The story behind EFT’s Tapping Points
What exactly are EFT's tapping points? When people first learn EFT, they are often told they are tapping on meridian points. Naturally, the next questions arise: “If I’m tapping on the Liver meridian, is it connected to my liver?” And even more practically: "Why these points?"
Traditional Chinese Medicine describes Qi, or life energy, flowing through a network of meridians. Acupuncture points were understood to be places where this flow could be influenced to restore harmony and support health. These meridians were named after organs because Chinese physicians observed that stimulating certain points appeared to influence recurring patterns associated with those organs. The names were not describing physical tubes connected to the organs, but a system of relationships observed over centuries.
This is where gentle clarification helps. When we tap in EFT, we are not directly treating physical organs in the Western anatomical sense. We are working with the broader patterns of energy, emotion, and bodily experience observed and refined over many centuries.
The meaning of the Tapping Points
The following meanings of EFT's tapping points draw from the traditional principles of Chinese medicine and describe the qualities historically associated with each meridian and its points.
>Side of Hand: The Small Intestine meridian - became linked with distinguishing what is helpful from what is unhelpful, physically and metaphorically, helping us sort and separate what truly serves us.
>Top of Head: Governing Vessel - was regarded as one of the principal pathways, traditionally associated with bringing the body’s systems into greater harmony and unity.
>Eyebrow: Bladder meridian - became connected with responding to stress, maintaining resilience, and the smooth flow of fluids and emotions.
>Side of Eye: Gallbladder meridian - became associated with courage, decisiveness, initiative, and responding to life’s challenges.
>Under Eye: Stomach meridian - became linked with nourishment, digestion, processing experiences, and receiving what life offers.
>Under Nose: Governing Vessel - was traditionally tied to alertness, restoring presence, and balancing the central channel.
>Chin: Central/Conception Vessel - became associated with regulation, nourishment, balance, and supporting the deeper Yin energies.
>Collarbone: Kidney meridian - became connected with vitality, inner reserves, resilience, fear, and our foundational life essence (Jing).
>Under Arm: Spleen meridian - became linked with digestion, nourishment, transforming what we receive, and supporting the body’s ability to create energy and boundaries.
>Finger points: Thumb - Lung meridian – breathing, grief, inspiration, and letting go; Index finger - Large Intestine meridian – releasing what no longer serves; Middle finger - Pericardium meridian – protecting the heart and emotional boundaries; Ring finger - Triple Warmer – regulating stress response and internal temperature; Little finger - Heart meridian – joy, love, connection, and emotional expression.
>Back of Hand: Triple Warmer point - regulating the body’s thermostat, distributing Qi throughout the three burners, calming the nervous system, and harmonising stress response.
>Wrist point: often Pericardium meridian - calming the mind, easing anxiety, protecting the heart, and restoring inner peace.
>Under Breast: Liver meridian - smooth flow of Qi, planning, vision, flexibility, healthy expression of frustration, and supporting healthy anger and boundaries.
If meridians are not physical tubes, why does Tapping work?
This is one of the most honest and beautiful questions in EFT. The truthful answer is that we don’t yet know with complete certainty.
What we do know is that Tapping has been studied in hundreds of clinical trials, showing benefits for anxiety, stress, PTSD, depression, phobias, and pain across many populations. Research suggests that stimulating these points may influence the nervous system, brain networks, connective tissue (fascia), and stress physiology.
Traditional Chinese Medicine explains these points through the movement of Qi. Modern science is exploring how stimulating the same points may influence the nervous system, connective tissue, brain networks and stress physiology. While these explanations differ, they are all seeking to understand why these points appear to be beneficial.
Whether you understand these points through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, modern neuroscience, energy psychology or consciousness, they have continued to intrigue practitioners for over two thousand years. Perhaps the most important question isn’t which explanation is ultimately correct, but what you discover when you experience EFT for yourself.
You only need to tap, stay present with what you feel, and notice what shifts. This is the compassionate heart of the practice.
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Article by Penny Croal, Accredited Certified EFT Master Trainer
Image courtesy of EFT International
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