The body screams its rage. It yells its fear. Sadness calls from within. The body creates emotion as a signal. Flee or fight! is the message it screams. The body- to survive- creates an emotional link, alerting us to possible harm. The bodys intelligence may, however, incorrectly identify a memory or substance as dangerous. Walking through the woods while grieving over the death of a friend could create a link between sadness and trees. Love-pain may cause an unconscious flight response to a new positive loving relationship. A fall may lead to a phobia of heights.

These emotions are the bodys link to survival- a complex system that elicits an emotional response to memories, thought and physical substances. It may appear overwhelming until we look at the links as part of an energy system. In oriental medicine, meridians are mapped out showing how energy moves through the body. The underlying belief is that problems (physical and emotional) are caused by a disruption in the bodys energy field. We can compare this to a snake bite, where we throw on a tourniquet to stop poison from moving through the body. A survival link does the same thing. It creates a disruption or blockage in the system to prevent poison from moving through the body.

The subconscious has one major purpose- survival. The subconscious stores the information in the bodys cells, to protect against future exposures. When the subconscious interprets an item to be dangerous, a reaction begins. What if rage screams from the body and has no escape? What if sadness cries from the heart and no one hears? These links cause problems when they are ignored. Disruption in energy creates disruption of health. Our buried emotions become our illnesses. If we desire to correct our health, improve and grow, or gain control over our emotional wellbeing, following the survival link to its origin is the first step. The core to a link is often based in childhood. Like layers on an onion, survival links are added with each new experience. Each layer sends confirmation to the bodys protection system and solidifies the link.

Just as western medicine has separated the mind from the body, western thought has separated the body from the mind. Most self-improvement programs focus exclusively on thought, intention and mind-over-matter. Deal with it, they say, or Just, do it! Sometimes, however, making up your mind is just not enough. When fear rushes into your abdomen, its almost impossible to think clearly. When sadness overcomes your heart, its almost impossible to experience joy. An individual with a spider phobia may say This little bug cannot hurt me, yet still experience panic when a spider appears.

What can we do to bring the mind back into power? How can we relax if our body is screaming at us? If we recall that the link is formed in the bodys energy system, it makes sense that energy techniques can be used to remove the link. Reiki, Qigong and Cranial sacral Therapy often remove survival links in the healing process. These techniques are effective and powerful. They usually, however, require many years of study or require that you go to another person to be fixed. Acupressure, similar to acupuncture without needles, allows you to remove these links yourself by tapping with fingertips on selected parts of your face and body, while thinking about a distressing thought. A tapping point related to fear is found in the bony structure under the eye. You can understand how the concept works by tapping under your eye with your fingertips while recalling a fearful event, and noticing any change in the level of your fear.

A simple method using these concepts, called Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), has been developed by Gary Craig. Millions have dissolved their stress reaction to phobia, trauma, anxiety, depression and compulsion. It works with memories decades past as well as the frustration of the moment. Minor irritations such as slow traffic are resolved as easily as more serious issues such as abuse or war memory. Food and environmental sensitivities, physical symptoms of the survival link, are often eliminated in the same manner. The results are usually permanent.