A while ago, I saw a video on Facebook about how Tapping is changing the lives of children. I had never heard of Tapping before. In my opinion, anything that is described as “life-changing” is worth learning about. Here’s what I discovered.

What Is Tapping?

Tapping, otherwise known as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), is a scientifically proven process of restoring balance within the body by releasing negative emotions. It’s described as a combination of Ancient Chinese Acupressure and Modern Psychology. Although it’s only been around since the 1980’s, it has been tested (and proven beneficial) in many scientific studies.

The basic idea is that you talk through or think about traumatic, stressful, or otherwise negative event in your life while you tap 5-7 times on each of your body’s 9 meridian points.

Meridian Points

The meridian points are:

1. On the fleshy, outside part of your hand. It’s where you would do a karate chop.
2. At the start of your eyebrow.
   

   Thanks to Attachment Disorder Healing for the image.

3. At the end of your eyebrow. Make sure that you’re on bone.
4. Below your eye. Again, make sure that you’re on bone.
5. Underneath the nose.
6. In the crease on your chin (between your lip and your chin).
7. The upper part of your chest near your collarbones. You can use your whole hand for this, and tap where a neck tie would go.
8. Underneath the arm about a hand-width from your armpit.
9. The very top of the head.

When you tap on your meridian points, it doesn’t really matter which side of the body you choose. You can switch back and forth; it’s whatever feels most comfortable for you. It is important that you tap in that order, though.

What Do You Do?

Start by addressing your issue. Let’s say you’re having anxiety. Begin by saying a set-up statement. You will want to say something like “Even though I have this [insert your issue here], I love and accept myself.” You can put your own spin on it, but your set-up statement will be something of that nature.

So, in our example, you would say, “Even though I have this anxiety, I love and accept myself.” Keep saying that as you tap on the outside edge of your hand. Remember, it’s 5-7 taps, so you’ll say this saying about 5-7 times while tapping throughout.

Now, when you move on to the other points, you’re also going to move on with your thoughts and emotions. As you go through each of the other meridian points, you’re going to say why you’re having this anxiety. Don’t spend quite as much time on the other points as you did on the first. It’s sufficient to say, “I have anxiety because I’ve got a big deadline looming at work…[move points] And I haven’t even started the project…[move points],” etc.

I highly recommend watching this instructional video to better learn exactly what to say and do.

Who Benefits from Tapping?

Although anyone can benefit from tapping because it lowers cortisol (a stress-released hormone), this technique is particularly beneficial for people who are struggling. Many of the scientific studies are conducted with war veterans suffering from PTSD and victims of war from places like Rwanda and Kosovo.

You may also benefit from tapping if you suffer from:

• anxiety,
• depression,
• insomnia,
• addictions,
• phobias,
• emotional problems,
• physical pain, or
• illness.

For example, people with migraines use tapping as a means of treatment. This is because sometimes we accidentally prolong and intensify the pain that we’re feeling by focusing on it. With tapping, instead of focusing on the pain, you focus shifts to accepting the issue and letting go of any negative thoughts or emotions that are attached to it.

Learn More

To learn more about tapping, check out www.tappingsolutionfoundation.org and www.thetappingsolution.com. Over at TheTappingSolution.com, they have tabs with different issues that you may be having. Click on your issue, and it will guide you to a page that is specifically about how tapping can help with that issue.

Sign up here to get more tips for health and happiness! Also, you can find me on Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest as Custom Pilates and Yoga.