By H. M.
My grandfather and my great uncle had been “given away” as children. The year was 1904, and many people were too poor to support their children, so apparently this practice of giving away one’s children was not all that uncommon.
My grandfather was, I’m sure, terribly affected by this event, and his life reflected it. My great uncle, on the other hand, did seem to be as affected by it, and he bounced back from this childhood event to lead a productive life.
I’d been tapping on my own emotional triggers and working with clients using the way I was taught emotional freedom techniques: to be specific and find specific events in the past to tap on. I’d been tapping on a couple of my own triggers to the point where I simply couldn’t find any more specific events that could be behind the reason the emotions lingered.
Then I stumbled across an old notebook of mine from over a quarter-century ago–long before I’d heard of EFT tapping.
In it, I’d written some notes about a conversation I’d had with my dad. I’d remembered one story quite clearly, about a trauma from his childhood, and I chose to tap on my feelings about it as I re-read the notes, but then I realized that I had completely forgotten (on a conscious level) about this other story he told me about my grandfather.
I contemplated the idea that my lingering emotional issue might be linked to old emotional trauma that had been passed down from one generation to the next. Researchers have been quoted as referring to these old emotional traumas as “intergenerational trauma” and “Intergenerational trauma is the transmission of historical oppression and its negative consequences across generations.” (Source: UCalgary.ca)
So I decided to create a series of tapping scripts for these “Interenerational Trauma Wounds.” I used these new scripts on myself with great results.
I then shared a couple of them with my daughter, and with some of my clients. The results have all been very positive.
Here’s one of my tapping scripts if you would like to try this. You can insert any nagging emotional issue that may be lingering byond your tapping attempts to clear them.
Tapping Script:
Even though I have these old, old feelings of [inadequacy], and I don’t know where they come from, I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though I sense these old feelings releasing, there is a remaining sense of [inadequacy] that comes up sometimes, and I deeply and completely accept myself.
Even though I sense some remaining feeling of [inadequacy], I deeply and completely accept myself, and I choose to know that I can accept that part of me too, and that when I’m aware of it, if I accept it, it will not be able to overwhelm me.
Reframes:
-These feelings
-I don’t know where they came from
-Probably from many generations back
-All those generations waiting to be free of these [negative, limiting] feelings
-I hear them all rooting for me
-I’m honoring them all for whatever they have experienced that was caused by these feelings
-And I’m honoring ME too
-I’ve been chosen for this releasing, this healing
-On behalf of all of us–past, present and future, from this reality and others
-I choose to heal and release this feeling of [inadequacy] now
-Knowing that I am [“enough”]
-Knowing that I am [worthy]
-Even if I were to do nothing else ever, I am still [worthy]
-And I’m owning this [worthiness] and [adequacy] now
-On behalf of previous generations, this generation, future generations
-As I stand here in my own-ness, my power, my authentic being
-As I stand here connected to Source
-I feel whole, complete, perfect, loving, accepted, and powerful
-I feel like a super-hero
-And all the generations in all times who have been, or might still be negatively affected by these feelings of inadequacy are standing and cheering
-We are all FREE!
-And we are all in this together–connected.
-And when and if these feelings arise again, we are all here for one another
-To remind each other that we are all-powerful and connected to Source
-And have never been, nor could ever BE [inadequate]
Deep breath–breathing in this new found freedom and insight and connection to life.
It’s important to note that forgiveness could also be a part of this tapping process as you may uncover a deeper understanding of a parent or grandparent and why they behave or behaved the way they did. As intergenerational trauma research continues to uncover how traumatic stress is passed down through our DNA, we can begin to forgive ourselves and our families for the emotional baggage we’ve carried with us and work to clear these old traumatic wounds so that further generations benefit from our tapping work.
To your multi-generational healing of body, mind, spirit … and emotions!
