How to Get Started with EFT

I’ve been using EFT for a while now and I’m amazed at the power of this simple method. In this article I want to share with you the basics to get you started. The Emotional Freedom Technique is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture. According to emofree.com it is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body’s subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. By tapping on certain points of your body you basically tap your problems away. Now you don’t have to believe all this. Just try it out for yourself and notice how you feel afterwards.

Below I will give a shortcut to the basic recipe mentioned in Gary Craig’s book, which you can download for free at emofree.com.

The Steps
What I’m going to explain below are not the full steps. This is a shortcut and usually this will do the trick. After you’ve tried out the steps below, I recommend you read the full ‘Basic Recipe’ on emofree.com.

1. Step 1: Measure. I’ve noticed a couple of times that I can’t remember I felt bad about something after tapping the problem away. Write down how you feel before and after going through the routine. Usually it takes just one round to decrease the intensity of a certain problem and sometimes it’s completely gone after going just once through the routine. And this only takes a minute of your time.Write down how you feel about your current problem on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very intense and 1 not noticeable at all.
2. Step 2: The setup. This step is necessary to make sure that your energy system is properly oriented before attempting to remove its disruptions. You repeat an affirmation three times while you tap the “karate chop” point. This point is located in the middle of the fleshy part on the outside of the hand between the top of the wrist bone and base of the baby finger. The affirmation you repeat while tapping the Karate Chop point is: “Even though I have this [-insert problem-],I deeply and completely accept myself“. Example: “Even though I have this headache, I deeply and completely accept myself” or “Even though I have this fear of heights, I deeply and completely accept myself”.
3. Step 3: The sequence. In this step you tap a number of areas on your body with your the fingertips of your index finger and middle finger. Tap solidly but never so hard as to hurt or bruise yourself. Tap about 7 times on each of the following tapping points, while repeating the problem (this is called the reminder phrase, for example: “this headache”, “this fear of heights”):
   1. Eyebrow. At the beginning of the eyebrow, just above and to one side of the nose.
   2. Side of the eye. On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye.
   3. Under the eye. On the bone under an eye about 1 inch below your pupil.
   4. Under the nose. On the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip.
   5. Chin. Midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lip.
   6. Collarbone. The junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone and the first rib meet. To locate it, first place your forefinger on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone (about where a man would knot his tie). From the bottom of the U, move your forefinger down toward the navel 1 inch and then go the left (or right) 1 inch.
   7. Under the arm. On the side of the body at a point even with the nipple (for men) or in the middle of the bra strap (for women). It is about 4 inches below the armpit.
4. Step 4: Measure again. Measure how you feel about the problem again. If you are not satisfied yet, go to step 4.
5. Step 5: Repeat step 2 en step 3, but change the affirmation and reminder phrase. The affirmation from step 2 can become something like this: “Even thought I still have some of this [-insert problem-], I deeply and completely accept myself“. The reminder phrase from step 3 is also easily adjusted. Just put the word remaining before the previously used phrase.

The Basic Recipe from the manual has more steps and more tapping points. It also has a step that makes you hum a song for few seconds and count rapidly from 1 to 5. This is great if you want to use EFT in public. You can use the fear of looking stupid in front of other people as the first problem to tap away J.

Tips
Here are few quick tips:

• Testing. When testing or measuring the problem, you should always measure the intensity as it exists now, as you think about it, and not as you think it would be in the actual situation.
• Be specific. It is best, of course, to be specific whenever you can. That way you can efficiently zero in on an exact fear, pain, memory, etc., and eliminate it from your limiting baggage. Break down problems into the specific events that underlie them.
• Aspects. Each aspect, when present, is handled as a separate problem. So with each aspect go through the full routine.
• Which hand to use. It doesn’t really matter which hand you use or on which side of your body you tap. I use my dominant hand (right) and tap on that same side of my face and then I tap with my dominant hand (right) on the left side for my collarbone and under the arm.

Video
All the information above can be a bit overwhelming at first. Below is a video of Rod Sherman from Tap4Health.com. He also shows a shortcut to the Basic Recipe. He uses a slightly different order of tapping and uses both hands to tap at most points. Try it out and see what works best for you.

More Information
If you want to learn more about EFT, download the free manual at emofree.com. This will give you all the information you need to get started with EFT.

Alternatively, you can find great information at sites like Tapping.com and Tap4Health.com.

If you have any tips or know of any great sites about EFT, please share them in the comments below.

Have fun!

Gerber

Related posts:

1. Making Money Online and EFT
2. Tapping Insiders Club – Free Info on Tapping for More Money