058: Tap Massage to Increase Your Energy

The podcast focuses on the practice and benefits of tapping, a technique used for relaxation and stress relief. Stephen shares his personal experience with tapping, which he learned from Mike, and discusses its effectiveness in various situations. Mike explains the simplicity and benefits of tapping, including its ability to stimulate the nervous system and improve overall well-being. The conversation also touches on the difference between tapping and more intense methods, emphasizing the accessibility and effectiveness of tapping as a self-care practice.

Connect with Mike Chang:
- Instagram: @mikechangofficial
-Youtube: Mike Chang
- Website: www.flow60.com

Connect with Stephen Yeh:
-Instagram: @iamstephenyeh
-Twitter: @iamstephenyeh

Transcript

Stephen: [00:00:00] So after meeting you, Mike, I started to do a type of exercise that you teach and I pretty much do it every time that I start my routines now, which is tapping. And it's funny. It's because. I never really done it before. I've seen it, in these like old school kind of Asian cultures.

And I was always curious what they were doing, but after experiencing it myself, just like it's starting to come very natural to do it, even. And home or even at the gym. Now I do it. Some people might look a bit sideways at me saying, what is he doing? But why, why does it feel so good to do it? Why do I continue to incorporate this? And also I've noticed a lot of people resonated with. with this type of method that you're [00:01:00] teaching, specifically. 

Mike: Well, I think tapping, when you look at it, it feels really good. You can instantly feel it, when you tap yourself, but it's also like really easy.

It's like, I think when someone looks at it in their mind, they think to themselves. I can do this. You know, it's simple. It's easy. , they're just tapping themselves. It's like something that is so easy that everybody's willing to try. And when they do try it, they feel how much more relaxed they get.

They feel their nervous system starting to balance out and starting to calm down. And they find that because you can do it anywhere and in any position. So it becomes like this really, it's like this hidden secret. Because before I remember when I first started to talk about this with people people would tell me that's weird You know, I don't know if I want to be hitting myself because that's what they think they're doing I'm hitting myself.

I'm slapping myself. [00:02:00] I'm injuring myself but now when people look at it, I think there's a lot of people that have realized that it feels really good And it's really safe because you're wearing control of how hard we hit We're not having to really hurt ourselves. We just tap to a point that feels good for us.

And it doesn't feel if it feels too hard, just go softer. And I think it's a really big game changer. People need to need to have these simple tools. And tapping is probably one of the simplest ways that I found to be able to help somebody relax, help somebody, increase their energy, help them stimulate their nervous system.

Yeah. I mean, they don't need any experience. They don't need to know what the heck they're doing, you know, even like massage and acupressure. You got to know where to press. You got to know how to stroke tapping, you know, when I tell somebody, just tap everywhere. If you want that part of your body to [00:03:00] have energy, tap it.

You have nerves everywhere. So therefore tap everywhere. And if you can't reach it, then don't worry about it. I think it's the approach really that that makes that has really made it to take off. 

Stephen: Yeah, it's so simple, but very effective and I think one of the reasons why I really like it is because a lot of times in general, we don't really touch every part of our skin in our everyday life.

And it's kind of just there. And, and yet our skin is one of those sense organs. And so when you start tapping everywhere, it's like waking it up. Then now you're like feeling your whole body and invigorating it. And so how did you first start to do this and how did you find it? 

Mike: So this was many years ago.

I started to put, things [00:04:00] together because I remember I learned about EFT, emotional freedom technique, and , tapping to move the energy while you're Being in the body, and while you're in the body, you're saying certain affirmations to help program the mind. I started to learn also the benefits of massage, and I saw that massage, the idea of massage wasn't just about one type of massage, one way of engaging with the body.

There's so many ways, , one of the ways was to tap. You can tap the body. You can rub the body. You can hit the body. You can dive into the knots. You can use tools. All of that is considered massage. So I started to understand what happens when we stimulate the body. And then when I started to connect the dots that you stimulate the body, you move energy, you move, you increase circulation, emotions start to move around, energy starts to move [00:05:00] around.

That started to help me connect some dots. And then I remember learning about another type of slapping where this man would go and, teach this type of slapping where you would slap on the lymph nodes, of your body. Basically, the areas where your lymphatic system collects all of the all of your toxins behind the knees inside the arm.

Where else today do they do it? There was like a few places. that was really popular I don't remember exactly now, but they would tap themselves until they turned purple blue and purple I mean it was now I tried it. I was crazy enough to try it and it was It was painful. It was really, really painful. If you ever try to slap yourself after 15 times, oh, your skin is [00:06:00] feeling raw.

Now, this method, people were slapping themselves, or slapping other people, for like, five minutes. Straight. And not light taps. I'm talking, I'm talking, you're coming down like, hard enough to where if you clap, your hands start to hurt if you continuously clap at that, pressure. and strength people were slapping each other like that.

And it was extremely Sounds painstaking. Well, it's a healing method. It's a healing method. And the guy was They put him in jail because he was talking about he could heal diseases. And from what he was saying, he was healing diseases. All diseases, not just some, all. And I started to [00:07:00] learn about that, I'm like, holy, okay, why, how is this possible?

How are these diseases being healed? What is it? What are you doing? And, oh, and by the way, I learned about this because, now it's coming back to me, it's been a lot of years. So I'm in California, I think I was in LA, I'm having dinner, With a friend of mine, Dennis, who is just a awesome, what a character, man.

So him and I are having dinner, and we're sitting there, and then one of my friends from a long time ago, he comes up to me, and I haven't seen him in many years. So we started talking, and then he started telling me about this technique. And then after that, he asked if we want to try it and I said, okay, so he didn't just use his hand.

He had like this slapstick, like a, almost like a, stick, like a pad. And so we went into the parking lot of that restaurant [00:08:00] and right in the parking lot, he's like, okay, you ready? I said, okay. And I stuck out my arm and he started slapping. And after like 10 seconds, I was like, man, it hurts. He's like, well, yeah, I go, it's supposed to hurt that like that.

He's like, yeah, it's going to hurt a little. Yeah. I'm like a little. It's like it was on fire. So I said, Okay, all right. And then so he just kept going. And he's like, Yeah, yeah, it's just fine. This always happens that way. I'm like, Okay, I trust him. Right? So then I just keep going. And I mean, it just went from her to just on fire.

Like, just imagine your arms are on fire, but you just leave it there. It's just pop, pop, pop. So then three, four minutes later, My, my arm is like, purple. Straight, just straight purple. And, I was like, and he goes, okay, that's good. And I look at it, it's just, I mean, from the outside, if you don't know what you're doing, it just looks like somebody slapped you until you're purple and then you're done.

It's like, just, it's, [00:09:00] that's it. And he took a look, and he's like, can you see? And then I look. And then I saw little white dots and I go, yeah, I see those. What, what is that? I don't have no idea what that is. He's like, well, those are some of the toxins that are coming out. I go, really? He goes, yeah. Oh, and I was like, Oh, wow.

And he's like, well, that's what it's doing is there's all these toxins that are stuck inside the body that blocks the body, and when we slap on these lymph nodes, we drain them. We basically are draining their lymph nodes. and also the slapping itself stimulates the lymphatic system to operate.

So that was really interesting. Now, by this time, I've already started to do tap massage. But this was just Another really, really, really extreme way. But then just like you mentioned, I [00:10:00] remember I also grew up watching , old Chinese people at the park swing their arms around in a circle, and swing and turning, turning to the left or right, doing these twists.

And they do them differently than the way that we do them now. But I just always remember like, okay, what are they doing? And so I would say that tap massage, it came from so many different experiences that I've had so many different places that I've learned and I wanted to find something that was simple enough for people to do to open up energy to, release tension, to activate nervous system, to increase stress resiliency, to open up the fascia, to, clear the lymph nodes, massage the organs.

There's so many reasons and make it so it's easy. And then when I [00:11:00] discovered that it can be done, it was like a total game changer. And I think that's why it's so popular now, at least with the people that, that follow my work, , everybody loves it. It's fast. It's like you can tap for 60 seconds and you are feeling it right after.

It feels entirely different. You're alert. You're awake. 

Stephen: And just to be clear, you don't have to slap it like those people who are doing it and just turn purple all over, right? 

Mike: I wouldn't recommend it. I wouldn't recommend it. I did it a few days. The next day, it's like, I. Took out a spatula, because I didn't have the little one that he had, so I was like, well, let me go grab a spatula.

And then I started to whack myself behind the knees, and just, I mean, I went at it for, I set a timer for, I think about five minutes, and went at it, and I don't think I went hard enough, but that's the thing, it's like, I'll do it, you know. Where is it to where you're injuring? [00:12:00] I went right there for five minutes.

I looked. It wasn't fully purple. So I kept going. I set a timer for another five minutes. And I slapped the heck out of it until it became purple. I took a picture of it, sent it to my friend, and go, Hey, I just did it in the area.

So, did I feel more opened? To be honest, no, I didn't. I just felt like I had tremendous bruises , and my mouth ached. But I don't, but I don't 

Stephen: doubt. 

Mike: Yeah, I feel like I just beat myself up. But I don't, I don't doubt that it's, that it's effective for healing. It's just. It's like when you get a really, when you get deep massages or when you are, when you're, when you get deep massages and it hurts while you're doing it and then later on you feel drained and you can even feel very sore from it.

I felt really sore from this, but afterwards it feels much better. So I have [00:13:00] no doubt that it's effective. I just wouldn't recommend it to anybody because it's so painful. 

Stephen: I mean, what I really like about your style of tapping again is you kind of just allow people to go at their own power and I use it a lot, especially after I'm on the computer for quite some time, or I'm trying to solve a certain issue.

And I find that I, Have like this tension in my head. And then, so I just, just start tapping my head. And then as I do it for just a couple of minutes, I could feel like a relief and a release of tension caused by thinking too much. And so that's just been very beneficial for me throughout the day. Uh, especially when I'm working.

So yeah, I, I find it to be very effective. 

Mike: Yeah. And also we're using our own hands. We're using our own body. There's a lot of massage tools out there. You know , a lot of the [00:14:00] popular ones are electronic. And I just bought one recently. You know, they're fun. They're fun and they, and they work.

But the big difference between that and using our hands is number one, we always have our hands. We always have our body. We don't always carry these tools around, but number two, the tool itself, it's doing the vibration, right? It's doing that. the massaging. What we miss out on is moving our body because when we tap ourself, one part of ourself is receiving while the other part of ourself is giving.

The act of giving, that movement itself is a really good way as a form of exercise. But if we don't have that because we just press this button and it just goes, , we skip out. We miss out on the actual exercise part. We only receive the receiving part. And another thing is that , with the tools, it [00:15:00] still feels different.

Like you can't put that tool in your ear, you know, you can't put it onto around your eyes. You can't put it onto your nose. , there are certain areas is still going to be off limits. It can hit main areas. But what about the sensitive areas that you've got to be delicate with? We can control the amount of pressure with our hands.

We're a lot more precise. So, overall, I think tools are nice. You know, I see them more like toys. But nothing's gonna replace the ability for us to be able to tap and do like self massage with our own body. 

Stephen: Are you, are you talking about the massage gun that you got? 

Mike: Yeah. Yeah. But I, but have other ones before.

I just don't have 'em right now anymore. Yeah. You know, like the different, yeah. Different type of massage ones, but the latest one was that little massage gun. 

Stephen: I'm just imagining sticking that massage gun [00:16:00] on, on my head. I feel like I would get more of a headache from that than Yeah. Releasing any, any attention.

I know. Imagine that I have a headache. Oh yeah. That's just, but like you said, I think. Especially this sensitive areas like around your eyes, around your ears, you know, all, all the sense areas, what I found, especially, , besides the head, those are the places that I like to massage the most because I feel like it really switches something on for me.

Especially around the eyes, rubbing up and down the nose and just opening up all of those particular, the five sense organs. Yeah, it's so easy as well , I can even just do it right now and just moving my hands around my eyes. If you're listening, you can't see it, but it's just like that.

Mike: Yeah, I'm just rubbing right now. I mean, that's the thing, right? Like in [00:17:00] this situation. If I wanted to clear my senses, I would have to go and try to grab some tool, which wouldn't even work for the face anyway, and maybe have to find something special. Versus within seconds, like right now, I just rub my nose, eyes, ears, 

Stephen: rub 

Mike: my nose again.

Instantly, just, I mean, that took less than 30 seconds and already more clear. It's just a quick lift. just right there. 

Stephen: Yeah. I notice also sometimes right before we start the podcast. Depending on the energy levels, we might just do it as well, and just to, just to get back into a good state. So it's amazing.

Mike: It's just so fast. I think people realize that when the moment you look at it, you see it. I think there innately is this, there's a belief, I can do this. That, that looks easy. And if somebody believes that they can do it, then they'll try it. I think a lot of people don't exercise, a [00:18:00] lot of people don't try, you know, doing stretches or doing different methods at work that's really healthy for them because it's too intimidating.

They look at it, they go, that looks cool, but I don't want to mess it up. That looks like I don't want to press the wrong place, you know, I don't want to hurt myself So they do nothing and when they see when you see that you're just tapping everywhere It's like well, that's simple enough and they and instantly and they start to try it and the moment when they tap it feels good It's just like they never had permission to tap themselves because in their mind they're going I'm not giving myself permission to hurt myself That's just crazy.

I'm not gonna do that. But when they realize that they're not hurting themselves, they go, yeah Yeah, I can give myself permission to tap myself. It's like we just named it differently We can say I'm hitting myself like what's the difference? You can call it massage, right? It's like two people fighting but they're [00:19:00] not wanting to hurt each other.

What do you call it? You call it practice. You call it sparring, right? We just gave it a name and now it's like it's okay in reality What is it? They're fighting

I think that's the big thing, giving people permission and then by doing so they'll try it. And once they try it, , they love it. 

Stephen: Number one, I'd say it's super easy to do, but at the same time, it's not going to replace like a proper exercise regimen, but it's better than doing nothing. 

Mike: Well, the thing is, it's completely different.

You know, it's a, it's like stretching. Can stretching replace strength exercises? It is. No, but strength exercise can't replace stretching, can strength exercise replace meditation? No, can tapping replace meditation? No, I think nothing can really replace each other, especially with these, these training methods, because they're all very different.

If you tap your muscles, aren't going to get much stronger, [00:20:00] but they will increase the stress resiliency and you are going to feel much more looser and your nervous system will get stronger. Your nervous system will change, but not, not your actual muscle size or strength or endurance. Right. So then would reason why we do it is because it opens everything up.

It increases circulation and activates lymphatic systems and clears toxins. We stress resiliency, you know, it's massaging. So it's relaxing, but all of those are different than flexibility or endurance or, or strength or meditative state. So that's what we got to do. We got to do with them all. , if we really value and everybody should value, Those, because those are all things that, that allow us , to operate.

Stephen: And that makes sense. that's essentially why you incorporate all of that in, into the actual regimen and it's not just tapping itself, but it's the inclusiveness of all of those [00:21:00] together. Which makes it a very holistic practice. 

Mike: Yeah, and if somebody didn't, If they were to try to figure out and combine them together, it would take a long time, and it would take, And the practice would end up being too long.

It took me so long to be able to go ahead and find out which moves, Worked really well with other moves and they had high effect ability, you know They were simple to do they could be done anywhere without tools without anything you don't need any special fitness level to to do them or You have a lot of easy Modifications to fall back on when you're low in energy or just not capable of doing them So I had to check all of these all these boxes Yeah, and tap massage a lot of people now are doing tap massage Not only just as a, as a way to practice and get into a deeper meditative state.

A lot of people doing tap massage as a way to warm up. They warm up their body. They warm up their body [00:22:00] before they go into some sports. They warm up their body before they go on a hike. And they do the tap massage. They go ahead and hop and they shake. And they do all these things because they find it's so fast to activate the body, get the body ready for physical engagement, whatever that is.

Stephen: Hmm, that makes sense. I mean, I'm just imagining, especially in like football, you know, in general, I mean, there's a particular place they usually tap, but Even with the super manly sport, they usually slap each other on the bum and that kind of wakes people up. And then the main thing is, I watch a UFC or mixed martial arts nowadays.

And especially, when, when you see the fighters get into the ring. It's almost like a natural thing that they do is that they slap all around their body to essentially like wake it up and, and prepare itself and make it alive. And so, I don't even think they're, they're [00:23:00] consciously doing it. It's just something that just naturally comes when you're going into an experience like that.

Mike: Yeah, it's just a way to warm up the body. Warm up the body and get the body ready to be able to move. And if we warm up the body right, we don't get injured as much. We're much more safer. Our energy is activated. I think many people don't realize that they need to almost warm up the body. They just think if I, if I wake up and I just kind of go about the day, eventually my body would wake up.

But that's the thing. A lot of times it never truly activates. We may get it to like 50 percent and then we wonder why our energy is always just kind of so so, but when we do tap massage, when we do these exercises, first thing in the morning, we activate the entire nervous system, all the energy, we activate the circulation.

We activate our mind and then now we can start the day properly. Yeah. So it's just that turning on period. That's important. [00:24:00] 

Stephen: Awesome. Well, there you go. Now we got to dive in a bit deeper into tap massage, which is part of one of the exercises inside of the actual routine that Mike teaches. If you wanted to learn more about the system and see how it works, you can definitely go and take a look at flow60.

com. All right, guys, see you on the next episode.