What Is EFT All About?

In our fast-paced modern lives, we might not have the threats of lions hunting us down, but it’s easy to get overstimulated and affected by our negative thoughts and emotions which are our subjective (perceived) causes of stress. Our body doesn’t make a distinction between different kinds of stress and responds instinctively from the emotional brain to protect us by producing cortisol and automatically suppressing production of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) our cell repair and restore, anti-aging hormone that helps us recover from effects of stress. Over time, the negative emotions such as irritation, frustration, and anger not only activate our sympathetic (fight/flight/ freeze) stress response but cause it to go into overdrive resulting in depleting our energy and interfering with our ability to think logically. Our mammalian emotional brain hijacks our intelligent neocortex. Too much cortisol over a long time puts our nervous system into imbalance and can lead us to chronic exhaustion, hormonal imbalances, excessive fat buildup, impaired immune function, decreased bone and muscle mass (McCraty, Barrios-Chaplin,1998). Furthermore Bruce McEwen, PhD director of the neuroendocrinology lab in NY found stress (whether actual or perceived danger or threat) wears down the brain leading to cell atrophy and memory loss. It also causes increased blood pressure and blood sugar, hardening arteries and leading to heart disease.

In addition, it's important to mention the work of Dr. Gabor Mate, a retired physician, best-selling author and trauma/addictions expert from Vancouver, B.C. In the book "When The Body Says No-The Cost of Hidden Stress" he states that emotional stress is a "major contributing cause" of breast cancer development as drawn from extensive data from animal studies and human experience.  Dr. Mate eloquently describes in lay terms about inter-connection between hormonal (adrenal), emotional, immune and nervous system calling it our body's super-system called PNI (for Psycho-Neuro-Immuno-endocrine System) through which all the components of the system function as a unit (not separately as viewed in the past) to protect the body from external or internal invasion or threat.  Chronic emotional repression of negative emotions (learnt as a protective coping mechanism in childhood) especially anger, causes significant stress,weakens body's defence and leads to disturbance of balance in the body's PNI super-system resulting in disease.
 
Clinical EFT, the scientifically proven method, has a major positive effect on calming the brain's alarm centre (amygdala) and in turn reducing the production of the main stress hormone cortisol, whether we are dealing with stress caused by the external circumstances, perceived threat or past trauma. A landmark study by Dr. Dawson Church (published one 2012 prestigious Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease and replicated in 2020 by Dr. Peta Stapleton) shows that EFT reduced cortisol levels by 43 percent more than traditional talk therapy or resting.  For more scientific research data visit the EFT Universe website: www.eftuniverse.com/research-studies/eft-research

EFT has gotten the attention of the Harvard Medical School which revealed in a 2016 study that EFT produces positive change in the expression of genes associated with stress as well, so that the body is better equipped to handle future stress while at the same time addressing the existing stress.  This essentially means that your DNA (ie.your inherited genetic material) is not your destiny and introducing healing practices into your life is essential. They also found that trauma and the behavioural changes that result from trauma can be positively altered at the level of gene expression using clinical EFT.