::tapping-guide-signup::

Introduction

Tapping (also known as EFT – Emotional Freedom Techniques) can bring you quick, effective RELIEF from stress, anxiety, overwhelm, pain and suffering, distressing thoughts, disturbing memories, and limiting beliefs.

It can help you connect with your inner power and transform procrastination and frustration so you can achieve your dreams. EFT Tapping can remove the blocks to abundance, love, and vitality.

To some, this may sound far-fetched. It sounded that way to us at first, too. After all, there are so many people promising “miracle cures” that just don’t work. But we’re not promising…

We’re just inviting you to try it out for yourself… and see. We are both engineers and we like practical approaches that work efficiently. We’ve seen for ourselves and our thousands of clients that gently tapping on these acupuncture points can shift old beliefs and fears quickly and help you reach your desires. We’ve seen incredible results and you can, too! (You can see some of the testimonials we’ve received at http://www.thrivingnow.com/testimonials).

What is EFT Tapping?

We humans touch, hold, pat, and rub ourselves for comfort… and always have. We naturally reach out to comfort others.

We feel powerful emotions… some that feel good and some that feel bad.

And we talk to ourselves… even though our self-talk is often critical rather than accepting and encouraging.

Tapping is a simple and easy-to-use process where you:
1) tune into your body-mind,
2) speak a truth about how you feel right now, and
3) choose how you’d like to feel…
4) all while tapping on specific natural comfort points.

This unique combination helps you shift your physical and emotional energy in the direction of relief… towards feeling really good.

What Can You Use Tapping For?

Tapping gives you instant access to relief at your fingertips. It helps brings the energy of your whole being into alignment. Spending a few minutes tapping can bring intense negative emotions down to manageable levels and allow new insights and options to come to mind. It can allow you to connect more deeply with others and yourself. Tapping can help you change resistance and procrastination into insight and creativity… with renewed inspiration and direction for your day.

You can use Tapping to relieve physical pain as well. Most physical pain has an emotional component. By tapping on the pain—along with any guilt, shame, anger, resentment, worry, or frustration behind it—many people find their pain decreasing or even disappearing entirely. With Tapping your body can finally stop holding onto the stuck energy and start moving towards natural vitality and health.

Not only can Tapping bring relief from negative emotions, it can help you remove blocks to deep and abiding happiness. Tapping on long-standing fears, old traumas, and negative self-worth will open the door to more peace, love, and joy in your life.

Tapping makes life easier. Instead of forcing yourself through your days with effort and willpower, you can find yourself flowing naturally and easily, without resistance or numerous distractions.

Why not give it a try?

::tapping-guide::

Tapping Points Diagram

Where Did Energy Tapping Come From?

Have you ever seen someone rub their forehead when they were stressed? Or clutch the base of their throat when shocked? Hold their heart when it is breaking? And of course, we pat babies to soothe them when they are upset.

Touch is comforting. We’re wired for it.

Tapping is a gentle form of soothing touch.

There are some key points where the flow of the body’s energy is more “accessible.” Such points were discovered and documented a long time ago. In fact, the Chinese have been stimulating these points through touch (acupressure) and needles (acupuncture) for over 5000 years! It’s also from traditional Chinese medicine that we learned about the flow of vital energy (chi or qi) along meridian pathways. Since the tapping points are found on these meridians, EFT or Energy Tapping is also known as Meridian Tapping.

Starting in the 1960’s and 70’s with George Goodheart and John Diamond and further refined in the 80’s and 90’s by Roger Callahan, Patricia Carrington, Gary Craig, Fred Gallo, Donna Eden, Carol Look, and many others, the benefits of tapping on the meridian acupoints has been extensively documented. Experience shows that tapping can shift our beliefs and thoughts quickly and with much less pain than conventional therapies.

There are lots of theories on how and why it works, but no one can say for sure. (We just see the positive results.) Scientific studies do show that the electrical resistance in the skin at the meridian acupoints is much lower than the rest of the body. Brain wave studies show energy tapping affects the deep subconscious.

However it works, tapping seems to activate our body’s innate self-healing intelligence and allows us to transform our lives. Case histories abound showing astounding changes in anxieties, fears, and phobias. Hundreds of thousands of people use it to improve their relationships, their ability to work, and how much they enjoy life.

Quick Relief

Some people report “one minute miracles” where long lasting changes occur in minutes. We’ve had them ourselves personally and with clients. They’re wonderful!

Astonishingly rapid, permanent relief has “sold” many people on using Tapping for themselves and with others. Search the internet and you’ll find thousands of cases of quick, permanent relief for phobias, physical pains, and more… all using Energy Tapping (EFT).

Rich Emotional Rewards… Compounding Over Time

As exciting as such special cases are, they do not happen for everyone… or every time… which is okay! (It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or that nothing will work for you.)

Indeed, as experts in this field, what most excites us every day is seeing the way people deeply benefit from tapping… over time.

– Anxious Annie… becomes surprisingly calm and confident.
– Blocked Bob… discovers his inner direction and self-worth.
– Lonely Lisa… heals her heart and revels in new passions.
– Selfless Sally… starts taking care of herself for a change.
– Timid Ted… makes new friends and learns to dance.
– Worried Wanda… develops deep inner peace and strength.

Isn’t that what you want, too? To discover your own authentic strengths and develop them so they are strong and resilient… to be able to see life from new, more empowering perspectives… to love and co-create within healthy relationships? To us, that’s true emotional freedom. And it is what Tapping is really perfectly suited to help you achieve.

You can learn more about where Energy Tapping (EFT) came from in our History of Tapping.

Okay, How Do I Tap?

Getting started is very simple. It takes about 2-5 minutes to learn the basics. Children love this, too. It empowers them to feel better! Once you learn the points, you can start tapping on whatever is important to you. We include some examples to get you started, and you can find many more tapping ideas and help freely available on our website www.thrivingnow.com

With two or three fingers of either hand, lightly tap with your fingertips on the locations shown in the Tapping Points Diagram (above).

As you do, you will repeat a phrase to help focus on the emotional and physical feelings. Use the same pressure you would use if you were tapping on a table to make a drumming sound. You want to make contact, but not hurt yourself or cause discomfort. Tap roughly 3-7 times in each location. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. If you have long fingernails, use the pads near the end of your fingers to tap.

We start by tapping on the Karate Chop point where we typically make 1-3 “Even though” statements (to tune into your body-mind, your emotions, and give the energy a direction towards relief)… while tapping continuously. This is the area of your hand that you would use to “karate chop” something. Tap with the other hand, using your fingertips. (Some people rub the Sore Spot as an alternative to the Karate Chop point. It is located about four inches down from the point of the collarbone and a few inches out from your heart. You can rub this area gentle with a few fingers. Either location will work fine, so use what is easiest for you.)

Next, we move to the Top of the Head and use the fingertips on one or both hands to tap. There are a bunch of energy points here, and you can tap in the center, or find a spot or two that feels good to you. Some people even use the flat of their hand to pat the entire top of the head.

Now we’ll work down the body. (This makes the points easier to remember. The order is not crucial; don’t worry if you skip one, and you can even do the points in reverse. Tapping is very forgiving.)

The Eyebrow points are located at the beginning of the eyebrow, nearest the center of the face. You can use the index and middle fingers together, on either or both hands, to tap the eyebrow points. (Some people start at this point rather than the top of the head; it does not matter.)

The Side of the Eye points are located on the bones at the outside of the eyes. The points are not so close to the eye that you blink and not so far away that you are tapping in the softer temple area. Using the index and middle fingers together, tap on either one or both side of the eye points.

The Under the Eye points are on the bone located under the eye… even with the pupils. Using the fingertips of the index and middle fingers, softly tap this spot under either or both eyes. Be gentle here; it is a sensitive area.

Now tap Under the Nose. The spot is roughly midway between the bottom of the nose and the top of the lip.

The Chin point is not really on the tip of the chin; it is midway between the bottom of the lower lip and the chin, in that indentation area.

For the Collarbone points find the start of one of your collarbones at the base of your throat and move about an inch down and an inch outward towards your shoulder. You can use two to four fingers together on either hand to tap the collarbone spots (or tap both at the same time). These are powerful points for stress and anxiety relief. Many people use the collarbone points all by themselves when they feel anxious.

The Under the Arm points are located about 4 inches below the armpits (about mid-bra line on a woman). You can reach across to tap (for example, lift your left arm and use the four fingers of your right hand to tap under your left arm) or lift your arm up and use the hand on the same side to tap, whichever feels more comfortable.

We often return to the Top of the Head and tap. This can help the round feel complete.

Of course, you can end at any point. You can start at the eyebrow or top of the head. You can leave out points, too. Energy Tapping is flexible and accommodates many variations. You don’t have to do it perfectly. Your energy system is connected so each point you tap resonates throughout the system. It can also be very helpful to tune into your body, see how it feels, tap where it seems to “want” to, and stop when it feels right.

These are the nine comfort points that are most often used in Energy Tapping (out of 400+ points that are recognized in acupuncture). They are also the primary tapping points used in Meridian Tapping Techniques (MTT) and in the short form of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).

Let’s Put It All Together

We’ll now combine the basic tapping sequence with tuning into your body-mind, speaking a truth about how you feel right now, and choosing how you’d like to feel.

1. Tune-in. Where do you feel discomfort or distress? What does it feel like? Be as specific as possible. Ideally, include the location, the description of the feeling, and what the emotion is. (“Worried” is a bit too general. “This tight knot of worry in my forehead” is better.)

2. Note your starting intensity (0-10), with 0 being no intensity and 10 being very intense: ____. (If you don’t know, guess. It helps you tune into the feeling and how it does or does not shift after the tapping.)

3. While continuously tapping on the karate chop point, emphatically say your set-up statement three times. This statement typically includes the first part that speaks a truth about how you feel right now (from step 1), followed by a choice about how you’d like to feel. In this example, we’ve chosen a statement of self-acceptance:

“Even though _______________ (I have this knot of worry in my forehead), I deeply and completely accept myself.” (Repeat 3 times.)

4. Tap on each of the points approximately 3-7 times, re-stating your issue (the reminder phrase) at each point: “This _______________ (knot of worry in my forehead)”.

– Top of head
– Eyebrow
– Side of eye
– Under the eye
– Under the nose
– Chin
– Collarbone
– Under the arm
– Back to the top of head

5. Take a deep breath!

6. Note your ending intensity (0-10), with 0 being no intensity (it’s gone!) and 10 being very intense: ______. If it’s above a “2,” repeat the steps above.

You can also make the following changes as you tap:

– Modify the set-up statement in step (2) to “Even though I still have some of this _________, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

– Change the reminder phrase to “Remaining ________.”

– Be more specific. What is the best way to describe what you are now feeling? The physical feeling or the emotion in the pain may move or change. That’s progress! You’ve got your energy moving!

Next: Tapping Examples to Get You Started →