In recent months, my kids and I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched a bunch of the episodes back in the 1990s in reruns, but this is the first time around for my kids. It’s been fun seeing their reactions to the series, especially to “‘80s hair” which they love to ridicule. For me, I’m seeing totally different things this time around than I saw twenty years ago.
In season six, many of the episodes at the beginning of the season were appealing to me for how insightful they actually are. One episode in particular, “Realm of Fear,” deals with psychological phobias. As a clear parody to fear of flying in our time, Lieutenant Barclay has a severe fear of transporting. Ship’s counselor and empath Deanna Troi teaches Barclay a Betazoid relaxation technique known as plexing. To engage in plexing, the person who is experiencing fear taps on a point on the neck behind the ear. This point corresponds with gallbladder 12 in Chinese acupuncture; one of its uses is actually for regulating and calming the spirit.
As I watched this episode and as Troi began teaching Barclay about flexing, I immediately thought, “That’s basically EFT!” EFT is short for Emotional Freedom Technique, and it’s an increasingly popular method of conquering psychological, emotional, and physical issues. I've known people who have used it for releasing stored trauma, for controlling stress and anxiety, and for weight loss among many other issues. While it is always great to learn a method like this from an experienced practitioner who is also able to assist with issues that might arise along the way, there are videos on the internet to teach it to oneself.
In EFT, which is sometimes just called “tapping,” an individual taps on a series of acupuncture points while reciting a formulaic mantra that s/he/ze adapts to the specific situation at hand. So, for example, if I were dealing with stage fright, I would tap on the designated series of points while reciting to myself, “I deeply love and accept myself, and I am an amazing actress who feels completely comfortable on the stage.” I would recite this mantra as I worked my way through all of the EFT tapping points.
I was first introduced to EFT about eight years ago. To be honest, I absolutely hated it when I was introduced to it. It made me feel awkward. The formulaic mantra did not work for me. Nothing about it felt right. However, I was open to trying it because I had several friends who absolutely loved it. Despite my efforts, it just didn’t seem like the right approach to me, so I gave up on it.
A couple of years later, I began working with a group of chiropractors who use a different set of tapping points across the entire body without a mantra as they help process stored trauma. They tap on the patients using the points that show up during an applied kinesiology chiropractic session. This set of points actually rings far more true for me, and I will often notice that some of those points are the ones that hurt when I am in emotional distress.
As I developed my intuitive abilities, I began pulling up emotional traumas from this life and past lives that I needed to work through. As the deep painful emotions came to the surface, I began tapping on my own. I listened to my intuition, and I tapped where I was being told. Most of the points are the ones that the chiropractors I see use, some are EFT points, but others are acupuncture points that aren't commonly used for processing emotional pain. They are ones that I need to use, though. I then formulate my own mantra that works for me for that particular situation. For example, sometimes the mantra is, “The past is the past; I am safe now.” Other times it might be, “I am alive and healthy.” Whatever the necessary mantra is, it quickly comes to mind for me and I am certain it is what I need to work through that issue. On my own, I have used tapping to help clear various stored traumas. I couldn’t imagine not having that skill to help me in my healing.
As I began talking to my youngest child after we watched the show, I told him that plexing was a version of a technique that therapists use to help people with stress. His response was, “That’s real?” It was a surprise to him that there a similar successful method for handling stress; he had assumed it was totally science fiction. Plexing may be a science fiction, but EFT is definitely not. It helps many people to release stored emotions in their bodies and to find a greater peace than talk therapy alone can provide. If you are searching for a new therapist or life coach, I highly recommend working with one who uses EFT or one of the many other techniques out there for processing the traumas that might be holding you back.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
In season six, many of the episodes at the beginning of the season were appealing to me for how insightful they actually are. One episode in particular, “Realm of Fear,” deals with psychological phobias. As a clear parody to fear of flying in our time, Lieutenant Barclay has a severe fear of transporting. Ship’s counselor and empath Deanna Troi teaches Barclay a Betazoid relaxation technique known as plexing. To engage in plexing, the person who is experiencing fear taps on a point on the neck behind the ear. This point corresponds with gallbladder 12 in Chinese acupuncture; one of its uses is actually for regulating and calming the spirit.
As I watched this episode and as Troi began teaching Barclay about flexing, I immediately thought, “That’s basically EFT!” EFT is short for Emotional Freedom Technique, and it’s an increasingly popular method of conquering psychological, emotional, and physical issues. I've known people who have used it for releasing stored trauma, for controlling stress and anxiety, and for weight loss among many other issues. While it is always great to learn a method like this from an experienced practitioner who is also able to assist with issues that might arise along the way, there are videos on the internet to teach it to oneself.
In EFT, which is sometimes just called “tapping,” an individual taps on a series of acupuncture points while reciting a formulaic mantra that s/he/ze adapts to the specific situation at hand. So, for example, if I were dealing with stage fright, I would tap on the designated series of points while reciting to myself, “I deeply love and accept myself, and I am an amazing actress who feels completely comfortable on the stage.” I would recite this mantra as I worked my way through all of the EFT tapping points.
I was first introduced to EFT about eight years ago. To be honest, I absolutely hated it when I was introduced to it. It made me feel awkward. The formulaic mantra did not work for me. Nothing about it felt right. However, I was open to trying it because I had several friends who absolutely loved it. Despite my efforts, it just didn’t seem like the right approach to me, so I gave up on it.
A couple of years later, I began working with a group of chiropractors who use a different set of tapping points across the entire body without a mantra as they help process stored trauma. They tap on the patients using the points that show up during an applied kinesiology chiropractic session. This set of points actually rings far more true for me, and I will often notice that some of those points are the ones that hurt when I am in emotional distress.
As I developed my intuitive abilities, I began pulling up emotional traumas from this life and past lives that I needed to work through. As the deep painful emotions came to the surface, I began tapping on my own. I listened to my intuition, and I tapped where I was being told. Most of the points are the ones that the chiropractors I see use, some are EFT points, but others are acupuncture points that aren't commonly used for processing emotional pain. They are ones that I need to use, though. I then formulate my own mantra that works for me for that particular situation. For example, sometimes the mantra is, “The past is the past; I am safe now.” Other times it might be, “I am alive and healthy.” Whatever the necessary mantra is, it quickly comes to mind for me and I am certain it is what I need to work through that issue. On my own, I have used tapping to help clear various stored traumas. I couldn’t imagine not having that skill to help me in my healing.
As I began talking to my youngest child after we watched the show, I told him that plexing was a version of a technique that therapists use to help people with stress. His response was, “That’s real?” It was a surprise to him that there a similar successful method for handling stress; he had assumed it was totally science fiction. Plexing may be a science fiction, but EFT is definitely not. It helps many people to release stored emotions in their bodies and to find a greater peace than talk therapy alone can provide. If you are searching for a new therapist or life coach, I highly recommend working with one who uses EFT or one of the many other techniques out there for processing the traumas that might be holding you back.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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