Emotions are energy… energy in motion. When we constrain and suppress our emotions through willpower and intense fear, our energy gets blocked. We know from physics that energy is neither created nor destroyed. So the energy we don’t process in a healthy fashion is transformed… into unhealthy forms of energy. It may congeal as pounds of fatty dross that we must carry around. Or, it may create short circuits that cause chronic disease and pain. My intention when using EFT is to get these stuck energies moving. Once they are moving, the combination of physical tapping on the acupoints and the statements of truth and affirmation help to harmonize and balance the energy. We become “unstuck.” We return to the flow of life, rather than living with a constipated energy system. We are literally transforming energy from an unhealthy state into an optimally healthy one.

Have you ever been in the middle of a difficult situation and started feeling emotionally distressed? Perhaps you went from being “fine” to really angry and very defensive or hurt? This happens in close relationships, at family events, and even in the middle of business interactions where displaying such emotional turmoil can brand us as weak, unreliable, or vulnerable to manipulation. What can you do? Take a timeout!

When others are in pain, we want to help. We want to listen. We want to care. We want to be present. Yet, other people’s pain often triggers our own issues. And if we are empathetic and sensitive, we can even find ourselves feeling another person’s pain very intensely. So how do we protect ourselves?

Have you ever called a friend just to gripe about everything that’s gone wrong in your day? The truth is that when things go wrong, we need to feel that we’re not alone. So we turn to trusted friends and family to let off steam and be comforted. It’s a natural part of being human; most of us have been expressing our pain this way since we were very young children. # Tap while you gripe on the phone!

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to focus on what’s wrong? Our senses and our minds are geared toward noticing first those things which can cause us pain. Or death. If there is anything present that we fear, that fear blocks our awareness of the good things that are also present. This is one of the reasons why, when we live in a state of constant fear or stress, it is almost impossible to feel really good about anything. What is good is drowned out by the loud, incessant noise of fear. As we start using EFT on that which we fear most, we should find that our anxiety is reduced. But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to automatically start noticing the little positive signs of healing and health.

EFT is designed to be simple. Out of the hundreds of acupoints on the body, in the short form of EFT we tap only eight of them. Unlike acupuncture, where a needle is inserted in a precise place, in EFT we use two or more fingers to add energy at these same spots. Since our fingers are so big, does it matter how precise we are when we tap? The short answer is: Perfection isn’t required, but accuracy does help EFT be more effective.

EFT can often bring almost instantaneous relief when we’re feeling an intense emotion. But one of the things I’ve noticed is that many times people stop too soon! Let’s say you’re really angry. You start tapping and the intensity drops from a “10” to let’s say a “5.” You’re feeling good, half as intense as you were when you started. The anger is not so intense that it feels like something you can’t cope with any more. You’re feeling okay at five, and a five is certainly better than a ten. But let me tell you, a zero is infinitely better than a five!