Emotional Freedom Technique, aka Tapping

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Release negative emotions by tapping on specific acupressure points.

Lunch Hour Lesson #35

Have you ever felt sometimes that your negative thoughts, or stress, or emotions can feel “bottled up”, and it’s like you could just burst with them?

There is a technique called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as Tapping, that is a physical practice to overcome these negative thought patterns and replace them with positive ones.

I was first introduced to Tapping by my acupuncturist when I was going through a difficult time trying to recover from a lot of digestive issues. I felt frustrated, lonely, defeated, and doubt that I would ever be well.

I have to admit that at the time he introduced the technique to me, I did not invest much time into using it. It was only a few years later when I learned about it again through my colleagues at the Nutritional Therapy Association that I remembered I had been exposed to it before, and that’s when I really gave it a try.

Tapping is a great practice for anyone, women and men, children too, and is easy to learn. It is similar to acupressure, so it is safe and non-invasive.

The benefit that I’ve found from Tapping is basically quick resolution from any strong negative emotion. Anger, fear, anxiety, sadness, grief, frustration, doubt, helplessness, confusion, etc. These emotions can stem from an acute situation, like an argument with someone, or a situation that builds slowly over time until the feelings become overwhelming.

How to

Let’s get to how to do Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping. I won’t go into extensive detail here, because Dr. Mercola has a great page (https://eft.mercola.com/) that is very thorough with a video and pictures to illustrate the points.

First tune in to an emotion, rate its severity on a scale of 1-10, and then use your fingertips to tap on a sequence of points on the head and body. These points are called meridian points, coming from the alternative medicine technique of acupressure.

The points on the head and body that you tap on are the “exit points” of the energy meridians that run through your body. You liberate the energy of the negative emotions and get it out by tapping on these points.

I know it sounds “woo woo”, but I wouldn’t be bringing this to you if I didn’t think it worked. I have felt it work for myself, and it is also so easy once you learn where the points are that it is worth trying, even if you don’t believe it will help.

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The nine points are:

Top of head
Eye brow
Side of the eye
Under the eye
Under the nose
Chin
Collar bone
Under the arm
Wrists

Unlike traditional acupressure, where you press on the point and hold, or perhaps massage the point, in EFT you will use your fingertips to tap lightly and gently about 20 times on each point, working from the top of head down to the wrists.

Start the tapping session by doing the setup tap, which is called the “karate chop”, and is on the outer edge of your palm under the pinky finger. Tap here while saying “Even though I feel ______, I still deeply and completely accept myself”. Say that three times, then move on through the points above.

As you tap on those points, you speak out how you are feeling, being as specific as possible and giving examples. Talking out loud is the most helpful.

Cycle back up to the top of head and run through the points as many times as needed until you don’t feel the emotion as strongly. At that point, stop tapping, take a deep breath, and rate the severity of your emotion on the 1-10 scale again. If it is down to a 1, you are done. Otherwise, start over with the karate chop.

When you start, you may realize that saying “Even though I feel ______” doesn’t ring true. Maybe you thought you were feeling anxious, but when you said it out loud, you realized it wasn’t that, that you’re really more frustrated. So then start again saying “Even though I feel frustrated, I still deeply and completely accept myself.”

I usually know that I’ve hit on the emotion that I’m really feeling because I start crying. But for you it may just resonate more strongly than a word that doesn’t fit your real emotional state.

Weekend Tip

Go to: eft.mercola.com and watch the top video. Then, try out one of the videos below for a something you may be feeling.

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Lunch Hour Lessons with Allison

Watch this week’s Facebook LIVE – Lunch Hour Lesson #35: Emotional Freedom Technique, aka Tapping. Each week I bring you a topic related to nutrition and health that I think is interesting, and give you a lesson to take with you into your daily life. Watch Live on Facebook, Wednesdays, 12:30pm PST!