How to Tap

How to Tap

Now you know what Tapping is, its time to learn how to do it.

We tap on acupressure points on the head and body using our fingertips. Don’t worry about not being in exactly the right place. It’s like hitting a needle with a hammer, so you’re not going to miss it.

 The tapping kinetically removes the block causing the negative emotion or limiting belief & gets the energy flowing. You’re changing the energy rather than removing it.

The Tapping Points

There are a number of places to tap, I start on the Karate Chop point and then work from the head down because I think that’s easier to remember. Tap each point 7-9 times but don’t get hung up on it.

KC - Karate Chop point (side of your hand)

TH - Top of the head

EB – Eyebrow

OE – Outside Eye

UE – Under Eye

UN – Under Nose

UL – Under Lip

CB – Collarbone spot

UA – Under Arm

IW – Inside Wrist

The Set up Statement

I touched on this point briefly in What’s the F in EFT but the set up statement is something you say about yourself that you truly believe. It doesn’t matter how mundane it seems.

The classic set up is:

Even though I have this (Insert fear/anxiety/limiting belief) I deeply and completely love and accept myself

You could amend this to any of the following

Even though I have this (Insert fear/anxiety/limiting belief)

·      at least I’m doing something about it

·      I’m a good person

·      I love and accept myself anyway

·      (anything about yourself you fully believe – even “I make a great Lasagne!”)

The Basic Recipe

Step 1: Start tapping on the Karate Chop point and tune into the feeling or belief that you want to release.

Step 2: Rate it out of 10 (0 – its not a problem, 10 – it’s a big problem)

Step 3: Starting on the KC point repeat the set up statement out loud and continue to tap through the points, repeating the phrase. Go round the points twice. Then take hold of your wrist, take a deep breath in and out. That’s one round.

Step 4: Check in with yourself and rate out of 10 where you feel it is now. Does the issue feel the same or different? If it feels different, how?

 It’s literally that simple.

Anything else?

I recommend having a little notebook that you keep just for your notes on tapping sessions. You write yourself a one line reminder phrase and rating at the start of the session and then again at the end. You’ll be able to track your progress on a particular issue.

As with all energy work it’s a good idea to keep hydrated, so make sure you drink plenty of water.

You may find that you feel tired after a session if you’ve worked on a big negative belief or issue. Its quite common to yawn during a session and its actually a good sign. You might not initially feel anything and that’s ok too.

Tapping on something universal like anxiety is not going to give you the same results as if you can tap on what is specifically causing you anxiety. If it’s more than one thing write a list and give each one a rating out of 10. Its up to you if you start with the lower numbers or the 10’s! Can you see themes?

You can use EFT on anything and everything, try it and see!

What's the F in EFT?

What’s the F in EFT?

You may never have heard of EFT also known as Tapping, in which case – you’re in the right place! Or you might have heard about it and then seen a video on YouTube and thought nope, no way, not for me!

Quite simply, Tapping is acupuncture for the emotions WITHOUT the needles.

The Basic Recipe EFT sequence involves you tapping on specific points of your body (meridian points) and at the same time saying out loud a reminder phrase.

It’s a combination of the ancient Chinese principles of acupressure and modern psychology.

 It looks a bit weird

There’s no getting away from the fact that it does look and feel a little strange to start off with but the more you do it the less self conscious you feel.

When I first heard about and tried EFT I really wanted to love it but I just couldn’t. I’m not sure if it was my British upbringing but there was something absolutely uncomfortable about saying the set up sentence and trying to remember where to tap at the same time.

But I have good news. You can start off by following along with one of my videos and saying  something about yourself that you feel totally comfortable with. Something you really believe about yourself no mater how mundane it might seem. My set up phrase for a long time was “Even though I have this (insert fear/anxiety/belief) I make a really great Lasagne”!

Fight Flight Freeze

We’ve all heard about the fight or flight response when we’re in a situation where we feel threatened. But what if you’re not able to do one of those things? What if the threat you feel in the modern world is one that you can’t quite explain or it’s caused by a stressful situation at home, school or at work.

There is another response - freeze, when the energy or adrenaline from a particular experience hasn’t been discharged like it would be if you had to fight or were able to run away.

When you’re constantly in an anxious state it’s because you are stuck in the freeze mode. When someone explained this to me – it made perfect sense.

What happens to those negative emotions? Anyone with anxiety will tell you that they just keep going round and round in your body, they’re never discharged. The more stressed you get the more emotions there are.

The beauty of Tapping is that it doesn’t just work for emotions its also used for physical pain and weight loss by identifying and addressing the emotions behind them.

The F is for Freedom

 The F in EFT stands for Freedom and that’s exactly what you can get from unhelpful, negative and trapped emotions and limiting beliefs.

Background

Dr Roger Callahan an American psychologist created Thought Field Therapy (TFT) in the early 80’s which he used in his practice to treat a client with a severe water phobia. Based around the ancient principles of Chinese Acupuncture but by tapping rather than using needles he discovered you could unblock energy imbalances in the body’s meridians.

Gary Craig an Engineer who had trained at Stanford University was interested in resolving emotional blocks to success as a personal performance coach and studied under Dr Callahan. He eventually refined his own version which he called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). By using focus, intention & tapping you can effectively turn off the charge that memories hold and release the associated emotions.

No amount of words really do this technique justice, the best way to experience its benefits are to FEEL it by actually doing it!

 Hop over to my How to Tap post to get the low down.

Changing Direction

Throughout our childhood we’re constantly asked what job we want to do when we grow up. We have to pick one thing we’re going to do from the time we finish school or university and that’s it until we retire. No-one asks what sort of person we want to become or what exciting experiences we’d love to have.

We don’t seem to have moved on from the mindset that once you get a job it’s yours for life, even though we all know that’s not the case anymore.

After a PR degree, a few years in PR and then over 5 years working as a Wedding and Event planner I thought if I was going to work for myself that it would have to be in one of those areas.

I knew I wanted to be my own boss but I had no idea how to go about it and I definitely didn’t have the right mindset. I had a complete fear of being visible, of voicing an opinion, of being different to everyone who didn’t work for themselves.

I decided I was going to set up as a Wedding planner focusing on how to help Brides be less stressed when planning their weddings. I didn’t realise at the time how much the focus for me was on the mindfulness and stress and anxiety reduction rather than the planning.

By this point I was on maternity leave and so I spent a lot of time when I wasn’t baby wrangling learning about online business. Up until then it had been a complete mystery to me. I enrolled in a few courses and started slowly putting a website together. At the same time I was working on my mindset. I was learning about limiting beliefs and how they can subconsciously hold you back from achieving your full potential.

My life had moved on, I wasn’t completely immersed in hotels, menu’s, seating plans & colour schemes. My life was more nappies, sleepless nights, baby groups and new mums.

It took me a while to realise that it wasn’t really the wedding planning that I was passionate about. It was on reducing stress and anxiety and identifying why they happen. On how to deal with and move on from limiting beliefs.

While pregnant with my second baby I had been learning EFT for myself 1:1 with a brilliant practitioner. It was only then that I felt comfortable with the fact that I wanted something different to what I’d been sold as my options when I was in school.

It’s ok to change direction whatever you’re doing, its OK to make a different choice.