Personal Practice: This week I have been mainly... EFT tapping
What is EFT tapping?
EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. It's a mind-body connection technique that uses pressure points on the body (usually the face and upper torso) to help relieve the build up of emotional energy.
It's especially good as a grounding technique to connect yourself back to your body if you're feeling stuck, having difficulty processing your emotions or dealing with something in your life or surroundings.
Ever noticed that you tap, rub or pat yourself when you're nervous, excited, furious, worried or agitated? Our minds and bodies subconsciously know about this method for discharging emotional energy. EFT tapping is a conscious application of the same thing.
Does EFT tapping work?
I first stumbled across tapping in a yoga class and was impressed by how it affected the way I felt. Not really knowing what it was at the time, I practiced it occasionally and wasn't aware it could be part of my arsenal for feeling calm and centred, managing change, feeling big emotions or being triggered. Recently I have found out a lot more about the technique.
EFT tapping in a therapeutic setting has been extensively studied in people with trauma and PTSD and shown to significantly reduce stress and symptoms. The approach involves creating an affirmation around something that's challenging in your life and how you want to feel for it to be resolved. The tapping method is then applied around a set of pressure points whilst you repeat the personalised affirmation.
In my experience, you don't need to have clinical symptoms or to create affirmations to feel the benefit (although I will also use the affirmation approach if something is particularly bothering me). Connecting to my body, noticing the sensations, concentrating on the tapping rhythm and feeling how the sensation echoes in my body is often more than enough in the moment to re-focus and find a bit of calm.
How long does it take to see benefits from EFT tapping?
You might feel changes in your energy, level of focus, emotions and even thoughts after just a few minutes of tapping. I usually feel an immediate change from just the process of consciously tapping and reconnecting with myself on a physical level.
It's not necessarily something you need to build a regular practice around, but if you work with personalised affirmations to address particular emotions or situations that often challenge you, it can be a good idea to set regular time aside to do this.
Can I use EFT tapping in my yoga practice?
You can definitely try it at the start of your yoga practice or before meditation to bring you more into the present moment. We'll be using this in class this month.
Should anyone NOT practice EFT tapping?
There are no known side effects of tapping, and people have been utilising pressure points on the body (think, acupuncture) for thousands of years without problems. However if you do have obsessive-compulsive tendencies it might be something you want to research further or discuss with a practitioner regarding how it could affect you
before trying it.
Interested to find out more?
Book onto a class in Leeds using the button below, or contact me to enquire about a personalised session.
Let life flow!
Emmalene
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