By Marie Holliday, EFT EXP-3
My issue, before EFT was a fear of riding a bicycle.
I have always put this down to the time when I was riding my brother’s bike, which was way too big for me. I fell off and badly hurt myself.
This happened at the tender age of eleven and the fear stayed with me all my life.
I am in my fifties now, so that’s quite some time. And let me tell you that for anyone who knows the expression, “It’s as easy as riding a bike,” believe me it isn’t.
With EFT I tapped on:
Even though I fear riding a bike… I completely love and accept myself.
Followed with:
This fear of riding a bike
I might fall off again, and I might hurt myself.
I even tapped on:
I really don’t WANT to ride a bike.
At this stage in my tapping, I felt totally uninterested in even wanting to ride a bike. I couldn’t understand this. I can drive a car. I have even driven a large van and steered a yacht in a force 8 gale. So why on earth am I so uninterested in riding a bike or the fact that riding a bike scares me to death?
During tapping, I thought I should ride a bike … BUT … (here come the tail enders) … Why should I want to ride a bike?
I thought perhaps it’s because my partner Stuart would like me to ride one and accompany him — it wasn’t really me that wanted to ride a bike but Stuart wanting me to.
The part of Spain we live in is lovely and flat and ideal for biking.
I tried tapping on:
Stuart wants me to ride a bike.
Within a short time it changed to:
I DO want to ride a bike.
I then let this statement go until later when Stuart asked me what I would like for Christmas. Without even thinking, I replied instantly, “A bike.” The words came tumbling out and I can’t tell you how surprised and amazed I was. Stuart nearly fell off his chair! He was incredulous because he knows about my fear of riding a bike.
I didn’t even know if I would be able to ride one and still couldn’t believe I had said it. Stuart bought me my bike present early, as the weather was so pleasant and I would be able to practice. Luckily, we live in the country and have a long driveway where I could practice without embarrassing myself.
The first day, Stuart held onto the bike and tried to push me along.
I honestly couldn’t do anything for laughing and had a constant fit of giggles because I had an image of small children being pushed along by their fathers and here I am at this age trying to ride a bike! At the end of thirty minutes I wasn’t even able to set off, or balance on the bike.
We left it for the day, but not to be discouraged, I waited until the following day when I was alone and started tapping.
First, I tapped on “No confidence” whilst sitting on my bike, and after several short rounds I started riding it. No help, just on my own. I was like a little child again, what a wonderful feeling.
Then I tapped on can’t ride a bike and went a bit further, albeit a bit wobbly. So I then tapped on a bit wobbly and amazingly I rode a lot better without wobbling.
This was fun.
Then I tapped:
This morning I couldn’t ride a bike … I CAN now.
I tapped on the negative:
Couldn’t ride a bike
and on the positive:
I CAN now.
Then I alternated the two phrases finishing on the positive statement I can now.
All this time my riding and balance were improving.
I then tapped for several minutes starting on the Karate Chop point and using set up statements such as:
Even though I couldn’t ride a bike…I can now…not very well but I am riding a bike!
I haven’t fallen off, I have stayed on this bike, and it was just a silly fear … a fear of falling off….
I seemed to fly down the driveway on my new bike. I cannot explain how great that feeling was. I got to the bottom of the drive and I couldn’t turn around on my bike, so I tapped on can’t turn around corners.
At that instant, an image shot into my mind like a flash back of what really happened that day on my brother’s bike — no wonder I was scared. I was actually pulled off on a “corner” near home which was covered by bushes. Two young boys were hiding there and jumped out, pulling me off the bike.
I remember being really shocked and frightened as they started to thump and punch me in the chest and stomach. I managed to get away, ran home very winded, and out of breath from the punching, frightened and sobbing my heart out wanting my mother. She wasn’t there at the time, so I had to try to console myself.
I don’t know why, but I never did tell my mother what happened to me. I remember being constantly worried that I may see the boys again. I wondered what I had done to them. I really didn’t know them or why had they done this to me.
This was the real reason I was so scared to ride a bike. I had buried this painful memory so deep that it had not appeared until I tapped on “corners.” I then tapped several minutes on the event until I was OK with it.
I tested the memory the next day, as there seemed to be a lot of risidual feelings around my mother not being there.
I felt safe watching the movie in my mind of the traumatic event and I continued with the Movie Technique. The memory softened and I didn’t have any remaining intensity.
I had never placed this trauma in my own Personal Peace Procedure. So when working with clients, I always use my own bike example and ask the client to write down any disturbing event, issue, trauma to tap on and how it may affect them years later even though it may seem totally irrelevant.
To finish this story, Stuart returned home and saw the bicycle. To his amazement, I jumped on the bike and rode up and down the driveway. Whilst he knows how well EFT works he couldn’t believe the difference from me not being able to ride a bike to hopping on and flying up and down the drive with confidence.
I have not been out on the roads yet, but I just know that I have conquered the fear and that I can only make progress now with this new found confidence.
