Intro To EFT/Tapping Through Breath Retention

EFT, aka Emotional Freedom Technique, aka Tapping, is one of the most effective and quick-acting techniques I have learned as a therapist. I often refer to EFT as Emotional Acupuncture without the needles, because we are tapping on the primary acupressure points while we speak, which serves as a pressure release valve for the disrupted energy in your body. I will show you how powerful EFT is through a simple Breath Retention exercise, which can illuminate underlying emotional blockages. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hello, Beautiful soul. Welcome to this introduction to emotional freedom technique, Otherwise known as EFT or tapping. This is one of the most effective and quick acting techniques I have learned as a therapist, And I'm so excited to share it with you today. I often refer to EFT as emotional acupuncture without the needles, Because we are tapping on the primary acupressure points while we speak, Which serves as a pressure release valve for the disrupted energy in your body. Today I'd love to show you how powerful EFT is through a simple breath retention exercise. One of my favorite things about EFT or tapping is that anyone can use it anywhere, Anytime. But there are times when it's best to not practice this alone and to turn to a trained professional to help you navigate some particularly turbulent waters. This practice involves deep breathing, Which can trigger trauma and or anxiety. If you feel triggered in any way, Please just pause and let your breath return to normal, Continuing to tap on the points. If this is too much for you, I invite you to reach out to a mental health provider or a licensed clinical EFT practitioner in your area who can help you work through these layers that will arise through doing this work. If you're not sure who to reach out to, Send me a direct message or an email and I'm happy to connect you with resources. You know your body, Listen, Respect your experience and know you're not alone. So now a little bit more about how this tapping stuff works. The breath is affected by our stress and emotions. And I think this exercise will help you feel this mind body connection through your experience. This exercise is actually an indirect way to target your underlying emotional blockages through finding the places where breath is restricted. You might experience a greater sense of freedom and relief in many areas of your life after this exercise. I invite you to pay attention to how you move about your life after tapping. What difference do you notice even hours or days after this experience? Tapping around breath retention can be used as a relaxation tool to make progress with issues you can't quite articulate, To take the edge off of a highly intense disturbance and to help newcomers and skeptics experience noticeable results. Tapping can be used anytime to tap into the parasympathetic nervous system so we can access our calm, Confident, Resourceful and creative states. I hope you enjoy the process. We will begin together by taking three maximally deep breaths together in through the nose and out through the mouth. This way we know that any results you experience after tapping aren't simply a result of a lung stretching effect. So let all of your air out now and breathe all the way in, Feeling your belly expand, Feeling your ribs widen and feeling your breath all the way up into your collarbones. Hold the breath at the top for a moment, Relax your muscles and let it all out through the mouth. Let's do that two more times together. Let's take the biggest inhale possible, Feeling your belly get big, Your ribs expand and bringing your breath all the way up into your throat. Pause for a moment here, Relax and exhale out through the mouth. Let's make this one the biggest breath today. In through the nose, Belly gets big, Ribs get wide, Send the breath all the way to the top of your head. Pause and out through the mouth. Now that you have stretched your lungs as far as they will allow, Take one more deep breath. This time I want you to assess the capacity of air your lungs are holding at your maximum inhale on a scale of zero to 10. For example, If you say six, That means your maximum inhale at this time is about 60% of how much your lungs can actually hold. No need to overthink this. Even if you think you're at 100% right now, You might find by the end that you have exceeded expectations by moving up to a 12 or 15. So take your maximum breath in now if you haven't already and rate it from one to 10. How much of your lungs capacity is being filled at the top? Exhale it all out. And now we can move on to the next phase called the setup. Together we will begin tapping with four fingers on what we call the karate chop point of the hand. It doesn't matter which hand. This is the point on the side of your hand below your pinky finger where you would karate chop a piece of wood if you felt so inclined. While tapping on the karate chop point, We will repeat the setup statement three times together. You may repeat after me and feel free to change any words that don't feel quite right for you. I will be using 60% or six out of 10 as an example, But replace that with your own number. So repeat after me while tapping on your karate chop point. Even though I am experiencing constricted breathing at this time, I am only breathing at 60% of my lungs capacity. I accept that this is my experience right now. Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Even though I can only fill my lungs to a six, I am open to accepting and loving myself anyway. Deep breath. Even though my maximum breathing is currently at a six, I choose to love and accept this experience and myself just as I am in this moment. Deep breath. And now begin to tap with one or two fingers on the inside edge of your eyebrow where the hair ends, Repeating after me. Even though I have constricted breathing. Deep breath. And now tapping on the outside edge of your eyebrows where the hair ends. Repeat after me. Even though I can only fill my lungs to a six. Deep breath. Begin tapping underneath the pupil of your eye on the bony part right beneath your eye on either side with one or two fingers and repeat after me. I am experiencing constricted breathing. Deep breath. Tap underneath the nose and above the upper lip. Tapping on the outside of your upper gums. Repeat after me. Only filling my lungs up to a six. Deep breath. And keep tapping while you're breathing. And now tap underneath the lower lip on the outside of your lower gums. Repeat after me. This constricted breathing feels, Fill in the blank. Deep breath. Then begin tapping with two or more fingers underneath your collarbone on either side. If you start in the middle of your two collarbones, Move down two inches and then over in either direction two inches, You'll be in the right vicinity. It should feel good. I like to use four fingers here. Repeat after me. My breathing feels constricted. Deep breath. Now take those four fingers and begin tapping underneath the armpit on the place where a bra strap would be. Repeat after me. I realize I'm only filling my lungs up to about 60% of their capacity. Deep breath. Now you can use all five fingers, Tapping on the very top or the crown of the head, Repeating after me. So much constricted breathing. Deep breath. Now bring both hands to your heart. Take a deep breath in through your nose, Trying to maximize your lung capacity with air. Reassess at this time how much of your capacity you're able to fill on a scale of zero to 10. You might find that your number already increased or it may have stayed the same. Who knows, The number may have even gone down. Repeat this as many times as you'd like to notice increasing results. It may even be helpful to ask yourself some questions to gain further clarity, Such as what does my constricted breathing remind me of? When in my past did I feel constricted or smothered? And you can even pick your favorite tapping point and continue tapping while you hear my voice. If there was an emotional reason for my constricted breath, What might it be? I'll ask some of these questions during the next round of tapping and invite you to join in for this exercise in self-inquiry if you'd like. Or feel free to stick with the same way we did last round, Simply acknowledging the existence of constricted breath. Let's start again with the inside of the eyebrow with one or two fingers on either side. You can repeat after me and change any words so they feel right for you. My breath is constricted to a blank percent right now. Deep breath. Outside of the eyebrow, What does this breath constriction remind me of? Deep breath. Below the eye, I can only feel blank percent of my lungs at this time. Deep breath. Below the nose, When in my past did I feel constricted, Smothered, Held back? Deep breath. Below the lower lip, This breath constriction feels like, Fill in the blank. Deep breath. Collarbone. If there is an emotional reason underlying my constricted breath, What might it be? Deep breath. Under the armpit, I am experiencing limited breath capacity. Deep breath. Top of the head, I can feel my lungs filling up to blank percent. Deep breath. Place both hands on your heart. Take another deep breath all the way to capacity. How would you rate the capacity your lungs can hold at this time from 0 to 10? How is your number now compared to when we started? How are you feeling in your body? How about in your mind? Do you get any clues as to the emotional landscape lying beneath the breath constriction? You now know the tapping pattern, The points, And the general way it works. Feel free to continue this as many times as you want, Using your own words or the ones I have provided. As a general rule, The more you tap, The better you feel. It can be a very helpful practice to journal after a tapping session, To write down what you noticed and any answers to questions you received during this exercise. If you happened to tap into some emotions or memories you don't quite know what to do with, Please know that you are not in this alone. There are many licensed clinical EFT practitioners just like myself out there who can help you. It is helpful to have a guide, Especially when dealing with heavier emotions, Memories, And trauma. I am here for you if you're wanting additional support and don't know where to turn. Simply drop me a private message or send me an email and I'm happy to brainstorm resources for your area. Thank you for taking this time to learn a valuable tool to help yourself through tough times. You can use tapping for just about anything and I hope it will prove fruitful for you in the future.

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