What is Tapping Therapy?
What Is Tapping?
Tapping is a form of EFT (emotional freedom technique) therapy that was discovered in the 1970s. It is an alternative and holistic form of treatment used to help with physical pain and emotional distress. It involves tapping your fingers on different meridian points (specific mapped out energy points throughout the body) while following and repeating out loud a script that pertains to what you are trying to heal. The goal is to restore your energy balance to relieve symptoms that a negative experience or emotion may have caused.
How Does It Work?
Tapping works very similar to acupuncture – while acupuncture uses needles to target specific energy points, tapping uses pressure from your fingers to target those energy points. By tapping on these points while talking through traumatic memories or difficult emotions, you are able to release these feelings, resulting in feelings of relief. Usually, a tapping sequence goes something like this:
Pick the negative emotion, memory, or situation that you want to work on. This could be fear or anxiety (either general or about a specific situation), a traumatic memory, physical pain, or feelings of sadness.
While focusing on the chosen issue, you will use your fingers to tap on the body’s meridian points (usually hands, eyebrows, side of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, chin, collarbone, under arm, and top of the head) in a specific sequence while saying out loud the script.
Tapping relies on the connection between the mind and body, similar to yoga, massage, and tai chi – and there is certainly evidence to back up that these methods are effective in relieving stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD and more.
What is the Science Behind Tapping?
According to Dr. Dawson Church, “tapping sends signals directly to the stress centers of the mid-brain, not mediated by the frontal lobes (the thinking part).” Additionally, “EFT gives you the best of both worlds, body and mind, like getting a massage during a psychotherapy session.”
One study found that tapping participants had lower heart rates, lower blood pressure, and lower cortisol levels after a tapping session. Another study found that EFT techniques reduced symptoms of depression just as well as conventional treatments. The improvement in symptoms lasted over time. An analysis of seven different studies showed that a series of tapping sessions were effective both as a primary treatment and as a self-help technique for those suffering with PTSD. Some researchers have even tested the validity of EFT tapping by setting up fake studies where participants performed tasks similar to but not identical to tapping. One analysis of these studies supported the effectiveness of tapping by showing that the “fake” actions were not as effective as EFT tapping.
How Can I Practice?
Luckily, tapping is simple enough for anyone to practice at home. There are plenty of free online resources such as follow-along videos on YouTube and tapping scripts for every issue – simply type in what you want help with (anxiety release, loneliness relief, self-love etc.) and follow along to the script.
Tapping at Altha
We are thrilled to have introduced tapping into our corporate and private sound baths as an add-on to any of our private sound healing experiences. Curious to learn more? Feel free to Connect with Us.
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