Spring is a time when many of us feel the urge to purge and clean our home. It is also a good time to purge and clean our inner world. Doing so can significantly lower our stress levels, and bring peace to our mind and spirit.
EFT Personal Peace Procedure
One of my favourite ways to keep my mind and spirit healthy and create inner peace is to continuously work on the “Personal Peace Procedure”. This term was coined by Gary Craig, the founder of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). It consists of making a list of all events from the past – big and small – that bother you. It could be as small as a stain in your new sweater, or as big as a serious accident or trauma.
Once you’ve made the list, start with one item, and use EFT to take the emotional charge out of it. (EFT Basics) After successfully using EFT, the thing that bothered you will become a fact in your memory with no emotional charge. It then has no ability to add to your stress load.
Continue down the list until, over time, you have nothing left on your list. “By diligently doing this we can pull out every negative tree from our emotional forests and thus eliminate major causes of our emotional and physical ailments.” (Gary Craig)
There are some things (like ongoing childhood abuse) that are can be too big to tackle on your own. In those cases, it’s best to seek help from a mental health professional.
The Emotional Freedom Technique can also be used for current situations. Something that has just happened that has an emotional ‘bite’ to it can be dealt with immediately! Then it doesn’t get added to your burden of stress.
“I believe that when the human spirit is confined over time by negative emotions, thoughts, beliefs, or environments, and is not allowed or encouraged to give itself full expression, the resulting anger and grief eventually show up in the body as pain.” (Opening the Cage of Pain – Rue Hass)
Tying Up Loose Ends
There are some things that prevent inner peace which can’t be fixed by EFT.
- Apologies and amends that need to be made.
- Items that need to be returned.
- Books sitting on your shelf that need to be put in a box because they insight anxiety every time you look at them – simply because you haven’t gotten around to reading them!
- Taxes that need to be done.
- Closets that need to be cleaned out.
- Phone calls that you need to make.
EFT can certainly help you overcome the fear or procrastination that is holding you back from getting these things done!
Spring cleaning for the mind and spirit is vital for our health and well-being. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that until you deal with current and old emotionally charged issues, you will not find inner peace.
If you find it difficult to face your past on your own, find a trusted friend or therapist to help you through it. Even though it can be very uncomfortable process, it is more than worth it!
