TAP YOUR TROUBLES AWAY

The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has become a popular, mind-body healing modality that’s slowly transitioning into mainstream acceptance. EFT is a form of acupressure-assisted exposure therapy, where you tap on various acupressure points while focusing on troublesome emotional issues. Basically, the technique catalyzes the release of negatively charged, stuck emotions that compromise - like an albatross around our necks - the fullness of our potential. Through EFT, we let go energetically of the emotional baggage that keeps us from moving on. The memory is still there, but the charge is gone.

EFT has successfully treated issues that have yielded reluctantly, at best, to years of psychotherapy or medication. Furthermore, because virtually all chronic disorders have mind-body correlates, EFT has the potential to lessen physical symptoms and pain, and pave the path to healing. EFT is a self-healing and -empowerment technique that people can learn to do by and for themselves. It has no negative side effects.

The problem for many, however, is that the technique seems too simple to generate the stunning results often observed when more involved, time-consuming, costly approaches have fallen way short. We don’t believe it can be that easy; we want a therapy that conforms to our expectations and biomedical understandings.

Energy Medicine

EFT falls under the umbrella of energy medicine (specifically energy psychology) a very different way of looking at healing and wellness than conventional medicine. In fact, energy medicine, which includes, for example, acupuncture/acupressure, therapeutic touch, homeopathy, light and sound therapy, is the fastest growing subfield in medicine today.

Conventional medicine’s reductionistic viewpoint essentially believes that we are a “meat” machine with component body parts, whether they are tiny molecules like neurotransmitters, cells such as neurons, or anatomical structures like our spinal cords. If the body breaks down, we need to fix or replace constituent parts, an example being transplanting stem cells into an injured cord.

In contrast, reflecting healing philosophies that prevailed throughout the ages until modern times, energy medicine believes that our biochemistry is affected by and interactive with our subtle energy fields. If you attempt to fix dysfunctional physiology without addressing this superseding influence, healing will be inherently limited. It is like trying to push a car in one direction when the steering wheel is cranked another way. A good conceptual example is that restored function after stem-cell transplantation (i.e., replacing a part) has been shown to be greater when it is combined with acupuncture (i.e., energetically pointing the stem cells in the right direction).  

EFT is based on two key energy-medicine tenets. First, we have an acupunctural system of points and meridians that regulate the flow of life-force energy throughout our bodies. As an analogy, view the meridians as a pipeline through which the energy flows, the acupuncture points as periodically placed, flow-controlling valves, and the acupuncture needles as the socket wrench that opens the valves. [With EFT, instead of needles, the pressure of tapping fingers regulates the flow.] Overall, each of us has a unique energy flow that is optimal for our health, and when this flow gets off-kilter for any mind-body-spirit reason, we become compromised.  

Secondly, emotions are a function of our internal energy flows. When our energy flows are weak or blocked, we may feel tired, cranky, irritable or easily triggered. When our energy flows are strong and open, we feel more fresh, present, alive, loving, and joyful. By crimping energy flow and distribution, negative emotions become psychosomatic baggage. Although we may not appreciate the influence of these, often pushed-down, emotions in everyday life, they are there, gnawing away at our ability to function optimally. EFT releases the energy behind these emotions. The heavy emotional suitcase we have been dragging through the long concourse of life becomes a light carry-on of non-charged memories.

Overall, EFT-generated benefits include 1) desensitizing negative emotions and  associated physical reactions; 2) releasing mood-altering neurotransmitters and hormones; 3) triggering the relaxation response; 4) interrupting stuck or limiting behavioral patterns/mind-sets; 5) resetting the body’s internal electrical system; 6) initiating energetic, perceptual, cognitive, and physical shifts; and 7) inducing feelings of joy, satisfaction, relaxation, peacefulness, and well-being. 

EFT Applications

EFT can blunt the impact of many of life’s “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that chip away at our spirit, ranging from the minor to the all-consuming. If you are uptight due to traffic, being chewed out by your boss, or arguing with your spouse, EFT can put you back on an even keel. So to speak, EFT is the lint brush that wipes away the unneeded clumps of emotional lint that cling to us and cumulatively drag us down over time.

At the other end of the spectrum, the suffering, anguish, or anxiety associated with major issues, like addiction, intense phobias, childhood abuse, trauma, or post-traumatic stress, often let up in response to EFT. On occasion, deep-seated, life-compromising issues have been quickly resolved with EFT. The emotional balloon swollen with negative charge is punctured and deflated. However, numerous issues require persistent practice to dissipate the energies due to the many problem aspects that need to be peeled away layer by layer.

Underlying our negative behaviors, such as irrational anger, acting out, addictions, and psychosomatic conditions often lies trauma. In addition, studies have shown a direct correlation between adverse childhood experiences and later adult illnesses.

In my case, I’ve incorporated ETF tapping into everyday life. If I wake up at 3 am, fretting about life’s concerns, I tap and go back to sleep. If I’m irritated from a perceived slight, I tap it away, keeping it from festering under the surface. In another example, I recently gave a lecture on alternative medicine to mainstream health professionals, who are often not receptive to the topic. Given my concern about the audience and public-speaking in general, I tapped before my lecture. It released my speaking angst, and, as a result, “the force was with me.”

Various EFT applications are listed listed below; try it on any issue.