All stress (and stress relief) is not created equal.
Did you know that some stress is actually good for you? In small amounts, stress can improve brain function, make you more creative, help you get fit, lower your risk of breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, and lots more.
It’s chronic stress—the “stress overload” you feel day in, day out—that’s silently but systematically sabotaging your health and well-being.
Here’s the thing, though. You’re smart. You exercise, get your 7 hours of sleep, do deep breathing, yoga, meditation… You’ve even logged hours on the couch (the therapist’s couch!) trying to get to the “root” of your stress.
But still, you feel its effects. Even worse, this stress-related disease shows up everywhere you look.
So what gives?
The Answer: Like stress, not all stress relief is created equal.
Stress isn’t just in your head. Stress is also physical. (There’s loads of scientific research proving this, by the way.)
Until stress is fully released, it stays lodged in your body and in your cells, running rampant, putting your health at risk.
Still unconvinced? The health-damaging effects of chronic stress are scientific fact.
1. You think about something stressful—work, money, relationships, family, whatever’s bothering you.
2. Your amygdala (in your mid-brain) senses danger.
3. Your amygdala helps to initiate your body’s fight-or-flight response to stress.
4. In “fight or flight,” your body releases adrenaline and the “stress hormone” cortisol, diverts blood away from your digestive tract, leaving you less able to digest food and absorb nutrients AND more likely to gain weight.
5. In this physiological “crisis mode,” you’re more vulnerable to pain—from chronic illness, arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, stomach upset, and more.
6. In this state of heightened physiological “alert”, your brain’s creative center is deemed “non-essential” and shuts down. Down goes your problem solving, your creative skills, your intuition.
7. You feel increasingly irritable, isolated, and impatient. Your relationships suffer.
8. Stress affects your sleep. Your metabolism slows.
9. Your body secretes even more cortisol, wreaking more havoc on your digestion (and waistline), increasing your blood pressure, and lowering your immune response.
10. After releasing too much cortisol for too long, your body goes into “adrenal fatigue.” You feel depleted, exhausted, and depressed.
11. You no longer have the energy to adhere to your exercise routine, your healthy eating, meditation, yoga. Migraines, insomnia, stress-related hair loss, chronic pain, and any number of other issues become regular parts of your life.
12. Battling low energy, you can hardly focus at work, and elsewhere. Your relationships suffer.
13. Your depression deepens. You (and your body) are STRESSED OUT.
And while you may feel better, it’s often only until the next morning or credit card statement.
40% of the population exercises for 30 minutes, 1-4 days per week.
NO debate here. Exercise is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. Physical activity promotes the release of endorphins, known as the “feel-good” neurotransmitters. These make you “smarter” and more creative by increasing blood flow (and oxygen) to your brain and acts as “meditation in motion,” providing mental and physical stress relief.
The reality: However critical, it’s hours, even days after that stressful meeting with the boss or that fight with your spouse before you can seek out the solace of your running shoes. (If you have that healthy habit…)
38% of Americans use “complementary and alternative medicine,” which includes yoga, meditation, and other natural stress relief.
Again, NO debate here. These practices provide powerful stress relief, increased focus, creativity, and lots more.
The reality: Yoga and meditation provide significant stress relief and other benefits that yield significant results in weeks or months with regular, frequent practice. Many who try meditation give up too soon because they feel it’s “not working.”
A study performed by Dr. Dawson Church, Ph.D. and Dr. David Feinstein, Ph.D., measured cortisol levels before and after treatment.
83 participants were divided into 3 groups: the 1st group received an hour of Tapping, a practice that combines “talk” therapy with acupressure treatments; the 2nd group received an hour of psychotherapy (“talk” therapy); the 3rd group (control group) received no treatment.
Results: The 1st group demonstrated a 24% decrease in cortisol levels; the 2nd and 3rd groups showed no change in cortisol levels.
The reality: Psychotherapy alone relieves stress, but over a long period of time. The immediate benefits of psychotherapy don’t register in your body, where excessive amounts of the “stress hormone” cortisol still run rampant, putting your health at risk.
Tapping, the practice that produced a 24% decrease in cortisol after just one hour, blends Western psychotherapy or “talk” therapy with Eastern wisdom about “meridian points” or acupressure.
It acts fast and you can use it anytime, anywhere. It only takes 5 – 20 minutes.
Because it accesses your emotions and body simultaneously, it provides powerful stress relief, lowering cortisol levels faster than most traditional and alternative stress relief methods.
Study findings show that Tapping balances activity between the sympathetic and parasympathetic regions of your brain, producing “a neutral emotional state,” the gold standard of health and wellness.
The sympathetic region of your brain
Prepares your body for vigorous physical activity, speeding your heart, dilating pupils, contracting blood vessels, reducing digestive secretions.
In a perpetually active “stressed out” state, you’re more vulnerable to heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, weight gain, irritability, and impatience. This is what chronic stress looks like in the early stages.
The parasympathetic region of your brain
Prepares your body for relaxation, cell regeneration, and digestion by slowing the heart, constricting the pupils, stimulating digestive secretions, and dilating blood vessels.
In an overactive state, you suffer from depression, weakened immune response, fatigue, and diminished motivation. This is what chronic stress looks like over time.
“High sympathetic/low parasympathetic ratios have been linked to both psychological and physiological disorders and may, in fact, “be the final pathway linking negative states and conditions to ill health.’” CREDIT: Dr. Dawson Church, Ph.D. and Dr. David Feinstein, Ph.D., “Modulating Gene Expression Through Psychotherapy: The Contribution of Non-Invasive Somatic Interventions”
EFT Tapping regulates activity between these regions to achieve balanced activity and optimal health.
Study findings show that EFT Tapping is “substantially more powerful” than diaphragmatic breathing at lowering cortisol.
Extra Benefit #1: Relief from the excessive cortisol and adrenal fatigue – your body and mind re-balance. Your energy is restored, you sleep better, feel healthy again. This revitalizes your metabolism and your body is again able to heal itself.
Extra Benefit #2: The rapid and comprehensive body/mind stress relief you get from Tapping normally takes hours, weeks, or months to achieve with meditation, yoga, “talk” therapy, and other treatments.
Extra Benefit #3: If you already practice meditation, yoga, affirmations, and others, Tapping can enhance the benefits of those other practices by lowering your cortisol levels much quicker, promoting even deeper relaxation “on the cushion” and beyond.
So, what does it all mean?
Chronic stress is sabotaging your health and well-being, making you more vulnerable to depression, disease, and worse.
EFT Tapping quickly relieves chronic stress on physical and mental/emotional levels.
One of the easiest ways to get the relief you’re looking for is with The Tapping Solution App!
With over 100 Tapping Meditations readily available on your mobile device whenever you need it, it’s like carrying a personal Tapping Professional around with you wherever you go. 🙂
Until next time…
Keep Tapping!
Nick Ortner
Copyright © 2024 The Tapping Solution, LLC
I’ve known for years now about the effect of stress on the body and been keeping mine under control with tapping and it works:-) I intend to pass on Nick Otner’s article to others.
I know chronic stress is really affecting to me. I’m trying to keep tapping 🙂 Are there any certain things I need to be focusing on to help me tap through the stress moments? I feel like what I am doing now helps some but I need less stress.
Thanks
What a great article Nick! I just tapped here at my desk and my stress and pain in my neck
(lol, wonder where THAT came from?) felt so much better immediately. I LOVE TAPPING!
Thanks so much for all your great work!
Filled with gratitude,
Laura
Persistance works. It seems like there’s something new each day, or a new aspect each day. And as long as I make myself tap, the stress lessens. Sometimes it’s like exercising, I really have to make myself do it, so the tapping might start off with a lousy attitude, but it still helps. And it helps to have the encouragement of sites like this to be persistant!
You are very right about chronic stress and fatigue. It effects the mind, body and spirit. It’s true that stress can effect you positively. But how when it doesn’t and something goes wrong. When it’s sometimes too late then we seek healing. It’s never to late to learn new ways to improve your quality of life. You have to trust the people who are really genuine and not ripping you off. Others take advantage of someone’s vulnerability. But the time will come when you are ready. Thanks.
Grace Hedley
I was diagnosed w/ADD. I’ve been symptomatic since a very young girl. I would say that all along it was stress which turned into chronic stress that I’ve learned to live with. Can’t do it anymore and will practice EFT with more effort. Can you suggest sources for teaching the technique? Thank you for that incredible break down of the pathology of stress! It’s all very clear to me now. Faye
I’m a physio working in a socially deprived area and i’m seeing the evidence of the above day-in day-out. The amount of chronic pain and medical conditions that can be attributed to chronic stress is massive and IMO is where the future of healthcare lies. Give me the tools and i will make a difference to these people’s lives.
Very informative, easily to understand description and facts, very convincing people to do the tapping. good articles.
josephine
Chronic stress. Yes, I am using tapping to release the years of accumulated stress. Saying good bye to quick fixes. Tap Tap Tapping along. One day at a time!
I believe stress is one of those things that just creeps up on people. All of a sudden, your body is in muscle spasms and you don’t even know why. What a great idea to be able to help our bodies with such a natural approach. And this can be done anywhere. I look forward to learning more about this approach because am currently suffering from neck and back spasms. I need some pain relieve and some sleep!
Yes….in long term stress is a killer, many times we even do not recognize the stress we put in our lives and live in denial until the body get sick and oblige us to look for solutions and relieve. One of the most powerful ways to aproach healing is EFT technique!
Wow – I love the information and the way it is presented. I have done some tapping but am so inspired to do it more regularly. I have a lot of stressful things that are affecting me in an adverse way – like trying to salvage an estrangled relationship with my brother and sister after 25 years. The chronic stress and cortisol are really high and I need to reduce my anxiety regardless of what my siblings chose to do. I am going to take this on like a challenge.
Thank you so much,
Sincerely,
Fern
This is a wonderful article and a great reminder to those of us who use EFT that we need to use it more often – daily, as many times as needed. I find that when I go to bed and my heart is pounding and I can’t sleep it’s usually anxiety about something. EFT works to reduce that stress and allows me to sleep.
Thanks for a great article. Very informative!
Firstly I must thank you for all this wonderful information regarding Stress. I have learned today that it is not just stress that causes problems or should I say our mind and body reactions to Stress…. The key word for me in all of this that has sparked the flame is CHRONIC STRESS…. Stress overload. Once again many thanks.
Bright blessings Happy Easter.
Best wishes
Elizabeth
WOW! 24% decrease in cortisol. Cortisol is a major factor in belly fat. Thanks for this insight.
I have never used tapping before but have been reading quite a few articles on this subject and like what i am reading. After reading this article i will definitely give it a go as my stress levels have been too high for too long, i will be sharing this article with friends and family thanks.
Over a year ago I was working for a large company when they changed my job and told me I was to do extra typing. I explained that I had a long-standing problem with my right arm and that I couldn’t carry out their orders. They made life so difficult I had to take them to court. It has taken this long for the case to be heard (May 9th). My lawyer wants to talk to me about the case, but every time I think about it I feel physically sick and start to cry because it brings to mind the way I was treated by them at the time. I feel so overwhelmed and imobilised by stress I can’t even do any tapping which I know works and has helped me before. A.
I have used tapping solution to bring back my husband into a healthy state after an accident. Since then on I’ve been using it, not religiously though, but still I am getting result. I am looking for the right answer for my weight gain. I think I found it. I will use tapping this time. I will let you know and I believe I will get the result that I wanted.
Its good to have reminders that we do not need to tolerate our high stress levels and it is also good to have a reminder of just how dangerous it is to our bodies. There is so much going on these days that one can lose the focus on health maintenance. To set aside a few minutes on a regular basis may help to reafirm the tapping message. The more it is used the less it is needed. I once taught my traumatised grandaughter how to tap whilst standing in a supermarket queue. She is unable to tolerate large numbers of people herself and can only leave the house with another person who will stay with her. Her stress levels skyrocket when there is even just a few people close to her and she is unable to go out of the house alone. Whilst tapping in the queue she was stressed and alert and her eyes were darting all around her – however with proxy tapping she was able to stand quietly in line and breath properly. When she is able to do this herself I believe that it will be so powerful for her. I have a wish that one day she will become a teacher of tapping just because of the emotion that she is living through right now. She is 14 and has had this for 3 years but is gradually getting relief. M, UK
I have used EFT to overcome a bi-polar condition. I have been pursuing it for a year and a half and used a certified trauma EFT practitioner for the first “phase” of the disorder. I have even started an EFT circle here in Jacksonville Florida to help further the study and dissemination of the “art.” While I still experience anxiety, my capacity to function has increased dramatically.
I fully believe in EFT, but I never know what words to use to get the desired results.
tapping sounds intriguing. how long has it been in existence?
matt monahan
I love EFT and taught my husband to use it for pain relief. He says it’s the only thing that helps. I use EFT from time to time for immediate relief of various issues. But your article on stress reminds me that I should be using it on a daily basis as a stress relief and whole body health solution. I had heard this suggestion in a previous World Summit, but I never put it into practice. Today is the day! Thanks for all you do to spread the word.
I’m confused. You say: “High sympathetic / low parasympathetic ratios have been linked to both psychological and physiological disorders…” From your description of what each does, it seems like you’d want both to be functioning at a high level and not want either one to be overactivated (i.e., stressed). So where does the high/low ratio come in?
Thanks for all you do!
Taping helps. It’s a good tool to have handy and it is there whenever you need.
I am in complete agreement with the above article. For those who have not tried it, it sounds almost like a miracle and somewhat unbelievable. I know, I felt like that at first. Then, I gave it “a try” and it worked… Now, I have used it for a long time on different topics for issues that needed to be dealt with, and it does work unconditionally. I am a firm believer in EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping. Give it a try, no need to believe!
Hi Nick, as always thank you for all the work you do to bring EFT forward and into the public domain. This document is very helpful both for myself and to share as a practitioner. I have spent my life trying to find a way to ‘stay out of my head’ and by far EFT is the fastest and easiest method I have found to do this. What I love about EFT is I can use it myself anytime, anyplace anywhere. I am listening and tapping to the EFT Integration Day from last years summit each morning and it quickly moves me into a more present focused state to face the day. I am really grateful for you, Jessica and the team – for your integrity, focus and support. Denise, Dublin, Ireland
I have used the tapping solution in many situations for many years. You have an excellent article above which is “right on target” as to isolating the reasons that it works so well. There are always skeptics who question its use, but I keep suggesting that people try it. I try to make an effort to use it frequently, but occasionally even I forget the strengths and purposes of its use. Thank you for reminding me! Patricia
Tapping absolutely, positively works! During times of stress, anxiety and health issues, it has become my natural go to for immediate relief. Thank you for all your inciteful articles and gentle reminders to KEEP TAPPING.
Great article, Nick. It is an easily put, yet scientific explanation of the benefits of EFT. Thanks for all you do. I will be sharing this article. Liz
Tapping seems to be an exquisite example of the greatest wisdom in Simplicity. Health crises and therapeutic solutions seem to have become so complicated, themselves stress inducing in their multiplicities. I love TFT/EFT because it is easy, fast and free!
I have used tapping to get over a fear I had after a horseback riding accident. It is amazing how it works, and I am back in the saddle with a huge smile on my face.
Just recently, I showed a cousin who suffers with anxiety disorder how to do tapping. He was nervous and shaky when we started and after just one round, his hands stopped shaking and he said he felt so much better. It was like a switch went off and he was able to take a deep breath and enjoy the feeling of calmness that was coming over him.
Thanks for promoting this wonderful tool….it has helped me and my family in so many ways !!
Article read. Tapping initiated. Reduced stress beginning. Life changing!
I have experienced the amazing benefits of EFT and the article reminded me to use it more often and to continue to spread the work and demonstrate what it can do.
Thank you so much
This is the best article on stress. All this is so very true. Chronic stress is a killer. It is all the more important to do an EFT routine every morning, and several times a day, and to tackle every disturbing little event of life with this fantastic technique. Thank you for providing this information.
I had all the good habits you could think of. I exercised everyday,
Meditated, yoga, ate clean. For years. I had it all. Slowly though, all
These good habits were slipping away. I would beat myself up thinking
I was lazy or undisciplined. I fell into depression and everything has
Crumbled. What you described here is what happened to me. I
Thought I was handling the stress …. But looky here…. I’m not. I feel
Renewed and free! Thank you. I am so excited right now. A huge
Weight has been lifted. I am ready to improve my life now! I have to.
I want to be a light to my children, myself. Please consider me for your
Generous package. I am going to conquer my stress! Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! Keep well! Live with passion.
Xoxox Terrie Walsh. Xoxo
Thank you very much for this synthetic and clear article. Looking forward to experiment.
Actions speak louder than words and EFT does it every time! Go for it!
I am so thankful for your article and to read the many comments made. They and your article have acted as much needed reminders that i can use tapping as a resource to deal with the stressors, aches and pains I face. I remember when I first discovered your web page, I dutifully wrote down the sequences and even drew a diagram indicating the tapping points! Then I tapped for a while and stopped – why I don’t know. Thankfully I kept the notes and diagram and will now start tapping again as I truly believe when used it can be effective.
Once again Thank You
I wonder which is the reason (or are the reasons) that people hesitate to try out tapping as a help to decrease stress levels.
Maybe knowing the answer to that question would make it possible to help more people.
Hi Angela, I have recently been diaganosed with an overactive thyroid too. Unfortunately most of the stuff on the net is to do with underactive thyroid i.e. hypo and not hyper thyroid. I have done some research on the throat chakra coz affects the thyroid and a blocked throat chakra could cause thyroid imbalances either way. I’ve downloaded a few throat chakra affirmations which resonate with me and I tap to that. Maybe you could try it 🙂 Good luck.
As a medical practitioner, the fact that tapping works on the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems means it can restore balance at the physiological level, which can only be good for our health
I am a psychotherapist and having learned the basic tapping sequences I have used them with some of my clients with remarkable results. On the other hand it has proven very difficult to guide in that direction clients who are experiencing acute symptoms, as the trust and focus required by this discipline is not always accessible. Overall, by using EFT on myself and with clients I have extended my practice, and my effectiveness/satisfaction. So, thank you very much for the work you are doing!
I put the metal bits on my shoes and I danced from here to Texas. Oh, not that tapping? Just kidding! Love your work, Nick.
Tapping has reduced my stress levels enormously! I was right there in the exhausted/depressed/overwhelmed/adrenal fatigue category. Now I feel energetic, happy, able to cope, and excited about life. It really is nothing short of miraculous!
Ann
No one has yet said it has lowered their blood pressure ,I would like to try it if it would help,
Thank you, Nick for this scientific evidence that EFT works. I’m excited to share it with the skeptics in my life that wasn’t able to give a convincing explanation of why it works. I know that all illness and injuries are connected with underlying negative emotions that caused or allowed them to happen. As a massage therapist among other holistic titles, I have the opportunity to help others heal their bodies and minds by releiving stress. Now I have a terrific tool to assist them. EFT is the quickest, easiest and most effective method I know of.
I am excited to learn more and help people on a daily basis to live happier lives, myself included. =)
Thank you for making the world a happier place!
Denise
I have used tapping for five years. There is nothing that I have used it for that has not improved, both mentally and physically. My doctor keeps telling me that both are connected and if one changes the other must also change. I am filled with joy, contentment and confidence that I have a “tool” in my box that I can use anytime and anywhere when I need it. If someone sees me and asks what I am doing, I show them and direct them to their computer for additional information. If each one passes it on, someday everyone will have the same “tool” that they can rely on. Wahoo!!!
What I learned is that chronic stress can become cellular memories that contribute to every disease known to man. Using EFT one can simply and quickly relieve the stored and destructive memories and regain the essential balance between the sympathatic and parasympathetic nervous systems which leads to excellent health and abudant energy. Best of all EFT needs little investment and can be used by all ages and easily replaces expensive alternative stress reducing methods such as meditation, yoga, and exercise.
Ha! How synchronous. Awhile back I learned that I was the Queen of Cortisol…..
My adrenals are in the basement……I will get right after it with MORE tapping.
Thanks,
Molly