Feeling trapped in the body

We seem to have reached the end of this road, folks.

The gig is up for me. The illusion of separation is over. But now I'm still in this body, and it feels like a prison. I don't want it anymore.

I've lost interest in doing any of the things I once loved. If I'm doing it by myself, there's no point. If I'm doing it in an anonymous group, there's no point. It just reminds me of the cumbersomeness of the body, of how there is nothing in this world that will ever satisfy.

There's only one thing I want right now, which is to rest in the arms of the Beloved. I tasted it once, all too briefly.

I don't know where to go from here. There's no point in going on alone, so I've stopped everything. I've been able to solve pretty much all of my and other people's problems, but this particular thing I don't know where to go from here. I'm guessing that just beyond this lies Union with the Creator, but I'm not sure how one gets from here to there. Even the idea of thinking of a next step feels like yet another ego trap.

The idea of a hunger strike has crossed my mind more than once, but I have mixed feelings about it.

So for now I'll continue doing nothing.

Chakras Opening

I'm in a pretty deep state of apathy recently, and it seems to be a trend.

What a strange time, then, for my sexual chakras to be opening.

This is what happened. I had a really intense bout of menstrual cramps on Friday. So intense I could barely function.

Then Friday night and most of the weekend, I did a bunch of intense EFT. Sadness is stored in the lungs, and I was releasing huge amounts of it, which included crying, coughing, and gasping for air. This is not unusual with EFT, and nothing to be alarmed about. Almost everyone walking around in your everyday life has these emotions suppressed deep in their body. When we get them out, there is a huge release of emotion and energy, and then things shift.

Well, things did shift. I can feel major energy shifts in my body, and I felt several over the weekend.

Then suddenly on Sunday something new happened. I started feeling swirling energy in my pelvis. This did not come from any sexual encounter or sexual healing, and my EFT had not been focused on sexuality. But something opened up down there, and I've been feeling the swirling energy ever since.

For those who are familiar with the chakras, you may have heard of Kundalini energy, which is likened to a serpent that has the potential to uncoil. Well, it kinda feels like that, like an uncoiling that is rising from my pelvis up to my other chakras. This is what Wikipedia has to say:

Kundalini (kuṇḍalinī कुण्डलिनी) Sanskrit, literally "coiled". In Indian yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent coiled at the base of the spine, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent power'.

Yoga and Tantra propose that this energy can be "awakened" by Guru, but body and spirit must be prepared by yogic austerities such as pranayama, or breath control, physical exercises, visualization, and chanting. It rises from muladhara chakra up a subtle channel at the base of the spine (called Sushumna), and from there to top of the head merging with the sahasrara, or crown chakra. The awakening is not a physical occurrence. It consists exclusively of development in consciousness. With awakening of the Kundalini our consciousness expands and we become more aware of the truth. When Kundalini Shakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva). Then aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss. The arousing of kundalini is said to be the one and only way of attaining Divine Wisdom. Self-Realization is said to be equivalent to Divine Wisdom or Gnosis or what amounts to the same thing: Self-Knowledge. The awakening of the Kundalini shows itself as "awakening of inner knowledge" and brings with itself pure joy, pure knowledge and pure love.

However, like every form of energy one must also learn to understand spiritual energy. In order to be able to integrate this spiritual energy, careful purification and strengthening of the body and nervous system are required beforehand. By trying to force results, considerable psychic disturbances and at times even permanent mental damage can occur. A spiritual master who walked this path before is required to guide the aspirant. Often will be found that negative experiences occurred only when acting without appropriate guidance or ignoring advice.

Kundalini can only be awakened through the grace of a Siddha-Guru who awakens the kundalini shakti of his discipline through shaktipat, or blessing. A Siddha Guru is a spiritual teacher, a master, whose identification with the supreme Self is uninterrupted.

The most famous of the Yoga Upanishads, the Yogatattva, mentions four kinds of yoga, one of which, laya-yoga, involves Kundalini.

It's odd that they say this can only be awakened through a guru, because unless you count long-distance connections, no guru other than me was involved in this "awakening."

Anyway, I have no idea what this means for my life. When my heart chakra opened a few years ago, that was a major shift, and I would imagine this one will be also.

For now, I just wanted to share the experience.

Erika's New 15-Week Miracle Coaching Program - Learn How to Do What I Do With EFT

Hey everyone,

In response to several requests I received from people who wanted to learn to use EFT the way I use it, I have created a new coaching program. I already have two confirmed signups and potentially a third, and there are only so many people that I can give this kind of focused attention to at any one time, so if you're interested, please email me as soon as possible at erika.awakening@gmail.com.

Why is it that many people try out Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping) and don't get lasting results or any results at all? They are not using it in an effective way. Period. EFT works. If it didn't work for you, then you didn't get to the core, root issues that are causing your problems.

This 15-week program will go way beyond basic uses of EFT. My intention is to teach you the entire framework within which I use EFT, which is a very deep understanding of how people's belief systems operate, and how that creates their reality.

If you're anything like I was a few years ago, you may be very frustrated with all this Law of Attraction, "create your own reality" stuff. I tried the affirmations and the visualizations and hypnosis and various forms of coaching, and nothing was working for me. My life was rife with conflict, and I seemed to be perpetually stuck in a place that didn't feel very good. I felt isolated and disconnected, and things seemed really hopeless. Lots of people promised they could help me, but I'd go to them with a specific problem in my life, and they were full of well meaning but ultimately unhelpful advice.

My problems didn't get solved until I came up with my own comprehensive method for solving them. It took me five years to develop this. I took the best that each teacher had to offer me, discarded everything that didn't work, and found a way to integrate it all together. This approach is in no way limited to the dating/relationship arena. My two confirmed signups are going to use this method to coach actors and musicians and to start a new business. Once you learn my system, you can apply it to anything.

My system does not involve manipulation of any kind. It is based in radical honesty and transparency. It is based on the idea that our subconscious mind will not allow us to receive things, such as money or an abundant dating life, unless what we receive supports the highest good of everyone involved.

The only thing standing between you and everything you want from life is fear. As we erase the fear (and the limiting beliefs that support that fear), what you want will naturally be attracted into your life. This is a course in creating miracles (which are actually done through us and not by us), and once you learn it from me, you can then use my method to transform your own life and to coach others in whatever life arena you choose.

Here is a sketch of how a 15-session course (with 1.5 hour sessions) will look. Because this will be the first time I'm teaching it, we'll need to be somewhat flexible about the schedule and follow intuition about possible adjustments. I envision part of our sessions would be pure teaching by me, and part of it would be me doing actual EFT with you so you can see how the techniques work in action. I envision email support from me and you practicing with yourself and others between sessions so that you can put the teachings into action. This will help cement the knowledge.

Here's the sketch of the 15-week program:

1. Opening up the Possibilities
- intention of creating the life of our dreams
- congruence
- downward/upward spirals and why/how they happen
- full self-responsibility for everything we manifest
- all creation starts inside and is reflected in the world we see as projection
- giving away our power vs. staying in our power
- the Miracle mindset (my work is deeply influenced by A Course in Miracles)
- Ultimate Truth Statements and tail enders
- Higher self and ego
- Tapping in to our intuition

2. Crash course in non-violent communication and its application to EFT
- feelings/needs language
- how being in tune with feelings and needs will assist your sessions
- your comfort level with all feelings, no matter how intense, is absolutely essential to your success
- how being in tune with feelings and needs (rather than strategies) opens up the possibilities of fulfillment by the Universe
- EFT as super-powered empathy (what I really hear behind what you're saying is ....)

3. Presence and the transformation of feelings
- how we use our bodies as energy transformers when working with clients
- all problems are a disruption in the flow of universal life and healing energy (judgments/fear/shame/hiding/etc)
- there are only two emotions: love and fear
- the problem with judgments; how we transform judgments with EFT

4. Limiting beliefs
- how beliefs are created
- Life experiences, the earlier the better
- Trauma with a capital T and lower case t
- I can't do this because ....
- Stories we tell ourselves (victim/hero/conqueror stories = ego)
- The importance of our interpretations
- Fear of failure/fear of success
- Guilt, attack thoughts, and self-punishment
- Personal Peace Procedure

5. Understanding stuckness: Inner conflicts
- the word "should"
- inner conflicts and congruence
- tapping all sides of a conflict
- understanding the "inner committee" and the "outer committee"
- how to resolve inner conflicts
- win/win orientation versus guilt

6. Understanding stuckness: Secondary benefits
- why people want to keep their problems
- understanding the main forms of secondary benefits
- sneaky saboteurs ("Deep down, I don't want to succeed because ...")
- how to resolve secondary benefit situations and get people unstuck using EFT

7. The power of body awareness, part 1: body as metaphor
- using EFT with an understanding of the messages our body is giving us

8. The power of body awareness, part 2: Pain, Sickness, and Suffering
- chasing the pain with EFT
- chronic pain
- the gifts that pain has to offer us, seen correctly
- pain as a symptom of inner conflict, judgment, shame, etc.

9. Understanding addictions
- coverups for pain
- hamster wheel patterns
- loss of presence fuels addiction
- how to handle addictions using EFT

10. Dissociation/suppression/difficult-to-identify issues
- the pain is too much
- disconnected from the pain
- don't want to remember/can't remember
- how to bring this stuff up
- how to handle large traumas
- the importance of meditation
- the value of provocation

11. The Shadow Self/Mirroring Patterns
- a topic unto itself
- not being afraid of bringing up big stuff to be resolved
- comfort with transitional discomfort
- dissolving karmic loops ("I don't understand why this same awful thing keeps happening to me over and over again ...")
- how to recognize and handle mirror patterns

12. Patterns of hiding and shame: how to bring clients to transparency and spontaneity
- anything people are hiding or dissociating takes tremendous energy
- anything they are hiding is not working for them
- how to shift these patterns so people feel comfortable being transparent and spontaneous

13. Enlisting the Help of the universe: nobody has to do any of this all by themselves
- this involves me teaching a lot of my secret advanced EFT techniques that make all this work MUCH easier
- this will be a fun, playful session

14. Advanced EFT techniques and EFT expectation management
- stories people tell us
- past lives
- birth trauma
- clearing from all perspectives
- right/left brain integration

15. Concluding session: helping clients get in touch with their Dharma
- or covering whatever we think is best to wrap up

When I started to write this all down, I realized the knowledge is so vast that I'm not sure we can cover all of it in 15 sessions, but this will be a wonderful start at least, and I feel confident that especially with additional email support and follow-up I can guide my students in applying this very effectively with their own clients and students.

Once you've learned the techniques with specific examples, it becomes very easy to expand to other areas. You'll see -- it's very exciting!

I am offering this 15-week program for the same price as my three-month all-inclusive coaching with unlimited email support, which is $5000. I envision providing a lot of email support and resources between sessions to enhance your knowledge. Again, I will not be able to accept many more students into the program, and I expect the prices to go up the next time I teach it because this knowledge is worth far, far more than what I'm charging for it. So if you're interested, please email me as soon as you can at erika.awakening@gmail.com.

The best part of the program is that while you are learning my method, we will also apply EFT to whatever issue you decide to put as front and center, and we'll clear out your limiting beliefs about it. So this program serves two purposes: learn my method and work toward whatever is your most important goal right now :-)

More updates and a big thank you to one of my readers :-)

Wow, I was just out on the street moving my car for the street sweepers. I had rolled out of bed, barely awake, and was wearing sweats and flip-flops and my hair all tousled. Not exactly glamour-puss.

As I was walking back, I was distracted with my iPhone but felt someone behind me so I stepped a bit to the side. A tall, handsome man passed me, and as he did so he gave me a smile and said "hi, how are you?" and this LOOK. My body lit up like a torch. If it weren't 7 am, with him obviously on his way to work, who knows where that might have gone?

This is how much we are all communicating instantly, as I talked about in my 21 Convention speech.

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Speaking of which, to whomever purchased a 21 Convention ticket off my site yesterday, thank you :-) People like you make a big difference in supporting this blog, and every little bit helps. I received an email from Dream telling me the good news, and it brought a big smile to my face. Thank you ... you are appreciated :-)

For anyone else who wants to get in on the action, tomorrow is the last day for super discounted tickets, and last I heard there were only three left. If you use the code "erikarocks," you'll receive an additional $10 discount and you'll be supporting this blog with my deepest thanks. You'll also be signed up for the most amazingly fun event for July 2010. Go here to get your ticket and don't forget the erikarocks code.

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Finally, on the theme of appreciation (of me, yes, I appreciate appreciation too), I received this email from someone I did a session with a few weeks ago and wanted to share his follow-up for those who have been curious about longer-term results. This is what can happen for those who really make a commitment to transforming their lives:

I have been tapping quite a lot during the last week ..., and I had a few realizations - I now look at EFT in a totally different way now.

At first, when I was first introduced to EFT, I used to tap the exact feeling I had - it reduced the intensity a bit but not more than that. Then I saw Magnus said you have to tap on your beliefs - I tapped hundreds of times on that, and I did see a change, especially when tapping on self esteem, but that wasn't enough again. Then I read that I should tap the roots of the beliefs - the memories that caused me to believe in a certain way. That really didn't help even a bit, and now I understand why.

Before our session, I traced the first memory where I felt anxiety around a girl - 6th grade, when the prettiest girl in our groupage first spoke directly to me. I tried tapping that but it didn't really help, and after or session I understood - you said that what matters is how we interpret the situation! The problem wasn't the feeling itself, but the beliefs I had then about that girl, which I have related to every hot girl in my life afterwards - as if what she said is sacred and I must do everything to earn her approval. I now understand I need to search for patterns I have, that were caused by the memory itself, and tap them.

This is really fascinating and I really feel I'm doing some work here. I'd like again to thank you. I hope everything is well with you (I'm still waiting for the e-book:)), and that we'll have a chance to have another session in the future.

Nice :-) Thank you for sharing.

[I'm adding this additional info in response to Anonymous' comment below: I think what my client is getting at is that most people teaching EFT are teaching versions of it that don't result in real transformation. This is because they may address a particular superficial feeling, or even a superficial belief, but EFT only really works on what we succeed in bringing to conscious awareness. It's not enough to bring the branches of the tree to conscious awareness. You must find and eradicate the pattern at its roots. What I teach people is to use EFT whilst also having a series of "aha!" moments about their belief system, including finding the original roots of their present-day issue. When they can clearly see the connection between a specific memory (e.g., girl not responding the way they hoped in third grade), their interpretation of it (e.g., I'm not attractive), their emotional response (e.g., fear of approaching girls) ... and then see how they have carried that pattern forward, usually in a large number of subsequent events with the same emotional energetic pattern, we can usually clear the entire karmic loop out at once rather than have to keep addressing the same issue over and over again. Part of the value I add in facilitating these sessions is that I have been working with patterns like these for so long in so many different contexts that I can notice things the client is never going to notice about themselves, and I know how to help them dissolve the negative beliefs they formed about themselves from these seemingly "insignificant" memories.]

To sign up for a session like his so I can teach you what I taught him, go here.

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And, finally, I am shortly going to announce on here the 15-week curriculum for learning my extremely efficient and effective version of EFT. It's so much more than EFT because I give an entire framework for understanding belief systems and how to transform them.

This course is $5000. It hasn't even been announced yet, and I already have one confirmed signup and another very strong intuition about a second signup. This is a full-on mentorship program where I'll teach you how to do what I do with yourself and other people, and it's especially awesome because simultaneously we can work on one of your own goals and clear out all your limiting beliefs about it. Not only that, it can be applied to anything. None of this is limited to the dating/relationship arena. In fact, I expect with these students we'll be addressing financial abundance and opportunities. This is a program that will give you the solution to any and every problem that ever arises in your life: these are The Keys to the Kingdom.

But this course is going to be so time intensive on my part that I'll only be able to accept a few people into the program. Stay tuned. I am really, really excited about it :-)

Love,
Erika

Updates, and How to Bring Abundance Into Your Life

All right, I'm still officially on strike, but there's some news that's too good to keep to myself on several fronts, and I'm going to share. The themes here are abundance and intuition.

1. On the theme of Abundance and its relationship to Appreciation:

Some of you may recall that Mysterious Benefactor Guy came to my rescue when my computer crashed by gifting me a brand new MacBook Pro with personalized training. Well, it gets better. A few days later, I sent him this heartfelt thank you note:

Dear MB Guy,

I am soooo unbelievably delighted with this new MacBook Pro. I hope when you are back in town you will let me thank you properly. It is already making such a huge difference in my life. It's so easy to use, makes everything so much easier, and to top it off, I can't get over how beautiful it is.

Thank you so much, with my whole heart. You have created a miracle in my life..

Love,
Erika

His response blew me away. He spontaneously offered to upgrade my iPhone as well, to the new 3Gs. So there you go ... the power of appreciation.

2. The Power of Intuition

Part of the reason I even feel like blogging tonight is I had a wonderful acupuncture session this evening. I feel sooo much better. Now my acupuncturist is usually booked weeks in advance, and I didn't have an appointment. How'd I get an appointment with last minute notice? I had an intuition to call. I followed my intuition. My acupuncturist had just had a cancellation at the perfect time.

Magic. For those of you who have not yet left behind your logical left brains, I hope you are beginning to see how powerless it is compared to intuition. Anyhoo ...

3. The Power of Congruence for Abundance

A few entries back, I explained why I was changing my coaching rates and structures. I feel WAY more congruent with the new structure. Why? Because I like to work with committed, motivated clients and because I am able to go so much deeper with people in their efforts to transform their lives if we work together on a regular basis. As well, the old rates and structure were not meeting my financial needs.

Oh, I had doubters saying I was going against the laws of supply and demand by raising my prices. But I knew better. This is why I tell my clients not to listen to advice, conventional wisdom, naysayers, or the laws of this world.

Always, always, always listen to your heart and intuition.

The result of congruence? I've received more coaching income in the past few days than the past two months combined. And I feel so excited to work with these highly motivated clients. Congruence = abundance. I've told you all time and time again that your EFT sessions with me will end up paying for themselves, not only financially but in living the life of your dreams.

Not only that, it led to me creating an exciting new program for people who want to learn how to do my coaching method, but more on that in the next post.

So there you go ...

4. The Power of the 21 Convention for Radically Improving Your Life

Finally, I had to break the strike in order to remind you that you're almost out of time to buy your 21 Convention tickets for 2010. The deadline for discounted tickets is October 31, which is 2 days and 19 hours away.

Seer that I am, let me tell you that you're going to kick yourself if you don't buy them at this discounted price because this event is about to become the next Burning Man, and you will want to be one of the people who got in on it during its infancy. We had a blast this past summer, and Dream, who organizes this event, has an incredible vision for its growth. Dream has already signed up a famous speaker for 2010 who rarely makes appearances at these conferences. If you use the code "erikarocks" when you buy your ticket, you'll get an additional $10 discount.

Also, let me add: you can support this blog and the continuation of free content here by purchasing tickets and other products here. I do not recommend very many products or events, and those I do recommend I do so with my whole heart. If you would like to see less advertising and more content here, you can support me in that by purchasing things like 21 Convention tickets and Holosync meditation through me. I will appreciate it greatly. The less sales pitchy I need to be to sell products and support the immense amount of work that goes into writing all these articles for you guys, the less sales pitchy the blog will be. So ... you help me, I'll help you. Let's make it a fun and helpful blog for everyone.

Lastly, in spite of my recent grumpiness, I do appreciate all of you and your support. Well, most of you :-p

Another sexy photo

Continuing to do nothing. Meditating whilst envisioning how good it would feel to have the needed support. How many people we could help. How spectacular it could be. How much fun. :-)

Self-amusement

I still don't feel like posting any content. In fact, I've been feeling downright grumpy. It's okay though, as I am well aware that every seeming crisis will turn into a miracle, this one in the form of support.

Trying to be perfect is so overrated (not unlike sex, lol :-). My best miracles come out of crises, because so much energy shifts at once.

In the meantime, I'm going to amuse myself by posting sexy photos here.



For those who have asked (thank you), yes, the ebook is still coming. In fact, it's nearing completion.

Also in the development stage is a curriculum for teaching other coaches how I use EFT.

But honestly right now I just feel like kicking back, feeling sexy, imbibing lots of Bach flower essences, sipping a glass of Pinot Noir, and posting whatever photos light my fancy.

Customized Tapping Scripts for Addressing Your Specific Problems

Hey everyone,

I receive a lot of questions from people requesting advice on how to use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT or tapping) on their specific limiting beliefs or problems.

Yes, I can create entire scripts for you to follow when tapping. I will not only give you specific words to use, I will also give you pointers as to why we are using those particular words, so that you can then apply the principles to create more tapping scripts of your own.

All you need to do is sign up here for a personal email consultation and then email me your specific problem, including the following information:

1. When did this problem start?

2. Does it remind you of anything from earlier in your life? If it's a limiting belief, who taught it to you, and in what context?

3. What is this problem stopping you from doing in your life right now?

4. If there were a reason you don't want to get rid of this problem, what would it be?

I may ask you follow up questions in order to give you effective and tailored tapping suggestions.

Again, all you need to do is sign up for a personal email consultation here and then email me the information above.

Thanks,
Erika

What sets Erika's coaching apart (in a client's words)

Here is another testimonial:

I just had a session with Erika, and let me tell you, as someone who has listened to so many "pick up gurus" bullshit, that the guidance that Erika is offering is currently the best out there. No one in the community, really knows how to change one's belief system. Do you believe a few pick up lines and routines, can compensate for a wounded soul? I certainly tried, with no success at all. You have to release your internal conflict and trauma, and Erika is the best person to help you do that.

I was first a bit skeptical, to be truthful, about anyone's ability to find the core reasons for my problems with dating and relationships. Erika helped me remember meaningful experiences in my childhood, and even gave me tips for doing it myself. I highly recommend you take sessions with her, you can't possibly be disappointed. I'd like to thank Erika for her professionalism and her honest wish to help other people.

Also, more realizations from stepping back and going on strike:

1. I was not congruent with the old coaching rates because they were too low for what I'm offering and to meet my own needs. If guys can pay $3000 for a one-weekend LoveSystems bootcamp, they can surely pay my relatively modest rates to achieve real and lasting transformation of their lives. Thus, my inner self was rebelling. One of the great lessons in life is that no situation will be peaceful unless the needs of both people involved are being met, that is why I teach people to be always in touch with their own needs first. This way when we give, we are giving from a place of wholeness and joy, rather than obligation.

2. I was not congruent with the old coaching structure because the more people I worked with, the more I realized that people are needing more than just one session or even three sessions focused on a particular issue. The particular issues that people have been coming to me with are really a symptom and reflection of much deeper "inner game" or "life alignment" issues. Also, what shows up as a "dating" issue turns out to be affecting other areas of their lives, such as why they are staying in a financial situation that feels miserable to them, why they feel powerless to get out of their comfort zone and pursue their life passion instead of "whatever pays the bills." Thus, people need a lot more support than they receive from a few sessions. Under the new structure of coaching options, everyone I work with past the first session will be receiving the continuing spiritual support that they need to make these dramatic and lasting improvements to their lives.

3. I realized that a big part of my purpose here is to train other coaches in my rapid life transformation methodology, which produces faster real world results than any other methodology I've seen (and I've experimented a lot). I've had a large number of coaches send emails asking me to share my coaching knowledge with them. I'm happy to do that, and I've also realized that training them is not a conversation over lunch. The depth of knowledge that each of my Emotional Freedom Technique sessions is built on is pretty enormous. So I will happily accept other coaches into my coaching program, with the intention of enhancing their lives in the places they want to enhance, but with the larger goal of training them in how to do what I do with their own clients.

Strike Day #5: New Coaching Options

Based on the guidance that I have received thus far, I have changed the structure of my coaching options dramatically.

I could be charging $500+/hour in my original profession without blinking an eye, and this coaching work is more valuable, so it does beg the question ...

From here on out, I will be working only with those clients who are so committed to dramatic change in their lives that they are willing to invest the time and money to make that happen.

The new options are here. I particularly recommend the monthly options. And if you do not see an option that suits your needs and schedule, please feel free to email me at erika.awakening@gmail.com to propose a custom option that would better meet your specific needs.