I knew I was sick but all I could do was protect myself by limiting my experiences to reduce the likelihood of the attacks. This was manageable and worked quite well until eight years on, when my daughter was 4 and I started having them inside my own home when I was on my own with her, and it was then I really began to pull my hair out.

After that it would go in cycles, just beginning to feel ok again and wham, another series would hit, seemingly out of the blue and set me back to square one again, it was all very depressing and no matter how much I read, how ever many remedies I took or however much I meditated I was never ready for the shock of how they made me feel.

Discovering EFT

So when I first met Silvia Hartmann at an Animal MBS event in 1996 she had organized, and was later introduced to Adventures in EFT she had just written, I wasn’t overly optimistic but simply set about reading yet another book that was supposedly going to set me free.

But by god, after the first few minutes reading I knew this was something different and moments later, having tried the protocol, my overall anxiety levels were down to zero, something only an hour or two of meditation had previously achieved.

I started off, as I think many people do, with a rather too general statement, Even though I am feeling anxious… but the results of that one round of tapping were enough to prove to me how effective it was and I went on to refining my statements.

The real breakthrough occurred when I started listening to my own body, started concentrating on my feelings, it was then I got the right opening statements.

Tapping On Physical Sensations

I first concentrated on the bodily sensations which scared me because I feared they heralded a panic attack.

The description of the physical symptoms became the opening statements.

• Even though when my heart flutters I am scared I will get a full blown attack…
• Even though I am scared when my throat gets dry and tight…
• Even though getting dizzy when I am out really scares me…
• Even though needing to go to the toilet urgently when I am out freaks me out…
• Even when things go loud all of a sudden…
• Even when everything goes bright…

I then decided to imagine it was time to go out and felt the well known feeling of tightness around my chest which I used to get when I bent down to put my shoes on, so instantly dealt with the tightness, I remember it taking two rounds but got it down to zero before carrying on.

Thinking About Doing It…

I then imagined putting my coat on, approaching the front door, tapping all the time, just gently on each point one at a time as the pictures of what I was doing were going through my mind and when anything hit me particularly badly I stopped and concentrated on that. Actually opening the door was the next big problem so I did a few rounds of:

• Even though the thought of opening the front door is making me feel sick…

…until it was down to zero and then I opened the door in my mind and walked down my path. I waited at the gate and looked around, slight anxiety arose but I tapped it down and walked around the block.

I remember when I got almost exactly half way round feeling a tightness again and tapped for:

• Even though I am half way and once I take another step I am committed to going on and can’t turn back…

Well I did complete the journey in my head right down to taking my coat and shoes off and sitting back down in my chair in my study and was also quite surprised to feel the customary feeling of relief and achievement which was encouraging.

Going Out

So there was nothing else for it but to actually do it myself, I put on my coat and shoes, felt a little tightness in my throat which turned out to be ‘suppose none of this works while I am out?’ so I did a round of:

• Even though I don’t believe this is going to work…

…until it reached zero then opened the door, and proceeded to walk around the block.

I didn’t rush but took my time, looking at the front gardens, breathing in the scent of the flowers, noticing where the sun was in the sky and thinking how beautiful the sunset would be tonight.

It wasn’t until I got back inside I realized that I had barely thought of how I was feeling all the way round and actually remembered feeling a bit of a fraud.

Covering the Bases

Could my attacks have been that bad all these years? Had I been imagining their severity? Later on of course I learnt about the apex effect (the fact that people often ‘forget’ the severity of their problem or even that they had one at all) no wonder referrals are rare with EFT!

I got into the habit of walking around the block every day, come hail or shine, but was still nervous about venturing further, I didn’t want to spoil things, push myself, in case it all went horribly wrong and I was again confined to the house having experienced the pleasure and sheer joy of feeling free but I soon realized I wasn’t free until I pushed myself and tested to the limit.

I knew I had found a tool at last that worked, I had proved that, so set about ensuring that all my bases were covered and that when I walked into town alone I had covered every eventuality.

I tapped for:

• Even though I am scared this is not going to work…
• Even though I’m scared I won’t be able to get back home quick enough if it all goes horribly wrong…
• Even though I am frightened the whole thing is going to exhaust me and set me back years…

I set myself a task of going into a supermarket and buying something, queuing up like a normal individual, paying for it and leaving without rushing out. I had learned many years ago that running away from the feeling of panic only compounded it in the long run and started to actually look forward to testing my new skill in the field, knowing I had something at last that would help.

I had experienced the under eye point as being especially helpful to me as it was always my stomach beginning to clench that heralded an attack and the under eye, being the stomach meridian, seemed to deal with this feeling nicely so I also knew I had an emergency tool should I get a bit overwhelmed at any point which helped enormously to get me out of the door!

So I walked into town, it wasn’t all plain sailing but I felt myself welcoming the different feelings as a chance to practice and a sign that I was open to experiencing and dealing with these things and not just be rid of them, forevermore scared of them cropping up out of the blue again with the same forceful shock and effect on me they had had in the past.

I knew if I could do this, feeling slightly wobbly but confident this was far more valuable than feeling nothing at all, and I was right, as I looked for more and wider experiences to test myself, literally shouting out for the feelings to come on in and do their worst, they stopped.

I had thought about looking for the initial cause of the panic attacks but somehow that didn’t seem relevant or useful anymore but what I did do was tap for the weird empty feeling of them not being there any longer.

• Even though it feels strange not having them around anymore…
• Even though I can’t believe they’ve gone…

I also tapped for the enormous loss of life I felt for the years I had missed doing ‘normal’ things especially with my daughter who I feel missed out dreadfully when she was young on so many different experiences.

• Even though I am so sad I missed out…
• Even though I feel so guilty at making my little girl miss so many things…
• Even though I blame myself for her being so nervous now…
• Even though I know there is no way I can ever make up for this loss…

I covered as much as I could of the guilt and the feelings of having been a dreadful coward all these years not to have tried harder and just done things anyway, however I felt, but I realize now that that just is not so, people who suffer panic attacks, if anything, are extremely strong and brave, going to war every day.

Some of the most courageous people I know are the ones who have suffered panic and anxiety attacks for most of their lives and have soldiered on regardless and this includes those who were not even able to leave their houses. They still got up every day to face the day with the fear of not knowing quite what to expect which is like being told to march into battle with no weapon, no map and just a vague knowing that there is a huge hostile army lurking somewhere.

You can do it and EFT will help you!

Basic EFT Anxiety Protocol - Step by Step

However, remember, EFT is not just a weapon to help you win this war, it is a finely crafted tool that will help you design and fashion the life you want in intricate and beautiful detail.

So, to sum up

1 Walk through a situation in your mind first, tap on everything that comes up and use this to prepare for the actual event.
2 Try and notice as you are doing each round if there is a particular point that always seems to help or makes you feel better, this is a useful single point to tap if you are out and forget everything else!
3 Make small trips first to build confidence in yourself and the technique.
4 Make the statements very specific, concentrating first on your bodily sensations then including all your fears about having an attack.
5 Then really embrace the feelings and welcome them as a chance to practice; this was the key for me.
6 Lastly tidy up all the feelings about how things are now you are free of them and also if need be the loss of life involved.

Try it, if I can do it anyone can!

Life Without Panic Attacks - The Book

Adventures in EFT by Dr. Silvia Hartmann