What is EFT and Does it Really Work?
Disclaimer: This blog post is intended to educate, inspire, and support you on your healing journey. I am not a psychologist, therapist, or medical doctor. I do not offer any medical or professional advice. If you are suffering from mental illness, please seek help from a qualified health professional.
Today’s blog post I will teaching you all about EFT Tapping! I am a certified EFT Practitioner and have been practicing EFT for over 4 years now! I am so passionate about this modality.
In this blog post, I will cover:
What is EFT Tapping?
Benefits of EFT
Common things to use EFT for
How does it actually work?
How to do it (video included)
How often should you use EFT?
How to use EFT on limiting beliefs
Does EFT really work?
What is EFT?
Although EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), also called Tapping, has become more popular in recent years, it originated in ancient China. The theory behind EFT is the same as acupuncture and acupressure, but instead of needles, you tap lightly with your fingers on points called meridians. While you tap on your face and body, you say a short phrase out loud either expressing your current discomfort or your desired mentality to shift your state of being.
The most common tapping points include the side of the hand, top of the head, eyebrow, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under the arm, and the wrists. Even though there are thousands of points along the meridians!
EFT is a somatic (body) and cognitive (mind) modality. Which means it benefits your physiological well being as well as any emotional blocks you may have.
These meridian points are points of dense nerve bundles that act as points along “energy highways,” or channels that run all throughout the body. These energy channels carry electrical signals to the brain as you’re tapping on them and signal the energy to move. This is when your state of being will begin to shift to feeling better.
The ultimate goal is to restore balance to the energy system in the body by allowing energy to flow. We want to relieve any physical or emotional distress, discomfort, or pain and return to a state of ease. We want the mental, physical, and spirtual health to be all in alignment.
In essence, when energy is flowing, we feel good! When energy is stuck, we have issues. How do we get the energy flowing? EFT tapping!
Happy Days, Gabby Bernstein
Benefits of EFT
It’s free!
You can do it anywhere, any time
You can do it by yourself
It’s highly effective
It’s fast acting
Releases internal discomfort
Alleviates symptoms of anxiety
Connects the mind and body
Break through mental resistance and barriers
Relieve physical pain
Regulates your nervous system
Releases limiting beliefs
Common things to tap on
Anxiety
Fear
Traumatic or emotional memories
Anger
Burnout
Stress
Worry
Low self esteem
Financial struggle
Weight loss
Food cravings
Cramps
Any type of physical pain
Limiting beliefs
Subconscious mind reprogramming
How does it work?
The original theory behind traditional Chinese medicine states that all undesired emotions and physical states are caused by a disruption of the body’s energy system.
When we experience a distressing or highly emotional life event, it disrupts the natural path of energy flow (also called qi in Chinese medicine) in the body. Our energy channels get “clogged” up throughout our bodies and over time create disease. Our difficult experiences block the flow of energy in our bodies.
When we tap on the meridian points, it allows the channels to become “unstuck” and allows the qi to flow naturally again creating the mind-body ease that restores us back to feeling good again.
How does tapping turn into internal, moving energy? The Piezo-Electric Effect. This effect is your body’s ability to convert mechanical energy (tapping) to electrical energy (flow).
Pretty cool, right? Who knew tapping could be so powerful!
How do I do it?
Here is a step-by-step guide, as well as a really great YouTube video that explains it perfectly!
Start by taking some deep breaths. Tune in to the pain, discomfort, or limiting belief that you’d like to release. Allow it to intensify, or in other words, don’t suppress it.
Start by tapping on the side of your hand (AKA, the karate chop point). Remember you only do this one on the first round. Do this while repeating a statement out loud that A, addresses the issue, and B, affirms love and acceptance. For example, "Even though I am afraid, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
Then go through the sequence 1-5 times. Tap on these points in order, while simultaneously repeating the same or similar statement, “Even though I’m feeling anxious, I deeply love and accept myself.”
Top of head
Inner eyebrow
Outside of the eye
Under the eye
Under the nose
Chin
Inner collarbone
Under the armpit (think bra strap)
Wrists
(Optional) Sternum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVg50ox8czo
How often should I do it?
Personally, I like to do it in the morning and in the evening as a ritual, but you can do it any time or as needed! That’s the beauty of EFT, there’s almost no risk involved so there aren’t a lot of restraints or risks of over-doing it.
How to use EFT on limiting beliefs
Using EFT on limiting beliefs is one of my favorite ways to use tapping! Combining the affirmation (auditory) with the tapping (kinesthetic) creates a powerful shift in the subconscious mind and body.
If you want to learn more about the power of subconscious beliefs (and how they play a powerful role in our reality) I recommend reading my post, The 2 Most Powerful Ways to Change Your Subconscious Mind.
When I say my name in a sentence, “My name is Emily,” my body knows that this is true. It feels true in every cell in my being. I feel calm and relaxed.
If I were to say, “I live in Antarctica,” (which I do not) my body would reject this information because it is false. I would flinch and maybe sweat a little. My body knows this is a lie. (Fun fact, this is how lie detectors work!)
When we get triggered, sometimes it’s because it touches a wound from a belief that unfortunately, deep down feels true.
For example, what if your mother-in-law asks you to bring a side dish to an event, but when you show up she has a few side dishes already made. This might feel annoying on the surface, but it might hurt more for someone who has a deep belief that is, “I’m not capable of doing anything right.” This situation made the belief feel true.
This is why we need to have deep beliefs that are true, and feel good like, “I am a kind, loving person.”
Remember, EFT is a somatic (body) and cognitive (mind) modality. Which means it will create shifts in your thinking and your deep energetic wiring which lives in the body. They go hand-in-hand.
In order to install an affirmation to be absolutely true for us like, “I am worthy of a kind and loving relationship,” we need to teach our mind and body that this is true. We can do this by tapping.
Simply go through the tapping sequence repeating the affirmation, or belief you want to be true. Do this until this feels absolutely true from your head to your toe.
Do this consistently and voila! You have reprogramed your subconscious mind! Watch your 3D reality change in spite of this subconscious change!
Does it really work?
While more research is still to be done on EFT, hundreds of studies have proven that after doing EFT, patients have seen measurable physiological benefit and improvement in their neural network, as well as less activation in the amygdala and a relaxed response in the nervous system.
So maybe I’m biased, but yes! It really does work.
Try it on your own and watch the magic happen yourself!
