What is Tapping and How Does it Work?

There are two parts to Tapping

There are two parts to the greatest development in mind-body techniques named Tapping.  Tapping is the modern term for EFT which stands for Emotional Freedom Technique.  The emotions are tied to our thoughts, thus the talking.  The Tapping accesses the Acupressure Points which controls our ability to heal by activating our own feel good chemistry.

A form of self-applied Acupressure

We lightly tap on healing spots located on the surface of the skin with our fingertips.  The spots/points have a high electrical conductivity at the surface of the skin and are stimulated by your fingertips tapping on them.    The stimulation accesses the life force energy of the body.

What is life force energy

It is the healing source of the body, pure energy.  When the healing energy opens it heals all aspects of the body, all body systems,  by the free-flowing movement through its channels called meridians.

How Acupressure works

Michael Reed Goach, PhD Acupressure Therapy Author, explains it in three ways.

Points as Gateways

The traditional translation that is thousands of years old describes the healing spots/points on the body as gateways.  

When the gateways are blocked the vital life force energy stops its flow.  When the free flow stops, there is dysfunction of the body systems.

The tapping stimulation of the point releases the blocks and unlocks the gate.  The release of the block results in relief of the dysfunction.

Meridian Theory

The healing energy flows through channels, path ways called meridians that flow throughout the entire body.   

The meridian theory is well mapped out describing the interconnection of these channels/pathways to all of the organs of the body. 

When we tap on one spot/point of the channel the whole channel and it’s connections to the body system are benefited.

Endorphins  and Neuron-chemicals

The medical perspective describes the stimulation of the points as releasing endorphins, your body’s natural chemicals that relieve both physical and mental pain. 

The release of the neuro-chemicals enable us to experience whole body healing and get to the root cause allowing a complete healing cycle leaving us whole again.

Why do you talk while Tapping

OK, so you get all the goodness that comes by tapping your fingertips on those amazing healing spots, but why the talking?  Who are you talking to, and what do you say?

The greatness of Tapping is how we combine the traditional wisdom of the points as energy gates, and the release of  endorphins (who doesn’t want some of that) with our modern understanding of our thoughts, emotions, and feelings as the driving force of our actions.

What do my thoughts have to do with it

Our thoughts play a huge part in how our energy flows through those meridian channels we talked about.  Thoughts and meridians are so closely connected, the traditional practitioners hundreds of years ago, applied an emotion and disorders to each of the meridians. 

For example, the lung meridian influences grief, the heart meridian anger and anxiety.  Yes, your thoughts do have a great influence on any disease or disorder in your body as well.

What we know currently about our thoughts and behavior is the majority of them are carried out on a less conscious level.  The subconscious controls up to 95% of actions,  thoughts,  and thus our behavior…. and we could go so far as to say our diseases.  

In Tapping we talk to both the conscious and less conscious mind.  Working with he bridge between what we say we want, and what is not working in our lives. 

There is a reversal that holds our natural resistance in place, and the choice to change it is the gap.

What’s in it for me

The form of Tapping I work with is progressive, beyond the basic EFT formulas.  I use EFT/Tapping along with other simple tools to take you beyond “the choice to change”. 

The next progression is to add in what you want

That’s the good stuff!  We spend most of the time Tapping in your request for greatness and wellness once we cleared the blocks in the meridians.

There is nothing secret or woo woo about it. It is all based on a whole body system way of addressing issues that are keeping you from doing, saying, being, having, what you want.

We address through the Tapping Tools what is keeping you from being your true authentic self that is joyful, productive and living your highest life.

And if you would like to go deeper and see beyond what you can’t see for yourself let’s talk about it. Sometimes you need an experienced guide to point out what you are missing, and help you bridge the gap between where you are and what you want (even if that’s not real clear right now).

Laura Long,
Certified in Life Coaching, Pro EFT, Acupressure, Yoga