Episode 2- EFT (Tapping) Emotional Freedom Technique - What is It?
Episode Description
You heard me talk about EFT in episode one, so let's dig a little bit deeper into what EFT (tapping) is and how it can help you reduce the stress in your life!
Experience a mini tapping session in today's tiny takeaway or head over to my Facebook Group Share the Shift to experience a full session.
References from This Episode
The Science Behind Tapping (book)
Share The Shift Facebook Group
Episode Transcript
Welcome to Shift Your Shit With Sara, the weekly podcast where I’ll explore both tried and true, as well as new and spiritual ways that you can make small changes that will have a big impact on your life. I’m your host, Sara Studerus.
A quick note before we start, today’s episode may contain adult language or profanity. Listener discretion is advised. Any information provided in this podcast should not be substituted for medical advice.
Today we’re going to be talking about something that I touched on in Episode 1, EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, or Tapping. So, let’s get into it.
So, what is this tool that I called EFT?
Sometimes you’ll hear EFT referred to as Tapping, and you’ll hear me use the terms interchangably. It’s a stress relief tool that’s actually self-applied - this means that once you know how to do it, you can use it in any situation where you find yourself feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed.
In my first experience with EFT I was using an app and did a couple of sessions a couple of days in a row and thought “Hmm, this is interesting”. I was using a morning tapping session and noticed that I was starting my days a little more chipper...but didn’t really look into the full capabilities of what EFT was. So I didn’t understand how much it could do for me.
As I mentioned in Episode one, a little while later, I came across an ad for a 21 Day Tapping Experience and it talked about being able to use the technique for stress reduction and anxiety, and I thought, “Hmm...ok, definitely interesting, let’s try this out.”
And as you already know, after only 3 days using tapping, I started to notice that I was moving through emotions so much more quickly and was no longer getting stuck in overthinking or overwhelm. And believe me, for someone who has had this be a part of their whole life experience, this was HUGE! I couldn’t believe how fast it had started to work for me and how quickly it was helping me to shift through and challenge beliefs I’d held for so long.
When you’re using the EFT technique, you’re tapping through points on your body while talking through the emotion you’d like to shift - these points on your body are along traditional energy meridians, therefore why it’s been referred to as psychological acupuncture.
You may hear tapping referred to as a somatic modality - so what the heck does that mean? Tapping is connecting the rhythms you use while tapping on your body (soma) to help your nervous system regulate and balance while you are holding and talking through an emotion or stressful situation. You’re connecting the body with the mind and helping your nervous system to understand that you’re safe.
No! It’s actually backed by science - believe it or not!
There’s even been a ton of clinical trials! And guess what? In those trials, tapping has been shown to outperform and outlast traditional therapies.
Studies have shown that it has a significant impact on things like decreasing cortisol levels, lowering the body’s inflammatory responses, and even on physical pain.
Want to know more about the science of it all? Check out Dr. Peta Stapleton’s book The Science Behind Tapping.
According to Dr. Peta Stapleton, when a person states their concern in the setup statement, they are engaging with it emotionally.
They then start tapping through the body points, and this reduces the emotional distress in which the brain experiences a contradictory situation.
There are repeated rounds of tapping that serve to identify additional aspects of the issue and process historical components.
This all leads to memory reconsolidation - meaning the brain is actually creating a new learning in long-term memory about the emotion, feeling, or situation.
Well, tapping starts with a setup phrase, where you tap on the blade (side or “karate chop” point) on the hand.
Once this is complete, you will tap through all of the body points for your round. These points are: the top of the head, the inside of the eyebrow, the outside of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, under the mouth, just above the collarbone, underneath the arms, under the chest, and the wrists.
All this tapping on the body may seem or feel strange at first, but stick with it - it really can work!
As our tiny takeaway for this episode, let’s run through a short tapping session so you can get a feel for it.
So, as long as you’re not driving or operating machinery, I invite you to close your eyes or soften your gaze, whatever is most comfortable for you.
As you take a gentle breath in, consider any stress that you’re feeling right now. If you were to rate that stress on a scale of 0 to 10 where would you put it right now?
Do you feel the stress anywhere in your body?
Is there anything in particular that’s causing this stress for you?
As we move into the tapping, we’re going to create a safe space just for you. We don’t always take the time to take care of ourselves, so we’re going to do this now, we’re creating this space just for you.
And as we move through this exercise, I invite you to just set aside anything you were doing before this, and anything you have to do after this, just knowing that it will still be there for you when you return.
Just know that my words are a guide, and if any of them feel inaccurate, you can change them to meet your feelings at any time.
As you consider this stress, we’ll start by tapping on the side of the hand and you can repeat after me.
Even though I’m feeling all this stress, I love and accept myself anyway.
Even though I feel this stress in my body (and feel free to fill in where you feel it here), I love and accept myself just as I am.
Even though, (fill in the blank on what’s stressing you out), I love and accept myself fully now.
Now we’ll move to the top of the head.
All this stress.
Inside of the eyebrow
That I feel in my body.
Outside of the eye.
In, wherever you feel it in your body (fill in the blank)
Underneath the eye
I want to feel free of this stress now.
Underneath the nose
I wonder what it would take to feel free of this stress
Underneath the mouth
I wonder what it would feel like to be free of this stress
Collarbone point
All this stress in my body
Under the arms
That’s caused by (fill in the blank)
Under the chest
Maybe I’m ready to let go of some of this stress
Wrist point
And see what it would be like to feel more peaceful.
And we’ll stop tapping there, and you can just flutter your eyes open and come back to the room.
If you think about that stress that you’re feeling now, where would you rate it on that same scale of 0 to 10? Has it changed at all? If it’s lower for you, that’s amazing! If not, you’d want to do a few more rounds of tapping on the specific stresses that you’re feeling to lower your feelings on that scale.
And once you’re able to significantly lower your stress on that 0 to 10 scale, you’d want to tap on affirmations of how you’re feeling.
That was a SUPER quick demonstration of how EFT works, and typically there would be multiple rounds.
If you’d like to try out a full session, I invite you to join my Free Facebook Group - Share the Shift, where I’ll be doing EFT Sessions through Facebook Live every Monday evening at 8pm EST.
During those sessions, you can participate and experience exactly what a full session is like.
Thank you so much for joining me this week on Shift Your Shit With Sara where I help people who are feeling stuck shift into new ways of being so they can live the life they want.
I hope you enjoyed today’s overview of EFT and what it is.
If you liked today’s show, please subscribe or follow me in your favorite podcast player so you won’t miss new episodes.
Thank you again for joining me, and I’ll see you next time.
