Enlightened Heart

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How does tapping work, and how does it affect our bodies?

Simply tapping on your skin sends powerful signals to your brain.  When you tap on specific points, like the inside of your eyebrow, under your eye, or on your collarbone, you stimulate the ends of electrical pathways that pass through different organs in your body.  The response is very real and measurable.  The pressure from tapping activates tiny sensors in your skin which convert that touch into electrical signals.  These signals travel through your nerves, up your spinal cord, and into your brain, especially to areas like the amygdala, which controls fear and stress, the hippocampus, which processes memory and context, and the prefrontal cortex, which manages thinking, reasoning, and decision-making.  Tapping while you focus on a difficult memory or emotion helps interrupt the brain's alarm system.  It basically tells your body, "Hey, it's safe now. You can relax."

And guess what?  Studies show that tapping lowers cortisol, your stress hormone, and increases calming brainwaves called alpha waves.  Over time this process actually rewires your brain.  So instead of reacting with anxiety or overwhelm or another challenging emotion, you start responding with calm and clarity.  That is the power of tapping: gentle touch that sends a strong message to your nervous system saying, " You're safe, you're seen, and you're healing." 

 

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What kinds of problems can tapping help people with?

People use tapping to ease anxious feelings, worries, concerns, and panic attacks, reduce stress, and quiet an endless loop of negative thoughts.  Tapping has been used to process grief and recover from different kinds of trauma like accidents, natural disasters, verbal, physical, or sexual abuse, and PTSD. It can also help with all kinds of fears like the fear of public speaking or the fear of being in large groups of people.  In addition, it is effective for physical pain when that pain has emotional roots, like tension headaches for example. Tapping can even improve self-worth and support spiritual healing, helping people reconnect with peace, purpose, and their faith.  Whether it's emotional, physical, or spiritual, tapping meets you right where you are and helps bring your mind, body, and spirit back into balance and alignment.

 

How can tapping help me hear from God more clearly?

Tapping helps quiet the noise. We often struggle to hear God's voice, not because He isn't speaking, but because we are surrounded by emotional noise like anxiety, guilt or shame, racing thoughts, past trauma, doubts, and distractions.  These create stress in the body and brain, keeping us in a fight-or-flight state which makes it harder to enter into peace, prayer, and spiritual connection. Tapping helps shift the nervous system from sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and receive) mode.  As your body relaxes, your mind quiets, your heart becomes more open, and you create space to sense God's presence.  When you are in a state of peace and internal stillness, it is much easier to discern God's voice which is often still and gentle. Tapping does a remarkable job of enabling our bodies to relax and receive, allowing us to hear the still small voice of God. It is a perfect tool to use alongside inner healing work because it puts our physical bodies in a place of stillness where we can see, hear, and know who God is and what he has provided for us.

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How do I tap? What are the steps? What are the tapping points?

1.  Identify the issue. Start by focusing on a specific problem, emotional issue, or physical pain or sensation you are experiencing.

2.  Rate the intensity. On a scale from 0 to 10, rate how intense the emotion or discomfort feels.  This gives you a reference point for progress.

3.  Setup statement.  While tapping on the side of your hand, say a statement 3 times that includes both the problem AND a positive affirmation. For example, "Even though I feel sad (emotion or issue), and I feel it in my chest, (location in the body), thinking about the conversation I had with my mother last night (one specific incident), I deeply and completely accept myself" (affirmation statement).

4.  Tapping sequence. Tap lightly with your fingers on the following points: top of the head, inside of eyebrow, outside of eye, under eye, under nose, chin, collar bone points, and under arm while repeating and focusing on the emotion you felt during that incident.

5. Reasses: After several rounds of tapping, rate the intensity of the issue again.  Ideally, the intensity of the emotion or pain should decrease.

 

Is Emotional Freedom Techniques Tapping scientifically supported?

Yes! While more research is ongoing, numerous studies have found that EFT is effective in reducing anxious thoughts, stress, and PTSD symptoms.  Research from institutions like Harvard Medical School and the University of Alicante have provided evidence of its effectiveness in promoting emotional and physical well-being. Dawson Church with EFT Universe has conducted multiple studies and posted them online at EFTUniverse.com. Other studies have been conducted and published by Peta Stapleton, and David Feinstein's work includes numerous clinical trials that have demonstrated the effectiveness of EFT in reducing symptoms of various conditions.

 

What organ does each tapping point's electrical pathway pass through and what are the emotional/functional associations with each point?

Side of Hand: Small intestine/clarity, judgment, decision-making, sorting and separating

Inner Eyebrow: Bladder/fear, trauma, letting go

Side of Eye: Gallbladder/ anger, resentment, frustration

Under Eye: Stomach/ anxious feelings, worry, nourishment

Under Nose: Central energy pathway/ shame, confidence, control

Chin: Central energy pathway/ confusion, embarrassment, self-acceptance

Collarbone: Kidneys/ fear, anxious feelings, survival

Under Arm: Spleen/low self-esteem, guilt, worry, overthinking

Top of Head: Integration of all meridians/ overall balance, spiritual connection

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Scripture References:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2)

It was you who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise You because I am wonderfully and fearfully made. (Psalm 139:13-14)

For in Him the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily and you have been filled by Him. (Col. 2:9)

All praise to God ... who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms ... (Ephesians 1:3)

I am in them and you are in me. (John 17:23)

Be still and know that I am God (Psalms 46:10)

 

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