Tapping / EFT—short for Emotional Freedom Techniques—is a fast, easy-to-learn, and remarkably powerful  self-help technique that can be used (in a  nutshell!) to:

• relieve stress
• dispel negative emotions
• promote physical well-being

Based on the ancient art of Chinese acupuncture — but with the big advantage of no needles — tapping is gentle and non-invasive and can be done alone or with a therapist. Using your fingertips to tap on certain key points in the upper body, you can tune into a particular issue that is troubling you (emotional or physical) to help release or resolve it. It often works surprisingly fast; sometimes it requires some persistence. But it is always worth trying!

A fusion of Eastern and Western medicine, tapping is unusual in that it simultaneously engages the logical and the emotional part of the brain.

If you focus on a problem that is bothering you without tapping, the chances are you’ll feel worse. Adding tapping in makes all the difference: as you rant (or grumble, or feel quietly sad) AND simultaneously tap, you allow the negative emotion to be released from your system.

Nick Ortner, a key figure in the tapping world and a lovely guy — I throughly enjoyed watching him do the ALS ice bucket challenge in a bath of ice cubes! — concisely sums up EFT as “a combination of Ancient Chinese Acupressure and Modern Psychology that provides startling results.”  Nick directed the excellent documentary The Tapping Solution and authored the book of the same name, which has become a best-seller since its release.

Click to see Nick doing the ice bucket challenge (with mini tapping demo at the end as he gets really cold!).