What is EFT tapping?

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is an alternative treatment for physical pain and emotional distress. 

Using this technique can create a balance in your energy system and treat pain. EFT was developed by Gary Craig in the 1990s based on his study of work done by Roger Callahan in Thought Field Therapy (TFT). TFT was one of the first methods in what is now called Energy Psychology. While Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) have not been around as long as acupuncture, one of the main components of EFT is the gentle tapping on those same energy lines, or meridians, used in acupuncture and acupressure. 

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About 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered a system of energy circuits that run throughout the body. These energy circuits, or meridians as they are called are the centerpiece of Eastern health practices and form the basis for modern day acupuncture, acupressure and a wide variety of other healing techniques.

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EFT SIGNIFICANTLY LOWERS CORTISOL

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A study published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, the oldest peer-reviewed psychology journal in the United States, found that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) lowered the major stress hormone cortisol significantly more than other interventions tested.

This study examined the changes in cortisol levels and psychological distress symptoms of 83 nonclinical subjects receiving a single hour long intervention. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an emotional freedom technique (EFT) group, a psychotherapy group receiving a supportive interviews (SI), or a no treatment (NT) group.  The decrease in cortisol levels in the EFT group mirrored the observed improvement in psychological distress.

Originally designed to help us survive life in the wild, the “fight or flight” response was essential when our ancient ancestors were faced with sudden, brief danger like, let’s say, a tiger.

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So there are some interesting experiments using "Tapping" to lower cortisol but tapping is not a magic pill. There are those that feel that it can cause more harm than good. First these are the steps you must follow for tapping to be successful:

 

• You MUST be consistent. 

• You MUST place true intention while tapping

• You MUST be very specific. You will begin at the "Karate Chop" with "EVEN THOUGH I may not be happy, I deeply love and accept myself" but then the second time around you begin to be more and more specific with your statements

• You MUST address all the parts of the issue you are tapping about.  So for example: "I hate my job" This is a good start but still vague. Here you may want to add to the continued tapping, "My boss is a jerk" "He belittles me" "He makes rude comments" "I stress over losing my job" "He reminds me of how my father spoke to me" "I have issues taking orders" "I am not a team player" "I am lazy" ....as you can see you can go on and on but as you continue to go on thoughts and emotions continue to arise. The more you talk the more you begin to see issues that maybe don't have anything to do with your current job or boss.  You are just projecting hidden trauma on to your boss. 

• When you TAP, do not tap as if it is a chore. Place intent behind it and feel the tapping as it vibrates into your body. What you put in you will get out. DO NOT beat yourself and begin to bruise. It is called "TAPPING" not "POUNDING" A tap will do the job.

• Before you TAP plan out your progress. First it is important to scale your reason for tapping on a scale of 0-10. 10 being the worst. After you identify your problem area, you need to set a benchmark level of intensity. As you finish a tap around ask yourself what number are you at after tapping. If it has not gone down, approach your issue at hand by being more specific and really place the intention to want to put this behind you. You should also journal what happened, how well it may have went or what you are planning to tap on again. 

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What is the actual tapping sequence? 
 

Using a finger or two, either on the left side or right of the body does not matter. Begin with:

• karate chop (KC): small intestine meridian (side of palm)

• eyebrow (EB): bladder meridian

      (inner beginning where eyebrow begins)

• side of the eye (SE): gallbladder meridian (outer edge of eye)

• under the eye (UE): stomach meridian

      (about a finger space from the bottom of the center of the eye)

• under the nose (UN): governing vessel

      (the spot between your lip and nose)

• chin (Ch): central vessel (right at the crevice)

• beginning of the collarbone (CB): kidney meridian

       (here people will tap about an inch below the collarbone left or right. I use my open hand and do the center of my chest)

• under the arm (UA): spleen meridian (basically your bra line)

• top of head (TH): governing vessel 

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Again I must repeat that you are tapping not pounding! It is about the intention of the statements. LISTEN:FEEL:TAP

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"The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption

in the body’s energy system.”

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