Self-help: EmoTrance

I recently attended a two-day course on EmoTrance, which is a simple self-help and therapeutic technique. I was initially sceptical, as it seemed to resemble some of the other approaches I am familiar with (e.g. self-hypnosis) but appeared too easy, too simplistic. But after the two days I was impressed with the results I was getting myself, and by observing others I could also see how they were benefiting.

EmoTrance is based on the concept of energy healing – it doesn’t really matter whether you believe in such a thing, you can still use the technique anyway, i.e. I myself sit on the fence. I use many of the ‘energy therapies’, but on the other hand I am a scientist (originally I was a biologist), and need to see something with my own eyes (or at least see a respectable scientific paper on it) before I believe in it.

As I have never seen any meridians, chakras etc, I don’t know whether such things exist. However, it is a fact that our nerves do conduct electricity and perhaps this is the ‘energy’ that we are referring to.

Anyway, I don’t really mind how something works as long as it works – e.g. I use my mobile phone every day, and whist I can’t even begin to imagine how I am able to speak to someone some thousands miles away on this little thingy with some buttons, it certainly doesn’t stop me from using it.

The basic procedure of EmoTrance is as follows:

When we feel a negative emotion – e.g. if someone says something unpleasant, or we recall a difficult memory – we will usually experience this emotion as a physical sensation in our body (a few people find it difficult to identify bodily sensations in relation to emotions, but most of us can do it quite easily – e.g. “butterflies in my stomach”, “heaviness in my chest”, “lump in my throat”).

Now, in EmoTrance we assume that these bodily sensations are simply ‘stuck energy’. The theory is that the energy is supposed to flow, but when it gets stuck for whatever reason, we experience a negative emotion.

Once we identified the bodily sensation – we focus on the area where we feel this ‘stuck energy’, and set an intention for that energy to ‘soften and flow. Normally the area of ‘stuckness’ will feel quite hard or solid, and the task is to, gently, without trying too hard or forcing it, to allow that sensation to begin to soften, as if to melt (like an ice cube beginning to melt round the edges), and allow that energy to flow.

As it begins to soften and flow (and again, for sceptics among us, we can treat this as a metaphor rather than the actual energy flow) the assumption is that this energy will find the pathways for it to flow down (or up) through.

There are no ‘formal’ energy pathways in EmoTrance, unlike in many other therapies (including, of course, acupuncture, where it is assumed that the energy flows through meridians), so the sensation of the energy flowing could be in any direction. The trick is not to try too hard, with the only instruction to gently repeat to yourself “soften and flow, soften and flow..” every now and again.

It is surprising how quickly a hard, unpleasant sensation inside the body can begin to literally melt, using just a simple reminder of “soften and flow”. It is important not to force it. So if the sensation appears to be stubborn and is not softening enough for it to be flowing and liquid, just keep your attention on the sensation and just allow it to soften a bit more and more.

It can take a little while, but eventually most people will experience some kind of flowing sensation, feeling of movement, with the energy (or whatever you like to call it) moving through and out of the body. Often, though not always, through arms and hands and out of the fingertips, through legs going down out of the feet, or coming up and out through breath.

Though it isn’t part of EmoTrance training curriculum, I suspect that this technique could be used successfully with physical sensations associated with addictive cravings, as well as with negative emotions. I have tried it with some promising results for urges for junk food and one or two instances of compulsive shopping :-) If anyone tries it out for themselves, I would be curious to know how it works for you.

Masha