Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Its Classical Chinese Medical Aspects

Most people in the West think of Emotional Freedom Technique as a disciplined practice of tapping acupuncture points and set-up phrases intermixed with western energy psychology and are not aware of its deeper Classical Chinese medical aspects which this article will hopefully elaborate.

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.

According to Huang Di Neijing, "In the human body located on each channel are a set of points identified with each of the five elements. On the yang channels they are represented by jing/well-metal, rong/spring-water, shu/stream-wood, jing/river-fire, and he/sea-earth. On the yin channels they are represented by jing/well-wood, rong/spring-fire, shu/stream-earth, jing/river-metal, and he/sea-water. By acupuncturing the corresponding elemental point of the organ system that is the most susceptible, that organ system will become balanced and thus avert any potential disorder."

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.

Tapping of the acupuncture points with intention, and loving and accepting oneself work in EFT therapy because according to the three theories of Classical Chinese Medicine, "Qi follows intention," "the heart is the supreme master of the organs and is the home of shen, the spirit. If the master is brilliant, his subjects are peaceful. If the master is disturbed, his twelve officials [the body's organ systems] are endangered," and "when the Qi obstruction or stagnation in the energy meridians is normalized through acupuncture," balancing of yin and yang, and emotional and physical healing naturally take place.

The reason why EFT therapy works:

By reinforcing the Qi, opening one's heart to shen's unconditional love, and clearing the Qi stagnation or obstruction through acupuncture (acupressure) along the 3 extra meridians (Du Mu, Ren Mu and Chong Mai) and the yin and yang meridians of the heart, pericardium, triple warmer, spleen, stomach, small intestine, lung, large intestine, bladder, kidney, gall bladder and liver, the charge or intensity behind unwanted negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, guilt, fear, pain, anger, sadness, trauma, etc. can be intentionally neutralized during EFT therapy. Furthermore, the leakage of the Three Treasures - Jing (essence), Qi (vitality), and Shen (Spirit) - due to negative emotions is plugged restoring the normal functions of the five major organs.