A group of over 40 women heard about the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) in a talk held at the Bo-Kaap cultural hub on Saturday.

Lameez Benjamin, an accredited EFT practitioner, spoke about the benefits of EFT tapping.

Ms Benjamin, 55, is a member of the Energy Healers Association and spoke about the various health techniques, including Qigong, a practice that assists with emotional regulation.

“The ladies that I have trained all have trauma that they experienced, two of them had cancer,” Ms Benjamin said.

“This event is about empowering people, empowering women. So when they leave here they will know about Qigong which is an ancient art of moving meditation, it helps to regulate the nervous system, stress levels and it will empower them,” said Ms Benjamin.

She says that external influences make it difficult for people to live happy lives, but with positive affirmations, hardship can be conquered.

“I’ve had to overcome an armed robbery, but my healing journey has been beautiful. You have to be aware of what is happening to you and not wait until you get physically sick, implementing little tools and techniques daily can change your well being. I want to stress that there is so much written and spoken about mental health (challenges), that it’s increasing, it’s a stressful world, but we also have to know that there are techniques to healing,” she said.

“Women should be empowered and the aim here is about emotional health, when you have emotional health you can overcome ailments easier, you can make better decisions, but if you emotionally unstable it makes it harder to move forward in life. We tend to focus on the problem and we don’t see beyond the one negative challenge we face, so if we look at the many positives in our life we can grow, we have to change our mindsets and not be stuck on negativity,” she said.

Nadia Toffar, 39, a former Bo-Kaap resident, is an EFT student who says this experience has helped her become a better leader in her marketing and media business.

“I started this process with Lameez eight years ago and the coaching was and is a catalyst for growth, and my company is not just about making money it’s about helping others, empowering my colleagues to be better at business, to support them not just in work but in their lives as well so through this I’ve realised that my purpose is to uplift others,” Ms Toffar said.

“Healing is a life long journey, it aligns with spirituality, and you have to know who you are and who you are not, so you learn about what no longer serves you. So through this women can prosper in the workplace, at home, to overcome anxiety and mental stresses,” she said.

Nausheena Dalvie-Parker, 44, began her EFT course in March of last year and says that health problems she had as a child resurfaced in her adulthood.

“I was diagnosed with leukemia at 11 months, so the first four and a half years of my life were spent at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. When I was pregnant at the age of 30 I had heart failure and this was as a result of the high dosage of chemotherapy I received as a child,” Ms Dalvie-Parker said.

“Since the heart failure there have been other complications, it’s one illness after the next and they have told me people don’t survive this. So every time I get somewhere, I hit a wall but I move on, I have a life to live. With the EFT tapping we realised that I have suppressed feelings and this is coming from childhood because as a child I questioned why I could not play with other kids, or do what they do,” she said.

Lameez Benjamin, an accredited Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner, introduced the women to tapping.

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