My EFT Story
It was a perfect morning for land paddling, a sport that combines a longboard skateboard with a big stick also known as a land paddle. As I have just been invited to join Paddlers for Humanity on their September paddle to Block Island I was stoked as I could be.
I have been stand-up paddleboarding for the last four years, and land paddling for the last year. This was going to be the fulfillment of one of my dreams.
Many years ago I heard about the Montauk Indians paddling their canoes to Block Island to fight with the tribe that lived there. I thought that if they could paddle across Block Island Sound, which is basically the Atlantic Ocean, in a canoe, then I wanted to paddle to Block Island in a kayak. But once I saw the group Paddlers for Humanity do the trip in mass I really wanted in, too!
So, 5 a.m., land paddling down the quiet roads of Westhampton Beach and Quiogue. I would go just after sun-up.
But just like the last run down the ski slope when you are overtired -- that's when you make your first and last mistake. Jonathan would say stick to the water. So there you go -- the King of the Road.
Bicyclists, runners, walkers and the dogs with their humans in tow would stare and smile as I was rolling down the road in search of clean, fresh and smooth asphalt.
As a middle-aged man, and pushing the envelope a little bit with this as my new passion, the water would forgive a fall as long you do not hit your board but the road shows no mercy -- it does not give one inch.
As my father said to me once, we're really not that much different from a grape, drop us hard enough and we will bust just like a grape.
So, into the parking lot of the high school I attended when I was young. Everything changes and this place was on steroids -- it got huge new buildings; it was kind of amazing.
I looked out at the football field and track thinking about past glory and past tragedy, as on that field I dislocated my shoulder playing football. I was amazed that they had gotten rid of the speed bumps in the high school parking lot, but I was wrong -- on the side by the tennis courts there they were.
I'm no daredevil. I am just trying to stay fit and enjoy the physical part of my existence. Dealing with the outside world and everyday life provides enough adrenaline for me. So I slow-roll over the speed bump and the next thing I know the board shoots out. I didn't flip; my feet hit the ground from a surf stance.
I roll and pop up on my feet, but wait -- there's something wrong. My right sneaker is pointing out to the side and as I am not bowlegged this is very wrong. I cannot went my right foot on the ground this is a big problem.
W ith my kahuna big stick in hand I hop to the grass on the side of the parking lot, my first thought OMG you broke your leg; second thought you dislocated your ankle and definitely sprained the left ankle!
So what can you do? I left the house without my cell phone or wallet because nothing could possibly happen to me – yeah, right! So I think to myself ,it's time to put your tools of healing into firsthand use.
The ground is healing. I met, worked on, and read information from Dr. Stephen Sinatra and I agree that the earth itself provides us with healing energy.
Next, pain management. This hurts. What is pain but the nervous system registering stimulus and conveying it to the brain. So after spending the winter getting certified in EFT -- emotional freedom technique -- and using it with friends, family and a handful of clients I turn my full attention to me.
The acknowledgment of an issue or trauma is a big component of EFT, so I start tapping. I acknowledge that I may have a broken leg, but that's okay. I acknowledge the pain and that the pain is okay and with every moment I tap my acupressure points I tell myself the pain is less and less. And it becomes less and less, not gone but minimal, except when I put down my right foot.
So I sit and I tap and I tell my body that no matter what I have done it is already starting to heal. I love and respect my body and its ability to heal.
The principles of EFT are to acknowledge the situation and then to overlay a new program into the body, the brain, and the nervous system. The positive affirmation is power stuff! I am also doing Reiki on both my ankles, alternating between rounds of EFT and the energy of Reiki, and I'm feeling very optimistic that with some ice I will be on my way to work on clients in East Hampton in five hours.
Rest, ice, and compression, right? A Good Samaritan out on his morning walk sees me and asks if I need help.
I asked if he has a cell phone, he replies no, but he is a former EMS and was once the baseball coach at the high school. When he looked at my ankle he said it looks dislocated; it may not be broken.
Unfortunately he was wrong. He asked, “Did you try to put it back in place?” I replied no, then reached down, grabbed my sneaker, and turned my foot back straight not realizing that a dislocated ankle is no relation to a dislocated shoulder.
While my Good Samaritan walked back to his house to get his truck I continued doing my EFT sequences, tapping for healing, tapping for pain relief ,tapping for the highest outcome of this event.
While I was doing this I was also fighting the old urge or superstition that someone had jinxed me. I turned my thoughts to “What is the universe trying to teach me in this moment?” It did not seem fortunate that my insurance had lapsed and it did not seem fortunate that I would be unable to work for a period of time.
I was fortunate that after I got home my neighbor was available to drive me to the hospital. I was fortunate to get wonderful care at Peconic Bay Medical Center. Although I also got a wonderful bill to go along with their wonderful service.
I also got the chance to practice doing EFT on myself in a medical setting. When the nurses asked me if I wanted something for pain I replied, “I’ve already got something.”
After my surgery the nurses asked me again if I wanted something for pain. They observed me tapping and asked “W hat are you doing?”
I told them I was managing my pain and speeding up my healing process. I told them all about my multiple trips to San Francisco where I studied EFT with Sonya Sophia.
After my surgery, despite the kindness of the nursing staff, my main interest was getting out of the hospital and getting home so I could continue to work undistracted on my healing process.
I made several phone calls to several friends and heard nothing. My battery was dead, and I have three numbers memorized in my head.
Unfortunately it is very difficult for calls to get from the switchboard to the recovery room, and everyone's calls were not getting to me. I had 10 ****???? minutes before they were going to force me to stay overnight when Ronnie Desiderio, a massage therapist and water sports videographer, came to my rescue and got me out of Dodge. Big ups as we would say to Mr. Ronnie D!
The following week I did EFT three times a day. I juiced, I did Reiki on myself, my friend Liz of Shiva Now did Reiki with me at the same time and wow, I really felt intense heat on the outside of my ankle and inside my leg.
For my first doctor's visit after the hospital I went to North Fork Orthopedics and sports medicine. John, the physicians assistant took off??? my cast and said, “Wow that's beautiful.”
I had no swelling, no black and blues, only some staples and a line where they put in the plate and nine titanium screws.
I insisted that I needed to get back to work and wanted a green light, but he continued to say, “You just had major surgery and you won't be going back to work anytime soon.”
Which would be understandable under standard circumstances. I'm not a standard guy. I worked that next week from my home office in Quiogue. A few days later I hired a massage therapy assistant and recruited a handful of backup helpers.
I have got two good hands and one good leg -- there is nothing that should prevent me from working except not being able to drive or carry my table.
So on my crutches and with my assistant I made more than half of my usual Fourth of July holiday appointments. I continued doing EFT to work on some of my discomfort and some of my anxiety about not working as much as I normally do and having all of these new bills from the hospital coming in.
EFT is not the be-all, end-all of treatments, but it is an incredibly handy tool to use on yourself or to study and get certified in to practice on others.
Four weeks and four days, plus, it could be have been, four hours and Dr. Carter looks at my x-rays and says, “Do you want this thing off?” I said, “Yes, as soon as possible.”
So I am learning to use my right leg the way I used to and I am feeling very much like my old self but much improved.
With love and light,
sincerely,
Gene Hamilton LMT
