Fly Eagle Fly
A team of us three volunteers (Chitra, Vinod and myself) have been working in a school on the outskirts of Bangalore in India providing regular weekly EFT sessions to children from low income families. We have been working with 50 children in 7th through 10th grade. It has been a wonderful experience for us to be able to work with the children in a variety of areas and experience the magic of EFT as the children have opened up and become more confident. We have found that the 7th grade children have picked it up very easily. The older children have needed more persistence from us to open up and explore .
We have used EFT to help them unblock themselves in their school work, release adolescence related issues, problems they were facing in their communities and even their life choices. Our steady presence in the school has served as a wonderful reminder to the children – that they can empower and free themselves. Many children are now tapping by themselves before their tests and exams. We work with them on group sessions as well as provide individual sessions for deeper healing.
I often bring in story telling to develop a concept before using EFT to explore issues related to the concept with the children’s. Story telling is such an amazing way to connect with the children and have them eagerly explore how related issues can be solved in their own lives. We have explored choices, friendships, relationships and empowerment through stories. We then tapped away on personal incidents related to the same concept.
One such story we explored was “Fly Eagle Fly” – an African folk tale about an eagle who grew up along side chicken belonging to a farmer. The eagle thought he was a chicken and forgot to fly! He behaved exactly like the chicken he lived with. One early morning, at the insistence of the farmer’s friend the eagle faced the rising sun and suddenly realized he had the power to fly. A soaring eagle soon filled the sky!
The children explored areas where they had blocked themselves. With EFT, soon the children were tapping away to run faster, to paint, to dance and sing – exploring areas where they felt blocked in their lives.
The same morning, the principle of the school approached me with a specific problem. Two of the boys were caught stealing in class. She asked me to work with them. The two boys Vinay and Vikas came to me along with the principle - really frightened. I gently took their hand and started talking to them assuring them that they will be ok. With permission I decided we will tap on the roof of the building – away from the curious eyes of their friends in this crowded school.
As we started I asked Vinay what the problem was – he told me that they had all accused him of stealing when he really hadn’t. Vikas mentioned he was being blamed as Vinay’s friend. Vinay was anxious and I could see his hands wringing with fear. His body was tense and his face was full of fear. I asked him – what are you feeling now? He stayed silent. I asked him if he was sad that he was being blamed when he did not do it or afraid because he did it – fearing consequences. He quickly responded telling me he was very sad they were blaming him when he did not do it. I told him not to worry – we can simply release the sadness. He seemed a bit reassured that I wasn’t going to probe further. He mentioned that his SUDS were 8 on 10. We tapped together –
“Even though I feel very sad – they are blaming me when I did not steal I completely love and accept myself”. As soon as we finished the round he blurted out that indeed he had stolen and was terrified. He looked at me and mentioned that he was afraid of being beaten up.
We started tapping on his fear.
“Even though I am very afraid of being beaten up I completely love and accept myself”.
His fear did not budge.
I gently asked him – what he thought of himself. He said that he was ashamed that he had stolen. We talked about the mistaken choices we sometimes make in life. He said that he got tempted and stole – he was a bad boy. I responded and told him that perhaps his choice was bad – but that does not make him a bad boy. We had in one of our earlier classes explored the choices we make in life – in this class we came to the conclusion that there are no bad people – only bad choices. I reminded him about the lesson we had explored together. I asked him if he felt he could forgive himself for his mistake. He asked me what forgiveness meant. I explained that perhaps it means taking responsibility for his choice, releasing the blame from his body and then taking appropriate action with the school. He can learn to trust himself again. He was quiet for a while reflecting on what I had said.
Just then, two eagles started soaring above our heads. I quickly pointed them out and said – “you too have a choice to be an eagle.” He nodded and said he was willing to try.
“Even though I got tempted and made a bad choice to steal I am still a great kid”. A few rounds of this and he could accept his mistake with more ease. I asked him what else he was feeling. He mentioned that he was really scared of being beaten by the principle. I asked him to close his eyes and tell me what image he was seeing – he said that he could see the principle beating him.
We tapped on this “Even though I can see the principle beating me I love and accept myself.” I asked him to check his image again. This time he said that he could see himself talking to the principle and she wasn’t beating him. He still had some fear. A couple of rounds went by and I saw him visibly relax. His shoulders relaxed and he was beginning to smile. He stood up and said that he wanted to meet the principle before she went home for the day. As we started going down an eagle suddenly swooped down and flew just above our heads. It was truly magical! We enjoyed this in silence. No words were necessary.
We made our way downstairs and he went straight to the principle’s office and apologized – taking full responsibility. The principle still angry, asked him sternly if he will do it again. He said never and left the room. I gently requested the principle to trust him more and talked about how a little trust may go a long way. The principle called him back and this time less sternly told him that she expected him to change his habit. He was happy to see the principle less angry. On his way out I received my biggest reward – a full beaming smile of hope. Fly eagle fly!