One technique that is helpful while using the EFT method (http://www.thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/efts/) is to step into the coaching role a bit further than just tapping on your current story about your body. If you are able to get a sense of what you want (which is easier to do the higher you get on the emotional scale— http://www.thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/February09theemotional) then you should have two points of relativity—where you are and where you want to be. If you can fully identify what it is you want (which was described in an earlier newsletter—http://www.thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/may26whatgoal) from an end-result perspective, take a moment to imagine yourself as if you are already there. Get into the feeling place of what you will look like and feel like as well as where you will be and what you will be doing while experiencing what you want. It is also helpful to figure out what emotion will be present when you get to your goal. If you haven’t done so already, read the article on figuring out why you want what you want (http://www.thethoughtdiet.com/layout3/newsarticles/may26whydowant). Once you can create the future image of yourself and mentally and emotionally get the experience of what it would be like to be there, you can then use this future person as a coach to help your current self.
To do this you want to imagine (with your eyes closed), from your future self’s perspective, the things you will be doing, what you will be wearing, and how you will be feeling when at your goal body. Once you have a scene in your mind, you should look around to find your current self. Sit down with your current self and ask if you can talk with your current self. You want to make sure it is OK to help your current self and explain that you have knowledge of what it is like to be at your goal. You can then ask your current self what is wrong, what your story is, what you feel, and why you feel bad. You need to gather information as the coach so you know what help you (your current self) need. Knowing how you feel, whether you ask yourself or observe how you feel and where you feel it, will be helpful for you to direct yourself and to check to see if you are helping as you go along. From there you want to direct yourself through a coaching session that guides you through the EFT process. You could do this one of two ways. You could imagine tapping for yourself and saying what you need to hear (like “I understand you are upset about your body…”). Alternatively, you could tell yourself what to say from the “I” perspective (like “I feel angry that my body looks this way because it means…”). From the “I” perspective your set-up phrase would tell you what to repeat so when your current self repeats the sentence it sounds as if it is coming from that perspective—you are simply imagining that the future you is directing the current you as to what to say. Remember, from this vantage point of already being in shape you can guide yourself with what might need to be said or focused upon to help your current self shift toward where your future self is. Your goal is to try to move your current self to a place that is closer to how your future self feels.
When doing EFT from the “you” perspective you want to imagine saying things that your current self needs to hear from your future self in order to let go of where you are now and move closer to the feeling you are feeling as your future self. There might be some points where the current you wants to say something you are worried about, scared of, and so on, and you can allow that by alternating between “you” (coming from the future you) and “I” (coming from the current you) as if a conversation is happening. The goal here is continue through the tapping portion until the current you has shifted. You can continue until you feel the current you is feeling close to the feeling you have as the future you. What you are doing here is essentially closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be and allowing yourself to get to the feeling place of where you want to be so your body is in a better state to allow change to occur naturally.
All in all, from this future perspective you will have a better understanding what this current self needs to heal or hear in order to reach where your future self is. You can finish this exercise by asking if your current self needs anything else from you in order to be complete—either with this exercise or with yourself.
