I heard of it on the first episode of a podcast called "The Human Experience". It was interesting at first, then I tried it. I think it might actually work. It sounds totally silly. If I told you to tap your head and face in different spots and say negative things you are thinking about to feel better, you would tell me I'm crazy. But, if I tell you its a real technique used by many called EFT, you might be more inclined to try it, as I was. I will get to my ideas behind this, but I will walk you through it first, briefly. If you search for "EFT" or "tapping" you will find lots of videos on it as well claiming to help with everything from stress, to love, to getting money.
The main tapping spots I learned about are on the hand in the "karate chop" padding area, the top of the head, the inner eyebrow, the corner of the eye, under the eye, under the nose, between lip and chin, the clavicle "U" shape under your throat, and under the arm on the upper ribs.
Basically you start with acknowledging what you have negative feelings about while reaffirming yourself. You might say something like "Even though I am mad at Bill, I still love and honor myself". You repeat this while tapping, in succession, the aforementioned spots. Then you go through repeating just the negative stuff like, "I'm mad at Bill", while tapping. After one round, if you feel better, you can go again and say something like, "I'm somewhat mad at Bill". Then you can finish with a round saying, "Even though I am still somewhat mad at Bill, I love and honor myself".
I went through one round just tapping. There is something to be said for these spots on your body, I think. There was a calming effect. I imagine its like when your mother or anyone gave you taps on the back while you were crying or sick. Its comforting. The tapping of these areas felt comforting.
I tried the tapping again with the mantras, if you will. I definitely found some release of negative energy. Something about repeating the words in combination with the comfort of the tapping helped to ease the tension of that thing I was upset about. I think by repeating a word or phrase in that way takes power away from it. It becomes less "special" or "important" through repetition. Think of the first time you swore. Big deal, right? Now, maybe not such a big deal. Still wary of it, but not a big deal at all.
I watched a video before my 8th grade classes on releasing stress. You just repeat what the guys says and tap. It's series of videos called "Tapping with Brad" I found on Youtube. He was actually the guest on that podcast. They are a little silly, but I can tell you I was totally stress free right before the kids came to my room. My 8th graders are like a cage of chimps. They're nuts, but I was super calm. I actually felt like I could have taken a nap right after the video.
Here's the thing: EFT may be completely, 100% real. Tapping might be totally real. Its also could be total bunk. I think the truth, like many things, lay somewhere in the middle. The mind can do amazing things, good and bad. If you believe negative energy is leaving your body, it will. I believe that. If it takes and external stimulus to make it happen, so be it.
There are so many things out there of interest that people use on a daily basis that almost no one knows about, relatively speaking. In the year 2015, before my baby boy arrives, I want to find out as much as I can about the world that I was never exposed to or taught.
More and more I feel like my school and the education system wants us to churn out little worker bees that follow rules and stay in order and don't stray from the plan. I don't want that anymore. I want new experiences in hopes I can pass this information along to my kids and the ones I teach. EFT is interesting. I will probably keep trying it. It takes 5-10 minutes total and has no negative side effects. Why not try it?
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