When Meridian Tapping was first used in the 1970s, tapping theory was based on the energy meridians of acupuncture. It was thought that clearing those energy meridians would clear a disruption in the body’s energy system, and so remove negative emotions.

However, we have a new understanding based on recent scientific studies. It has been discovered that the brain does not become fixed by one’s early adult years, but rather, it can be changed at any age. New neural connections can always be formed. Unfortunately, this can work against us.

When we experience a trauma or something that triggers a negative emotion, we create neural pathways that support re-triggering that negative emotion. (As an example, if you have an experience that causes you to believe that people are mean or dangerous, you will look for evidence to support this belief and ignore evidence to the contrary.) We also create pathways that support limiting or disempowering beliefs that we may have created in the moment of a trauma. This process of creating pathways is so fast, in fact, that Nobel Prize–winner Eric Kandel says we can double the neural connections for a given thought pattern in only one hour!

We can be grateful to Sigmund Freud for giving us an understanding of the significance of the unconscious mind. However, he was unfortunately incorrect when he said, “Insight produces change.” Conditions like phobias and PTSD exist because the brain creates a feedback loop that builds and enhances neural pathways.

Experiences throughout life create fears and limiting beliefs that become hardwired into the brain. This occurs in all human beings, not just those who suffer significant trauma. In order to transform yourself, you must interrupt the feedback loop that is creating these patterns.

Simply understanding your fears and limiting beliefs, however, usually does not give you the ability to overcome them. Consider a person with a fear of flying: He may know consciously that flying is safer than driving in a car. However, this doesn’t prevent his subconscious mind from creating certain symptoms every time he boards an aircraft.

Now, recall an experience that made you angry or upset. If you continue to think about it, even if you try to ignore it, you’re building more and more neural pathways of stress and upset. The fact that this process gets stronger over time makes it even more essential that we interrupt the process of creating these negatively based neural connections, because any negative emotion or limiting beliefs will only get worse over time, not better.

Tapping interrupts this process. Tapping sends signals to the brain to react with calm, not with fear or upset. It has been proven to dramatically reduce cortisol levels. This in turn reduces stress. Any time you think about something upsetting, whether it’s an action that you’re about to take or a disturbing memory, tapping helps to neutralize the upset you feel.