Monday, September 30, 2013

Emotional Freedom Techniques

By Andrew V. Broussard


The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an innovative approach to healing that is gaining attention from medical professionals and laypersons all over the world. EFT can be applied to any emotional and physical issues you can name and often gets results when nothing else works. The basics of EFT can be learned by anyone and can be self-applied (usually in minutes).

There are many books on the market for learning EFT, and also some free manuals you can download from the web (search for "EFT manual"). These can be valuable resources, and each has a different way to express the EFT process. Some are very detailed and show a large number of ways to use EFT and others teach just the basics. This is a very cost effective way to learn EFT, ranging from free to around 30. There are two big disadvantages though.

EFT theory states that negative emotions are created in the following sequence: in response to a negative experience negative emotions are born, thereby leading to negative programming in the body which leads to a disruption in the body's energy field. EFT proponents believe tackling the negative experience alone is not enough to restore health. They believe that the energy imbalance must be remedied along with curing the negative emotions in order to remove the negative responses i.e. illness, phobia, etc

There are many You Tube videos showing EFT in action, and you can tap along with many of them, experiencing your own personal shifts and transformations. The issue here is that although you will hopefully have an experience of EFT working for you, this is a disjointed approach as there is no formal training. This means that if you try to use it on yourself without having foundational knowledge, it may work, or it may not. If it doesn't work, you could become disheartened and put EFT aside. Again, this would be tragic as, if used properly, EFT could literally be life changing for you.

This would seem to indicate that the EFT theory of the body's energy meridian system is false. However, a second study involving the use of a psychological test called the SA-45 indicated otherwise. Participants in an EFT workshop were given the test before and immediately after the workshop, and one and six months later. All participants showed significant decreases of pre and post workshop stress.

Eastern and western health philosophy differ in the way the two systems handle psychology. Asian philosophy emphasizes the unity of body and mind, whereas western philosophy separates the body and mind. The classical Chinese associate the emotions directly with the organs and they do not perceive the emotions as being stuck in the brain as the westerners do. Taoist and Buddhist philosophers link the emotions to each organ and have developed deep theories of psychology based on these relationships. Thus, the state of mind and the stage of one's body are intimately connected. In the West, although it is understood that certain physiological conditions can influence the mind, mental and emotional disorders are generally not connected to specific organs or organic functions, but are believed to be wholly centered in the brain. Fundamentally, the Chinese associated the emotions and related mental states to the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) and to the organs associated with them. In general, the emotions are related to the organ associated with each element.

Whether or not EFT can cure an individual of phobias or other non life threatening illness is open to speculation, and it seems to be relatively harmless in that regard. It is in its claims of being able to cure cancer and other potentially terminal illness that it runs into trouble. Its claims are specious at best and there is simply no medical evidence that EFT is effective. Any proof that has been presented is purely anecdotal.

As an EFT Practitioner, I have made important additions and modifications to Gary Craig's EFT procedure to avoid side effects called 'Qi deviation' and also increase its effectiveness a hundred-fold with a variant of EFT called "EFT Qi-healers Method." The Jing-Well acu-points of the liver, spleen, kidneys, stomach, gall bladder and bladder in the feet are added to balance the Yin (lower) and Yang (upper) meridians, and Pan Gu Shen Gong, Sheng Zhen Qigong, Wuji Qigong, Maitreya (Shiva) Shen Gong, Tibetan Shamanic Qigong with tonic herbs are also integrated with EFT to remove the energy toxins and restore the Three Treasures - Jing (essence), Qi (vitality) and Shen (Spirit) - leaked by the negative emotions held in the five organs.

Learn EFT from Courses and Workshops.Without a doubt there is no better way of learning EFT than by attending a course or workshop. The disadvantage is the cost, which tends to range from $150 (100) to $220 (140) for one-day workshops. However you get far more than just learning EFT. Most workshops have plenty of practice where you get to work deeply on your personal challenges or blocks, so attending a workshop is probably also the healing equivalent of a couple of therapy sessions with an EFT practitioner! A good facilitator will ensure you really get the EFT technique and will handle all your personal questions and confusions to make sure you leave the workshop with real experience and understanding under your belt.

For now it would be appropriate to say that the power of EFT is unproven, but the possibilities it offers are worth looking into. The field it is exploring is a vital one, and any opportunity to learn more about the connection between mental health and physical health should be welcomed. Skeptics and proponents alike should take more time examining the possibilities before casting judgment, negative or positive.




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