Tapping for stress relief

If you suffer from anxiety, anger, fear, or overwhelm, or need to stop stress in its tracks, try tapping. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, is a powerful, evidence-based stress reduction tool for those flooded and stuck by high-intensity stressful feelings.

Why I practice EFT

I use the practice of mindfulness as my foundation for stress reduction and to feel more present and aware in my daily life. I use tapping when I’m really freaked out with intense emotions or stuck in a state of chronic stressful thoughts that overwhelm me.

Tapping reduces the emotional charge from a stressful event pretty quickly. A few years ago, when I heard about the effectiveness of tapping, I tried it. I liked it but didn’t really see a big change in myself. But then I did it again when I really needed it and it worked!

If you’d like to try tapping right now, listen to this audio where I walk you through a routine for general stress and anxiety.

You may find this diagram from Jan Watkins helpful.

I’ve always struggled with public speaking anxiety, not just the jitters but intense fear that manifests as my heart racing, my hands and knees shaking, and my inability to think straight. I turned to medication, but it didn’t help and made me feel worse. The tapping technique came to my rescue when I was to give my first mindfulness lesson to high school students. I was petrified! I started my tapping routine a week before and then the day of and found myself quite calm while teaching. Since then, I continue to be amazed by how rapidly EFT can reduce my stress response, so I got the training I needed to teach it to others.

Proven results

Research into EFT is well-funded and continues to be studied by major academic and health institutions. In studies with the veteran population, it has found to be effective for those who suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, and pain.

The EFT method involves tapping on acupressure points with your fingertips, while thinking of a stressor and all of the aspects of the stressor that are bothering you and triggering negative emotions, such as worry, fear, anxiety, and anger. It rapidly reduces the emotional intensity associated with that stressor. This process is effective because as you tap and talk about all the aspects of the problem, you also verbalize general affirmation phrases that combine feelings of acceptance, self-compassion, and choice.

Using this combination of negative and positive phrases as you tap, begins to relieve the psychological and physiological aspects of the stress response associated with the problem. Typically, after a tapping session, you feel more at ease, balanced and resilient. Then, when thinking about that same problem, you have gained new insight and clarity into the nature of the problem and how to effectively cope with it.

Tapping for many issues

Tapping works for a wide range of minor and major stressors, and I have found this to be true when observing my students and clients. I have seen EFT help with the trauma of divorce, losing a job, academic pressure and test anxiety, public speaking anxiety, relationship problems, performance anxiety, and even phobias such as going over a bridge.

Tapping can help in almost any situation. It can help me calm down, energize me, or make me feel better quickly. When I tap, I feel like I’m journaling and dealing with my emotion in a healthy way instead of repressing it. -–former student

Tapping and mindfulness combined create a powerful path toward building stress resilience. To learn more about my mindfulness and tapping workshops or to schedule a one-on-one session contact me at 703-622-3459 or email npmindfulcoach@gmail.com.