EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique - but is most often referred to as "Tapping" because that is what you actually do during an EFT session - you tap. You tap on specific acupressure points on your body with your fingertips while saying a few selected statements out loud.
Why Tapping?
The simple answer is: Because it works! But let's look at why it does. Not many of us walk around in this world completely without stress. We are constantly being reminded of how we should be and what we are failing at. We should make more money, take care of the kids better, sleep 8 hours a night, wear a certain size clothing, exercise, eat healthy, be successful, and the list goes on and on.
What this all does to us is to create a fight-or-flight state, adrenaline gets pumped up along with cortisol making the body ready to do what it needs to do. This is an ancient function of the human brain and a part of us that has not caught up to today's world where we do not have to hunt for our food and run from the enemy. So, this adrenaline and cortisol sooner or later turns into dis-eases or emotional suffering.
Many of us run to the doctors office when this happens and we are prescribed medication with side effects that may even be worse than the issue in the first place. But that is how we are taught how to coop and it all turns into an downward spiral - because truth to be told, we never addressed the real issue. And we are stuck feeling like we can never live a joyful and fulfilling life. Ever.
Instead we learn to live with emotional trauma, chronic physical pain, compulsions and addictions, or perhaps just an empty feeling inside. If you are in any of these loosely defined categories you know how they effect you in your daily life. Maybe you can't sleep at night, maybe you feel sad or constantly sick, maybe you can't do what you love anymore, or maybe you just feel like you are not worthy anymore... It is not a pretty picture.
Obviously you have tried treatments before reading this. Did they work? Do you feel joyful and that your life is fulfilling now? Or are you sick at listening to everyone else telling you what to do? I bet all you wish for is to feel like yourself again. Being able to enjoy your life, your hobbies, your friends and family. We all want that!
With EFT Tapping you can! Tapping provides relief from chronic pain, emotional problems, disorders, addictions, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, and physical dis-eases. While Tapping sounds like something new, the healing concepts that it’s based upon have been in practice in Eastern medicine for over 5,000 years. Like acupuncture and acupressure, Tapping is a set of techniques which utilize the body’s energy meridian points. You can stimulate these meridian points by tapping on them with your fingertips – literally tapping into your body’s own energy and healing power.
Your body is more powerful than you can imagine… filled with life, energy, and a compelling ability for self-healing. With Tapping, you can take control of that power.
So How Does It All Work?
All negative emotions are felt through a disruption of the body’s energy. And physical pain and disease are intricately connected to negative emotions. Health problems create feedback – physical symptoms cause emotional distress, and unresolved emotional problems manifest themselves through physical symptoms. So, the body’s health must be approached as a whole. You cannot treat the symptoms without addressing the cause, and vice-versa.
The body, like everything in the universe, is composed of energy. Restore balance to the body’s energy, and you will mend the negative emotions and physical symptoms that stem from the energy disruption. Tapping restores the body’s energy balance, and negative emotions are conquered.
This concept comes from the doctrines of traditional Chinese medicine, which referred to the body’s energy as “ch’i.” In ancient times, the Chinese discovered 100 meridian points. They also discovered that by stimulating these meridian points, they could heal. Call it energy, call it the Source, call it life force, call it ch’i… Whatever you want to call it, it works.
In some ways, Tapping is similar to acupuncture. Like Tapping, acupuncture achieves healing through stimulating the body’s meridians and energy flow. However, unlike Tapping, acupuncture involves needles! “No needles” is definitely one of the advantages of Tapping.
Tapping is simple and painless. It can be learned by anyone. And you can apply it to yourself, whenever you want, wherever you are. It’s less expensive and less time consuming. It can be used with specific emotional intent towards your own unique life challenges and experiences. Most importantly, it gives you the power to heal yourself, putting control over your destiny back into your own hands.
If I Can Do It By Myself Why Do I Need A Coach?
You don't. In reality we can all do things ourselves, EFT Tapping included. But sometimes we don't want to do it ourselves. We go to the salon to get our nails done, we have a personal trainer to help us stay focused on our training, and we go out to restaurants to have other's cook for us... Does that mean we cannot paint our toenails, exercise, or cook by ourselves? No! But getting outside assistance no matter what it is can make us appreciate it more, get a new and different perspective, and perhaps work harder at it. We grow in a new way than if we did it ourselves and we certainly have someone give us a high-five when we reach our goals because they were fighting with us. :)
The Science Behind EFT Tapping’s Success
Like many healing arts that draw upon ancient wisdom, EFT Tapping has been met with a fair share of skepticism. Many doctors and psychologists have been quick to dismiss it as “woo woo”, despite the heaping anecdotal evidence from practitioners and people who have used EFT.
In recent years however, there’s been a growing pool of undeniable research that proves what millions of people the world over have known for some time now: that EFT produces real, lasting breakthroughs and significantly improves or even eliminates conditions that hospital treatments, medication and years of psychotherapy often fail to adequately deal with.
Studies done at no less than Harvard Medical School verify these assertions. Research done at the prestigious university during the last decade found that the brain’s stress and fear response – which is controlled by an almond-shaped part of your brain called the amygdala – could be lessened by stimulating the meridian points used in acupuncture, acupressure, and of course, tapping.
Although these studies focused on acupuncture and as such, used needles, follow-up double-blind research revealed that stimulating the points through pressure, as we do in tapping, gave rise to a similar response!
Another exciting set of research was undertaken by Dr. Dawson Church. His team performed a randomized controlled trial to study how an hour-long tapping session would impact the stress levels of 83 subjects. To do this, Dr. Church and his team measured their level of cortisol, a hormone secreted by the body when it undergoes stress. Their findings? The average level of cortisol reduction was 24%, with a whopping reduction of almost 50% in some subjects! In comparison, there was no significant cortisol reduction in those who underwent an hour of traditional talk therapy.
Dr. Church also created The Stress Project, which teaches tapping to war veterans suffering with PTSD. The results have been astounding: an average 63% decrease in PTSD symptoms after six rounds of tapping. It’s mind-blowing and exciting research, which has converted many non-believers in the scientific community along the way. All signs indicate that this trend of revealing research and swayed skeptics will continue as millions of people around the globe continue to discover the power of tapping.
Source: The Tapping Solution
