EFT for Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Relief

Everyone with Rheumatoid Arthritis is familiar with these from day to day, moments to moments. Chronic pain, flare-ups, inflammation, swelling, agony or throbbing pain, stiffness, and so forth… When a pain gets chronic, it begins to impact every aspect of our life, our relationships with our loved ones and even ourselves.

How Our Brains Cause Pain?

Do you have any ideas why meditation often provides greater pain relief than medication? That’s because it’s our brain that is producing the pain signals. I shall begin with introducing a must-see video on ‘Understanding Pain: What to do about it in less than five minutes?‘, which explains how pain which stems from tissues damages (via injuries etc) will resolved themselves in three to maximum of six months. However, if a pain persists for more than 3 to 6 months, it is suggestive of a chronic pain that goes on even after physical injury has healed. Very often, this signifies a more urgent and complex issues to deal with which often stems from imbalance in your nervous system including your brain.

This video does a good job in explaining how our body aches and pain were related to our brain’s processes and how our emotions can affect them.

Using EFT for RA Pain Relief

For almost everyone suffering from chronic pain, the brain is mostly associated with emotion never shuts off. It remains active and alter the way it connect with things that are happening around you. This change in mind-body reaction can potentially lead to permanent damage and pain-related symptoms such as those that we are experiencing with our RA – brain fog, constant pain, stiffness, cold and sore hands, hot knees, inflammation, edemas, and many more.

Even the medical profession has long known that emotional issues can dramatically affect our body chemistry and that, in turn, can lead to everything from fatigues to allergies, impaired immune systems and cancer. Clinical trials have shown that EFT is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. It’s thought that your central nervous system “remembers” any pain that lasts more than a few minutes at the neuronal level. The memories can become so vivid that the pain persists even after the injury has healed, or re-occurs when it shouldn’t, such as from a gentle touch. According to Dr Gary Craig, founder of EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique, he has been consistently seeing evidence of this when EFT is applied. As emotions such as guilt, fear, trauma and the like become resolved, physical ailments often subside simultaneously. From time to time, EFT gurus and practitioners, as well as patients alike, see encouraging signs of improvements as physical pain fade by simply tapping on the meridian system without directly even aiming EFT at emotional contributors. In this case, it usually applies to acute pain. For chronic pain such as RA’s pain, however, EFT can assist physical healing through resolving underlying energetic or emotional contributors.

Get Ready to Tap

The demonstration video below by EFT practitioner Julie Schiffman who teaches you how to use EFT for pain relief.

I’ve taken the effort to summarize below the main key statements (based on the guidance from Julie) for your ease of tapping. Please refer to the the EFT Tapping Sequence in my earlier EFT sequence, Clearing your Rheumatoid Arthritis-related Allergies and Emotions with Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) – Part 1 or this video and begin tapping:

• KC – Eventhough I have this terrible pain, I love and accept myself. Eventhough I am really in a lot of pain here and I’m so frustrated because it is really getting into the way of what I want to do, I accept who I am and I am open to let it go. Eventhough this pain is so debilitating at time, I’m open to the possibilities of releasing the pain and letting go. Eventhough sometimes it is hard to love and accept myself especially when I am experiencing so much discomfort, Im accepting where I am at now so I can finally let go and move on.
• H – All these pain
• EB – All these pain
• SE – I’m so frustrated because it doesn’t seem to be getting better
• UE – I can really feel it in my (joints)
• UN – This stabbing/throbbing/aching pain in my (joints)
• CH – I’m in a great deal of pain here and all the times
• CB – Sometimes it’s hard to do normal everyday activities
• UA – like climbing the stairs, putting on my shoes, cutting my food with a fork and knife
• H – All these frustrations
• EB – I can barely remember how it’s like to feel good
• SE – And nothing seems to help
• UE – It feels so helpless
• UN – I feel helpless and at times, even hopeless
• CH – I’m open to accepting where I am at
• CB – It is time for me to move forward
• UA – I’m open to letting go of the pain
• H – I am releasing the pain in my (joints)
• EB – I can feel my (joints) relaxing
• SE – The inflammation is calming down
• UE – I’m releasing the emotions that might really be contributing to my pain
• UN – I’m releasing all the angers and the fears
• CH – I love how my body responds to my calmed voice
• CB – I’m open to healing and forgiving
• UA – This is just the beginning. I’m just getting started and the possibilities are endless
• H or WW – My whole body feels calmer, more relaxed as I let it go
• BREATHE IN AND LET IT GO

Advanced EFT Statements Specific to Joint Pain

Trauma is a bodily wound or shock that is produced by sudden physical injury, or so defined by the dictionary. Fact is, there are three major things that happen whenever we face a trauma such as an injury or surgery, etc:

1. Trauma on a cellular level – When an injury was inflicted on a hand, on cellular level, the trauma sets in and stays there throughout the healing process and even after the wound was healed on the surface on the hand.
2. Emotions release associated with that trauma – All negative emotions that you can imagine that develop in association with that trauma such as fear, frustration, anger, guilt, shame, sadness, etc.
3. The protective memory of our body on a cellular level – Our body is always subconsciously trying to protect us from external harm, and here, it shifted to protect the hand until such time our body signals that it is now safe to be released.

In essence, while one thought she has already healed completely from that injury, on a cellular level, her body still remembers these ingredients on a cellular level – the trauma, the emotions and protective memory in connection to that trauma.

For best results, it will be particularly useful if you can make a recollection of traumatic events or stresses that occurred at the time or around the time or even before the time you first started to experience your RA pain and other symptoms. If a clear memory of these events cannot be construed, then, try your best and list down all emotional uncomfortable thoughts, beliefs, things, incidents that you suspected may cause your RA onset. Most likely, they can be things that have a lot of intensity in terms of emotions and you’ll probably still feel upset about it. As you start to tap, and get on with your list, chances are that you’ll be gradually feeling the significant shifts in your joint pain.

Let’s go for a targeted EFT tapping for holding onto a trauma that leads to your RA’s joint pain:

• KC – Eventhough I’m holding this trauma in every cell of my (eg right wrist joint), I deeply and completely love and accept myself (x3 times)
• H – I’m holding this trauma in all of the muscles of my (right wrist)
• EB – I’m holding this trauma in all of the tendons of my (right wrist)
• SE – I’m holding this trauma in all of the ligaments of my (right wrist)
• UE – I’m holding this trauma in all of the collagen of my (right wrist)
• UN – I’m holding this trauma in all of the bones of my (right wrist)
• CH – I’m holding this trauma in all of the fibers of my (right wrist)
• CB – I’m holding this trauma in all of the joints of my (right wrist)
• UA –I’m holding this trauma in all of the nerves of my (right wrist)
• H – I’m holding this trauma in all of the cartilages of my (right wrist)
• EB – I’m holding this trauma in all of the nerves of my (right wrist)
• SE – I’m holding this trauma in all of the tissues of my (right wrist)
• UE – I’m holding this trauma in all of the synovial fluid of my (right wrist)
• UN – I’m holding this trauma in all of the synovial membranes of my (right wrist)
• CH – I give my (right wrist) permission to release this trauma from every cell
• UA – My (right wrist) no longer needs to hold onto this trauma and can choose to relax and let it go
• H or WW – I give my (right wrist) permission to release this trauma from every cell membrane and cell receptor site.
• BREATHE IN AND LET IT GO (SAY AHHHHH)

Now, I understand that at some stages in an RA’s life, when medications can’t help with pain, there is anger, frustration and hopelessness that can come out. When we are in pain and unable to move, we are in despair, stuck and frozen, not knowing how to make a difference. That is a terrible place to be and I’d been there; and I absolutely respect and honour that place. So, now, let’s tap on these aspects of RA pain – Anger – the anger with ourselves, anger at RA, anger at why it happened to us, anger with the whole pain process and anything angry in general that frustrated you:

• KC – Eventhough I’m holding this anger in every cell of my (eg right wrist joint), I deeply and completely love and accept myself (x3 times)
• H – I’m holding this anger in all of the muscles of my (right wrist)
• EB – I’m holding this anger in all of the tendons of my (right wrist)
• SE – I’m holding this anger in all of the ligaments of my (right wrist)
• UE – I’m holding this anger in all of the collagen of my (right wrist)
• UN – I’m holding this anger in all of the bones of my (right wrist)
• CH – I’m holding this anger in all of the fibers of my (right wrist)
• CB – I’m holding this anger in all of the joints of my (right wrist)
• UA – I’m holding this anger in all of the nerves of my (right wrist)
• H – I’m holding this anger in all of the cartilages of my (right wrist)
• EB – I’m holding this anger in all of the nerves of my (right wrist)
• SE – I’m holding this anger in all of the tissues of my (right wrist)
• UE – I’m holding this anger in all of the synovial fluid of my (right wrist)
• UN – I’m holding this anger in all of the synovial membranes of my (right wrist)
• CH – I give my (right wrist) permission to release this anger from every cell
• UA – My (right wrist) no longer needs to hold onto this anger and can choose to relax and let it go
• H or WW – I give my (right wrist) permission to release this anger from every cell membrane and cell receptor site.
• BREATHE IN AND LET IT GO (SAY AHHHHH)

With this approach, you can construct similar EFT statements  for a myriad of negative emotions you are feeling including:

1. Frustration – Eventhough I’m holding this frustration in every cell of my (right wrist), I deeply and completely love and accept myself.
2. Trust or sadness or betrayal – Eventhough I feel my body has betrayed me, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Eventhough I feel like my (right wrist) has completely let me down, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Eventhough I feel so betrayed by my body right now and I do not know if I can ever trust it again, I deeply and completely accept myself.

After tapping on all the above, it is usually recommended to work with an integration protocol. Integration will provide our bodies with a little bit of information or instructions about how to integrate what we’ve just done:

• KC – Eventhough my body has not fully integrated all the changes I’ve just made, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Eventhough this is a big change for my body in a short period of time, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Eventhough my body is still in the process of releasing chemicals, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.
• H – This is a big change for my body in a short period of time
• EB – And my body has not yet established a new level of normal and balance
• SE – My body has not fully integrated these changes on a neurological level
• UE – My body has not fully integrated these changes on a muscular level  
• UN – My body has not fully integrated these changes on a skeletal level  
• CH – My body has not fully integrated these changes on a subconscious level
• CB – I give my body permission to easily and quickly establish a new level of normal and balance
• UA – I give my body permission to easily and comfortably integrate these changes
• H or WW – On the neurological, muscular and skeletal levels.
• BREATHE IN AND LET IT GO (SAY AHHHHH)

Concluding Remarks

Physical pain can cause emotional pain, and emotional pain can also cause physical pain. These two concepts are so intertwined and engaged that they must be tackled and addressed with EFT at the same time, and I believe this is how we will get results with tapping for RA. Remember, when you perform tapping, always connect or tune-in to your body because by listening to your body more and more, you will be able to change the level of intensity of pain from say 10 to 5. Stimulating these meridian points is a way of activating self-healing properties of our body. Pain intensity of 10 and that of 5 are entirely different things. Very often, we can simply get away with a pain intensity 5 with a hot and cold wrap. Isn’t this just great?

Always assess your level of pain intensity after the first few rounds of tapping to see if you can feel or see a shift. Say, has the level of pain intensity been reduced? If the pain has not been cleared, then use the statement like: “Eventhough I still have these remaining pain on my right wrist, I still deeply and completely love and accept myself. This remaining pain on my right wrist…” and tap through. Start with basics and work your way deeper by acknowledging the truth and giving it a direction.

Resources:
http://www.thetappingsolution.com/