The simple, subtle genius of Meridian therapy
Those who have discovered its potency can’t say enough good things about it, but many are reluctant to try it. I’ll admit it sounds strange—even a little ridiculous perhaps. “Tapping.” I brushed it off when it was first suggested to me, even though the suggestion came from someone I really respected. Years later, I’m finally incorporating it into my health care practice. I am certain, now, that it’s an invaluable tool for healing.
So I thought a little exploration of how and why it works would be a good way to celebrate this solstice, the time that more than any other, to me, symbolizes a new beginning, a passage into a new season with new possibilities. And an acceptance that another phase of life has moved into the past. A time to reflect on what I wish to keep from that past, and what I wish to let go.
When I finally did try this practice, in a moment of extreme and painful emotion, my very first attempt made me realize it could change my own emotional health trajectory, and add a new dimension to my work as well. It’s a technique that, when used correctly, can be almost unbelievably effective at healing anxiety, trauma, fear, excessive grief, and other emotional difficulties. And unlike more traditional approaches to these challenges, it works quickly, naturally, and the person can experience this healing without being retraumatized, without feeling unsafe or starting up the anxiety process—in fact, it’s quite possible to generate this healing without ever even describing or talking explicitly about the traumatic experience. It is truly hard to convey its depth.
Having a skeptical nature myself, I understand the doubt I see in people’s eyes when I talk about it. The basic practice is known by various names including Emotional Freedom Techniques and Meridian Tapping. I tried it by myself, with almost no understanding, and even those clumsy first encounters showed me that without a doubt, there is something here that “works.” Me being the way I am, I couldn’t resist diving in. I sensed that the standard technique could be personalized more, could integrate beautifully, synergistically, with the other therapies I offer.
For thousands of years, the energy systems of the human body have been studied by very serious medical practitioners and scholars. Western “authorities” dismissed the energy meridians for many years as something fanciful, but no longer. Modern mainstream technology-based research has now confirmed that throughout the body there are channels, pathways, which coordinate, stimulate, integrate functions. The implications of what they are and what they do are far too much to dive into here, but suffice it to say they are proven structures/functions of a human being. Not that they needed Westerners in labs with sophisticated imaging technologies to be validated, but for those who are curious about this angle, the studies are fascinating.
We often unconsciously, instinctively use acupressure when we’re uncomfortable, especially on our heads, hands, feet, neck, and shoulders.
Shifting to another perspective, psychological “talk therapies” have been used for a long time to try to help people resolve difficult memories, fears, traumas, limitations. And sometimes there is some benefit from these techniques. But sometimes there is little; it’s acknowledged that it takes a long, long time, and it hurts. It usually requires, in one way or another, renewing the experience of pain or fright, over and over again.
Albert Einstein famously remarked that “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” In a similar way, it has always seemed to me that causing or provoking pain is not an efficient way to heal pain. Feeding our attention to a troubling memory, reinforcing the strength of anguish, fear, or grief, might not be so productive in the end. Many people faithfully attend psychotherapy sessions every week for many years. That fact alone tells us that true change can elude us in those modalities.
When one feels relieved by a session with a conventional psychologist—and certainly one sometimes does—there may be some placebo effect happening. That doesn’t mean we don’t really feel better. It just means we can’t expect that response to be consistent or durable. Still, the accumulated insights over time, with a really good therapist, can bring deeper, more permanent change. When that happens, it’s because the way trauma is being stored in us has changed.
It’s well established that emotion, and emotional memory, live in our bodies. They permeate every cell, and the water between cells, they interpret the world around us, and they set the boundaries of our point of view, our very thoughts. (It’s another one of those realities that all manner of medical, scientific, and religious traditions the world over have known all along, which modern Western researchers announce they have “discovered!”) Our nervous systems, endocrine systems, and all the rest manifest disturbance because of the energetic patterns imprinted in us by harmful or frightening experiences. Aside from the obvious unhappiness of living with trauma, emotional trouble and physical disease create a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle.
In general, we can’t effectively alter or overcome most traumas by talking about them because they are involved in every cell and system of our bodies. We end up mostly chasing them around, rearranging them, or if we take medications, compounding them with further chemical trauma to the body. There are times and circumstances in which medications are completely appropriate; but not nearly so often as we’ve been lead to believe. They are prescribed routinely, almost compulsively, because the mainstream medical profession knows very well that it has no other answer to emotional or mental suffering.
So, what if we could go directly to changing those energy patterns? What if we could synergistically bring together the mental, the emotional, and the physical to literally transform those patterns into healthy ones? Both correctly applied unicist homeopathy and Meridian therapy do exactly that. They are not effortful. They are not about dissecting, examining, and analyzing our pain. They are simply gentle energetic interventions which unleash the enormous potential for healing which already exists in us. They allow us to become un-stuck, to release painful stagnant energy. This in turn allows chemical systems to heal and rebalance.
Meridian tapping, or EFT, uses stimulation of certain points on the energy meridians (selected from the much greater number of points used in acupuncture) to quietly influence and inform the whole energetic system. With careful guidance, you can safely approach a difficult memory or emotion without becoming overwhelmed. It is not necessary to describe a painful or frightful experience, or even fully recall it. There does not need to be very much talk about it at all; you can share as much or as little detail as you choose.
I completed a practitioner training program a few years ago. On my own, I began experimenting with using other energy points to access some emotional situations more precisely. I’ve explored combining points which address particular physical symptoms with specific emotional patterns. I can see this is not the sort of project which is ever “done,” and I’m sure I’ll continue to expand and deepen it. However, I’m pleased to say that at this point I feel ready to integrate it into my work with clients when it would be of help. And I continue to use it myself, because it offers a particular kind of gentle support which I find so very valuable.
