Picture a hot air balloon…..
It is colourful, full of warm air, ready to lift off and fly freely.

All of us are like this hot air balloon. We have the potential to rise and experience a vision of something greater than we are currently experiencing. Whatever the current temperature is in our balloon is sufficient to keep us in our current situation but not hot enough to raise us to our next goal. If we want to experience something higher – we will need to somehow heat up the air in the balloon.

A consistent mediation practice is a great way to do this.

Every time you engage in mediation you are increasing the vibration of the molecules inside the balloon. Other techniques will do this too; mindfulness, breathing, chanting, affirmations, yoga. Eventually, with consistent enough practice, the balloon begins to rise gracefully and your life transforms as you reach your goals quickly and easily.

So what’s the challenge?

We forgot about the ropes tethering the basket to the ground. Think about what happens if the balloon rises but the ropes aren’t released. Initially, the little bit of slack in the ropes might allow the balloon to rise slightly. Then the slack is gone and some of the ropes become tight and active. There is resistance to the balloon rising any further.

Exactly the same thing happens in our healing and personal growth journey.

We begin to meditate or adopt any of the other strategies and initially we feel better – and then, at some point – the unresolved events, stressful emotions, powerless beliefs and limiting patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving get activated. We can rise no further. And – the activation of these ‘emotional ropes’ will show up in our life.

Perhaps the activated rope is a pattern in our relationship with food. We find ourselves overeating. Perhaps it’s a rope in the way we habitually react in relationships. We are fighting with our spouse – again. The point is – unless you also address the need to release these ropes – you will experience tension either consciously or unconsciously.

As well, since the balloon can’t rise because of the ropes, you will eventually become frustrated with the lack of movement and stop trying to increase the temperature of the balloon’s air.

Throwing off the ropes is a task that needs serious attention. Now here’s a truth that you won’t read often. If you engage in a serious commitment to heating up the air in the balloon without doing the inner emotional work to resolve past events and patterns that are stored in your biology, you will put force/tension on the ropes that hold you grounded. This force WILL have a negative biological effect, whether or not you are aware of it.

For example, the person who forces themselves on a diet and exercise program. They successfully lose some weight, but, gain it back within months, and, damage their metabolism in the process.

In order to have a safe and sustainable transformation in our lives we must deal with the ropes that limit our growth.

This is one of the many reasons that I am a strong proponent of Energy Psychology and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) in particular. In my career as a psychotherapist over 25 years I have watched people attempt to force themselves to change without doing the inner work required to release the ropes.

Now, to be fair, until 20 years ago we didn’t have techniques that were strong enough to discover what ropes were being activated and to release them. The majority of the thickest ropes are stored in our subconscious brains – and no amount of talking is going to help us discover them – let alone release them. We have been doing the best we can to help ourselves and others, but now the great news is that we can do better.

We have the technology, and the science and research supporting it, to make the process of substantive change gentler, faster and more permanent.

If you’d like to learn more about EFT/tapping and Energy Psychology, there are free resources at NeftTI.com. Check them out!

To your freedom,
Nancy