Think about the past week– how many times have you experienced stress?
If you’re anything like most people, you can probably make a pretty impressive list of stressful moments over the past day, let alone the past week. Maybe your kids are sick, you sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way to work, your boss dumped a list of new demands on your desk, you decided to grocery shop at Walmart on a Sunday afternoon, you have errands to run, meals to plan, chores to do…and on, and on, and on.
The problem with stress is that while the types of stress we experience in our modern age have evolved to match the fast-paced world that we live in, our brains haven’t quite caught up. See, when you experience stress, your body releases cortisol and other adrenal hormones to try and keep up. It isn’t that cortisol is the bad guy in and of itself; we were designed to release these hormones in times of physical danger, you know, the occasional run in with a saber toothed tiger that may have been inclined to have us for lunch. Once the moment of danger is over, these hormones are meant to subside. But, in the world that we live in now, most people are experiencing significant stress multiple times on a daily basis, and some of us even experience a continual state of stress!
This means two things for you:
- Your brain cannot differentiate between types of stress. To your brain, shopping at Walmart on a Sunday afternoon can be the same experience as being chased by a tiger that wants to eat you. It isn’t that your conscious mind isn’t capable of looking at the two and seeing that they’re different, but to your brain and your unconscious mind, the FEELING is the same. And, more importantly, the same chemical response is triggered– every time.
- Our bodies are not meant to live in a constant “bath” of cortisol and adrenaline. The release of these hormones is supposed to be a very temporary thing.
Elevated levels of these hormones cause:
- heart rate and blood pressure soar to increase the flow of blood to the brain to improve decision making,
- blood sugar rises to furnish more fuel for energy as the result of the breakdown of glycogen, fat and protein stores,
- blood is shunted away from the gut, where it is not immediately needed for purposes of digestion, to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide more strength in combat, or greater speed in getting away from a scene of potential peril,
- clotting occurs more quickly to prevent blood loss from lacerations or internal hemorrhage.
And, to make things even more complicated, these hormones typically remain in the blood stream for extended periods of time, triggering your body to replenish energy supplies lost during the fight-or-flight response- even if you didn’t actually expend any energy waiting in line at Walmart. And how exactly does your body accomplish such a task? Increasing sugar cravings and even increasing our abdominal fat stores.
And over time, this cycle can do lots of damage. We’re talking fatigue, weakened immunity, anxiety, depression, digestive and metabolic problems, obesity, and even diseases such as diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Not to mention feeling like crap all the time isnt’ good for your motivation, your relationships, your sex drive, or your self esteem.
Before you get too stressed out over all this information, there is good news. EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), also known as tapping, is an easy, non-invasive, method you can use to lower your stress levels and the levels of these potentially dangerous hormones in you body. “EFT is a noninvasive technique that pairs the recall of emotional upsets (a form of exposure therapy, a common method in psychology) with physical stimulation of specific points on the body to discharge stress (as identified by thousands of years of use in acupuncture)” (EFT Universe).
A study published by the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease found that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) lowered the major stress hormone cortisol significantly more than other interventions tested. In a randomized controlled trial (the gold standard of scientific research), 83 subjects were randomly assigned to a single hour-long session of EFT, talk therapy, or rest. Their cortisol levels were measured via a saliva test before and after the session. The results showed that cortisol levels in the rest and therapy groups declined by an average of 14%, while the EFT group declined 24% (Read more here).
So, what does all this mean for your health and wellness journey? We already know that elevated levels of cortisol and adrenal hormones impair digestion, raise blood sugar levels, and, over time, cause your body to hold onto excess fat. Unlike expensive cortisol-blocking drugs that come with long-term side effects, a regular tapping practice can potentially significantly lower you body’s stress response. Chances are, you can’t remove everything from your life that causes stress, but you can adopt practices to help your body regulate its response to the stressors in your life. I recommend a daily tapping practice- even if it’s a small amount of time- dedicated to focusing inward and addressing the stressful events you’ve experienced that day.
What does it mean for your relationships? Having an effective self care routine in place will work wonders for your dating life, and even your existing relationships. Not only will you feel better and look better (who doesn’t want that?!), but when we show up for ourselves and invest in ourselves, we are then able to show up more authentically and become more aligned in our relationships. The energy you’re cultivating by caring for yourself in tangible, real ways shows up in your interactions with other people– it can be felt and sensed by others. And it makes a real difference. EFT tapping is a great way to invest in yourself each day, and as you transform yourself, you’ll transform your relationships!
Want to learn more about tapping? Make sure you join my mailing list or become a part of the High Vibes Energy Circle facebook group to be in the know about my next EFT Tapping training event! You won’t want to miss it!