Getting Rid of Anxiety: EFT

My understanding and experience of EFT continue to grow as I do, and although I am no master, I've had a lot of personal experience implementing the process for myself and have also guided friends and family through the motions as I see them.

So, what exactly is EFT?

EFT (Emotional Freedom Tapping) is a powerful tool that can be used independently to quickly and effectively release fears, tensions, and emotional blockages, and it helps with anxiety and PTSD.

Ultimately it's a series of points on the body that you tap while focusing on a specific issue that is gripping you, whether physical or emotional.

How to Approach EFT

I'm constantly surprised by the breadth of possibilities with EFT, whether it be for physical pain or quelling a fear of the unknown. With that said, I love to share through example, so let's start there...

Let's say I was feeling really nervous about talking to a friend about something. I'd have to begin by first identifying the core of the problem I wanted to address. In this example, I wouldn't want to focus on just "being nervous about talking to my friend" because that wouldn't cover the true fear.

But what if I ask my Self,"Why am I nervous about talking to my friend?" Perhaps it's because I'm nervous they'll be mad at me...

And if I dig a bit deeper, I'd ask myself, "Why would that matter?" and my answer might be that if they get mad at me, I might loose them as a friend. 

I could likely stop here and do the EFT process using "scared I will loose my friend" as the core issue with some success, but there may be an opportunity to uncover even more.

Perhaps I ask myself, "What would it mean if lost them as a friend" and my answer may be that I'd feel I wasn't unconditionally lovable at the core of things. Now there's something to work with.

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Implementing EFT

Setting up your Reminder Phrase 

At this point, what I've been able to uncover is more emotional and connected to the true fear that was causing anxiety. Now I can see that at the core of things, "I'm worried that I'm unlovable."

This statement will offer much more potential for shifting things emotionally than had I tried to work with the statement "being nervous about talking to my friend." I've found that sometimes digging deeper and simply identifying the core truths of my pain can be a source of huge relief on its own (which can eventually lead to progressive positive effects on one's self-acceptance & self-love), but taking that piece and working with it through EFT has the potential to help rid it in its entirety.

If you're trying this for yourself, at this point, you may be feeling stuck and can't dig deeper into your pain, which is totally okay. That process of working with yourself to go deeper is a whole topic of its own that I'll continue to write more about. For those of you who would like some assistance through the process, there are plenty of skilled practitioners who can help you through it, some of whom I hope will end up joining us here.

Going Through the EFT Process

Whether you get to the core issue on your own or with the help of someone else, you're now ready to start tapping. Here are some core procedures for you to get started:

1. To begin, you rate the intensity of the core problem from 1 to 10 and then start with the setup.
2. While tapping on the outside edge of your palm between your wrist and the base of your pinky finger, you say your reminder phrase (and we'll use the example from above), "Even though I'm worried that I'm unlovable, I completely and deeply love, forgive, and accept myself."
3. NOTE: It's important during this to really feel what you're feeling without judgment and to do your best to mean that you're at least willing to love, forgive, and accept yourself, even if you don't feel it in the moment.
4. Next (and this will sometimes vary by practitioner and method, but for explanation purposes, we'll stick with this basic method), you proceed to tap the top of your head and say a short reminder phrase. In this case, we'll say, "worried I'm unlovable." Again, you'll want to feel whatever feelings come up.
5. You'll repeat your reminder phrase each time you change points. After the top of your head, you'll tap on the inner eyebrow over one eye (you can tap one side, but I like to do both sides of my body as I go).
6. Next is the outer eyebrow/outside of each eye, then under the eye, then under the nose/above the upper lip, then between the lower lip/bottom of the chin, then right below the inner clavicle in the soft space of your chest (again, you can do one side or both), then under your arm in alignment with your breasts/pecks)

Here's a good reference image from St Luke's:

As you tap through each spot, you may notice that you become very emotional on certain ones. If you feel like crying, cry. It's very important that you just feel whatever comes up, again, without judgment.

What to Do Post-EFT

Once you have completed a round, stop, take a deep breath in, and take a few moments to focus on something else: pet your dog, look outside at the trees, go get a glass of water, and do your best not to evaluate how you're feeling right away.

After a few minutes pass, come back to the statement you were working with and rate it again from 1 to 10. You may just find that the intensity has lowered significantly. You can repeat the process until the intensity has gone away.

My Suggestions for EFT Comfortability

If you feel you can't do the process without judgment or feel the feelings around the issue you are working with are too big, I definitely suggest connecting with a seasoned practitioner who can help hold the space for you. And if this is all new to you, I can appreciate that it might seem a bit wild that this is actually an effective method to help with emotional and physical pain.

From my own experience, I can tell you that it's extremely effective, and my understanding is there is some overlap here with self-hypnosis (which I also promise you is not what you think it is if you're imagining people mooing on a stage; more on this to come!)

Research Resources & More

If you'd like more than just anecdotal proof about the efficacy of EFT, here are some great resources you can dig into: Scientific Paper on Clinical EFT & EFT International Science & Research.

What's probably best about EFT is that you can learn all about it from the person who invented it, Gary Craig, for free on his website. Like I aim to do with KeepingSpirit, it's an open-source platform dedicated to helping people have deeper connections with Self through healing.

I'd love to discuss this technique with you as a tool to lead happier, healthier lives. If you want to connect and learn more, please comment below or send me a message!