Could tapping on various points in your body pave your way to better health? That’s what Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioners believe in. According to them, there are blockages in our meridian systems leading to a disruption in our energy fields. That’s the reason we suffer from negative effects to our physical and mental health.
In traditional Chinese medicine, practitioners will use acupuncture to deal with this disruption to balance your energy and help promote good health. However, EFT, which was founded in the UK, theorizes that all one needs to do is to tune into a problem by thinking about it and then tapping on the respective meridian points to activate and stimulate them. By doing this, your negative energies, emotions and physical symptoms will be released, giving you a balanced and harmonious energy field.
What Can EFT Be Used for?
1. Stress
Probably one of the most important benefits of using EFT is stress management. 85% of all illnesses recorded by general practitioners (GPs) are caused by stress at work/ life or stress due to pent up or unresolved emotional issues. That is why, in therapies such as EFT, hypnotherapy or other tools dealing with the subconscious processing, we focus on dealing with the feelings and emotional state of the person. When dealing with stress management, you will definitely use EFT to achieve relaxation. The effects are almost immediate. It helps to calm and relax you quickly, giving you the ability to control your own emotions.
2. Anxiety
EFT can be used to help one to relieve their levels of anxiety, not to mention to help you to remain calm and sleep better at night. It helps you to think clearer, thus improving your self-image and leave you feeling so much more confident about yourself.
3. Anger
In my daily life, every time some inconsiderate driver cuts in front of me, I tap to let go of the anger. Every time I lose a tennis match, I tap to clear the frustration and to motivate myself to improve my game.
4. Trauma and phobias
Very often, we use EFT when it comes to problems related to trauma and painful memories. It is very effective for cases relating to phobias as well.
5. Cravings
Another very interesting use of EFT is that it can help control your cravings. If you can’t seem to say ‘no’ to that extra serving of chocolate cake or that tub of ice cream, just follow the rules of EFT and tap away. This will cause your cravings to reduce dramatically, helping you to lose weight and keep fit. It also applies to decreasing your cravings of smoking, alcohol or other addictive behaviours.
Not only does EFT work to break negative behaviours, if used properly, it can help you attract positive energies to your life. You can actually use EFT to increase motivation or to attract abundance. This works on the concept of eliminating the emotional charge around limiting thought patterns or “beliefs”.
For example, when it comes to attracting money into our lives, sometimes, we fear that we don’t deserve it as we did not work hard enough for it. Tap away those fears and negative feelings around your current situation and accept what comes your way. The results will be so much better if you can clear your mind and just visualise the desired outcome.
Learn more about EFT in this video:
The Science
It might sound a bit dubious and you might not believe that tapping various points in your body will lead to better health, but there are some evidence that backs it up.
In a comprehensive literature review of EFT for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), researchers found that EFT appeared to “help improve PTSD and its related symptoms, and the improvement in symptoms was sustained over time”. [1] In another study published in 2011, researches found that cortisol (the stress hormone) in the EFT group dropped significant compared to the other groups [2].
While there are several studies on EFT delivering promising results, critics believe that the small positive effects from EFT is nothing beyond the placebo effect [3]. There have also been questions about the methodology of these studies but EFT practitioners stand by the positive effects of the technique.
Will EFT Work for You?
More studies will have to be conducted in this area of energy psychology to find conclusive evidence that EFT works. For now, many has claimed that EFT has worked wonders for them, and a quick Googling will show you many success stories that EFT has brought about.
As it’s non-invasive (you don’t need any needles sticking into you), and really just a gentle technique requiring you to tap on your meridian points, we really don’t see any harm trying it out. Who knows, it could work for you! Find an EFT practitioner around you and tap your way towards success, good health and abundance.
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Have you tried out EFT? What does it do for you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook page!