The Tapping Technique That Eliminated My Anxiety
BY JENNY SMITH MATTFELDT Published August 13, 2024
When I first heard about EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, I wasn’t sure what to expect—tapping on pressure points on your body to ease stress and anxiety sounded a bit too simple. But I can honestly tell you that after trying it for a few months I was amazed at how well it worked. This technique helped me completely overcome my anxiety which in turn changed about every other aspect of my life.
I had been a massage therapist for years when I heard about EFT on a podcast, so I was very familiar with acupressure points, but I had never heard of tapping on them. In my early 20's I was struggling with anxiety to the point that it was starting to interfere with my life. So to tell you today that I have basically no anxiety, and if I ever do experience it I can easily overcome it, is wild. This is a technique that you might feel a little silly trying the first few times but just trust me and try to stay open to what it can do.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also referred to as "tapping," is a therapeutic method that combines elements of cognitive therapy and exposure therapy with acupressure. The technique involves tapping on specific meridian points on the body, primarily on the face and upper body, while focusing on an emotional issue or physical sensation. The idea is that by tapping on these points while acknowledging your emotions, you can release energy blockages and restore balance to your body's energy system. I know how that sounds, its about as woo woo as you can get but I swear the process is so effective. It can be used to address issues like anxiety, stress, phobias, and even physical pain. The process is relatively simple and can be done anywhere, you will feel goofy trying this in public but I'm to the point I'll do it anywhere.
Where To Start
The overarching idea here is reminding your body and your subconsious that it's safe and it's going to be just fine. This can be done in the heat of the moment to ease your anxiety or done in a more exploratory way to discover the core memories at the root of your anxiety and release them.
My favorite way to do a round of tapping is to follow a Brad Yates video on youtube. This man has been teaching EFT for decades and he has videos for everything. Here are a few of my favorites;
Just listening to this guy is comforting, his whole vibe makes it seem like he's about to say he's proud of you and you're going to be just fine. One of the best parts of his videos is his intro "taking full responsibility for my own wellbeing". That is a mindset change that will alter your perspective on anxiety. Even if it doesn't feel like it right away, YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. Anxiety is something you are experiencing, it doesn't define you. Tapping gives you back some of the control that anxiety tries to take away.
The Steps
You begin by tapping on the outside of your wrist just below your pinky. You only tap here once but this is the "intro" point where you set your intention and remind yourself to focus on the things you can control.
You move to the inside edge of your eyebrow. I suggest following videos when you're first starting out they're an easy way to find the right affirmations.
Ouside edge of the eyebrow and brow bone.
Bottom of the eye socket. If you feel the bone just below your eye you can actually feel a little indent where the pressure point is located.
The area between your upper lip and nose.
The area between your bottom lip and chin.
Your collar bone. If I'm experiencing anxiety in public sometimes I will just tap on the collar bone point while I run through a few affirmations.
Under the arm about three inches below your armpit.
The top of the head. Then you repeat points 2-9 until you start to feel better. The Brad Yates videos will circle through this for five to ten minutes.
I like to finish the session by holding my wrist and taking a few deep breaths.
This will all make more sense after watching a few Brad Yates videos. Once you feel comfortable with it you can start to look back in your past at the core memories that could be the root of your anxiety. This can look like embarrassing moments, things you may have been told that you internalized, or even small things that hurt your feelings. Anything you think of that makes your stomach flip. Again I'm so aware of how crunchy this all sounds but you will be so suprised at the little things your brain might be holding on to. Once you find those memories you're free to tap on them until the memory starts to lose any negative emotional reactions.
I hope that this gives you a nice place to start with EFT and I really hope you recieve as much benefit from it as I have. If you have any questions or want some more resources surrounding tapping please reach out, I would love to hear from you!
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