I know what you’re thinking. What is EFT Tapping? Does it have something to do with extraterrestrials? Or is it a new kind of tree to get maple syrup from? Nope, it’s even weirder!
Emotional Freedom Technique, or Tapping, combines ancient Chinese acupuncture points with modern psychology. Tapping utilizes the body’s energy meridian points by stimulating them with your fingertips while you talk through what’s bugging you, which calms you down.
I was introduced to EFT Tapping several times, over the course of a couple of years, before I could take it seriously. I mean, you’re hitting your fingers on your face and body – it looks quite ridiculous!
After three people I highly admired told me it was life-changing for them, I decided it might be worth a look. I had seen videos of people doing it, but I was confused about how to start. I’d have to remember certain points to tap on and come up with something to say? Intimidating!
A friend mentioned that there was an online summit coming up in a couple of weeks, so I put my name down to get the daily emails. Each morning while I got ready and made breakfast I listened to an hour-long conversation about a certain area of life that Tapping could help with, which was interspersed with short meditations to Tap along with. At the end of the summit I realized that I had felt really calm and in control of my emotions. So maybe there was something to this.
How EFT Tapping Works
When you’re experiencing a negative emotional state—angry or anxious or fearful— your brain goes on alert. It prepares your body to enter a full-blown fight-or-flight response. Tapping on the acupuncture meridian endpoints helps to deactivate the amygdala’s alarm and sends a calming response to the body, so the amygdala recognizes that it’s safe.
Tapping on these meridian points – while concentrating on accepting and resolving the negative emotion – will access your body’s calming energy, restoring it to a balanced state. The facts may stay the same, but you are no longer physiologically triggered by the thoughts.
It’s Much More Than Positive Thinking
Tapping calms your nervous system while you talk through your actual feelings, not the way you think you should feel, or would like to feel. It’s about brutal honesty. And you know, sometimes just admitting that stuff sucks is the first step to turning it around. Once you feel calm, your mind is clear and open to new ideas and help coming your way.
Fast forward 4 years, and Tapping has become one of the most life-changing things I’ve ever done! I start my morning with it nearly every day – because I tend to wake up worried, and it sets my mind right. I check more things off my to-do list, and stay calm when unexpected hassles come up.
If you need more calm in your life, stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll show you where the Tapping points are, take the mystery out of how to Tap, and give you a sample script to get started with.
