EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique
EFT is a somatic technique and I use it with my life coaching clients and for selective breathwork clients. I started using EFT with my life coaching clients when we would hit a roadblock: there was that something that kept the client stuck in this loop, and they kept revisiting this unconscious self-sabotaging behaviour without even realising it. Talking about it just didn’t help because often we couldn’t pinpoint what “it” was. So, I used EFT as a tool to help them break that pattern. We call these roadblocks a trauma loop.
And then with my Rebirthing Breathwork clients, sometimes the trauma was so deep, and had been held for so many years, the client could not handle the releases that kept coming up using Rebirthing Breathwork. So I use EFT, which is much more gentle and easier for these specific clients to manage. And often once we’ve removed the block we can continue with Rebirthing Breathwork.
So what is a trauma loop? The trauma loop is simply a brain state that has created a pathway in the nervous system. A trauma loop occurs in response to repeated exposure to traumatic experiences and during each traumatic event, neurochemicals flood the brain. Eckhart Tolle likens trauma loops to his idea of the ‘pain body’. The pain body is a negative energy field that occupies our bodies and minds. Every time we experience emotional pain; a residue is left behind and this residue merges with all other pain or traumas from our past. If we keep feeding our pain body through trauma loops, we are kept hostage to this pain and self-sabotaging behaviour. Addictions are a great example of trauma loops. Addiction is a groove that we fall back on subconsciously over and over again to numb the intensity and discomfort of the present moment.
Using EFT we want to disrupt this cycle at the level of the body and the unconscious mind. The rational mind doesn’t really come into it. So as these uncomfortable emotions, feeling and memories come up we regulate the nervous system of the body through stimulating acupoints via tapping.
And as my body is flooded with feelings I am taking you through a script and you and I are tapping away at the acupoints and consciously overriding your body’s desire to race down that rabbit hole of the trauma loop. While tapping the acupoints as we confront these feelings, we flood the body with serotonin and endorphin. So eventually your physical body is able to convince your mind to let the trauma loop go and we can move on.
TRE – Trauma Release Exercises
Trauma Release Exercises (TRE) involve gently triggering neurogenic tremors to release stored stress and tension in the body. These exercises, developed by Dr. David Berceli, are a mind-body approach to healing that can help individuals manage the physical and emotional effects of trauma.
TRE safely activates the body’s natural reflex of shaking or vibrating, which helps calm the nervous system and releases muscular tension. When this process occurs in a safe and controlled environment, the body naturally returns to a balanced state.
If we need to use TRE we will do it together in person and once I know how your body releases trauma via neurogenic tremors we can do together over ZOOM.