by Ricardo B. Serrano, R.Ac. Most people in the West think of Emotional Freedom Techique 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.
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 Shengong/ Sheng Zhen 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. See Qi-healers Without Borders for more information on the "EFT Qi-healers Method." 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: Choose to be FREE of unwanted negative emotions which cause most diseases and addictions. "In the human body there are the zang organs of the liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidneys. The qi of the five zang organs forms the five spirits and gives rise to the five emotions. The spirit of the heart is known as the shen, which rules mental and creative functions. The spirit of the liver, the hun, rules the nervous system and gives rise to extrasensory perception. The spirit of the spleen, of yi, rules logic or reasoning power. The spirit of the lungs, or po, rules the animalistic instincts, physical strength and stamina. The spirit of the kidneys, the zhi, rules the will, drive, ambitions, and survival instinct. "Overindulgence in the five emotions -- happiness, anger, sadness, worry or fear, and fright -- can create imbalances. Emotions can injure the qi, while seasonal elements can attack the body. Sudden anger damages the yin qi; becoming easily excited or overjoyed will damage the yang qi. This causes the qi to rebel and rise up the head, squeezing the shen out of the heart and allowing it to float away. Failing to regulate one's emotions can be likened to summer and winter failing to regulate each other, threatening life itself." -- Huang Di Neijing |
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.
