The Oaxaca Project

Young Martha, a 12 year old girl, was sitting in waiting room chair with her mom at her side. I could see that both of them were apprehensive. Understandably so because they were heading to Mexico City for further tests to find out if the brain tumor Martha has is benign or malignant.

This is the first time I met Martha as she is new to this hospital. I told Martha that I could teach her a technique to help her feel better. I said it was powerful yet a little silly. She brightened immediately. I told her to tap along with me and she did.

I started with some simple phrases:
Even though I have this illness, I’m a good girl.
Even though I have this tumor, I’m a wonderful young woman.
Even though I have this tumor, I’m a smart, bright and beautiful young lady.

Just tapping these phrases on the Karate Chop point brought smiles to her face.
Then I moved onto the tapping points. I’ll summarize with the overall phrases we used.

I have a tumor and I don’t like it.
I have a tumor in my head.
I’m a good girl even if I have a tumor.
I hate this tumor sometimes.

(I stopped to ask her if she felt that sometimes and she said yes).

I don’t have to hate it.
I can love it instead.
That would help it heal more than hating it.
It is part of me.
The tumor is part of me.
It is made up of my cells.
It is made up of the cells in my body.
Hating the tumor is like hating me.
I don’t want to hate a part of myself.

(Her eyes opened wide when she said this phrase as she had never thought of her tumor this way before.)

I’d like to forgive myself for hating my tumor and instead send it good wishes to heal.
I would rather love it and send it love.
I would rather send it so much love that it can heal.
Love is the strongest thing there is.
I want my tumor to feel better.
Yes, sometimes I hate it and want it to go away.
But I’d rather love it and help it get better that way.
I want it to go away because I love all of myself.
Love is very strong and powerful in helping my tumor heal.

I asked her to take a moment, close her eyes, ask her tumor why it was there and what caused it to form. She closed her eyes for about 20 seconds focusing in on what her tumor could “tell her”, then stated frankly that her tumor said it was because she was stressed and angry a lot. Notice that focusing in on the part of the body that is “ill” or “hurting” can often allow for underlying causes for a problem to surface. We tapped:

Even though I have this anger and stress, I’m a good girl.
Even tho I held onto this anger and stress for a long time, I can get rid of it.
I don’t have to hold onto that anger and stress, because I love myself.

I asked Martha how she could imagine that she could get rid of the anger and stress. She wanted to burn it in a big fire.

I don’t need this anger and stress.
I throw it in the fire.
I let it all burn up.
I don’t need it anymore.
I burn up all of it.

She was positively shining as she felt she was getting rid of these emotions. I added another part to the tapping to get rid of the anger and stress.

I thank my tumor for holding all the anger and stress in one place.
I appreciate it for doing that for me.
Tumor you don’t have to hold onto it anymore.
You can throw all the anger and stress you are holding into the fire and let it burn.
We burn it all up together.

She was all smiles. I asked Martha to close her eyes and imagine her tumor again. How did it look now? It was a round white ball with feet and arms. Before tapping it was ugly and black. Isn’t it wonderful how tapping allows one to shift one’s perspective about a tumor so easily?

She wanted to know if she could heal these emotions if she could heal faster. I asked her what she thought. She thought yes. We discussed how doctors observe that patients who are happy and have a positive attitude usually have a stronger immune system, which allows their body to heal easier.

She wanted to know if EFT could get rid of sadness too. I said yes. I recommended that she take specific events that had made her angry, stressed and sad and tap on them. I told her, “I know that you know what bothers you.” She nodded yes. She gave me a big smile with eyes shining with hope that she can make changes in her life that will help her heal.

One short EFT session with Martha has changed her outlook. It has changed the way she thinks about her tumor. It has helped her have a tool to manage her emotions and choose to heal.

I enjoyed tapping with her so much knowing that this was an instant in her life that may change her life forever for the better.