When I was first introduced to Energy Psychology and EFT Tapping, I was really blown away by this new technique which combined ancient energy medicine in the form of tapping on acupressure points with modern day talk psychology.
You do not need to believe in energy for EFT Tapping to work, it will just do the work anyway, but, if you want to understand how it can shift things that modern medicine, modern ways of doing and being have been unable to do so, then you need to understand energy.
Energy is everything, it is all around you and within you. The ancient practice of energy medicine is one of the oldest practices of healing. Energy medicine has it’s roots in Eastern principles of wellness and follows the belief that a disruption in your energy system creates a disruption in your wellbeing; physically, emotionally and spiritually. To be well, your energy needs to be clear, balanced and aligned.
Energy flows through meridians in the body creating a sacred pathway for energy (Qi, Chi) to gently move and circulate, optimising emotional and physical wellbeing. These meridians can be mapped out throughout the entire body, creating an energetic circulatory system. When there is a disruption in your energy system, you can stimulate points on the meridians to reinstate flow and balance. This is what EFT Tapping does so well.
By using your fingers to tap on specific points on the body you can stimulate the end meridian points and activate your natural healing by encouraging flow of energy. The power is literally in your fingertips. By using EFT Tapping you can reclaim your power, activate your own natural healing and not only get relief from physical pain and discomfort but can heal and transform from emotional pain and discomfort, which is deeply rooted in fear, trauma, stress, limiting beliefs, subconscious beliefs and self-sabotage.
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique and it is exactly that. A simple, self – help tool to bring you emotional freedom, so that you are able to get out of your own way. Can you imagine what your world would be like without the limitations that are keeping you stuck in old patterns of behaviour? You would be, dare I say it, limitless. LIMITLESS. In a world that consistently reminds you of your limitations, I am here to tell you that you are being given a free pass to be whomever you wish to be, to live the life you have dreamed of, to have the body you desire, to live with richness and joy. It is all yours and not just yours for the taking but yours to create. You have the power within your fingertips to remove all the obstacles that are keeping you stuck.
EFT Tapping was introduced as a universal healing tool in the early 1990’s by Gary Craig a Stanford Trained Engineer who was a student of Roger Callahan, a psychologist and pioneer in cognitive and behaviour therapies and the founder of TFT (Thought Field Therapies).
Gary Craig wanted to create a simple system of healing that was easy to follow and accessible to all. EFT does just that. It is a quick and easy self help tool used to remove emotional blockages and any disruptions in your energy system so that you can reclaim your health and rewire your brain by using your fingers to tap on end meridian points whilst focusing on a specific problem. This simple act re-wires the neural pathways of the brain to enhance emotional and physical wellbeing.
Evidence of the effect of EFT Tapping on the brain has been documented through pioneering clinical studies and brain scans using FMRI equipment. Using weight as an example, the latest research by Peta Stapleton investigated the neural changes in obese adults with food cravings pre and post treatment with EFT Tapping. You can see on the image below that pre therapy, the brain is fired up red and yellow with activity in the emotional centre of the brain. The image taken post EFT Tapping Therapy shows that these centres have neutralised and are no longer firing up in the same way. This shows not only how food habits are wired into our brain but how effectively you can re-wire the brain so that it is no longer a slave to emotional patterns.
Brain Imaging: Peta Stapleton.
Alongside balancing your energetic system through meridian pathways, EFT Tapping also directly influences the Amygdala (the stress centre of the brain) by neutralising the fight, flight, freeze response. It also works closely with the hippocampus (the memory centre), calming any negative emotions and traumas that create fear based subconscious patterns within the body. It calms the sympathetic nervous system (stress response, linked to excess cortisol, sugar craving and decreased digestion) and restores the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and repair, linked to harmony and balance within the body, increased digestion, balanced endocrine system and reproductive system).
EFT Tapping has also been shown to lower the stress hormone cortisol in saliva tests pre and post EFT Tapping therapy. This is great news for anyone who is prone to stress eating or “cortisol belly” (the physical drop off site below the umbilicus that is linked to stress).
EFT Tapping is a wellbeing game-changer. It links both the energetic system and physical system in perfect harmony for full and complete sustainable transformation. The power is no longer in the hands of a dietician or a doctor or personal trainer, it is in YOUR OWN HANDS.
I like to call the tapping points my magic buttons, because as you tap you can literally FEEL your body and mind transforming, singing out in joy as you finally make the connection between the wholeness that is necessary for full and complete health. As you tap, you feel the power in your fingertips, you can bathe in the magical tingling you experience or the wave of calm that encompasses you, perhaps it will be a sensation of warmth, a beautiful, comforting sense of connection or a simple knowing that you are so much more than you ever thought you were. The effects of tapping show up in different ways but what I know is this, the result is always the same, complete and wonderful personal transformation.
We cannot talk about EFT Tapping without also looking at the intricacies that make EFT Tapping such a wonderful, easy, self-help tool for dramatic healing and transformation. Let’s begin now with understanding the ancient healing power of touch. When we are feeling anxious, or sad and disheartened, there is nothing that heals more than touch. Sometimes, the simple warmth of someone sitting with you side by side is enough to to activate a feeling of wellbeing. Hands-on healing can boost the immune system, create calm, lower cortisol levels and leave you with a general sense of wellness. By tapping on your body, you are engaging in a sacred act of self love and self care, you are reminding your body that it is safe to heal, to transform and change, it is safe to shift out of the cocoon you have been hiding in, and transform into the butterfly you were born to be.
In an EFT Tapping session, we use words and our voice to tune into the problem which activates any emotion surrounding the issue so that we can quickly begin the process of clearing the energetic disruption. There is huge power in using your voice and as we allow negative statements to leave our lips, you can feel the weight of them leave with every breath and sound you make. You can reclaim your power with the conviction of your voice and in time, you may notice the shift between letting go of what no longer serves you and when you slip into that space of balance, calm and healing, simply by listening and being aware of your voice. You will find that your voice starts with a very focused tone and then as your brain and body shifts, your voice slows, calms and becomes almost meditative in it’s messaging. I often feel a sense of channeling energy and allow that to embrace my whole being for optimum wellness.
