asthma–almost

I was recently thinking about some of the experiences I have had with EFT that I call, "the ones that got away;" people who have had improvement or significant change, but for whatever reason, choose not to continue to full resolution.

One of the most dramatic was a woman who came with a friend and joined us as a group of friends who met on a regular basis to discuss health and use EFT. I noticed as we met and talked that this woman had a nagging cough. And she was not breathing properly. When the conversation turned to her, she revealed that she had asthma. Well that made perfect sense judging by the symptoms she was displaying.

We spent about ten minutes working only on the physical symptoms, the wheezing, cough, etc. I began focusing on the fullness of breath. She originally rated the fullness of breath that she could take in as a 5 or 6.

We simply tapped the shortcut points while saying, Even though I can only get a 5 or 6 breath… Then we tested after each round. We were able in a few rounds to get it up to an 8, at which point, we could go no higher (no deeper breath).

I asked her, how long she had been suffering with asthma? 15 years. What was going on in her life at that time? She revealed that she had discovered her husband was unfaithful and they had divorced. We spent another 15 minutes working on the emotions around these events. Disappointment, abandonment, disloyalty, grief, forgiveness, etc.

By the time we had worked through some significant emotions, she could take a full breath at a level of 10. There was no more coughing or wheezing. She looked bright and happy. And we almost never heard from her again. The friend that brought her, tried many times to call her and make contact. It was some six weeks later that she finally did and we heard the rest of the story.

Before EFT, she never got out of bed in the mornings without her inhaler. For three days after EFT she was able to do so with no inhaler and her coughing and wheezing was also gone throughout those days. What happened on the third morning? Her ex-husband called her. And the coughing and wheezing returned.

I found it fascinating that what seemed to be at the root of the problem, brought about the return of symptoms. It was another testimony to me that our emotions are so strongly linked with our physical symptoms. I found it equally fascinating that she was unwilling or unable to return and go a little deeper and possibly find even more improvement with her condition. I have found in these kinds of situations, clients are too afraid to face the possible emotional undercurrents creating their symptoms.

Unfortunately, they usually do not realize that there are many ways to address the emotions almost painlessly with EFT. Through the movie technique, tearless trauma, and tell the story, we can tiptoe around very emotional issues that might otherwise be hidden time bombs. I love the elegance and simplicity of EFT and the fact that even when clients aren't able or willing to keep going to resolution, I still learn so much.