Emotional Freedom Technique

Do you ever feel anxious for no apparent reason or perhaps have issues with fatigue or depression? Well learn how to release these pent up emotions you are holding onto through the new technique of tapping

Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, was developed in the U.S by Gary Craig. It's a form of acupuncture that doesn't use needles but instead uses a tapping of the fingers to stimulate meridian points when you are tuned in to a problem. It's popularity is spreading very rapidly in the UK, in fact, you know you're on to something big when you see Paul Mckenna use some of the techniques in his 'I can make you thin' programme.

I went to see Jenny Cox, an advanced practitioner of EFT, who claims she can help you tap away stress and panic attacks, negative emotions from jealousy to anger, bad habits and addictions, fatigue, depression and more. She's a lovely woman and makes me feel comfortable and warm immediately. Unfortunately I have a stinking headache. "I can help that!" says Jenny. With the fingers of one hand she gets me to tap the 'karate chop' part of my other hand. (a friend later tells me this is one of the most important acupressure points in the body.) Whilst tapping, I repeat an affirmation three times; "Even though my head is aching and painful, I completely and deeply accept myself."

I tap and repeat, feeling self conscious and sceptical. Then we tap eight other energy points in the body, repeating words from the affirmation. She tells me to exhale and let the feeling go. 'Is she mad?' I think. I concentrate....and I am stunned;it's faded dramatically. We do the sequence again and it's gone. My mouth gapes. Jenny says, it's not helpful to talk to yourself in negatives eg "I don't have a headache.", instead talk to your subconscious in a positive way saying "I have a clear pain free head."

We move on to another issue. Before meeting with one of my bosses, I tend to get very nervous and anxious and my stomach ties in knots. Jenny asks what do I fear, how do I react and can I think of an example. I tell her I have a meeting later this week and I worry about how to react when he's confrontational with me. She says somewhere in the past, perhaps childhood, something has probably happened that triggers a feeling that repeats every time something similiar happens.

It may have started with one small thought but then becomes what she calls 'my truth'. Tapping can help shift the negative feelings associated with the event by releasing an energy blockage in the body's meridians.

Almost out of nowhere a memory pops into my head. When I was four, I playfully hit a little girl over the head with a large leaf (stop laughing) and was shouted at fiercely by a teacher for being naughty. I haven't thought of this for years! Jenny asks me to mark it out of ten for anxiousness. I say seven. We use tapping and this affirmation; "Even though I accidentally hit a girl over the head with a leaf when I was four and got shouted at, I completely and deeply accept myself." We run through it three times, laughing. It seems ridiculous that that could be causing my nerves before a meeting, but my anxiousness is now at two. Jenny says this way of getting to a person's 'truth' for a phobia or anxiety can sometimes disperse it with one treatment.

It's important to keep tapping on your own if you feel any of the negativity reappear too . Jenny has worked on agorophobics, cancer patients ,children with Attention Deficit Disorder, and many more and had success each time. "What do you want to happen in your meeting?" says Jenny as I leave. "I'd like it to be cancelled." I say. She laughs and says if that's what I want , I must use EFT to believe it. Needless to say he doesn't cancel, but I tap and say my affirmations in the toilets beforehand and when I go in, I DO feel less anxious. There's something in this you know!

23 April 2006 is World Tapping Day. Join Jenny on Parkers Piece in Cambridge for a group tapping session involving 10,000 people worldwide. For more information on EFT, call Jenny on 01223 241092 or 07880 635851 or look on www.eftcambridge.co.uk

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