DS Haven In Light Of Things
Tapping: What It Looks Like and Why People Swear by It
It might look odd at first — people rhythmically tapping on their forehead, collarbone, sides of the hand — while muttering phrases that sound like therapy meets poetry. But Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT, isn’t something pulled from thin air. Thousands of people around the world now swear by it for managing stress, emotional overwhelm, even chronic pain.
EFT involves tapping gently on specific acupressure points on the body, often while voicing thoughts or affirmations aloud. The process looks deceptively simple but has deep roots in both Eastern medicine and modern psychology. Done right, it can feel like wringing out a sponge that’s been soaking up stress for years.
One human resources manager in Oregon described it beautifully: “Tapping gave me a language for emotions I didn’t even know I was silencing. Like naming ghosts before asking them to leave.”
Tracing EFT’s Roots: Old Wisdom in New Bottles
While EFT was formally developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig, its nervous system wisdom — tapping into pressure points to send calming signals to the brain — stretches back much farther. Acupressure and meridian-based therapies trace deep into Traditional Chinese Medicine, where balance and qi (energy) flow through the body’s subtle channels.
It’s not just about energy, though. Dr. Roger Callahan, Craig’s mentor, was originally a psychologist who blended muscle testing and acupoint stimulation to treat phobias — blending analytic methods with physical touch.
There’s something quietly elegant about bridging modern trauma work with ancient somatic healing. As the late Nigerian poet Ben Okri wrote,
“Stories are medicine… they heal the rifts within us.”
EFT, for many, becomes a story-weaving ritual — calming and empowering at once.
How It Works (Without Sounding Like a Science Textbook)
So here’s the gist: Tapping stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system — the part that tells your body you’re safe. When paired with acknowledgment of emotional distress, the brain can literally start decoupling the body’s fight-or-flight freeze from the memory or emotion causing it.
Think of it like rebooting an overloaded circuit. You may say something like, “Even though I feel this tightness in my chest whenever I think about work, I deeply and completely accept myself,” while tapping along the standard 9-point sequence:
- Side of the hand (karate chop point)
- Eyebrow
- Side of eye
- Under eye
- Under nose
- Chin
- Collarbone
- Under arm
- Top of head
Repeat. Shift phrases slightly. Breathe. Recheck how you feel.
It isn’t magic. But studies published in journals like the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease do show statistically significant reductions in cortisol levels after EFT sessions. You can even read more in Dawson Church’s Clinical EFT Manual if you’re curious about the peer-reviewed backbone of it all.
When Feelings Sit in the Body: Pain, Memories, and Triggers
We’ve all had it — the gut ache before a difficult conversation, the stiff neck after a long week of pushing things down. Emotions aren’t guests that stay in our heads. They live in tissues, joints, and breath patterns.
There’s a term floating around in somatic therapy circles — “body backlog.” It refers to unprocessed tension lumped into the body, like laundry stuffed into a closet and shut tight. EFT can gently open that door, one sock, one sweater at a time.
And it’s flexible. People use it for:
- Chronic Stress Relief: Think parents juggling remote work, kids, aging parents.
- Phobia Desensitization: Like a fear of flying or even public speaking.
- Tense Sleep: Where the body rests but the mind clutches.
- Food Cravings & Emotional
