INNER FREEDOM
THE METHOD
The Feeling Freedom Method™
A mind-based practice for releasing the emotional charge behind fear, stress, and old conditioning — built over two decades, refined into three connected pillars.
FFM™
ABOUT THE CREATOR
Elvira Byrnes is a teacher and creator of the FFM™ (Feeling Freedom Method™). She is also a published author, acupuncturist, artist, and former IT network engineer and sales professional.
A simple question from a natural therapist revealed something profound.
The stress wasn't only in my body—it was in my mind.That realization became the turning point of my journey.Over the next two decades, I immersed myself in science, meditation, energy work,
and personal transformation.From that experience, I developed the Feeling Freedom Method™—a practical system designed to help people release inner blocks,restore balance, and live with greater clarity, confidence, and joy.
THE ORIGIN STORY
From a corporate desk to a method with a name.
Elvira Byrnes started her Inner Freedom training when she discovered Buddhism in 2000 and Gary Craig’s EFT in 2001. Working as an IT network and desktop engineer, she experienced crippling RSI pain and discovered EFT while working with her Alexander and Feldenkrais method specialist.
Because of this, Elvira dedicated herself to studying the entire body of work by Gary Craig, becoming proficient for herself and helping many people gain emotional freedom through it.
INFLUENCES & DEVELOPMENT
Twenty years of study, folded into one method.
The Sedona Method
Training with Hale Dwoskin came around the same time but took prominence a few years later — Elvira was fascinated by its non-physical, mind-based approach to overcoming mental and physical pain.
Traditional Medicine & Qigong
Shortly after, she began studying acupuncture in Australia and China, deepening her understanding of traditional medicine and energy medicine — the acupuncture roots of EFT were never forgotten.
Buddhist Practice
Years of meditation, philosophy study, and meditation retreats gave Elvira direct insight into the workings of the mind and body.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky
His work "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" — a breakthrough on the physiology of stress — is the reason physiology became a pillar of this method.
Open Focus, with Les & Suzan Fehmi
In 2018, Les Fehmi's Open Focus research showed how awareness itself controls the stress response and physical and emotional pain. Elvira trained personally with Suzan Fehmi and was certified in Open Focus.
An Idea Takes Shape
Years of tapping — on herself and with others through EFT — led Elvira toward an idea: a mind- and awareness-based method to release emotional charge more simply and elegantly. Gary Craig was searching for the same thing at the same time. Elvira's own idea was already forming, though she kept it to herself until it was ready.
THE CORE PREMISE
Why the body reacts before the mind decides.
We experience unpleasant thoughts, which create unpleasant emotions, and these emotions turn on the stress response — creating powerful, unpleasant sensations in the body. The magnitude of those physical sensations far exceeds the intensity of the emotions themselves in the mind. We develop a strong aversion to that physical intensity and a huge desire to escape it. Trying to shut off and disconnect from the unpleasant sensations causes them to imprint as a negative memory of suffering — and the powerful physical sensations of stress start to solidify as the brain builds pathways for a quick response, holding tension for self-defense against its perceived mental enemies: thoughts and emotions.