In India, trainers tie baby elephants to trees in order to keep them from running off. Over the course of their growth, they make the tree smaller and smaller until at adulthood the elephants will stay put even if they are tied to the smallest sapling. Workers in aquariums will attest to the fact that fish who are contained by a glass partition will only test to see if the partition is still there for a brief period of time. If they remove the partition after a certain amount of time the fish can move free throughout the tank, but they won’t even try. You can do the same experiment at home. Place a bunch of flies or fleas in a jar with a lid for a short period of time. Open the lid and only a few daring souls will attempt an exit from the top of the jar. The elephants, flies, and the fish are three perfect examples of a premature cognitive commitment.
When I was eleven I learned to ski. Immediately after mastering the bunny hill I ventured to the chair lift where I unfortunately witnessed a relative fall off the lift and break his arm. I decided then and there that this was a dangerous sport and had made a premature cognitive commitment. I didn’t take up skiing again until I released that memory and consequent decisions with EFT.
How often in your life do you simply write off adventures, opportunities, new ways of being, expansion or growth because you are stuck in the past? You say things like,”That’s just not me” or “That doesn’t feel okay to me” or “I’ll do it some other time.” We’ve all had difficulties in our lives. Most of us have had our hearts’ broken, some of us have been financially broken. We’ve all had a good scare or a bad fall that then led to decisions about the way the world works that we have probably outgrown.
Limiting beliefs, safety blocks, and procrastination are all ways that we stop ourselves from getting hurt or from struggling again. But what if these conscious and subconscious assistants really curtail our joy, our life force energy, or hopes and desires?
Here is a list that I routinely use with clients to uncover hidden and not so hidden barriers, their premature cognitive commitment. The trick is to get specific about how these show up in your life and tap further to release their origin.
I deeply and profoundly accept myself even if…
I want to keep this problem
I continue to have this problem
I don’t deserve to get over this problem
it isn’t safe for me to get over this problem
it isn’t safe for others for me to get over this problem
it isn’t possible for me to get over this problem
I won’t allow myself to get over this problem
I won’t do what is necessary
getting over this problem won’t be good for me
getting over this problem won’t be good for others
I have a unique block to getting over my problem
I may have a fear of how my life will change if I get over this problem
You will notice that the 4 major themes are:
Loss of Identity i.e. who will I be, how will I feel, how will I act?
Deservedness
Safety
Resistance or Fear of Change
Loss of identity is what some practitioners call the Void. The emptiness that may result after extensive tapping and releasing can be frightening to some especially if those issues have been around since childhood. The best way to counteract the Void is to simply create and focus on the new possibilities for one’s future now that the blocks are gone.
Deservedness and lack of self-worth or self-esteem need to be teased out. Otherwise, even the statement “I deeply and completely love and accept myself” can become a reversal or block.
Safety is the most common of the blocks. If expressing feelings and emotions were unacceptable in one way or another in your family of origin then sharing some or any emotions with another is nearly impossible. A creative, empathic, skilled EFT practitioner will recognize what is happening and be able to slowly nurture and coax those feelings out to process.
Fear of change can be as obvious as snack amnesia when you are trying to lose weight or as subtle as a lack of libido. For real permanent change to occur you must have your subconscious mind engaged with the program or directives you place in your life. Simply stating aloud that you are ready to stop smoking, forgive your mother, manifest more money, or align your soul to figure out your life’s purpose, won’t get you far at all. This is when EFT can really work it’s magic and help release any premature cognitive commitment made.
