Emotional Freedom Technique
The theory behind EFT is that all negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body's energy system. Gary Craig who is the founder of EFT found a way to correct these disturbances and remove the associated negative emotion. This doesn't mean that we don't feel any emotion, rather that we have a tool that can neutralise excessive emotion. Emotional Freedom technique is a way of managing your emotions when they become too overwhelming, it can also be used for many other things too, people use it to help stop smoking, to lose weight, to increase confidence and overcome phobias. The technique is very simple and can be learnt very quickly. The technique involves tapping and applying pressure to your acupressure points or meridians (which are energy pathways in the body). EFT involves gently tapping on the end points of these meridians, while focusing on the problem, to settle energy disturbances in the meridians. As you tap, and the energy settles, the level of negative emotion will reduce.
As children when we got upset we could release this stress and tension by screaming shouting or having a tantrum but as adults we control our behaviour, however this does not mean that the emotion disappears, often it is held in the body and cause these blockages, this is why we need EFT to release them.
EFT can also be used for physical complaints such as back pain, insomnia, joint pain or stiffness.
There are 14 meridians that are used and they are;
- Eyebrow Point
- Side of Eye
- Under Eye
- Under Nose
- Chin
- Collar Bone
- Under Arm
- Below Nipple
- Thumb
- Index Finger
- Middle Finger
- Baby Finger
- Karate Chop
- Gamut Point
