At around 30 weeks, many pregnant women report feeling heavy, tired, and even quite clumsy – and it’s no wonder – at 30 weeks gestation most developing babies are typically about 15 inches long and weigh about as much as a head of cabbage (3 pounds or so). The average pregnant women is lugging around about a pint and a half of amniotic fluid at this point and this concentration of weight in the belly area can cause a woman’s center of gravity to shift, explaining why many women to feel start feel clumsier than normal. Hormonal changes also make ligaments more lax during this stage of pregnancy – making the joints looser and contributing to common pregnancy complaint of feeling off-balance. Even though mood swings are typically associated with the early stages of pregnancy, the combination of uncomfortable symptoms and changing hormones that occurs at around 30 weeks can often times cause a pregnant woman to feel increasingly irritable and agitated during this stage of pregnancy. One of the best ways to alleviate physical discomfort while simultaneously relieving frustration and promoting healthy relaxation during pregnancy is a simple, acupressure-inspired method, known as Emotional Freedom Technique, or simply EFT.
EFT is relatively simple to learn, easy to practice, and safe to use during every stage of pregnancy. The process involves using the fingertips to tap lightly on body parts that correspond to pressure points on the face, torso and hands. Words and phrases that help you stay focused on specific aspects of your problem are repeated as the tapping is done. Basically, the idea is that stimulating pressure points with the fingertips sends kinetic energy down into the body’s energy system, effectively balancing the body’s energy; this gently neutralizes physical discomforts, quickly restoring a pregnant woman’s sense of well-being.
The most important step of EFT is identifying one very specific concern, emotion or issue to work on. Once the symptom, fear or issue is identified clearly, it needs to be broken down into a 2-5 word phrase. This phrase is then inserted it into the following sentence and is stated three times while the first pressure point is stimulated:
“Even though I have this (problem, issue or emotion), I deeply and completely love & accept myself.”
As the remainder of the pressure points are tapped, a shortened version of this phrase is repeated:
“This (problem, issue or emotion).”
Before doing EFT for the first time, it is important to first familiarize oneself with the pressure points that will be used during the process. These points are to be tapped repeatedly, using two hands on the points which have two sides (such as the sides of your eyes) and one hand on single points (such as under your nose). The following points are the most commonly used in EFT:
1. The middle of the outside edge of your hand (known as the “karate chop point”)
2. The top of the head
3. At the beginning of the eyebrow
4. Near the outside of the side of your eye, near the temple
5. Right underneath the eye where the eye socket begins
6. Directly under the nose
7. The center of the chin
8. Your knobby part of the beginning of the collarbone
9. About four finger lengths down from the armpit
If you are suffering from feelings of being off-balance, clumsiness or fatigue – all common complaints in the 30th week of pregnancy – simply address those issues, one by one, while tapping. For instance, if a pregnant woman wanted to use EFT to address a physical complaint, like feeling off-balance, she would repeat the following while she tapped, “Even though I feel off-balance, I completely and deeply love and accept myself.” Here are some examples that have helped other women overcome emotional issues related to the 30th week of pregnancy. The following sample phrases are meant to inspire you to identify your own issues which, in turn, can help you to enjoy your pregnancy, no matter how far along you are:
1. Emotions toward your body
“Even though I am frustrated with my body for feeling off-centered….”
“Even though I’m embarrassed at how clumsy I am…”
“Even though I’m angry at myself for feeling this way right now….”
“Even though I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired…”
“Even though I hate being at the mercy of my changing hormones..”
2. Anger at your significant other, friends and family because they don’t understand
“Even though my family ridicules me because they say I complain too much…..”
“Even though I can’t forgive my husband for being so insensitive…….”
3. Fear of parenting
“Even though I’m afraid I won’t be a good mother…”
“Even though I really can’t imagine myself with another baby…”
“Even though I am afraid of making the same mistakes my parents made….”
4. Anything else that might come up
“Even though I am just plain worried… ”
“Even though I don’t know if EFT will work for me…..”
“Even though I don’t fit in with my friends anymore….”
“Even though it feels like I have to suffer through this all by my self….”
“Even though I am feeling guilty that I should have started my family when I was younger…”
“Even though I have this guilt about not taking better care of my mother when she had cancer…”
You might have to try out multiple phrases before you find the one that feels right to you. Don’t feel obligated to use the exact wording used in the phrases – these are just some samples to get you started. They may or may not accurately describe your personal underlying issues. While EFT cannot instantly cure all cases of pregnancy discomforts, EFT can almost always help resolve the underlying emotional issues that may be causing emotional ups and downs and can also, more often than not, take the edge off of physical pregnancy discomforts – during every stage of pregnancy.
