UNDERSTANDING ‘EFT’

Imagine a technique, literally at your fingertips, that can be learned in just one session, and which offers significant reductions in stress levels. Too good to be true? Think again as we reveal the benefits of Emotional Freedom Technique

 A MODERN TAKE ON AN ANCIENT FORM

One of the breakout search terms of the Covid era has been “self-care”, the idea of taking time to focus on your own wellbeing. And one of the rising stars of psychological self-care is Emotional Freedom Technique, a contemporary spin on the ancient practice of acupuncture that replaces needles with tapping and, once learned, can be easily followed without a therapist.

  


EFT was developed in California in the mid-Nineties by Gary Craig, a Stanford University graduate, to combat various conditions from trauma, stress, anxiety and pain to sleep disorders and weight management. It works through a combination of positive mantras and finger tapping on acupressure points and has a surprising range of fans including sports and entertainment stars, the US military, which has used it to treat PTSD, and British frontline health care workers who have reported tapping sessions have helped them cope with the extra pressure of Covid wards.

The process starts by identifying a troubling issue and creating an affirmation, always using the same structure. “Even though I have this blank [For example, it could be a sore shoulder/sleep issue/work conflict], I deeply and completely accept myself.” Initially, you say this out loud once as you tap the fleshy “karate chop” side of your hand with two or more fingertips.

The sequence observes the following steps: using your finger tips to tap gently seven to 10 times on specific meridian points including the top of your head, the inner eyebrow, around the eye socket, under the nose and the clavicle, whilst repeating an abbreviated version of your affirmation out loud or silently so perhaps “This sore shoulder.” It takes only a few minutes to complete a round and you can repeat the cycle as many times as you choose.

“Like acupuncture, EFT is based on meridians, subtle but powerful energies, which the Chinese call qi, that run through the body.”

REMOVE EMOTIONAL BLOCKAGES

Like acupuncture, EFT is based on meridians, subtle but powerful energies, which the Chinese call qi, that run through the body. Unresolved emotional issues and traumas can cause blockages in the flow of this energy through the body and effect general health. Craig found that tapping on certain meridian points stimulates and rebalances the energy channels and changes patterns in the brain, helping to heal painful memories and even alleviate physical complaints, sometimes in minutes.


 

In one 2020 study by Bond University in Australia 53 participants were divided into three groups: one had an hour’s EFT, the second had an hour’s talking therapy, and the control group sat quietly. The cortisol stress hormone levels of the EFT group fell by 43%, the talking group’s by 20% and the control group by 2%.  

Remarkably, it really does seem that even one training session can be enough to learn the basic recipe to self soothe and counter day-to-day stress such as a bad day at the office.

Sometimes the most simple-sounding solutions really can have life-changing results…

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