By Sarah A LoBisco, ND

I was tickled this AM by an “email hug” in my inbox.

What I mean is this- I was excited to see that one of the leaders in the health paradigm shift to functional medicine, Dr. Mark Hyman, was being interviewed for the upcoming EFT (emotional freedom technique) summit on February 4th!

I have been using and recommending this simple practice for the past five years with very good results, especially for the “tough cases” Dr. Hyman discusses in this interview. These are the clinical clients who don’t respond like the other 80-90% success stories to the “magic functional medical toolbox”.

image photo : Doctor with stethoscope examine manual worker

This hard to help population of clientele pushes every caring physician to research into why some have seemingly more barriers and roadblocks to health. Surprisingly, one of these blocks seems to almost always be emotional in nature. Here’s where EFT comes in.

It makes sense to relieve the mind, relieve the body.

Remember my holiday blog on how stress affects our biochemistry? Long term stress has been linked to immune and inflammatory issues, heart disease, blood sugar imbalance, and mood disorders. Not to mention, it’s just not fun!

image photo : Stress - business woman running late

In this interview, Dr. Hyman and Nick Ortner, founder of the Tapping Solution, further discuss the emotional aspects of stress and how clearing out this dysfunctional mind pattern can assist the body in obtaining optimal health. Dr. Hyman points out EFT has helped many of his patients.

image photo : Business man in meditation

One of the beauties of this technique is in its simplicity and how it aids in the ability to give a voice to emotions that have been buried in the subconscious mind.

In fact, a recent report in Medical Daily discussed how those who hold in emotions have more negative outcomes in their health, specifically by increased stress on their heart:

The new study, published in the journal Health Psychologies, reveals that a group of so-called “repressors” are particularly at risk.

“These people are distinguished by the way that they attempt to conceal outward signs of fear, and also by their defensive behavior,” Mund said, according to Daily Mail.

“They avoid risks and always seek a high level of control over themselves and their surroundings,” he explained. “For instance, when exposed to a stressful task they exhibit a higher heart rate and pulse ratio than non-repressors and show other objective signs of stress and anxiety.”

Got a chronic physical issue not going away and a list of doctors on your contact list? Why not try tapping in addition to what you’re doing? Find out more, or better yet, tap out more!

To learn more about this technique click here.

To watch the Hyman-Ortner video click here.

Does it work? To view the science, click here.

To learn about the mind-body effects of meditation, visit my Saratoga.com. blog

In health and gratitude,

Dr. Sarah image photo : Love tablets

References:

Richardson, S. et al. Meta-Analysis of Perceived Stress and Its Association With Incident Coronary Heart Disease (abstract). American Journal of Cardiology. Volume 110, Issue 12 , Pages 1711-1716, 15 December 2012

Kim E. Innes, MSPH, PhD; Heather K. Vincent, PhD; Ann Gill Taylor, MS, EdD. Chronic Stress and Insulin Resistance–related Indices of Cardiovascular Disease. Part I. Altern Ther Health Med. 2007;13(4):46-52.)

Smith, MA, Makino, S, Kim, SY, & Kvetnasky, R. Stress increases brain-derived neurotropic factor messenger ribonucleic acid in the hypothalamus and pituitary (abstract).Endocrinology September 1, 1995 vol. 136 no. 9 3743-3750. doi: 10.1210/en.136.9.3743

Exposure to Acute Stress Induces Brain Interleukin-1? Protein in the Rat (abstract).The Journal of Neuroscience, 15 March 1998, 18(6): 2239-2246

Hsu, C. Expressing Anger Can Add Two Years to Person’s Lifespan. Medical Daily.1/8/13.http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/13650/20121226/expressing-anger-add-two-years-person-lifespan.htm

EFT research. Rev 6.-January 2013. http://www.iceeft.com/EFTResearch.pdf

www.thetappingsolution.com