Use of EFT in music performance

Use of EFT in Music Performance

After struggling for several years with nerves when performing, I was introduced to EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques (also commonly known as ‘tapping’). This revolutionary technique was created by Gary Craig and it marries traditional acupressure therapy with more modern psychological techniques. The idea behind it is as an ‘emotional version of acupuncture’ and it has been proven to help with many things from phobias, anxieties and emotional distress to physical pain. The beauty of EFT is that it is very simple to learn and master. The ‘Basic Recipe’ as Craig calls it, is easy to grasp and with a little practice can produce significant results. All you need is yourself, a bit of time and a desire to improve whatever it is that is affecting you negatively.

The premise behind EFT is that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy systems and that when our energy becomes blocked or disrupted we feel pain, either emotional or physical, and sometimes both. The idea then is to restore the balance and flow of energy by ‘tapping’ on the acupuncture points which relate to the meridian, or energy, lines.

This is ideal for stage fright or performance anxiety as often it is difficult to correlate our emotions with our experience of performing. We may be looking forward to a concert but then just before we go on stage, become a bag of nerves with no real knowledge as to why. EFT helps eliminate the source of these nerves, without us having to delve in to our psyche, and the result is a calm, collected performer but without the vacant feeling that some other anti-anxiety techniques used by performers (such as beta blockers) can create.  The real wonder of it is that someone who has suffered for many years can feel like a completely different performer after just one session, something that is rarely possible through traditional psychotherapy.

The other way in which EFT is ideal for musicians is that it is discreet and portable! The ‘Basic Recipe’ is already a shortened version of the original but this can also be condensed into a version which involves only tapping the fingers and not the whole body. Therefore it can easily be done pre-performance and no-one needs to even notice.

I have seen such positive results in both myself and my musician friends that I now use EFT for lots of things, not just performance anxiety. If you are interested in learning more about EFT and specifically its use for musicians and performance, I would recommend buying ‘EFT for Sports Performance’ by Gary Craig. Although it contains case studies of how EFT has been used in improving sports performance, there are many parallels between this and music performance and I found it to be of enormous insight and help. The first section of the book gives an overview of EFT and instructions on how to use the technique therefore equipping you to be your own EFT therapist.