EFT Tapping

EFT Tapping

Emotional  Freedom Technique or EFT Tapping is an accupressue no-needle technique to optimize emotional mental health. You tap with your fingertips to input kinetic energy onto specific accupoint meridians, energy pathways throughout the body that can help calm, relax and restore balance thoughout the body. While tapping you think of  an addiction, obsession, pain, emotion, etc., and voice positive feeling. So it is a bit like eye-movement desensitzation and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

EFT tapping is premised on the understanding that much anxiety and stress are rooted in unresolved emotional issues that reside in the body. EFT tapping is based on Chinese meridian acupuncture, but whereas acupuncture focuses on physical issues, tapping focuses on unresolved emotional issues.  EFT reportedly calms the amygdala (based on research with accupuncture) and nervous system while expanding the flow of energy through the mind-body system.  It is used as a clincial strategy for re-framing, elimination of phobias, and relief from the effects of trauma such a chronic stress and anxiety.

It may be hard to put your faith in EFT tapping because it works in minutes and conventional therapy takes months or even years before effects are perceived. But I had expections that it would work because sometimes I tap and massage my body with my fingertips at night and that helps me relax and fall asleep.EFT taps  just nine meridians, so it can be learned in a few minutes.  And at my computer it seemed to almost magically erase my anxiety.

I came across EFT in Bessel Van Der Kolk’s “The Body Keeps the Score : Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.”  He cites studies documenting significant improvements in subjects who did EFT compared with controls who either received no treatment or a supportive interview . Their psychological distress symptoms decreased, and so did their cortisol stress hormone levels after just a few minutes of tapping.

Setup Phrase

Setup Phrase: Prior to tapping, you establish a phrase that very briefly acknowledges the problem or issue, and an accompanying phrase accepting yourself despite the problem. 

Nine Meridian Points

The EFT tapping sequence employs nine meridian points: 

karate chop (KC): small intestine meridian

eyebrow (EB): bladder meridian

side of the eye (SE): gallbladder meridian

under the eye (UE): stomach meridian

under the nose (UN): governing vessel

chin (Ch): central vessel

beginning of the collarbone (CB): Kidney meridian

under the arm (UA): spleen meridian

top of head (TH): governing vessel

Tap each point seven or more times.

Begin ETF Tapping

Begin by tapping the karate chop point, the fleshy side of the hand, while reciting your setup phrase three times. Tune into your body. See what it is trying to tell you. Tune into your stomach, your chest, your shoulders, your neck, your back, head, throat. What do they feel like. What are they telling you? Tune in to your breathing.The common setup phrase is: Even though I have this fear or problem (anxiety, stress, etc.), I unconditionally and completely accept myself.

Disclosure. I skip the setup phrase, but it had best be included, especially for working on specific issues.

Tap the inner eyebrow next to the bridge of the nose

Move across the the eyebrow along the bone to the spot on the side of the eyes

Move along this bone to the bone under the eyes

Tap under the nose above the top lip

Tap on the bone under the lower lip, between the chin crease and the lower lip.

Tap the collar bone on either side of the body

Tap under the arm.

Tap on the top of the head.

Why IncludeTapping with Beliefs

You need belief, expectation, and faith. And you need action. I have found this all comes together with tapping. Placebo has negative connotations. But it is totally positive. It is the most safe and effective cure we have. Endogenous chemicals in the brain take effect when you expect, have faith, and tae action. The placebo effect is a desired outcome, especially if it consistently takes effect. It stops or reduces pain and “cures” disease with powerful endogenous meds manufactured in our brain.

If Tapping is a placebo effect, and I personally believe it is, I’ve found a placebo effect that works consistently for me, at least for the time.

Self-help books that help:

Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus

The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body