Like many people, Carol Richard wasn’t always great at dealing with work-related stress, and it took a toll on her health.
She had insomnia a few years ago and when her doctor prescribed sleeping pills, they only helped her for two hours.
Matters became worse. Her next visit to the doctor resulted in her being ordered to go on sick leave from work because her feet and hands were numb.
Feeling desperate, she looked for a remedy and came across a video about Emotion Freedom Techniques, EFT. These techniques involve tapping pressure points of the body in order to release negative emotions.
For Richard, EFT was a strange concept, but she began to feel better a few weeks after trying it. Following her health’s progress, she sought to know more about EFT.
“It helped me so much, it’s something I’m passionate about and want to share with everyone,” Richard said.
Now a certified EFT practitioner coach, she held an EFT informative session at the Startup Zone on Queen Street earlier this month.
Richard said sleeplessness is the immediate effect of stress.
“The first thing that happens when you’re stressed is you stop sleeping.
“Once you don’t sleep, everything else falls apart.”
Stress usually occurs from emotions experienced in a past situation, she said.
“When we think about stress that has happened in our lives, it’s usually something that has happened in the past, but today we have emotions about it.”
- Carol Richard
“When we think about stress that has happened in our lives, it’s usually something that has happened in the past, but today we have emotions about it.”
Our brain doesn’t know the difference between what happened in the past (or) present when it comes to emotions, she said.
She said we need to look ahead of negative emotions attached to a past.
“We can’t change the past, but we can change how we respond to that past event.”
In order to release a negative emotion with EFT, think about the situation when the emotion occurred and repeatedly tap the meridian point of the body part where the emotion is being felt the most, Richard said.
A meridian point is a pressure point in the body which relieves pain when massaged. An
example would be massaging the ball of the foot to relieve a headache.
Richards said EFT will only be effective when someone knows what their specific issue is and how they want to progress.
“If you don’t have a goal, you’re going to tap forever.”
EFT can be used to remove the negative emotions that reduce the quality of sleep, Richard said.
She suggests using EFT before sleep or when waking up in the middle of the night.
EFT doesn’t treat every case of sleeplessness, such as the effects of caffeine, she said.
Richard still encourages people who suffer from insomnia, anxiety and depression to keep taking medications.
For more information of EEFT methods, she can be contacted at [email protected].
