Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, is an alternative therapy that’s gaining a lot of interest as a low-cost, non-invasive way to help manage stress and anxiety.

Tapping involves tapping on various points of your body while saying your feelings out loud. It draws on the idea of energy meridian lines (能量经络) from Chinese medicine, suggesting that tapping on these lines can re-balance energy in the body and help manage negative emotions.

While there is limited research about tapping, some studies have shown it can help with anxiety and many people are using the technique to help them manage their mental health. Caroline Fitzgerald from Galway in Ireland is one of them.

Since she started tapping three years ago, Caroline has felt like a different person. “I’ve never felt more supported in terms of my own mental health and my emotional well-being,” she says. Tapping has helped Caroline overcome over 20 years of anxiety and insomnia. “After exhausting so many other paths — CBT (认知行为治疗), counselling, medication, talk therapy and soon, EFT tapping has allowed me to process so many limiting beliefs and memories-it has allowed me to change my thinking,” she says.

“By physically tapping on 14 key easy-to-reach points on the body while talking about how you are feeling signals are sent to the amygdala in the brain,” says Sarah Tobin, EFT practitioner and trainer, and founder of Tapping for Mums, “which can help tell the brain you are safe and turnoff the stress response in the body.”

“Tapping is the hack that tells your brain you are safe, so by tapping in moments of stressor anxiety you are able to calm your nervous system, reduce the cortisol (皮质醇) and adrenaline (肾上腺素) and start to feel safe again,” Sarah says. While it can look slightly unusual, “the act of talking about how we are feeling while we are tapping effectively releases the negative emotion, making us feel lighter and the emotional intensity itself lessens,” says Sarah, who has been tapping since 2014 and now teaches other people how to use the technique.

Some critics of EFT say it can prevent people from seeking more traditional forms of help for physical or mental health problems, but as long as it’s practiced with care and as a complementary practice the risks are very low.

Coronaviruses (冠状病毒)

Coronaviruses(冠状病毒) are a large group of viruses. They consist of a core of genetic material（遗传物质）surrounded by an envelope with protein spikes(蛋白棘突). This gives it the appearance of a crown. Crown in Latin is called “corona” and that’s how these viruses get their name.In this text, we’ll take a quick look at what’s currently known about the virus.

Covid-2019

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus was first reported December in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, has quickly spread across the country and around the world. It initially occurred in a group of people with pneumonia(肺炎) who’d been associated with a seafood and live animal market in the city of Wuhan.

Intermediate hosts: The 2019-nCoV may originate in bats, a team led by renowned Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli said earlier, while the intermediary host remains unknown.

Incubation period(潜伏期): 1-14 days.

Infection:Virus may spread before symptoms show.

SARS-CoV

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus was first identified in China in 2003 .

Intermediate hosts: Bats are the original host. Civet cats and cats serve as an important intermediary that carries virus from the winged mammal to humans.

Incubation period: 2-7 days.

Infection: Virus spread after symptoms show.

MERS-CoV

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS中东呼吸综合征) coronavirus that was first identified in Saudi Arabia(沙特阿拉伯) in 2012.

Intermediate hosts: Bats are the original host. MERS-CoV was travelled from dromedary camel to humans.

Incubation period: 2-14 days.

Infection: Virus may spread before symptoms show.