Here’s why you need to tap into emotion
Like the Christmas song ‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa,’ everyone has a story of something they experienced which affected them at a deep emotional level. Years later, the memory and the associated feelings and beliefs persist.
Memories are laid down when something happens that you get emotional about. That’s why you need to use emotion as a fuel to also unlock and release those memories.
People talk about situations that occur fuelling your anger or fuelling your desire. Actually, it’s the other way round: it’s your emotions that fuel the way you perceive things.
An every day example might be reading a trolling comment on the Internet. You get all angry and riled, and can’t sleep for being so annoyed. Telling yourself it doesn’t matter just doesn’t help!
This kind of thing happens to most people fairly regularly, a small but persistent source of stress. Or you may have bigger emotional issues or memories troubling you. Either way, stress is considered perhaps the biggest problem of modern society.
So, how can you de-stress?
Releasing emotions
Tapping, or EFT, is a scientifically validated way to very gently deal with stress and emotional blocks. It uses three basic tools, combined in an infinite number of ways.
The three basic tools are:
Gentle tapping on acupressure points
Reducing resistance to releasing blocks
Evoking the emotions to be dealt with
Let’s take a look at each of those.
Tapping on acupressure points
Emotional blocks create energetic blocks in your body. Just think of how you can get a tension headache, or feel sick to your stomach, due to emotional situations.
Psychoneuroimmunology is the modern scientific term used to admit that body and mind are intimately connected. Studies have shown that tapping on various acupressure points can encourage the energy in your body to flow again, releasing those emotional blocks in the process.
Reducing resistance
Though it may seem strange, you often resist releasing blocks. This could be for a reason as seemingly simple as being used to and ‘comfortable’ with the status quo. Or it could be something a little harder to shift: a deep belief that you are not worthy of happiness, for example.
Finding these limiting beliefs, and releasing them, is an important part of the process. Otherwise, they sabotage you letting go of your problems.
Evoking Emotion
Part of the tapping process is connecting to the problematic situation, emotion or physical symptom. In this way, you are targeting the problem itself, rather than just randomly moving things around.
For this, it’s good to use words that clearly remind you of the issue. You can also ‘feel’ the problem and describe it, especially with physical symptoms. Alternatively, you can visualise the problem, either internally, or using a picture or image as a cue.
EFT – Tapping
One of the great things about EFT is that you can use this tool for yourself. The basics are easy to learn, and there are a wealth of free resources available online to help.
Still, there are times when it’s helpful to have a trained person to guide you.
This is especially useful if you are not sure where to start. Or if you try by yourself but don’t seem to be making progress. Or if you struggle with motivation despite knowing you need to make changes. Equally, if you have more serious or complex issues such as phobias or a history of trauma.
If you would like to feel less stressed, calmer and more joyful, or if you have negative emotions you just can’t seem to shake, why not try a tapping session?
You can get in touch at ceejaymccracken@gmail.com or call on 07561 231 281.