For those who would like a quality introduction to EFT, here is an article that will soon appear in a new book, “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health” by David Riklan and Dr. Joseph Cilea of Self-Growth.com. My gratitude to CJ Puotinen for helping me write it.
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New Discovery Takes Chinese Medicine to a New Level
Thousands of years ago, physicians in China mapped the body’s electrical system. They charted fourteen energy paths, or meridians, and documented how stimulating specific points along those paths released energy blocks, restored the normal flow of Chi, or healing energy, and improved health.
Acupuncture, in which very thin needles are inserted at precise locations, is one way to achieve this result. Acupressure, in which massage or pressure stimulates the same points, is another.
But until recently, no one realized that tapping on key acupuncture points while focusing on a specific problem could eliminate or significantly reduce physical, mental, or emotional symptoms.
That’s why Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is such an exciting discovery.
EFT’s underlying premise is that the true cause of every negative thought and most physical symptoms is an energy block along one or more of the body’s meridians. The combination of tapping and mental focus releases both the energy block and the problem it causes. No matter what they worry about, people of all ages, including small children, can change their minds from stressed to relaxed and improve their health and happiness, usually in less time than it takes to read this chapter.
Versatile and Widely Accepted
At first I didn’t realize how versatile EFT would become or how dramatically it transforms physical as well as emotional symptoms. Then the reports began to arrive. Whenever someone asked whether EFT works on a particular condition, such as allergies, high blood pressure, colds and flu, indigestion, arthritis, asthma, insomnia, sprains, or anything else, my answer was always the same: try it, and let me know what happens.
Soon, thousands of people with no special training were sharing their results. They had tapped and lost weight, stopped smoking, recovered in minutes from muscle sprains, chased migraine headaches away, stopped pain, and recovered from all types of illness or injury.
Many medical doctors and licensed health care practitioners have adopted EFT and use it routinely. Their patients often recover without the drugs or surgery they were scheduled to receive, or they heal faster, or chronic conditions that persisted for years suddenly improve or disappear.
Physical therapists working with athletes report that sports performance improves whenever EFT is part of the treatment. Many amateur and professional athletes use EFT to increase their stamina and coordination and to prevent injury. In fact, quite a few have used EFT to significantly improve their performance in everything from golf, baseball, bowling, soccer, or gymnastics to running a marathon.
Medicine’s Major Miss
What excites me most about EFT is its application to physical health and wellness. I’m convinced more than ever that modern medicine has walked right by a major contributor to chronic and acute diseases. Our unresolved angers, fears, and traumas show up in our physical bodies and manifest as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and hundreds of other illnesses.
Just about everyone knows this intuitively. Whenever Los Angeles physician Eric Robins, MD, shows patients how to do EFT, he explains that past traumas can be stored in muscles and organs in the body and that releasing past events and all the emotions they generate may alleviate physical symptoms. Dr. Robins reports that most patients grasp this concept at once, and as soon as they tap away their anger, frustration, or unhappy memories, their symptoms improve.
Psychologists have always known that there are powerful connections between mind and body, but conventional talk therapy seldom cures anything, and neither do psychoactive drugs.
But balancing the body’s energy can help cure everything, and it’s as simple as tapping on your head and torso while focusing on the problem. As Dr. Robins explains, this simple procedure releases or neutralizes the illness’s underlying cause, and as soon as that happens, the illness itself disappears.
Ever since I discovered how simple and effective EFT can be, I’ve been a man on a mission. So far, 350,000 people have downloaded my free EFT manual (it gives all the basics), my free online newsletter goes to several hundred thousand subscribers, and more than thirty books have been written about EFT. To help spread the word, those who purchase my inexpensive instructional DVDs have my written permission to make one hundred copies of each disc to share with others. Thousands of EFT practitioners around the world teach classes and work with clients. These practitioners include nurses, doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapists, nutritionists, clinical psychologists, licensed social workers, and counselors of every description.
No technique or procedure works for everyone, but by all accounts, approximately 80 percent of those who try EFT for a specific problem experience significant results. That’s a stunning statistic.
In Most Cases, Try EFT First
EFT has come a long way in ten years, but it’s not even a blip on conventional medicine’s radar. When it is noticed, it’s often relegated to the “support therapy” category, something to be used later, after conventional treatments. I hope that will soon change. Unless there is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention, EFT should be the first treatment that doctors offer. This, in my observation, will dramatically reduce the need for drugs, surgery, or radiation. Even in emergencies, such as accidents or injuries, EFT can be extremely helpful, for it helps people think clearly while reducing pain and discomfort. In all situations, it speeds recovery and healing.
To satisfy my curiosity about EFT’s effectiveness in the treatment of serious diseases, over the last two years, I traveled to different cities giving three-day seminars, in which I worked onstage with actual patients. As a result, I know more than ever that EFT is a truly universal healing tool. The same basic approach that treats diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple chemical sensitivities works as well for eyesight, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, allergies, pulled hamstring muscles, high blood pressure, and heart disease. And when it comes to fears, phobias, and anxiety, EFT is in a class by itself.
EFT is so new that it’s still evolving. I encourage practitioners and newbies alike to experiment—to try it on everything. It’s so versatile that you can use it on yourself, others, and animals. Some have even used it on plants, cars, and computers. It makes sense that if your energy is balanced, everything inside you and everything around you benefits.
I hope that everyone who reads this will be curious enough to try EFT. It’s easy to learn, easy to do, and can literally save your life.
About the Author
EFT was introduced in 1995 by Gary Craig, a Stanford engineer in lifelong pursuit of personal well-being. He recognized at a young age that the quality of his thoughts were mirrored in the quality of his life and has been intensely interested in personal improvement ever since. He has been self-taught in this field, seeking only those procedures that, in his opinion, produced results. EFT is his latest finding, but he also has high regard for NLP, in which he is a certified master practitioner. He is an ordained minister through the Universal Church of God in southern California, which is nondenominational and embraces all religions. He is a dedicated student of A Course in Miracles and approaches his work with a decidedly spiritual perspective. However, there is no specific spiritual teaching connected to EFT or its practitioners. You can learn more at the EFT Web site: http://www.emofree.com .