Tools vs Practices

The Beginning of Every Story

What is the difference between a tool and a practice? 

Tools are utilized to achieve a specific goal. A calorie-restricted diet is a tool (some would argue a very poor one) for losing weight, just as meditation is a tool for calming the mind. 

Tools become practices when we utilize them long after we’ve achieved our goals. To use the example of the calorie-restricted diet above, bringing food consciousness, including gratitude, pleasure, and time, to each meal after we have achieved our weight-loss goal is a practice. In the same manner, meditation becomes a practice when we do it daily whether we feel scattered or peaceful, simply because we value the experience of non-doing and non-thinking each morning and evening.

In the energy soup of contemporary life created by technology, media, and the desire to continue to evolve, we often absorb crippling messages about what it means to be aging beings. In the mad rush to create markets for the endless products created by the cosmetic industry, aging is often viewed as a disease to be eradicated. And yet anyone who has stood in the presence of a very old tree knows that aging has its own unique purpose and bestows its own unique power. 

The exhilarating truth is that we are meant to age, to ripen, to become gloriously and fully ourselves at every stage of life. Why? I have thought a great deal about this and have come to the conclusion that aging beings are needed for our intimate knowledge of the past, our clear perspective in the present, and our inspired vision of a future that transcends the current chaos of modern, business-centric life. 

One group of tools that effortlessly evolves into an effective daily practice is Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). EFT offers a safe, empowering, and efficient toolset to combat the stressful, consumer-driven programming our culture constantly emits.   When we practice EFT daily, the predictable challenges of everyday life shrink to manageable, and often laughable, proportions, and the earliest hurts we experienced become less reactive and more a part of the landscape of our unique lives.

Put simply, the practice of EFT combines personal storytelling and/or pain awareness while tapping gently on specific meridian points on the face, torso, and/or hands. People of all ages are using this practice to address persistent unhelpful beliefs, feelings, and behaviours to make room for beliefs and practices that support balance and joy. It is a daily practice I wouldn’t be without.