19 years old. Debilitating headaches for the last eight years. Now he can tap the headache pain down to zero and it lasts for fifteen minutes before slowly ramping back up. He’s thrilled by this, and also, he’s really AFRAID of life without headache pain. Two reasons. First, “I can’t imagine a life without headache pain.” Second, and more pressing,
“Each time that some treatment in the past got rid of my headache pain, my headache’s ALWAYS returned. If my headaches go away my experience is that they always come back, and I don’t have energy again for that disappointment. “
In other words, – success, reaching the goal (headache relief) is just a prelude to failure (the return of the headache). That’s the history and the outlook.
So – this person said he would be comfortable with a sustained headache pain of five out of ten. Before tapping the sustained level had been a fairly constant 7-8. (His headache pain started responding and decreasing after our fifth session, after we’d worked on anger, depression, sadness, regret, and the many emotions and memories that were attached to this headache)
As we begin our session (May 8, 2012) he confirms that his headache pain is stable at 5.
“Sounds like you’re getting what you want.”
“Yes, I guess it does.”
“Do you still want to have headache pain?”
“Yes, I’d be afraid if I had zero pain, but I’d like it to be a 3 now and then after a few weeks a 2, then a 1 for awhile and then I think I’d be ready for it to go away.”
“Let’s try something,” We are sitting in his backyard under a bright spring sun, very comfortable. “Just sit in your chair, close your eyes and tell me what you feel in your body from the headache right now.”
“I feel some tension all over my body– that’s what I get at this level of headache.”
We haven’t done any tapping yet. He and I have talked numerous times about quantum energy and how particles or waves show up based on what we are looking for. In fact, it was after our first conversation about quantum energy that his headache pain first shifted during a tapping session. I have this feeling to play in the quantum space right now. “Okay, just sit there, and I want you to imagine stepping back from the tension in your body. And I want you to imagine stepping back from this level five headache.”
“Take another step.” After a pause, “How do you feel now.”
“Tension in my body is gone. Headache level is four.”
“Close your eyes again. Take another step back in your mind. Back away from that headache. Step back. Step back.”
On the next check-in the level is 2-3, then its 1 and after stepping back one more time the headache pain is zero.
“But this isn’t what you want, right? You want a level 3 headache?”
He smiles, “Right.”
“Close your eyes. Now start stepping back into the headache.” In a moment I ask him what he’s feeling.
“The headache is back. It’s level two.”
“Close your eyes. Take another step. Step into the headache.”
“Okay. It’s three now.”
I’m feeling a bit stunned – this feels like we’re right in the middle of what a quantum experience would be like – the outcome completely determined by the observation of the situation. I have been incorporating a quantum perspective in my tapping for the past few weeks, and the results seem stronger using this point of view –but this experience is the most vivid. We haven’t even tapped, just backed away from and then stepped back into a perspective..
“Want to do that again ?”
“Sure.”
We do the same process – stepping back – and then stepping forward. It’s much quicker this time, and when he opens his eyes, he looks as amazed as me, then he bursts into a five minute belly-laughing spell. I get caught up in the laughter, aware that such gut-busting laughter would have been unfathomably painful to him just a few weeks ago.
When we recover from laughing, I remark. “Nothing makes those eight years of headaches worthwhile, but you are getting an amazing gift out of this. You’re only 19 and most people don’t experience this in their whole life, that their viewpoint determines what shows up in reality, that the quantum effect on the subatomic wave and particle level can show up in our physical daily life as well. You’re getting an amazing tool for your while life.”
We chat back and forth a bit, and I ask if he’ll write this up. “Sure, I feel like I’m really creative, but I have a hard time getting things out on paper.”
“Want to try the observer effect on this?” I ask.
“Sure.”
“We’ll just do regular tapping this time. What emotion comes up when you think about not being able to get your thoughts out on paper in the way you wish.”
“Frustration.”
“And do you feel that anywhere in your body?”
“Yes, my stomach feels tight.”
We tap on this for a moment, “just being aware, just paying attention, nothing to do,” and the emotion and the physical sensation both subside as he shifts to being outside of the experience rather than inside of it.
“It’s like you just stepped back from the frustration and from the tight stomach. Before we tapped, frustration and tight stomach were your observation of writing, you were inside of that emotion and that physicla sensation, and so that’s what showed up whenever you wrote. Now you’re outside of that experience and you’re back in the field of open possibility, of infinite potential. You can choose a new perspective as you enter into writing again.”
“Cool.”
“And if something comes up in that new perspective – another block, another emotion, another memory or physical sensation, you can just tap back to the field of open possibility and then choose again. You can do this for everything in your life, back and forth, back and forth.”
What a session for me to be a part of. Is this really the quantum field at play? Quantum definitely provides a workable explanation for what we experienced, but any explanation, any choice we make sets up the reality we experience. Any choice creates limitation.
In the quamtum model, tapping seems to help us return to the field, the state or infinite potential. In my tapping words, I keep reiterating the words, “be aware” “nothing to do” pay attention.” “nothing to figure out.” Releasing the fixation on a current choice releases our attachment to that reality and we return to the quantum field of possibility. The process feels like a back and forth wave. Back to the field of all potential – make a choice and show up again in the material world – check that out – tap back into the field – make a choice.
According to physics – we really are energy, and the energy transforms to the matter that we are familiar with – our physical bodies and our experiences. Back into the wave and we can physically show up differently – even without a chronic headache!
Loving this EFT work – what a playground!
Love,
Lars