesson in crafting correct Setup Statements is to check your own internal Ecology on the matter. Here’s how:

One of my students was having difficulty understanding the NLP and Energy Coaching presupposition: "The Element that is the most flexible is the element in control". This is my answer to her and to all of you who wonder about how to BE flexible and furthermore, why…

Think of the comparison between a willow tree and an iron bar. The iron bar is strong, by comparison the willow branch is much less so. If you pick a willow switch and hit someone with it it stings. (how many of you were "switched" as kids? once my gradeschool principle made use of a willow switch on my rear - but ONLY once!) A willow switch may even raise a welt. If you hit the same person with an iron bar, you will do greater damage, probably breaking their bones.

When you bend a willow switch, it will bend very far, but easily breaks. It’s nearly impossible to bend an iron bar with your bare hands. You can do it with specialist tools, but if you’re not careful, you can break it too.

Now lets extend that analogy even further. A tall building is built of iron bars. Much is made of the strength and durability of this building. It’s job is to stand up and put up with the abuses humans can wreak on a structure. It does this job admirably for many years. But when a strong tornado or earthquake comes along, the building topples to the ground, its iron bars broken into shards. It did not control its destiny because it was not flexible enough.

But the willow tree, with its roots deep into the earth, bends, sways, is tormented by a storm’s pummelling, but survives, relatively unscathed.

You see in this example that the iron was brittle, and didn’t have flexibility. The willow tree bent with the forces trying to shift it and remained relatively unharmed. The willow tree had the most flexibility in this instance, and in essence, controlled what happened to it. The building had limited flexibility and was easily toppled.

There are many examples of this in martial arts. Consider the Aikido Master. If you try harm someone, and that person doesn’t have martial arts training, it is likely you could use their arm as a lever to pull them into your space and do as you wish with them. An Aikido or any other martial arts Master will bend like the willow with, not against the force being exerted against the arm, allow themselves to come into the other person’s space, find the fulcrum point of the outward flow of their energy and turn that force against the attacker, while freeing their arm. The Master is in control, because s/he is the most flexible in this situation - not only in body, but in accumulation of learning and experience.

The lesser trained or experienced person on the other hand, lacks the flexibility of the Master and controls less of their destiny in a contentious situation.

It doesn’t matter to the willow tree which way the wind blows it. It is happy to be blown to the right as well as to the left. Similarly, the person in a relationship who has decided that their life is going to be a happy one, no matter what, is just as okay with their spouse making a key decision or they themselves making that decision They will be happy no matter what decision is made, and have doubtless formed many ways of dealing with stress that makes them more impervious to its effects.

Such a person is more flexible and easily controls the way they feel day to day, than one who stubbornly holds out for Choice A or B and who feels miserable if their choice is not adopted.

I hope this helps, in a roundabout way to aid your understanding of "The Element that is the most flexible is the element in control"

Sometimes the control in question is over only oneself, at other times it may be over a large and complex situation, relationship or event. Retaining and teaching our clients flexibility is one of the largest pieces of good we can do them and ourselves both.

In this instance, Meditation, Yoga (I favor Yin Yoga practice instead of a stronger form for those just learning the Art Of Flexibility, or in addition to a yang style such as Hatha, Bikram or Ashtanga, to help balance the body), Tai Chi, Aikido, Chi Gung or any other martial or meditational art where practice also includes mental calming and stilling exercises, is in my experience, the best way to accomplish such flexibility…to keep the body and mind flexible, limber and serene.

Periodically I like to bring in some of Gary Craig’s excellent articles and blog posts from his EFT Blog. Several clients this week have had emotional situations with people either "many miles in the past" or far away across several states or continents, so the idea of surrogate work is particularly appropriate. This article is an excellent illustration of how the "power of personal peace" can not only be yours, but also be brought to those not present. Reproduced with permission from:

The EFT Blog…
by Gary Craig

Here’s an EFT case that produced major benefits for two people … even though only one of them was present.  It involves creative applications of EFT as well as a fascinating version of surrogate healing.  The implications are staggering.

Betty was like a dormant rosebud whose flower remained unopened for years.  This bright, attractive, 40ish lady had many inspiring dreams.  However, her critical mother put a lid on every one of them by saying things like…

"Why on earth would you want to do that?"
"Only lazy people go down that road?"
"Can’t you find something more responsible to do?

Betty and I aimed EFT at her response to this torrent of disapprovals and did, indeed, make progress.  However, her family dynamics were such that, when she returned home, mother would still be frequently "in her face" with repeated put downs.  This, of course, would dilute our work and thus I suggested another EFT avenue.

"Why don’t we do a session where you become your mother?", I said.  "That way you can gain some insights into your mother’s disposition … AND … some of her insecurities, angers and other emotions might be resolved surrogately.  Who knows, maybe she will actually develop some softer behaviors toward your pursuits."

Betty agreed and so she sat in a different chair and I applied EFT to her as though she was her own mother.  I explored areas such as mother’s…

Childhood
Beliefs
Rejections
Limits
And so on.

We spent an hour doing EFT on these issues and, as a result, Betty gained a deeper understanding of her mother’s need to belittle her.  Betty’s demeanor softened and she radiated a more peaceful inner being.

This is always delightful to behold, of course. But how would this affect mother?  After all, mother was 3,000 miles away and had no idea this session was occurring.  Could this form of surrogate work actually relieve some of mother’s own issues so that a softer, more forgiving presence would be hers to enjoy?

The answer came 3 months later when I spoke with Betty again.  As it turns out, mother stopped belittling Betty instantly and, instead, would ask her gentle, supporting questions about her pursuits.  In Betty’s terms, "It was a complete flip and the only thing that could explain it was our surrogate session."

All we did was make some logical presumptions about mother’s unnecessary emotional burden and applied EFT to them. We also borrowed from our well established experience with surrogate EFT (tapping for someone else) and the result was a greatly relieved and socially transformed mother.  Betty’s life was improved as well.

I’ve seen this type of result before but thought this time I would beat the drum a bit for it.  The potential here is enormous.  It offers an opportunity to bring peace to others across vast distances.  We could do this for loved ones in other parts of the world; for friends who may be in distress; for world leaders to soften their stance on war; for athletes who need to sharpen their performance while on the field; for trauma victims; for our children while they are at school and so on.

Oh my!

I hope this hits you where it counts.  How much good could you do with this idea? How much suffering could you end? How many lives could you shift forever?

Peace, Gary

PS:  An often asked question is "Do I need permission to do this for someone else?"  That’s a personal choice, of course, but I suggest that permission isn’t necessary.  Reasons are given on our website in my article entitled, Can we do EFT surrogately or through intention? If so, do we need permission?

PPS:  All the basics of EFT can be learned for free by Downloading the EFT Manual