Oh how I love tapping! I have used it a lot with kids and it is very empowering for them. It gives them a tool to use in their everyday life when they feel overwhelmed, anxious or sad. Tapping is not just for kids. I use it quite frequently myself. Tapping was the only thing that helped me overcome a severe driving phobia I had for five years. I was blown away by how well it worked. Tapping can be used for both physical or emotional problems. It is called tapping because you gently tap on various acupuncture points on your head and body with your fingers to energetically restore balance and relieve stress and pain. Tapping is safe, easy to learn and non- invasive. (Note: Acupuncture needles are NOT used with tapping) Before you tap, you choose what to tap on (i.e. a physical pain or an intense emotion). You rate it on a scale of 1-10 (ten is the highest) “How intense this pain or emotion is for you?” Then you create a set-up statement: Example Set-Up Statement: Even though I have this terrible pain in my knee, I choose to love and accept myself. You repeat the set-up statement three times while tapping on an acupuncture point on the side of your hand. Then you begin tapping on various other points on your head and body. You continue to do this until you feel the intensity of the emotion or pain decrease. Sounds almost too easy, right? It is. Tapping is wonderful. If you’d like to learn more, call me and we'll talk. *Tapping is also called EFT- Emotional Freedom Technique That is totally okay! I see it as a nice compliment-the fact you are so relaxed and comfortable that you take a little cat nap is a-okay with me. I had a patient who used to come in, he’d answer my questions, get on the table and start snoring before I got the third needle in. He would tell me that this was the most soundly he slept. Your treatment will not be “ruined” and I will not think you are rude if you fall asleep. If anything, sleeping during a treatment will allow the needles to do their work more efficiently. Heck, bring your pajamas if you want. Sweet dreams! Since your ear is a microsystem of the human body, ear seeds can help extend the benefits of your acupuncture treatment. Ear seeds are usually radish seeds that are placed on specific acupuncture points in your ear that correspond to different parts of your body. (Some acupuncturists will use very tiny gold or silver balls instead of radish seeds in the ear. ) The seeds are covered and held in place with surgical tape on your ear. They will stay on when you shower and sleep. I usually recommend that my patients leave them in for 3-5 days if possible. Sometimes your ear will turn slightly red or feel warm-that is normal. If the ear seeds bother you, simply peel them off and throw them away. No worries. The idea is that after an acupuncture treatment, I can give you an ear seed that you can press on in-between treatments to help relieve pain or stress. It’s like taking your acupuncture treatment with you. When patients tell me they have trouble sleeping and wake up a lot throughout the night, I always ask what time they usually wake up because this will tell me what organs are not balanced. Every two hours your energy (Qi) moves through a different organ inside your body. For example, if you wake up often between 1-3 am, that is Liver time. That tells me that something is going on with your Liver, so I will make sure to add a few acupuncture points to help balance the energy in your Liver. Your Liver’s job in Chinese medicine is to keep things flowing smoothly inside your body. When you have a lot of stress or a high pressure job, this can cause your energy to slow down or get “stuck” in your body. So those of us with stressful lives or jobs will find that our sleep is lousy. So by treating your Liver, I can improve your sleep. Next time you wake up in the middle of the night, take a quick peek at the clock and then look at the picture above to see what organ is trying to get your attention. |