Tap Your Way to Emotional Freedom

We’ve all had those days (or months, or years) when we’ve felt frustrated, emotional, anxious, or upset. Maybe your team is not performing and you’re worried about the future of your practice. Maybe you had a fight with your significant other and emotions are high. Maybe a fear of failure is preventing you from moving forward and taking the next step to achieve your goals. Whatever is going on, big or small, it can be hard to get out of your own head and think rationally, instead of reacting negatively to outside stimuli.

I’m sure you’ve picked up on a plethora of stress-relief tactics over the years, but do any of them actually work? Do you practice any of them on a regular basis? You’ve probably squeezed a stress ball or two, practiced deep breathing techniques, and maybe you even attended a yoga class… once. It can be hard to work these techniques into your daily routine, especially if you don’t see results right off the bat, but just a few minutes of self-care every day can make a world of difference.

Today we’re going to teach you a modern technique based on 5,000-year-old Eastern medicine that’s been passed down from generation to generation. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is based on the same points or meridians acupuncturists use to clear disturbances in energy pathways throughout the body. This technique is also known as Meridian Tapping or simply Head Tapping, and is used to help release blocked energy in the mind-body, flush out negative emotions and destructive feelings, change limiting beliefs, and can even help reduce headaches, back pain, and body aches.

While EFT is largely regarded by the scientific and medical communities as “pseudoscience” with little to no clinical evidence to support these claims, the same can be said for acupuncture, reiki, sound therapy, essential oils, and many other types of “alternative medicine” that have been used effectively for centuries. The truth is, the mind is more powerful than we give it credit for—the power of suggestion, manifestation, and the placebo effect have been well-documented. Hey, if it works, who cares how it works, right? If a few taps a day could help reprogram your mind with positive, empowering beliefs, and help you achieve success and emotional freedom, we think it’s worth a shot!

To perform this technique, you will first need to learn the 10 tapping points that correspond with 14 meridians (some points cover more than one meridian).

1. Crown of the Head – Place your thumbs in your ears and reach your middle fingers up to the top of the head. Think of it as the area where a yarmulke would be worn for Jewish men.
2. Eyebrow Point – The innermost point of your eyebrow.
3. Side of the Eye – The bone just outside of your eye. Not quite the temple where it is soft, but the boney point closer to the eye.
4. Under the Eye – The bone under the pupil of the eye.
5. Under the Nose – Just under the nose above the top lip.
6. Chin – About halfway between the bottom lip and the bottom of the chin where it creases.
7. Collarbone – The u-shaped point where your collarbones You can tap here with a fist or broadly with a full hand to reach both sides.
8. Under Arm – About four inches below the armpit, or the center of the bra strap for women.
9. Wrist – Just below where you would check your pulse.
10. Hand – Center of the soft part of the outside of the hand, or where you would make contact with a karate chop.

You will tap each area about 5-7 times—the number of taps will depend on the length of the limiting belief statement you come up with, which we will discuss shortly. You will use all four fingers for broad points like the crown of the head or the collarbone and use two fingers (index and middle) for smaller points like around the eyes and face. Be sure to use the tips or pads of your fingers, not your fingernails, and use firm yet gentle pressure as if you were testing a melon for ripeness. Think of it as testing yourself for emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual ripeness. Remember—all good things take time.

Now that you know how the tapping works, let’s get you set up for emotional freedom. First, you will create your own limiting belief statement. Let’s say your primary concern today is your fear of failure. Your limiting belief statement will look something like this:

“Although I have this fear of failure, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

You can use this same formula again and again. “Although I (insert limiting belief), I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

Now let’s get to tapping! You’ll set up by tapping the outside of the hand (karate chop point) and repeating your complete limiting belief statement three times. “Although I have this fear of failure, I deeply and completely love myself.” Next, you will begin the tapping sequence starting with the crown of the head and working your way down, while repeating only the limiting belief portion of your statement—“fear of failure.” You will repeat this short statement for each tapping point, starting and ending with the crown of the head, and then you will consciously release that limiting belief from your mind-body and take a deep, cleansing breath.

You may think focusing on the negative aspect of your limiting belief statement is counterintuitive, but rather, it’s bringing that limiting belief to the top of your mind. Think of it like pulling up a file on your computer. You have to pull it up before you can delete it, right? It may be helpful to rate your level of emotional upset on a scale of 1-10 before you begin this process and then rate it again after to see if it’s changed. You can repeat this process as many times as you need or have time for.

You can try this technique at work, at home, or in your car (while parked) if you don’t want anyone walking in wondering what the heck you’re doing tapping on your head. It may feel a little silly at first, but it could also be just the stimulation your mind and body need to break the cycle of negativity and help you achieve emotional freedom. If you’re ready to break free from the limiting beliefs that have been holding you back and take the next step to achieve your goals, contact us at PDA | Marketing Group today.