HeartMath

Individual Professional Training System

Article by Cindy Dillon, RN, MS

EFT® and HeartMath/ emWave® Techniques used with therapist or at home with incredible results.

Introduction

I have created a unique energy stress management approach by combining EFT® and HeartMath/ emWave®. This approach is used during my sessions with clients and as a personal self-management system. As a nurse/therapist, with over 20 years experience in holistic health practices, I learned the HeartMath/ emWave® technique more than five years ago and educate clients of all ages to “go into the green.” I found EFT three years ago and found that it is an additional tool to facilitate clients in releasing the underlying causes of their “being in the red.”

There are three levels in the HeartMath/emWave system. There are two types of emWave systems. One is a personal electronic monitor (emWave Personal Stress Reliever®), while the other is a more involved computer system (Health Professional emWave®) that provides experiences to train your body to relax. You are attached to the system thru a painless ear clip or finger clip. The feedback levels are red, blue and green. Red feedback indicates a person’s fight or flight instinctual response has been triggered. Blue indicates relaxation. And green indicates a connection with “source” energy that allows the body to maintain wellness.

I have been using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT); the “tapping system” that provides relief of emotional distress and physical symptoms and assists clients in managing their feelings by “getting out of the red” and moving into the calming emotions indicated by blue and green response colors. EFT minimizes our learned and instinctual responses. These instinctual responses are physical, emotional or habitual thoughts. By “tapping out” the instinctual responses, we live with an increased awareness of ourselves and our responses to the world. This awareness allows us to move into blue and green states and, with practice, remain in those states regardless of what we are experiencing or thinking. When we “tap” out the interruption triggered by memories, thoughts or traumas we relax and feel peaceful. Our bodies can store these memories, feelings, thoughts or beliefs as pain or symptoms such as indigestion, headaches, or fatigue. When we have a history of traumatic experiences we often ignore our bodies’ signals until disease occurs. Using EFT/HeartMath with clients

I often place the emWave on myself and prepare before seeing a client by getting myself “in the green.” It allows me to notice if something brought up in a session triggers a red response, whether it be my issue or my clients’. I use the consciousness breath technique, a way of noticing your breath by saying “am I breathing?” then “notice” and allow your breath to expand to it’s fullest, and not force it (The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle). This technique allows me to move myself back “into the green.” My clients also use the emWave during a session to help them notice thoughts that move them from a peaceful state (blue and green) to a fight or flight state (red).

Using EFT/HeartMath for self-management

These methods can be used without a practitioner on a daily basis. Clients, having practiced in sessions, will be able to use the tapping method to clear themselves of an issue and “move into the green.”

Some of my clients use this approach a few times a week. They connect to the emWave Personal Stress Reliever® and do a variety of tasks, then notice when it “goes in the red.” The client reflects on what they are thinking, and check their body for tension or other symptoms and tap on those to return to blue/green. They watch TV connected to emWave to see the effect it has on them, and if they go into the red they either tap or use the conscious breathing technique to shift back into the green. If that doesn’t work, they turn off the TV! When a client learns what it feels like to be ‘in the green” in my office, some are able to have daily practice without the emWave connected during different activities. The daily practice for clients who do not have the emWave includes checking into their thoughts or body responses and tapping until they feel more peaceful, subjectively.

Many of us are like cars with our cruise control set on 60 miles per hour. We feel “driven” to get things done, rather making decisions based on what we feel is best or what we feel “guided” to do. Those in “driven” mode live in a state of red and are not aware of it until they connect to the Heartmath/emWave Personal Stress Reliever® system.

When this system is used we can identify simple tasks, such as reading e-mail, which put us “in the red.” It is a way to realize how being “driven” affects our bodies. Many illnesses today are considered “stress related,” another name for “driven” or the state of constantly being in fight or flight mode. Our hormonal systems take an enormous hit from living like this. High levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, trigger our bodies to store fat. These hormonal imbalances adversely affect our immune systems and make us susceptible to infections. These physiological responses can be used as a guide to determine what needs to be tapped out of our bodies and can help us set up phrases to focus the energy you are tapping out.

Some examples include:

Even though I am feeling driven, I accept myself.

Even though I set my cruise control on 60 miles per hour when I was young (can use specific details or circumstances here) so I could survive, I accept myself.

I’m older now and I have other ways of managing these situations.

I choose to manage situations (specifics can be used here) in a peaceful, loving, joyful way.

I encourage you to give the EFT/emWave combination a try. If you have any questions, please call or e-mail me.