My retort is, “Why not cure the common cold?” – or at least speed its healing and recovery time.

Novel approaches to an old problem

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “It will do everything but cure the common cold.” I’ve even had people tell me this about Rapid Eye Technology (RET). My retort is, “Why not cure the common cold?” – or at least speed its healing and recovery time. The law says I can’t claim that any process can cure any ailment. And there are no studies that conclusively demonstrate such. Still, when I feel a cold coming on, I know just what to do about it – and it works almost every time – a claim I’ve proven to myself on more than a few occasions!

It’s a bit expensive going to do a regular RET session every time you feel a cold coming on so I explored a number of alternative options you can do for yourself at home (or wherever you find yourself). I have two self-administered programs and one you can do with a RET technician – or a RET technician can do with a person suffering from cold symptoms – including symptoms of allergies, hay fever, and asthma. Try one or more of these ideas yourself – maybe one will work for you, too.

Approach 1 – self-administered symptom control

You don’t have to have a degree in psychology to do this, just the willingness to describe your symptoms thoroughly. Here’s how:

1. Identify the highest level – broadest description – of the problem and give it a name. For example, “I feel a cold coming on.”
2. Measure the intensity of your symptoms as a problem on a 0 – 10 scale with 0 being no symptom intensity and 10 being unbearable intensity. Remember that your body needs to do some clearing from time to time so the object here is not to eliminate symptoms. Rather it is to eliminate the symptoms as a problem.
3. Elicit from yourself the evidence you have for your problem. For example, “The evidence I have for saying I feel a cold coming on is the achiness in my bones, the runny nose, and the headache…” Make a list of symptoms.
4. Using the RET tapping sequence, tap on each symptom starting with the highest level and say, for example, “I release the fear of a coming cold…” “I release the fear of the runny nose…” “I release the fear of a headache…” etc.
5. After each tapping sequence:

• Zigzag the eyes back and forth side to side while slowing moving the zigzag up then down then up again until it hurts too much to do so.
• Stop the zigzag movement of the eyes and blink hard shut then open three times.
• Take a deep breath in and release it all at once in a big sigh – three times.

6. Repeat item 4 and 5 for each symptom.
7. Again measure the intensity of symptoms as a problem. The symptoms intensity should drop significantly or altogether within a very short time. If they do not drop to near 0 after this process, repeat the process getting clearer on your symptoms. You don’t have to get clever, just thorough – you’ve probably missed something important, like the fact that you don’t want to get out of bed and go to work or school…

You can use this novel RET process on many other things, too. Visit www.rapideyetechnology.com/selfcare.htm to learn more about the eye movement. Visit jbennette.com/resources/eft.htm for the tapping sequence.

Approach 2 – self-administered symptom detachment

Scramblers can be used to detach oneself from identifying with their symptoms. In this approach we utilize the power of identity to relieve symptoms. Remember that it will be important after this process to make sure you are completely back in your own body, reframed with positive affirmations, and considered a positive future.

1. Identify your symptoms and write them down. Start again with the highest, broadest level of the problem – then identify aspects of those highest level symptoms: “I feel a cold coming on.” “The cold is made up of feelings of aching bones, runny nose, and a slight headache.” “The aching bones feels like it’s in my back and my thighs…” “The headache is mostly in the back of my head…” etc.
2. While seated, cast your eyes downward and to the right or left of either knee keeping your head facing forward – it doesn’t matter which side you use for this process – repeat to yourself the entire scrambler script for each symptom:

I am I am [symptom]

I am I am not [symptom]

I am I am not not [symptom]

I am not I am [symptom]

I am not I am not [symptom]

I am not I am not not [symptom]

I am not not I am [symptom]

I am not not I am not [symptom]

I am not not I am not not [symptom]

3. Don’t concern yourself with whether or not you can say each statement – just do the best you can and continue with the next statement. Do the entire script for the same symptom all the way through: “I am I am a cold coming on.” “I am I am not a cold coming on.” “I am I am not not a cold coming on…” etc.
4. Do the zigzag eye movement described in the previous exercise.
5. Repeat steps 2 – 4 for each symptom you listed and those you elicit as you progress.
6. Use the temporal tap* and speak out loud your affirmations – “I am well and whole…” etc.

• The temporal tap is done by tapping in a curve starting at the front of the ear and ending behind the ear along the ear lobe. Tap at a rate of about 3-4 taps per second while speaking your affirmation – one affirmation per tapping sequence around the ear lobe.

7. Complete by speaking out loud three times while tapping gently on the crown of the head:

I exist

I have a life

I have a future

8. You could visualize yourself getting up and doing something while feeling well and healthy – this affirms with imagery your future life and can motivate you to action that will further confirm your symptom control.

Approach 3 – done with a RET technician

Simply do either of the above processes with a technician. The job of the technician is to elicit symptoms and underlying emotional and mental problems contributing to the cold. You will want to weave into whatever process you do the Birth Story, focusing special attention on the tunnel and conception – times when you felt out of control and helpless against a natural process (just like your cold).

Your body is an animal with a primitive brain to control it. You, the thinking part of you, sits atop this animal and represent yourself in the neocortex. You communicate with your animal part through a special brain area called the limbic system – your emotional body. You might think of this combination of animal and human like a rider on a saddled and bridled horse. The horse knows pleasure and pain while the human rider knows where s/he wants to go and why.

When the rider pays attention to the needs and wants of the horse, a special relationship develops in which the horse becomes very friendly and controllable by the rider. It’s when the rider becomes complacent about the horse, forgetting to feed it, groom it, or water it, that the horse becomes uncontrollable and rebellious.

Instead of seeking to live free of pain and physical symptoms, we might consider paying attention to the body, applying immediate attention and awareness to symptoms. Pain is merely a means for the horse to address its rider. When the rider pays attention to the needs of the horse, the horse will cooperate. Chronic pain is often an indicator that we have focused too much attention to the horse. The above processes can be used for chronic and acute pain, too, as they both focus attention on the body.

A longer yet rewarding process for dealing with physical symptomology is the awareness walk described in the RET manual. This is time consuming, yet very rewarding and can open up deep channels of healing for the chronically afflicted.

Notes -

1. Experience has taught me to start simple and go more complex. In other words, start with EFT on the symptoms, then add the RET eye movement if the EFT is not completely effective. If the EFT with RET eye movement still fails to completely eliminate the symptoms, I add on the scrambler and that usually does the trick. Still, if I want to “go for the gold” – I schedule a session with a RET technician. Click here to find a RET technician nearest you.
2. The processes outlined above seldom caused instant relief of symptoms. Usually I had to give them some time to work. In most cases, using the processes above, I’d see relief of my cold symptoms in hours rather than days – usually without taking time off work. In some cases, symptoms seemed to worsen, but not for long – it was as though someone had put the “run” of the cold on fast forward.