EFT for actors: release stuff to be more embodied and free
This post is for you if you have ever felt:
- Unable to access certain emotions
- A fear or lack of vulnerability
- Frozen in moments that matter
- Like limiting beliefs are holding you back
- Like you are constantly in your head
- Like you tend to “push” in your scene work
- An inability to “let go”
- Like a perfectionist
There’s a really cool tool that not a lot of actors know about and I wanted to share it with you.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping— is a powerful tool that can help you release old stuff that may be holding you back in your craft (and life!).
Recently, I had the privilege of tapping live on Instagram with Sera Heywood-Rakhimova from @actortoartist, and the experience was a little terrifying –and then ultimately very freeing. I told Sera in the moment that it was like psychedelics without psychedelics 😉
What is EFT/Tapping?
EFT combines ancient Chinese acupuncture with modern psychology. By tapping on specific acupoints while verbalizing what you are feeling, you can disarm emotional charges and restore balance to your system. Picture dissolving the gunk clogging up a pipe.
It’s like acupuncture with fingers instead of needles. Sera guided me through a tapping session focused on “enoughness,” which came out of a conversation around actors “pushing” in their scenes. (Plus, who couldn’t use a healthy extra dose of enoughness in their life?)
If you are physically tense or disconnected from your body, your emotional range narrows (check out my other blog post on how to connect with your body in acting- https://realactorslab.com/connecting-to-your-body-in-acting/ ). Tapping can help you release the stuff that may be creating tension and preventing you from allowing emotions to join you. (Because emotions are spontaneous things that HAPPEN TO YOU, you can make them happen, only create the condition.)
And of course it’s never just about acting, is it? It’s about being a whole and happy human.
Your body is a gorgeous instrument—tune it. Polish it up, get it nice and shiny, and unclog it’s pipes so it can make beautiful music
Tap along with me as Sera leads me through a session on “enoughness”.
Powerful stuff!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7AFqXyyRkY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
