What You Need To Know About Tapping: A Free & Easy Stress Buster
I’m fully aware that tapping on different points of
your body looks a bit… well… weird! The first time I learned Tapping, I
couldn’t help but think of a monkey when I had to tap under my arm and
on the top of my head!
As strange as it may
look, the results have been nothing less than spectacular for me. That’s
what led me to create a documentary film about tapping, so we could
capture these results and share the technique with others.
EFT
stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. It’s also known as “tapping”
because you are literally using your fingers to tap on meridian points.
Some people call it “emotional acupuncture without the needles.”
When
you focus on what's bothering you while tapping on these acupressure
points, you'll find that you can hold the same thought but without the
physical anxiety that was attached to it. This allows you to let go of that negative thought and bring in something more empowering.
It’s really how our emotions impact our bodies that holds us back in life. It not only contributes to physical pain
and misalignments, but also causes us to limit our own possibilities
for growth. Anxiety limits us from living our best life. We don’t go for
our dream job, jump on that stage or make a connection with someone we
want to meet, because our body starts running the pattern of anxiety and
we stop ourselves from moving forward.
By tapping for just a few minutes you can begin to feel a shift. Here's how a basic Meridian Tapping sequence works:
Identify
the problem you want to focus on. It can be general anxiety, or it can
be a specific situation or issue, which causes you to feel anxious.
Consider
the problem or situation. How do you feel about it right now? Rate the
intensity level of your anxiety, with zero being the lowest level of
anxiety and ten being the highest.
Compose your
“setup statement.” Your setup statement should acknowledge the problem
you want to deal with; follow this statement with an unconditional
affirmation of yourself as a person. For example: "Even though I feel
this anxiety, I deeply and completely accept myself."
"Even though I'm anxious about my interview, I deeply and completely accept myself and these feelings."
"Even though I'm feeling this anxiety about my financial situation, I deeply and completely accept and forgive myself."
"Even though I panic when I think about ______, I deeply and completely love and accept myself."
Perform
the setup. With four fingers on one hand, tap the Karate Chop point on
your other hand. The Karate Chop point is on the outer edge of the hand,
on the opposite side from the thumb. Repeat the set up statement three
times aloud, while simultaneously tapping the Karate Chop point. Now
take a deep breath!
Get ready to begin tapping! Here are some tips to help you achieve the right technique:
You should use a firm but gentle pressure, as if you were drumming on the side of your desk or testing a melon for ripeness.
You
can use all four fingers, or just the first two (the index and middle
fingers). Four fingers are generally used on the top of the head, the
collarbone, under the arm... wider areas. On sensitive areas, like
around the eyes, you can use just two.
Tap with your fingertips, not your fingernails. The sound will be round and mellow.
Because
the meridian lines are symmetrical on either side of your body, it does
not mater what side of the body you tap on or with which hand you
choose to tap.
Now, tap 5-7 times each on the meridian points in the following sequence.
- Start of the eyebrow, near the bridge of your nose
- Side of the eye, near your temple
- Under the eye
- Under the nose
- The crease between the chin and lip
- The collarbone
- Underneath the arm
- Top of the head
Tap a few rounds until you feel a release. Take a deep breath and check in with how you feel.