“John” felt like he carried a level of stress and anxiety most of the time. When I asked him what it felt like, he said it was like “two heavy boulders on my shoulders.” We talked about his job, his family life, etc., and it seemed that much in his life was good. The feeling of stress and anxiety was chronic and seemed to have been building for a long time but he couldn’t guess where it came from.

After some rounds of conventional tapping, I suggested that we tap for the image since imagery is the language of the deeper mind and might take us beyond what the conscious mind could figure out.

“Even though I have these boulders on my shoulders, that’s just how I feel. I can be with this and see what happens.”

We tapped for “boulders on my shoulders” and at the end of the round, he said, “I think I know where the boulders come from. I just saw the old rock wall that was in the woods where I grew up. I think the boulders come from that wall.” So we tapped again for what was coming up.

“Even though I see the old rock wall and that makes me feel… (’what?’ he said, ‘uncomfortable’)… it’s time to bring some healing to this.”

We tapped for “this old rock wall”… “makes me feel uncomfortable…” What he then saw was himself at age 10 or so sitting on the wall in the woods. He said, “I haven’t thought about this in a long time. That was where I used to go when my parents were fighting.” And so our work became an inner child session as we tapped for the feelings in the little boy. There were feelings of “scared,” “insecure,” “don’t feel safe” and “maybe it’s my fault.” He had the insight that the boulders he carried today had a lot to do with that old feeling of “whatever is wrong is my fault,” so we tapped for that with some reframing, “The truth is, everything is not my fault. It was never my fault.” He felt much relief.

I asked John if he would like to create in his imagination a safe place for the boy that would be far away from the lonely place in the woods. He imagined a sunny room that was safe and secure. I asked him what needed to happen with the boulders. He said, “Well, they’re actually much smaller now. But I want a table in the room that is strong enough to hold them. Whenever I find rocks or boulders on my shoulders again, I’m going to go to that room and put them on the table. Because I know where they come from now. They’ll be like museum pieces from that ancient old wall. But I don’t have to carry them anymore.”

We tapped: “Even though I may get boulders on my shoulders, I don’t have to carry them. I don’t have to keep them. They’re only museum pieces from the past. I can put them on the table and walk away.”

I made a little recording for John to reinforce this imagery. We are literally creating new pathways in the brain with this kind of work, and new neural pathways grow stronger with repetition (exciting new brain research has much to tell us about how this works: repetition is a key element in strengthening new neural connections). As John has been combining the tapping with this simple visualization, he has been excited that he can do so much to change his old pattern. He feels empowered that he can now free himself of stress or anxiety on a daily basis. Because the imagery is his own, it’s very meaningful and effective for him. The power of the inner mind plus tapping!