Unscrambling My Brain

James Hardiman

Did you know that stroking a cat can significantly reduce your blood pressure? Someone has done the scientific research, and I can’t find the reference now, but it’s a fact. There are a lot of strange medical facts that could help us all, if only they were more widely known, but you can’t patent them and make a fortune, so drug companies won’t do it, so it’s up to the rest of us to spread the word, so that people can try it out and see if it helps them. If I have hypertension, then stroking the cat seems a far more “ecological” cure than taking beta-blockers. Mind you, I’d take those if the doc told me to, but keep on stroking the cat once I came off the beta-blockers. Stroke the cat anyway; maybe you’ll never need the beta-blockers!

Another strange thing is that our psychological and energy systems can become “scrambled” in all sorts of ways, and these things can stop us learning things, and can stop various therapies and healing processes from working as well as they could. Somehow, during my life, just about everything that could get scrambled has got scrambled, so I’ve been doing some research on how to straighten myself out! I record it here in case it’s useful to someone else.

Special Note: You might be worrying that you don’t know if you’re scrambled, and hence are worrying that maybe you shouldn’t do some of these. Don’t worry: they won’t scramble you if you’re already unscrambled. It’s like combing your hair; if it’s already neat, it’ll just make it neater. At worse, it just won’t do anything at all.

Psychological Reversal

The first thing I came across in this field was the idea of Psychological Reversal, much talked about in EFT and TFT. If you find yourself depressed, or with minor (or even major) addictions, then fixing psychological reversal may help you. Have a look at my one-page introduction to EFT (you can download a version of the one-pager). The Setup and the nine-gamut procedures are both designed to help unscramble psychological reversals.

There are Massive Psychological Reversals (when nothing in your life seems to work), Specific Psychological Reversals (when specific things don’t seem to work), and Context Related PRs, where there seems to be certain aspects of a problem that need fixing.

The mechanics of all three are the same: rub the sore spot, and/or tap the karate chop point (see the EFT one-pager), whilst saying the setup phrase. What differs is the wording in the setup phrase. This will depend on you, and you need to experiment to fine-tune the language for yourself, but here are some examples:

Massive PR

  • Even with all my remaining problems and difficulties, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I hate absolutely everything about myself, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I feel that I’m a complete waste of space, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I look fat and ugly, and no-one will ever love me, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I know that even if I ever won the rat race, I’d still be a rat, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway. ( My thanks to Denis Campbell for this. I absolutely love it!)

You get the idea… I’m sure that you could take a piece of paper, right now, and jot down another 10 of these without any difficulty. And then tap for them, using the EFT process. And I know you don’t feel that you do “deeply and completely love and accept yourself”, but say it anyway, preferably with loads of gusto, as if it were true!

Specific PR

  • Even though I don’t seem to be able to lose weight, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.
  • Even though I don’t seem to be able to stop smoking, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.
  • Even though I haven’t really had what my mum would call a sensible meal in a week, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway.

Again, I’m sure that you can work out what this should be for you. Write a bunch down. Tap for them. Say them as though you really mean them.

Context-Related PR

This is where there seems to be some block to the process working. We could go to immense lengths categorizing these, but I won’t. Here are the simple ones… there are LOADS more on Gary’s website, and there's a really great article by Lindsay Kenny on the subject.

  • Even though this EFT stuff seems like a load of nonsense, and I know it will never work for me, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway. (You can use this one on anything in this article, or on any other therapy or process. It’s even good if you think no-one is listening to your prayers!)
  • Even though it’s not safe for me to lose weight, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I might be attractive to men/women if I lose weight, and I won’t know how to handle that, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though my mum was fat, and it seems like a betrayal of her to lose weight, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.
  • Even though I may have to get off my backside and do something with my life, and then people will be able to criticise me, and put me down, I deeply and completely love and accept myself, anyway.

Oh, I’m sure that you’ve got the idea of these by now! Sit down with a friend, maybe one who knows you too well, or who shares your problem (or one of each!) and brainstorm another 10 of these, and then tap for them. Put LOADS of emotion and “attitude” into the language as you say it; really ham it up. If it gets you both into fits of giggles, or hysterics even, then that’s brilliant! Laughter does really magic stuff to your bio-chemistry (check it out!)

Energy Scramble

Did you know that the energy in your meridians can flow backwards? Well, it can. And when it does, stuff that should make you feel better often makes you feel worse! Here’s some stuff that you can do about it.

The Three Thumps

Find what EFT calls the “collarbone” points. These are the end points (point 27) on the kidney meridian (look on my EFT-on-a-page). From now on I’ll refer to these as the K27 points. Cross your arms at the wrists, and thump the K27 points really hard, thumping the left point with the tips of the fingers of the right hand, and vice versa. Thump as long as you like.

Now find the middle of the sternum, and thump over that with your fist (think Tarzan here). This stimulates your thymus gland, and pumps energy into the whole of your meridian system. Keep thumping!

Now, come down from your nipples, to an inch under the bottom of your bra (blokes; you’ll just have to imagine where this would be, or get a friendly woman to show you!). You’ll know when you’ve got there, because it will almost definitely be sore, on one side or the other, or both. Thump with your fingertips, vigorously, for as long as you can bear it.

These are the spleen neuro-lymphatic points. These are especially good if you’re feeling a bit lysdexic.

By the way, ladies, if you’re wearing an under-wired bra, the wire is messing up the energy flows in a set of points. Massage, hard, under where the wire is. It will almost definitely feel sore, both sides. If it makes you yelp, then you know you need it! You should feel quite a bit brighter after doing this. You could maybe do it every time you go to the loo during the day (massaging these points in a business meeting might cause raised eyebrows!)

The Wayne Cook Position

This is good if other people are looking a bit scrambled when you’re around, or if you seem to be confusing people, or sending them to sleep (teachers, trainers, therapists, doctors… you should do this before every lesson, session, client, patient!)

  1. Sit on a chair. Preferably take your shoes off.
  2. Put one ankle on your other knee.
  3. Grasp the ankle with your hand on the same side as the knee.
  4. Now hold the sole of your foot with the other hand. Your arms will be crossed at this point.
  5. Sit up as straight as you can.
  6. Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly, six times.
  7. Unfold, and do the same the other side.
  8. Now sit up straight, and put your fingertips together, palms apart, in front of your chest (this is called “cathedral position”). Breathe slow and deep six times.

Separating Heaven and Earth

Do this whole thing with real “martial arts” attitude! Great if you’re either too grounded or too “off with the fairies”. Will bring you back into balance.

  1. Stand, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on thighs, fingers spread, take deep breath.
  2. Deep inhalation, circle wide to cathedral position. Exhale.
  3. Deep inhalation, separate heaven and earth. That’s one hand down, palm horizontal to floor. Other hand up, palm horizontal to sky. Stretch the two apart, and hold as long as you can.
  4. Exhale back to cathedral position.
  5. Repeat with opposite arms then repeat twice more.
  6. Hang from waist and take deep breaths.
  7. Celtic weave on way up: that’s loosely dangling your arms, and swaying your hands in horizontal figures of eight.

Homolateral Crossover

This is brilliant for all those who can’t tell their right from their left, whether that’s a lifetime affliction, or just happening right now.

  1. Three thumps, breathing deeply
  2. Separating Heaven and Earth
  3. Wayne Cook, both sides
  4. Homolateral marching, 24 steps (12 each side). This is marching, on the spot, like a toy soldier, with exaggerated arm and leg movements, but with the same arm and leg going up at the same time.
  5. Cross-over marching, 24 steps (12 each side). That’s the same, but with opposite arms and legs, and also swing the arms across the mid-line of the body. This is also called cross-crawl.
  6. Repeat 4 & 5 twice more
  7. Repeat 5.

Crown Pull

This is brilliant if you’re in a classroom, or an office, and information is just not going in. “Please sir, can I be excused? My brain is full”. I’m sure that you recognise the syndrome!

  1. Let your fingertips touch in the middle of your forehead, little fingers by eyebrows, index fingers by hairline. Now pull apart, stretching the skin.
  2. Move your hands up, and repeat.
  3. Keep going all the way over your head.
  4. Grasp you left shoulder with your right hand and stretch down, and the same with the other side.

Spinal Flush

  1. Grab a partner.
  2. Face the wall, brace yourself against the wall.
  3. Have your partner start at the top of your spine, thumbs just either side of your spine.
  4. They press really hard, and then move down half an inch, and do it again, right the way down to your tail bone.
  5. Now do it for your partner.

Zip Up

This protects your energy system, and helps prevent it from becoming weakened or scrambled again. Always do it at the end of any energy routine.

  1. Take your dominant hand if you’re a man, and your non-dominant hand it you’re a woman.
  2. Imagine you have a zipper going from your pubic bone to your bottom lip.
  3. Zip it up.
  4. Swing your hand well clear as you take it back down (to avoid unzipping again!)
  5. And zip up again. I like to do this three times.
  6. On the last zip up, imagine you have a lock on your lip. Lock the zipper so that it stays in place.

Three Polarities Unswitch

Your energies can get reversed, like putting the batteries in backwards. This can happen up and down your body, left to right and/or front to back. I got this from Barbara Mallory’s website (there are pictures there to help you): Check out other good stuff there!

  1. Press the fingers of one hand firmly on your navel and keep them there.
  2. Rub under your nose with the index finger of the other hand for 6 to 8 seconds.
  3. Rub under your lower lip for 6 to 8 seconds.
  4. Extend fingers and thumb to massage both collarbone points for 6 to 8 seconds.
  5. Massage your tailbone for 6 to 8 seconds.
  6. Reverse hands and repeat the procedure (optional, but recommended!).

Five Minute Routine

Do this at least once a day, preferably night and morning, or any time when life is heading towards being too much!

1. Three thumps

2. Cross Crawl, or homolateral marching if you have right/left problems.

3. Wayne Cook both sides

4. Crown Pull

5. Spinal Flush

6. Zip up

I would do this stuff morning and evening, before lessons and classes, and especially before any sort of therapy session, whether that be The Journey, counselling, psychotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy, reiki, NLP, whatever. And do the three thumps and the zip up afterwards, too. The session will work better, and will hold better.

And drink GALLONS of water, preferably still, and the energy stuff will work better, too.

And I’d love it if you let me know how you get on.

If you feel that you have other sorts of scrambling problems, let me know, and I’ll see if there’s anything else in my book.

You can get a downloadable PDF version of this article, here.

If you want to learn about this stuff in great depth then read Donna Eden's book. Also check out David Feinstein's Energy Psychology Interactive, and Fred Gallo's book.

Oh, and ... one last thing. This stuff doesn't work ... unless you actually DO it!

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