Rebel Alchemy

As a holistic practitioner, I often find myself guiding clients towards strategies to manage their symptoms while they wait for the full effects of the Healing treatment to take place. 

Energy Healing, while incredibly powerful; can sometimes take weeks (even months), before the full effects manifest. During this interim period, it’s crucial to have effective tools at hand to address any persistent concerns.

A great method I always suggest is EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique

What is EFT Tapping?

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), commonly known as “tapping”, is a powerful and accessible self-help tool most commonly used to address mental health issues. This innovative method seamlessly blends ancient Chinese acupressure principles with modern psychological insights to alleviate emotional and psychological distress. 

EFT’s primary goal is to dissolve emotional and psychological barriers that hinder daily life, making it an ideal ‘self-help’ technique that anyone can learn and apply anytime, anywhere.

At its core, EFT utilises acupuncture points based on the meridian system of Chinese Medicine. These meridians form an intricate network of energy pathways within the body’s subtle energy system. While traditional acupuncture employs needles at these junctures, EFT takes a gentler approach. By tapping with your fingers on specific points, you stimulate these energy centres, sending signals to the brain that help release blocked or stagnant energy.

Performing EFT is simple – Whilst tapping on the acupoints, you simply focus on the emotional ‘event’ that is causing you distress and simultaneously recite a statement i.e. you speak your problem as it currently is. 

Unlike the Law of Attraction which relies on positive affirmations to attract good, EFT controversially requires you to speak in the negative context. For instance, one might say, “...I’m drowning in debt. I feel so helpless. I can’t pay my bills; I don’t know what to do…” This seemingly unconventional approach (of stating the negative) is designed to reprogram your responses to stress, anxiety, and sadness by neutralising the emotional charge associated with the event, thus allowing you to view your problems from a detached, observational standpoint.

To put it crudely, EFT “tapping” literally hammers the problem straight out of the energy field!  

The Origins of Emotional Freedom Technique

The roots of EFT can be traced back to 1979 when American psychologist Dr. Roger Callahan developed Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Callahan’s breakthrough came while treating a patient with a severe water phobia. By having her tap on a specific point under her eye (the stomach meridian endpoint), he was able to alleviate her fear almost instantly.

Building on Callahan’s work, Gary Craig developed EFT in 1995 as a simplified version of TFT. Craig’s goal, was to make the technique more accessible to the general public, allowing anyone to learn and apply it easily.

How Does EFT Tapping Work?

The basic EFT process involves the following steps:

1. Create a set up phrase.  The set up phrase should be the issue that’s bothering you. The general structure will look something like this: “Even though I have this (insert your problem), I deeply and completely accept myself”. So if you’re suffering from anxiety, you could say, “..Even though I have this anxiety… I deeply and completely accept myself..”
2. Decide how this ‘issue’ makes you feel on a scale of 1-10. 
3. Say your setup phrase x 3 times whilst tapping on the side of your hand aka the “Karate chop“.
4. Next – Work through the Tapping Points in sequence whilst saying a reminder phrase.  Your reminder phrase is basically a rant! It reaffirms the issue as it currently is, so for example: “..This anxiety that I feel – I feel so hopeless – I can’t do my job – my boss is harassing me etc..”
5. Tap on each point 7-10 times and when finished, reassess how you now feel on a scale of 1-10. Ideally you need to get to zero. If there’s still some emotional upset/pain, repeat the entire cycle again 2-3 times. 

Getting Started with EFT Tapping – Try a Simple Tapping Exercise

One of the key advantages of EFT is that you can start today, from the comfort of your home and at no cost! It’s a non-invasive, drug-free therapy that can be used alongside other treatments without issue. Check out The Tapping Solution for more resources. Within minutes, you could be on your way to achieving emotional freedom.