Hi,

I'm a Professional Life Coach and Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming and Ericksonian Hypnosis. I'm also an avid practitioner of Emotional Freedom Technique as well as one of the co-moderators on the Weight Loss board.

Over the past 8 weeks I've been volunteering my time on Friday mornings. As a Professional Coach, I've decided to present a program to my daughter's 6th grade class focused on teaching the children strategies to increase their self esteem and to be more aware of their bodies. I call it Self Esteem Secrets and Mental Magic. Basically what I have been doing is teaching the kids how their thoughts affect their bodies and doing so in a context that really makes sense to them.

I've been building up to teaching them more about EFT for weeks, yet don't quite know where to find the best bridge.

We've talked about the importance of having choices, and the kids shared how they often feel the victim of their cirumstances. Some of them are facing divorce in their family, others are facing sibling rivalry, loneliness, frustration, parents out of work, relatives who are alcoholics, dissention in their families, chronic illness and death of loved ones. Boy have these little ones got a lot on their plates.

The teacher and I began the school year by talking about the importance of recognizing our feelings and realizing that this is just as important as  paying attention to learning any academic subject like Math or English. Both she and I are survivors of abusive homes and we stand as role models for the kids proving to them that anyone can rise above their circumstances. We've talked extensively about role models and seeking out people who can guide them to who they want to become.

I've taught them about the importance of creating a safe space inside of them, anchoring positive feelings and sharing what is on their mind with those who they trust. We've talked about bullying and how words can affect the way that we feel about ourselves. I've taught them many wonderful things that I've learned from doing a series of self esteem seminars with Jack Canfield.  

I've given them several convincer examples of how magical their minds are and they are soaking it up like little sponges.

Recently the children have been investigating and researching issues in society that they want to understand more. Global warming is one of the things that they are passionate about learning.

I see this fascination and curiosity as a means of teaching them about the concept of globalization so that they can see that we are all one.

I am not sure how to bring this point home to them in terms of convincer exercises or topics of discussion. I'd like to get some ideas from anyone who can give me some insight into how to bring this together for the children so that it is deeply meaningful to them.

I have already done a Feldenkrais exercise with them that taught them that they can overcome their own perceived limitations by moving their arm further than they thought they could by just thinking about it and then I decided to take it a step further and introduce a quick reference to EFT by using the tapping on the karate chop point to further move beyond their imposed comfort zones. That was met with a lot of shocked looks of disbelief and WOWs.

In one of my NLP training classes, I recall doing an exercise where the group formed a circle and we each rubbed our hands together and after creating enough friction we put our hands into the center of the circle and played with the energy, tossing it from person to person and back again.

Can you recommend a way of introducing this concept or some other to the kids in a simplistic manner. My concern is that some of them will 'get it' and others won't be sensitive to the subtle vibrations generated by doing this exercise.

I really need some help to keep on task and to not overwhelm them with all my enthusiastic information and sharing.

My objective is to empower them to realize that they have a choice and that by honoring their emotions, they can deal with them in a way that releases stress and creates more harmony.

What recommendations can you make to help me to build a bridge so that the kids really 'get it' and see that they are part of a much bigger picture?

Thank you,

Andrea 

Hello Andrea,

I have found when talking to young people that a demonstration of how thoughts and feelings effect the energy system really impresses them.  I use dowsing rods to show the breadth of their energy field.  I ask the individual student to think of the last time he was really feeling angry or hurt and measure his energy field (it gets really small).  I have them do a round of tapping for the negative feeling and check their enrgy field again and it gets really big. Sometimes I ask the group to send positive or loving thoughts to the student and it gets really big as well.

The other demo I use is with muscle testing. A favorite is with the issue of smoking.  I muscle test a nonsmoker for his baseline strength while he states, "I am a nonsmoker" and he will test strong (if that is a true statement). I then have a smoker or two stand next to the student or have him hold a cigarette to his chest and, of course, he will test weak.  I remove the cigarette or have the smoker(s) move away and after a cleansing breath, he tests strong once again.

Sometimes I do a blind test.  I write Hitler on one piece of paper and Mother Theresa on another and fold them up.  The student holds one piece in her hand and and focuses on that paper.  Hiltler should test weak and Mother Thersea should test strong.  You can predict which name she is holding.  It takes some courage to do this in a group, so you might want to practice in advance.  I might write puppies and rats or some other opposites. It is a lot of fun and really gets the students engaged.

Hope this helps.

Hi Nurse Crilly,

Thank you for offering me so many wonderful ideas from which to approach my upcoming classes with EFT and the kids.

I am unfamiliar with dowsing rods, other than a passing memory of having seen someone use them once when I was a kid. However for the most part I know nothing about how they work and their purpose. Would you be willing to tell me a little bit more about how they are used and how they would apply to the goal to increase the kids' self esteem.

In the example that you have shared, does one child hold the dowsing rods while all the other are directing their thoughts or do they all have dowsing rods. How does that work?

I also love the idea of doing the blind muscle testing. That will be a lot of fun. I think I'll practice doing that one beforehand as you suggest. 

Thank you for these wonderful and very visually exciting convincers.

Sincerely,

Andrea