This post was first published on the 26th of October 2013. Tapping is a great technique for managing stress and anxiety, so I thought I would republish this post for those of you who may not know about it. Even if you do know about tapping, this post is a good reminder of the technique.
Remember to take time out for yourself and prioritise time for relaxation. That’s exactly what I am doing for myself this week and I am taking a week off from writing new content for the blog following a flare up. I hope to feel refreshed and ready to write more posts next week.
A few days ago, I signed up to Gala Darling’s Dare/ Dream/ Do; a 30-day email course that I would thoroughly recommend to everyone. The latest instalment of this series has introduced me to the technique of ‘tapping’, also known as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).
I was only just talking about needing to find better techniques to combat stress and I think I may have just found one thanks to Gala.
As soon as I read about tapping I was immediately intrigued. It sounded simple and effective and so far I have found that to be true.
It is by no means a quick fix to any problem and I certainly hold judgement with regards to how much it can help with the chronic pain and fatigue we experience with fibromyalgia.
However, I do think it will help address the emotional side to the condition that many of us experience.
Tapping is beneficial to our wellbeing; it helps us to feel better in ourselves and to feel better about ourselves. That can only be a good thing, right? So I urge you to give it a go.
What is Tapping?
Tapping is like an emotional version of acupuncture and involves tapping on certain meridian points on the body. Whilst doing this, you focus on a specific issue that you would like to overcome.
This can be anything! From a trivial problem to a deep-rooted issue.
Be mindful of the fact that the deeper the issue, the longer it will take to resolve through tapping. It can even be a physical issue, such as asthma or psoriasis.
I know a lot of people are dismissive of this sort of thing but bear with me, it’ll be worth it. Go forward with an open mind.
Setting up
The first point you tap is called “the karate chop” and it’s the starting point to the whole process. It’s the fleshy part of your hand between your wrist and pinky finger, which you would use if you were to karate chop something.
You take two or more fingers and tap on this area as though your fingers were a mini hammer. You do not have to tap hard and I would advise starting off gently and finding a pressure that is comfortable and works for you.
Having fibromyalgia means you need to be cautious about this as you do not want to hurt yourself.
But before you start tapping away you need to first identify the issue you want to work on and give your problem a value between 0 and 10. 10 being the absolute worst and 0 meaning you feel the problem has gone.
It is important to pick just one issue to tap at a time.
If it is a deep issue, think about it in layers. Start at the top and work through each layer one at a time.
You may find that you think you only have one issue, but once you start tapping more can be brought to the surface. Go with the flow of it and continue to work on tapping through each of these issues separately.
Once you have identified the issue you want to work on and have given it a rating, you begin the process by saying the below phrase whilst tapping on the “karate chop” meridian point (shown above):
“Even though ____________________, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
I appreciate that not everyone will feel comfortable saying such a statement; it might make you feel awkward or you may even think it is a silly thing to say.
But say it!
You don’t even need to believe it. But if you continue to use this technique, trust me, you will in time.
Although I’m an advocate of positivity, it is important to focus on negative feelings and use negative language because you are working to clear this negativity. To give you an example, I used tapping last night to rid myself of anxiety. I said:
“Even though I feel this horrible anxiety, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
You just need to tap as long as it takes you to say the phrase. However, I found it beneficial to say it a few times so that I could get in tune with my emotions.
Do what feels right for you and don’t be afraid to experiment a little. After this setup, you move on to the basic recipe.
(Just as a side note, tapping on your “karate chop” can help ease general anxiety. So the next time you feel anxious or nervous, instead of twiddling your fingers, tap, tap, tap on your hand.)
The Basic Recipe
You will now tap through a sequence of meridian points and each time you tap a new point you say a reminder phrase. This is just a couple of words that sum up what you said before in the setup.
Mine was simply “this anxiety”. I find it easiest to start from the top of the head and work downwards as this makes the sequence easy to remember but you could technically tap each point in any sequence.
The meridian points that you stimulate through tapping are located:
- at the top of your head
- at the beginning of your eyebrow
- at the side of the eye
- under the eye
- between your nose and mouth
- just above your chin
- under your collar bone and under your arm.
After you have finished this sequence re-evaluate how you feel. What value would you give your problem now?
Obviously, we are aiming for 0 but don’t worry if you do not achieve this after one go. Any improvement’s a great step.
You may have to tap a few times on the same issue- just go through the whole sequence repeatedly starting from the setup. Persist with it and keep going until you either reach 0 or you plateau at some level.
Continuing with my example, my anxiety went from a ‘7’ to a ‘4’ to a ‘2’ and finally, it left me. Even when I concentrated on the feeling, it wasn’t there. Result! As you can see this took a few rounds but was worth it.
If you plateau, make sure you are really connecting emotionally with your problem as this is imperative to EFT working. Think about the underlying reasons for your emotions.
However, you may need to stop at that level and take it up again at another time. It is hard work confronting emotional problems and separate sessions might help you.
Still stuck?
You may need to simplify the issue further and break it down into smaller steps to work on. Or if it is a deep issue you can add to your tapping repertoire, which may help you to solve it.
There is more to EFT than the basics mentioned above. A more complete guide, including a video demonstration, can be found here.
You can also find further information and more advanced tapping techniques on that website, all for free.
Some Important Points
♥ Drink plenty of water before and after tapping and rest afterwards. Water helps to flush everything out. Dealing with emotional stuff is draining. I’m tapping in the evenings in the hope it will also help me get a good night’s sleep (something fibromyalgia robs us of).
♥ Work on one issue at a time and emotionally connect with that issue. Think about all the underlying reasons that are causing your problem. Start at the root cause and work outwards. How does all this make you feel? Identify the emotions. Concentrate hard on them. Then start the tapping sequence.
♥ Write down things that are bothering you so you remember them. If you can’t deal with them right away, this allows you to work through them at a more convenient time. Writing things down may also help you identify triggers in your life that are causing negative emotions. Something you can also work on changing.
♥ Persist with it. You may need to tap on the same issue several times. This is not an overnight fix. It is a life long change. Embrace it, go with it, give it a fair shot! If there’s no difference weeks down the line, okay it might not be for you. But don’t give up after a few goes.
♥ Remember to say the start up phrase at beginning of each round of tapping. “Even though ____________________, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
♥ As I’m sure you know, fibromyalgia can make us overly sensitive to touch. Some meridian points (such as the points around the eyes) occur on both sides of the body. Some people tap both in one sequence, others just tap one side. You can alternate sides if you feel this is a better option for you. E.g. Focussing on points on only the left side of the body (obviously below the nose and above the chin are discounted with this as there is only the one point in these areas and you tap these every sequence). Then in the next sequence, focus on the right side. Experiment and find something that works for you.
♥ Try using tapping in conjunction with relaxation techniques, such as meditation or breathing exercises.
Happy tapping!
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Thanks for republishing Donna! I had never heard of this but am going to give it a try!
I hope it helps you Lauren. Now when I feel any anxiety or nerves I will sit and do the karate chop instead of just being figety. Even that alone helps for me. I used to feel a lot more anxiety and tapping had definitely helped to reduce it.
This is fascinating! I have tried accupuncture before, but have not heard of this. Donna, I am going to bookmark this page so I can come back to it and read again when I have time to practice this.
Hi Erin, I hope you find EFT helpful! When I feel anxious, I often just use the ‘karate chop’ and it helps so much. EFT is definitely a useful tool to learn 🙂
Hi Donna, you’re right that some people might resist Tapping because it can feel “silly.” I agree it’s important to acknowledge the negative aspects of our symptoms, both emotional and physical. I’ve never used it on a serious pain issue, but I use it all the time to relax whenever I feel anxious about life challenges. Nice to know that Tapping is helping with your Lyme Disease 🙂