How Tapping Works

What Is Meridian Tapping or Faster Emotional Focus Transformation?

Destination Health Graphic

Meridian Tapping (also known as Faster Emotional Focus Transformation or Emotional Freedom Technique) is a set of techniques that are oriented along your body’s meridian points. Meridian points are places along your body where your mind and body connect through neural pathways. Acupuncture and acupressure have been using these points for over 1000 years to promote health and well-being.

Meridian tapping involves gentle tapping on specific points of your face or body while refocusing your mind on a desired, emotion, memory, outcome or thought. It teaches you how to make an inspired choice in the heat of the moment.

EFT tapping (Emotional Focus Transformation) relieves stress

How Does Tapping Work?

Your brain triggers your body’s responses to stimuli using meridian highways to your organs, which in turn produce reactions. These reactions are perceived as feelings, which are tied to your thoughts.

There isn’t always time to rationally process every single input and feeling. For example, your body responds quickly for survival by sending signals to your adrenal glands. When your adrenals kick in, your heart races, you sweat, your skin may flush or feel clammy. Put together, you perceive this as feeling scared or anxious.

Tapping helps re-circuit your neural pathways so you can:

refocus your thoughts

reframe your feelings

react in a productive, positive way.

When you tap on meridian points—the points that connect your mind/body response—you disrupt the neural pathways and break that mind/body connection. This calms you and brings you to the present moment.

Instead of dwelling on the negative emotions surrounding an event, memory, or behavior, you will replace those with positive words and imagery. As you continue tapping on those points and repeating the phrases your practitioner gives you, your brain will create a new pathway.

Small triggers will no longer send you on an unproductive route, and traumatic memories will no longer have control over you.

Once you become aware of a reaction you don’t like, you have the power to change it.

Tapping Is Not For You…

  • If you don’t want to let go of your addiction, behavior, belief
  • If you don’t want to change
  • If you’re not 100% committed to helping yourself
  • If you are trying to justify why you should keep your problem
  • If you want other people to change instead of changing your response to them

Tapping helps people in all ages and stages of life:

Children

  • Recover from bullying and respond differently
  • Gain control over their feelings
  • Overcome some learning disorders
  • Reduce tantrums

Teens

  • Regain control in their life
  • Overcome test anxiety
  • Improve self-esteem
  • Gain confidence among peers and at school
  • Overcome anxiety and fear of the future

Parents

  • Reduce stress
  • Respond with gentleness and self-control
  • Release guilt and fear
  • Learn tools for handling toddler (and teen) melt downs

Professionals, Performers and Athletes

  • Positive focus before performance
  • Overcome stage fright
  • Gain confidence

Veterans and Trauma Survivors

  • Overcome PTSD: change the memories that recreate the trauma
  • Renew confidence and self-esteem
  • Release feelings of shame or failure
EFT tapping to relieve stress

Tapping helps people overcome

  • Anxiety / Fears / Phobias / Panic Attacks: gain control, bring yourself back to the present moment
  • Grief / Loss: learn how to hold onto the memories of what you love, while letting go of the pain associated with them
  • Depression: learn how to recognize and end unproductive and/or suicidal thoughts
  • Chronic Physical Issues and Pain (i.e., fibromyalgia and lupus)
  • Bad Habits
    • Nail biting
    • Binge eating
    • Emotional eating
  • Addictions
    • Cigarettes
    • Compulsive behaviors
    • Drugs / Alcohol
    • Soda

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