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When I was first introduced to EFT I was very skeptical. I’d been sick for over 16 years and tried just about everything I’d come across and really didn’t believe I would ever be able to heal the allergic reactions that I had to so many substances. I could be sick for days after eating something that had a tiny bit of wheat in without even knowing there was wheat in it, and exposure to any sort of chemicals or perfumes left me filling ill. In truth I tried EFT in desperation rather than out of any confidence that it could help me to heal. Once you’ve been sick with Chronic Fatigue /ME and Systemic Candidiasis for that long, it’s hard to retain any hope that you will heal. Fortunately through the experience of working on my multiple allergies with EFT, I learned that confidence in it as a method wasn’t necessary!
When my partner Rex and I started watching the EFT DVDs, I had been dairy and wheat free for 10 years, with the exception of occasional tests with small amounts of dairy and inadvertent “tests” when I’ve been unknowingly exposed to wheat. The reactions to dairy are nearly immediate after eating, however not as severe as the reactions to wheat, which after the smallest exposure can leave me seriously debilitated for several days.
We began our journey with EFT and allergies one day after seeing Carol Look make a comment on one of the EFT Training DVDs, to the effect that underlying a lot of allergy issues, is a feeling of being unsafe. Given that, in addition to the food sensitivities I’ve long had chemical sensitivities as well, this resonated with me.
It prompted the memory of my mother telling me that I was born with the umbilical cord around my neck, and an email to confirm that also revealed that I had been administered a Vitamin K injection shortly after birth. I also remember my mother talking about her having fear during her pregnancy with me. Body dowsing (muscle testing) confirmed that this was the place to start.
The First Session
We began with the earliest issue, and worked on me not feeling safe in the womb. Instead of assigning a level of intensity we used body dowsing to check when we were clear. Next we moved on to the umbilical cord, and as soon as I started tapping I burst into tears and was filled with emotion. Two rounds took care of it.
We then moved on to the Vitamin K injection, taking the approach that when I arrived in the world I felt unsafe as I was first nearly “strangled” (with the umbilical cord), then “stabbed” with the injection. While I initially started with no emotion I soon started shifting to interesting new aspects, which after lots of tapping and some imaginative testing on Rex’s part, resulted in a great by-product of me losing my fear of needles!
We decided to end the session there, as it had been quite emotional, and give me a break before carrying on the next day. However, my body had other plans! Later that afternoon I ate some pickled garlic as I have been doing regularly over the last few months. An hour later my abdomen was bloated and I felt very uncomfortable (I had not reacted to it on any of the occasions I’d eaten it before).
Rex suggested I tap on it, and all of a sudden I started crying as I flicked into when I had systemic candidiasis, and had been eating lots of garlic to try to kill the candida. This led to realising that my body had been a war zone for so many years, with my main metaphor being that we had to do whatever we could to kill the “bad guys”. This was a big part of me feeling unsafe for years, as I felt so vulnerable to the “bad guys” for so long. Later that night some of the minor symptoms that I used to have when killing candida came back, so I tapped on them, and they were gone the following morning.
The Second Session
We commenced the second session with the fact that (as told by my mother) I threw up every time she fed me, and she had to feed me again. We had concluded that perhaps after the initial traumas of my birth, I had just associated the next thing that came my way (milk) as traumatic as well, so tapped on, Even though soon after I was born I felt that food was unsafe for me, I now choose to feel delighted that my body can deal appropriately with all foods.
In arriving at this choice, (and dealing with the psychological reversal standing in the way of getting there!), I finally realised that my reluctance to let go of my reactions was because I saw them as warning signs that I was in unsafe territory, and therefore I saw them as my friends.
We then worked on the fact that I was weaned from the breast at three months and introduced to dairy and wheat (my two main food sensitivities). After that we did a positive round on “It is safe for me to let go of my reactions to food”. We continued with working on several aspects of feeling unsafe with food, then went in on dairy products (cows, goats and sheep separately).
At this stage I felt ready to try some cheese, and I was pleasantly surprised at my reaction to Rex saying “I’ll have to cut the mould off the sides and tidy it up, the only cheese I’ve got is a bit gross.” Normally something like that would trigger all sorts of warning alarms and there is no way I would eat it. The fact that it didn’t bother me gave me great encouragement that what we had done had really dealt with my feeling unsafe with food.
About an hour after eating two slices of cheese (and enjoying it!), I suddenly had itching all over my body. Rex body-dowsed and established that it was not a physical reaction to the cheese, but rather a reaction to my anxiety about the possibility of a reaction! We tapped a few rounds on the itching and there was no difference. Then all of a sudden my level of intensity shot up as I realised that I had a major issue with the “It’s all in your head” phrase that anyone with something like CFS has heard or heard implied many times throughout the years. We tapped on that, and the itching started to subside, but not disappear. The 9 gamut and floor to ceiling eye roll brought the itching down to 0...
Jo Hainsworth
New Zealand
From the EFTfree Archives, which are now a part of EFT International .
Originally published on January 3, 2010.
Sarah Bartlett says
Wow quite a story and very inspirational thank you Jo. I’m in NZ too and just getting certified in EFT so reach out if you like. Thanks for the insights into this topic, much appreciated.