Emotive Freedom Technique

by Aislin Lumina

Emotive Freedom Technique (EFT), also know as Energy Tapping, is a developed skill used to work through trauma and self-inflicted pain. It is a way to clear negative or stagnant energy out of the body. There are major points in the body used in EFT that correspond to energy meridians, or ley lines, that run through the body and carry energy. Our Western culture has taught many of us to ignore or suppress deep emotions and trauma that are uncomfortable to us. This can be very unhealthy for the body and psyche, as this causes the energy to become stuck in places in the body causing mental and physical maladies. Gary Craig founded Emotive Freedom Technique and it was taught to me in Sedona, Arizona at Retreat and Heal by Annie Lawrence, PhD, author of the book Love’s Secret. EFT has been used on hundreds of people to find inner peace and personal power. People have found relief from depression, anxiety, and body pain using this method. There are people throughout the country trained to teach EFT, and you can find them with a simple web search. However, you can also perform EFT on yourself. Below is what Annie Lawrence taught me.
Feel a feeling you are having in the moment. Using a scale of 1-10, intuitively feel how strong the feeling/incident is – 10 being the strongest. After performing EFT, if the feeling goes down to a 3, it will keep releasing and you can move on to other feelings, if there are any. If it stays at 4 or above, after performing this method, you will receive inner guidance on other feelings/incidents associated with this feeling. Continue to tap on everything connected to any given feeling or incident, releasing all of it.

First, find the sore spot on your shoulder at the front of the armpit, above the breast but below the clavicle bone. Rub this spot while repeating three times: “I completely love and accept myself even though…(insert feeling or incident here…ex. “I was in an abusive relationship;” “I was raped;” “I feel depressed and unworthy;” “I feel pain and regret;” etc.). Now, you will begin the tapping. You can do the tapping on either side of the body, but stick to one side. You will tap each point two times as you repeat the phrase above. The points are:

**Top of head
**Eyebrow near nose
**Outer edge of eye
**Under eye near nose
**Upper lip
**Chin
**Collarbone
**Armpit
**The last knuckle of each finger except the ring finger
**Outer pad of hand

Then you will do the Eye Sweep. Look at the tips of your fingers and raise hand straight out in front of you. Do not move your head – just your eyes, as far up as you can go, looking at your fingertips. Bring your arm down, BREATHE DEEPLY, and let the energies release. Then do a second round of tapping. BREATHE and release. If other feelings or incidents come up in the process, you can repeat the entire exercise using that feeling/incident. Over the next few days, you should feel much relief from the old emotional baggage you have been carrying around with you for so long. Many of these feelings are buried very deep and have been with you for such a long time, you may find you will need to perform many sessions of EFT in order to release everything. But you will be surprised how useful tapping on the points of these meridians in your body, while focusing and releasing energy, can be for your mental/physical health and well-being.

If you would like to learn more about Emotive Freedom Technique, you can visit Gary Craig’s website: www.emofree.com. If you would like to learn more about Annie Lawrence’s retreats in Sedona, Arizona, you can visit their website: www.retreatandheal.com.

Blessings on being free of old emotional baggage!