If you have heard of acupuncture, the ancient Chinese Meridian Energy system which dates back to 1000BC, then you have some idea about the origins of EFT Tapping.

Hello I’m Claire Linley.

What you might not know is that there are over 2000 acupressure points in our bodies, which many cultures still use today to balance out physical and mental disturbances.

In 1980 American Psychologist, Dr Roger Callahan used these same points to form the basis of EFT. His work was continued by Gary Craig who devised a universal tapping technique that covered all the meridians at once. This became EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), as we know it today.

Through the years extensive research has been done on Tapping and science has now caught up and has validated the huge range of benefits that come from using EFT Tapping.

I’m going to paraphrase fellow Aussie, Dr Peta Stapleton, who is at the forefront of EFT research: She says: “EFT is a true mind-body approach that includes direct interventions on the body, and changes brain activity rapidly. It also quickly and permanently shifts outdated emotional learnings.”

But science aside, what I’d like you to know is that Tapping is a simple technique you can use any time anywhere. First and foremost, it helps calm our nervous system at really important times – like when we’re experiencing stress, or overwhelm, fear, anxiety or depression. It diminishes food cravings, helps with phobias and provides tangible support during times of physical pain and illness.

The reason tapping is so effective is that it works on both the body and mind. Let’s face it life can be pretty intense and whether we know it or not we experience it on all levels. But when we use tapping as a tool it doesn’t matter whether we’re more impacted at a physical level, or by what’s happening mentally or emotionally, because Tapping looks after both.

So enough of the theory, let me show you the main Tapping points.

We use our first two fingers to tap, and it doesn’t matter whether you do them with your right or left hand, or you can use both. Just tap on the same side of your face as the hand you’re using.

So the first point is the Eyebrow Point, and we tap just where the hair of our eyebrow begins, close to the bridge of our nose.

Now follow that bony structure over your eyebrow around to the next point at the Side of your Eye.

Then again following the bony structure, move to the third point which is Under the Eye.

Next, we tap Under the Nose.

Then in the crease of the Chin

Then we move to the Collarbone Point which you can either tap just under your Collarbone, or the way I prefer is to tap on the bony U-bend in the centre of the Collarbone.

The next point is Under the Arm which is easy for women as it’s right on the bra line. For men you can measure a hand width down from your armpit.

Then we move to the top of the head.

I’ll just show you one other point which is the Karate Chop point – where you tap on the side of your hand just below your little finger. How we use this point requires more explanation so I’ll do that in another video.

Now this all looks pretty unusual right, particularly when you see it for the first time and is definitely not something we’re likely to be doing in public. So, when you want to use Tapping and be less obvious about it fortunately there are some corresponding points on our fingers that we can use very subtly.

The Finger points are located at the side of the nail beds. We can tap on them with the fingers of the other hand

Or We can tap on them single-handedly. You can do one hand or both

Or we can squeeze the sides of our fingers.

So when do we use Tapping?

Well we can use it in a few ways
1. Firstly, in the moment - when we’re feeling anxious or upset or something is happening

2. Later, when we’re remembering something that has happened

In both of these situations, it’s useful to focus on the issue or feeling you want to resolve while you tap. When you do this, you know you’ll be calming your nervous system so that you reduce the intensity of the feeling and you can think more clearly.

This is also the way Tapping is used in a therapeutic setting with a professional practitioner who will guide you through an experience or issue to reduce its impact and help restore calm and clarity.

The third way to use Tapping is simply to do it any time you remember to. You might be watching television or sitting quietly – times when you might not be focused on an issue or problem. This is a bit like doing an energy workout. You are training your nervous system to generally be calmer and more resilient.

So now you know a bit about what EFT Tapping is and how to use it. Personally, I like it because it’s something tangible and practical I can do to help myself.

I really hope you give it a try and if you want to learn more please reach out.