The Daily Energy Routine

Eden’s published DER, faithfully described (her exact set and order vary slightly across editions; this is the common eight-move version, done in roughly 5–10 minutes, breathing slowly throughout):

1. The Four Thumps. Tap firmly for ~15–20 seconds, breathing deeply, on four points in turn: under the cheekbones (under the eyes); K-27 (the soft hollows just below the inner ends of the collarbones); the thymus (centre of the breastbone); and the spleen points (a few inches below the armpits / on the lower ribs). Each is claimed to “wake up” and steady the body’s energies.
2. Crossover Shoulder Pull. Reach the right hand to the left shoulder, inhale, then exhale while drawing the hand firmly diagonally across the body down to the opposite hip; repeat on the other side. Said to reinforce the body’s natural “crossover” energy pattern.
3. The Cross Crawl. March in place lifting the right arm with the left knee, then left arm with right knee (or tap opposite hand to opposite knee), for 1–2 minutes — a cross-lateral coordination drill claimed to get energies “crossing” properly between sides.
4. Wayne Cook Posture. Sitting: extend both arms, cross the wrists with thumbs down and interlace the fingers, then fold the hands in toward the chest while crossing one ankle over the other; breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth for several cycles, then switch the crossing of wrists and ankles; finish with fingertips together and thumbs resting between the eyebrows. Claimed to calm emotional overwhelm and “fuzzy” thinking.
5. The Crown Pull. Fingertips at the centre of the forehead, press gently and draw them apart toward the temples; move back along the scalp to the hairline, then crown, then base of the skull, and down onto the shoulders. Said to “make space” for clear thinking.
6. Connecting Heaven and Earth. From a prayer position at the chest, stretch one arm up toward the sky and push the other down toward the ground, hold a breath, then switch; repeat, then hang forward loosely for two breaths. Claimed to open the joints and the body’s energy flow.
7. The Zip-Up. Drawing both hands slowly up the centreline of the body from the pubic bone to the lower lip “like pulling up a zipper,” 2–3 times — claimed to trace the “central meridian,” and to reinforce confidence and “protect” you from absorbing negative energy.
8. The Hook-Up. Place one fingertip in the navel and the other on the point between the eyebrows, press gently upward and inward, and breathe until you feel a natural sigh — claimed to “connect the central and governing meridians” and settle the system. Eden recommends doing it daily for at least ~28 days to feel a cumulative effect. (Sourcing note: the move names, points, and claimed purposes are Eden’s published Daily Energy Routine, attributed and faithfully described — not reproduced verbatim.)

The routine is Donna Eden’s, set out in her book Energy Medicine (1998; revised 2008) and taught through her school; David Feinstein — clinical psychologist, her long-time collaborator and spouse, and the field’s leading evidence-advocate — co-authored the framework that pairs this bodily routine with tapping in The Promise of Energy Psychology (2005) and the later Tapping (2024).

The moves themselves are assembled from applied kinesiology and acupressure/meridian theory (the “Wayne Cook posture” is named for a researcher Eden credits), restyled into a self-care drill.

It sits inside the broader, contested field of energy psychology/energy medicine.

Qigong / Tai Chi warm-ups — gentle daily movement-and-breath sequences framed as circulating “qi.”

• Yogic morning practice / sun-salutation style sequences — a fixed daily series of postures and breaths to “centre.”
• Cross-lateral “brain gym” drills — cross-crawl and midline-crossing exercises sold for “integration.”
• Diaphragmatic/coherent breathing — the slow breathing woven through every move is itself a regulated-breathing practice.,
• Acupressure self-massage — tapping/holding points as self-soothing touch. → (the seated tapping cousin)

Believing the energy story is doing the work. It isn’t required — you can run the DER purely as “morning stretch + cross-crawl + deep breathing + a calming touch ritual” and get the same lift, more honestly.

• Rushing the breath. The slow breathing is probably the most active ingredient; don’t gabble through the moves — let each have a few unhurried breaths.
• Treating it as medicine. It will not “boost immunity,” “protect from negative energy,” or treat illness; over-relying on it instead of real care is the main risk (Section 7).
• All-or-nothing. If five minutes feels like too much, even the Four Thumps + a minute of Cross Crawl + a Zip-Up with slow breathing keeps the usable core.
• Skipping consistency. Whatever benefit exists comes from it being a small daily anchor; the “28 days” framing is really just habit-formation.