How Often Should I Tap?

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This is not an easy question to answer, but one I get asked all the time by my clients.

The answer very much depends on you. Think about the reason for tapping and how quickly you want results.

Personally, I tap every single day. Some days it’s just for 5 minutes. Other days it’s a whole hour if I’m doing a ‘proper’ session. Often, it’s somewhere in between.

  • If you have a long standing or chronic condition then I definitely recommend tapping every day.
  • If you want quick results then again I recommend tapping every day.
  • If you feel stressed every day then I definitely recommend tapping every day!

It is not always easy to find the time. You have to make the time.  Most of us can manage to find 5 minutes in our busy day. So start with that. Just 5 minutes. On days where you have more time then tap for longer. The more you tap, the more you’ll benefit. So get started 🙂

Keep tapping
Louise

 

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year 2016.jpg

Wishing you a Happy New Year 2016.

Instead of having New Year Resolutions, which normally get dropped by the second week of January, I like to set myself goals for the year.

You can start out by asking yourself some questions about how your 2015 was, e.g.

  • What were my gifts?
  • What were my successes?
  • What were my challenges?
  • What was my biggest lesson?

Then think about what you want to achieve in 2016. If you have a big goal, e.g. studying for a qualification, then it can really help to break it down into smaller goals. So you might have a goal each term, or for each major piece of coursework.

Then write out your goals for 2016. You can get really creative and use a vision board and fill it with your goals and inspiration to help you along the way. Stand in front of your board every day and visualise how good it will feel to achieve your goals. You can use EFT on any issues you have along the way, e.g. fear of doing a speech, anxiety about a test, feeling overwhelmed etc.

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

Gail Devers

Wishing you lots of happiness and success in 2016.

Keep tapping
Louise

Start Your Day the Tappy Way

Want your day to start out better? A great way to achieve this is to tap first thing in the morning. Your tapping can be about the things you know you have to do that day & any concerns/worries/stress you have about that. E.g.

  • Even though I’m worried because I have that important meeting today…
  • Even though I’m stressed with my work load and today is going to be manic…
  • Even though I’m anxious about doing…

You get the idea. Think about your day & tap on anything that is bothering you.

Once you’ve tapped on all that “stuff” you might like to try tapping in some positives. E.g.

  • Even though I’m doing X today, I choose to stay calm
  • Even though I’ve got a busy day, I can get it all done easily
  • Even though I’m stressed about my workload, maybe I can feel calmer and still get it done

If you’d like some help, just drop me an email.

Happy tapping
Louise
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Getting Out There

We all know we should exercise to keep us healthy. Some people are easily motivated and the rest of us need a little help sometimes! EFT can help us get out there and exercise. Now firstly, make sure you choose some of exercise you do actually enjoy. No amount of tapping is going to help you do something you just don’t like!

Exercising
Exercising

Focus on what it is that de-motivates you or makes you think up excuses not to go. E.g. if you are exercising outside do you make excuses if the weather isn’t perfect? I have had some of my best runs in the rain, so I can’t use that excuse any more!

Write down all your de-motivators and excuses and then tap your way through them. Ask yourself what is really going on beneath the excuses etc and tap on that too. It could be a feeling of low self-worth for example.

Here’s some ideas to help you get started:

  • Even though I know I should exercise, I just don’t have the time to fit it in right now and I am willing to accept myself anyway
  • Even though I’d rather collapse on the sofa after a stressful day at work, I accept myself anyway
  • Even though I haven’t got enough energy to do exercise, I’m open to accepting myself
  • Even though I always have to push myself to exercise and I wish it were easier to motivate myself, I’m ok

Some of these may sound familiar to you. Many people struggle to find the time and summon the energy to exercise. We have to make the time and that’s where it can get difficult. We can feel we are being selfish by wanting some time to ourselves. But what is more important that our wellbeing?

There are so many benefits to exercising from reduced blood pressure to staying a healthy weight, reducing stress and sleeping better. So use EFT to help motivate yourself and let go of your excuses. Get out there & enjoy exercising…I’m sure you’ll feel better afterwards.

Let me know if you would like a session to help you with this issue.

Keep tapping
Louise
07866 013 637

Persistence Pays

“Progress results from persistence with purpose” — Frank Tyger

I had a client the other day who said that she would be willing to try EFT but that she had tried it in the past and it hadn’t worked. After a bit of questioning it turns out that she had only tried EFT for a few minutes and didn’t get any results so she gave up! That really frustrates me! (Maybe I need to tap on that!) There are so many videos and testimonials of 1 minute wonders that people think their issue should be fixed in a minute or a few. Whilst 1 minute wonders do occur most people need to tap for a lot longer than that. FYI – most practitioners sessions last an hour. Most people need several sessions to work through their issue(s).

We aren’t all the same and just because 1 person resolved their fear of flying in a minute doesn’t mean ours will be resolved as quickly or easily. It is probably worth tapping on the fact that you feel your issue should be resolved quickly. Feeling like a failure if your issue didn’t get resolved quickly is not going to help you or your issue!

Then set yourself a decent amount of time (like an hour) to work on your issue in a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed. Write down your SUDS level (intensity) and the main aspects of your issue and keep tapping through all the aspects. If you haven’t finished on the issue at the end of your issue, then write yourself some notes on what you tapped on and what you feel is left. Then commit to further sessions to fully resolve it. You may feel like you need some help from a friend or practitioner to help you get to the core of your issue.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” — Benjamin Franklin

Remember that persistence is often the key – keep tapping on all the different aspects until you have completely resolved your issue.

Keep tapping
Louise
07866 013 637

 

Facing Procrastination

How many times have you procrastinated or put things off because you have dreaded doing them? Or just found that other things keep getting in the way and stopping you doing that one thing you must do today? In my experience whenever I have done  this, the thing I had to do has always been easier than I imagined it. Our imaginations are very good at creating the worst case scenario or making the task seem more difficult.

After the task is accomplished I often think that was easier than I though it would be. I’d imagined the task to be much more complicated, more time-consuming and to challenge me much more etc. The next time you find yourself putting something off, procrastinating or just outright avoiding doing something, ask yourself why?

Ask yourself if you have imagined it will take too long, be too complicated, cause you too much stress etc. Then do some gentle tapping to help you let go of these things your imagination is putting in the way of you completing your task.

Example tapping statements:

  • Even though I don’t have enough time to do this task, it’ll take way too long and demand too much of me, I accept my feelings anyway
  • Even though I’m procrastinating over this task, I choose to let go of all my worries and concerns about it
  • Even though I keep finding myself doing lots of other things instead of that one thing I know I really need to do, I accept myself anyway
  • Even though I know I really should do that task, I feel far too stressed to actually start it right now and I’m willing to accept all my feelings about this
  • Even though my imagination has made this task into a monster, I choose to go easy on myself and trust I can do it

Remember to tap using your own words whenever possible. Really tune in to how you feel and why you keep putting your tasks off. Keep tapping until you feel all your fears, worries, doubts etc have gone and you feel ready to do your task.

You can use your imagination to imagine your task is now really easy to complete. But always tap away any fears, doubts, worries and stress first.

Keep tapping
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Sometimes we feel yuck and know that tapping can help us. Yet we don’t do it! Why is that? Is is some form of self-sabotage? Is it that we don’t think we deserve to feel better? Or is it that we don’t have the time to do it? Well we can always make time when something is important.

What if we don’t think EFT will help in this case? Or is it that we simply want to “wallow” in our feelings for a while. I have done that in the past and got really annoyed with myself! I feel really upset and think I’m not going to do anything about it. I’m going to sulk into these feelings for a while. Then I annoy myself and think I must do something about this!

Well perhaps some tapping about not tapping is in order. Try:

  • Even though I don’t seem to want to tap about this, I’m open to accepting myself anyway
  • Even though I’m sabotaging myself, what if I could get out of my own way
  • Even though I seem to want to wallow in these feelings rather than tapping, I acknowledge and accept these feelings
  • Even though I think tapping won’t help, what if I was pleasantly surprised by the results
  • Even though I don’t think I deserve to get over this, what if I could be kind to myself and help myself
  • Even though I don’t have time to work on this right now, what if I could make the time

Sometimes we just have to acknowledge and accept our feelings. Tapping is perfect to help us do this. Sometimes we have to wallow for awhile. EFT is always there for us when we are ready!

Keep tapping.

Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Tapping Away Anxiety

Anxiety feels awful. You know that thinking about it makes it worse. You dread the anxiety escalating into a panic attack. You end up worrying about having anxiety or having a panic attack. Which in itself can bring on an attack!

Then you start to avoid certain situations and spend more time at home because it is easier than going through all that anxiety.  The anxiety or worrying about the anxiety is very draining. It literally wears you out and you feel exhausted. Life becomes less enjoyable.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Learning EFT can really help you take control of your life again. You can use EFT to relax and calm your mind and body. You can reduce your symptoms e.g. fast beating heart, sweating, churning or knotty stomach, feeling sick, feeling like you will pass out etc. You can work on the triggers of your anxiety. This part is key. Working with a Practitioner can help you get to the underlying cause of the anxiety.

Figuring out when it started, what was going on in your life then etc. We can work very gently with any traumatic memories from your past with the movie technique. Working on these past memories helps clear out this stuck energy. Your body can then learn that it is safe now and let these symptoms go.

Tapping every day, helps restore calm and puts you back in control. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

  • Even though I hate this anxiety and it feels so awful, I’m willing to accept myself anyway
  • Even though I hate feeling so sick because of this anxiety, I’m ok right now
  • Even though I can’t even go out for a meal without feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, I’m open to accepting myself anyway
  • Even though I shake like a leaf and my stomach churns in knots, every time I go out shopping, I love and accept myself anyway
  • Even though I worry about having a panic attack every time I have to go out and I feel so exhausted afterwards that I just want to lie down and go to sleep, I accept myself anyway

Tapping really can help as long as you are persistent and work on both your symptoms and the triggers that cause the anxiety. It is possible to enjoy life again and plan things that you avoided in the past.

Keep tapping

Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

When I Don’t Tap…

I had a chat with my Mum last weekend. She said that she can tell when my Dad is not tapping because he becomes short-tempered. He is much more mellow when he does regularly tap. I then chatted to my Dad and he said that sometimes when he is working away he is just too busy to tap or he forgets, as he is not in his normal routine.

I told my Dad about finger tapping and several ways to fit in some EFT that won’t take up much of his time. I’m personally a big fan of finger tapping and fitting in some tapping whilst doing other activities e.g. tapping whilst walking or waiting in a queue.

We only benefit from EFT when we make the time to do it. If we can find ways that don’t take up much time and are convenient we are more likely to do it regularly and to gain from the benefits.

Feeling calmer, being more mellow, not getting so stressed are all wonderful benefits. Personally I feel more balanced and centered and able to handle life’s challenges much easier when I tap every day. So I make it a priority to do so every day. I don’t always manage it but most of the time I do. Making a note of the benefits you get when you do tap can also help you make the time to tap. Noticing the downsides like being more short-tempered can also motivate you to tap regularly!

Whatever does it for you – being aware of the downsides or the benefits, I hope that you continue to tap every day.

Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

You Can Spare 5 Minutes

Many people know the benefits of EFT. They have had success with it. Yet they frequently don’t have time to tap or work on their issues. We all have the same 24 hours available to us. Yet sometimes we make strange choices about how we fill our time, or what we prioritise. Surely our health and wellbeing should be at the top of our list?

I’m not suggesting that you spend an hour every day or even every week working on your issues. Yet that would be wonderful if you could! What I am suggesting is taking just 5 minutes for yourself every day. Everybody, no matter how busy they are can take 5 minutes for themselves!

So turn off the phone, step away from the computer, TV, kids, partner etc. Find a quiet spot and sit comfortably. Then spend 5 minutes tapping for yourself, for your wellbeing. What you tap on you can decide each day. Just make sure you do this for yourself. You’ll thank yourself for it, I promise you.

Keep tapping!
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Tap Every Day Anyway

Many people learn EFT and use it successfully to create a big shift in their life, e.g. overcome a fear, give up smoking or lose weight. Once they have achieved their goal they tend to forget about EFT. EFT is not just a tool for issues such as those already mentioned. It is very much a tool for everyday use. Most people face stress every day. Most people have some sort of challenge every day. It doesn’t matter what the size of the challenge or the stress, it is usually best to deal with it there and then if you can so that you can let it go. By not clearing our daily stress and emotions they tend to build up and build up. Eventually we start to feel overwhelmed. Think of a situation where you “lost it” over something trivial – e.g. dropping the milk. We know it’s not dropping the milk that has caused us to “lose it”, but all the other challenges, stress, niggles and emotions leading up to dropping the milk. So rather than waiting to deal with things until they seem overwhelming, it is much better for us to deal with them on a daily basis and prevent the overwhelm.

My advice is to make EFT a part of every day. Every day we wash and brush our teeth and hair etc. Making EFT a part of your daily routine can really help you reduce your overwhelm, stress and help you handle things much more calmly and easily. So make EFT a part of your daily routine and enjoy the benefits!

Keep tapping!
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

It’s Too Hard To Lose Weight

Does it always seem like a struggle for you to lose weight? Is it always an uphill battle? Does it seem like you have to fight your willpower? Do you feel the pounds pile on when you just look at a cake or chocolate bar?

Have you tried lots of different diets? Have you started them with full enthusiasm and then given up by the time the week is out?

It’s no wonder 95% of diets fail. We are always going to battle our willpower if we have to limit our calorie intake and avoid eating certain foods. We know that on a bad day, it is just too easy to think “sod it” and grab a chocolate bar or biscuit.

Weighing scales
Lose weight with EFT

Instead, we can forget about calorie counting, cabbage eating (unless you enjoy cabbage that is!) and watching the “sins” we eat. We can utilise the power of EFT instead and lose weight the easy way.

Here’s a script that can help you if you feel it is just too hard to lose weight and you have failed so many times in the past that you think you’ll fail again.

Rate your score on a scale of 0 – 10 first, where 10 is it feels impossible to lose weight or you’re convinced you’ll fail again.

Tap on the Karate Chop whilst repeating three times:

  • Even though it feels impossible for me to lose weight, I’m willing to accept myself anyway
  • Even though I feel it’s too hard for me to lose weight, I’m open to accepting myself anyway
  • Even though I think there’s no point as I’ll just give up and feel like a failure again, I accept how I feel about this

Eyebrow: It’s impossible for me to lose weight
Side of Eye: It takes too much effort
Under Eye: It’s too difficult to stick to healthy food
Under Nose: I don’t want to fail yet again
Chin: I fail every time
Collarbone: It takes too much energy for me to lose weight
Under Arm: I don’t have enough self-control
Top of Head: I hate fighting my willpower

Eyebrow: There’s too much temptation everywhere I look
Side of Eye: Why is it so difficult for me to lose weight?
Under Eye: I hate feeling hunger all the time
Under Nose: I love my food too much
Chin: It feels like an uphill battle for me to lose weight
Collarbone: I hate struggling to lose weight
Under Arm: I’ve tried so many diets
Top of Head: I always end up quitting and feeling like a failure

Eyebrow: I’m open to trying something different
Side of Eye: What if I could change how I feel about food
Under Eye: Maybe I can feel satisfied eating less
Under Nose: I’m open to changing my relationship with food
Chin: What if I could feel comforted without eating
Collarbone: Maybe I won’t fail this time
Under Arm: What if I it was easier this time
Top of Head: I’m open to letting it be easy this time

Use your words where appropriate to really tune in to how you feel. Keep tapping until you no longer feel it is impossible to lose weight or that you’ll fail again. I’d love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment.

Keep tapping!
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

Energy Toning

Energy what? Energy toning. In other words, toning our energy system. When we exercise we tone our physical body. This is the equivalent for our energy body. This is a concept developed by Steve Wells and Dr. David Lake in their SET or Simple Energy Techniques system. You can continually tap on the points whilst you focus on an issue or just continuously tap on the points without focusing on anything. They noticed that participants  who continuously tapped through their workshops got better results.

This continuous tapping is a great way to help you feel calmer and more balanced every day. One of the easiest ways to do this continuous tapping is to use just the finger points. These are mostly left out now by more EFT practitioners. Use your thumb to tap on the finger points on the same hand. You can either do one hand at a time or both hands together. Some suggestions for when to do this:

  • Stressful meeting at work
  • Stuck in rush hour traffic
  • Watching TV
  • Stuck in a queue at the supermarket
  • Whilst walking

There are so many ways you fit this in to your daily life. Because you don’t need to repeat setup statements and reminder phrases it is easy to do in public and not be seen. The finger points are particularly useful and very discreet. No-one will know you are tapping!

For more information on SET please visit http://www.eftdownunder.com/SET.html

I have made a commitment to do more continual finger tapping myself this year. Already I have found myself feeling calmer and responding to situations in a more thoughtful, rather than reactionary way.

I would love to hear your experiences with this. Please drop me a comment with your feedback.

Keep tapping!
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk

I’m Blogging Every Week In 2011

I’ve signed up to post a blog every week in 2011.  I am looking forward to writing more posts and challenging myself to writing more than one a week whenever possible.

postaweek2011
postaweek2011

You can help me out by leaving a comment about what topics you’d like to see here. If you have a particular issue in mind, let me know and I can write a tapping script. I love creating tapping scripts and it’s wonderful to share them here so that others benefit.

If you already enjoy my blog I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes and tell your friends.

More soon!

Keep tapping
Louise

Different Ways of Tapping

One of the things that people regularly say when they start tapping is “Am I doing it right?”. The good news is that EFT is very flexible. The most important thing to remember is that you need to stay tuned in to the feelings you are working on and tap on the points on the body.

Sometimes you will need to be persistent. This is my Top Tip!

Keep tapping until you feel better”.

Here are some different ways you can try doing EFT:

  • Tap whilst repeating out loud how you feel
  • Tap whilst repeating how you feel in your mind
  • Tap slowly on each point repeating your reminder phrase several times
  • Tap faster on each point just repeating your reminder phrase once
  • Tap really lightly on each point
  • Tap using a bit more pressure on each point (make sure it’s not too hard though – it should not hurt!)
  • Tap using both hands tapping both sides of the body
  • Tap with one hand, tapping the opposite side of the body (i.e. left hand taps right eyebrow, right side of eye etc)

You can either repeat the same reminder phrase on each tapping point or say different phrases related to your particular issue on each point – experiment and see which works best for you. It usually helps if you write down how you feel using keywords and phrases and tap whilst reading the words you have written.

I hope that these tips help you relax and enjoy tapping even more.  If you have any questions or feedback then please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Keep tapping!
Louise
07866 013 637
louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk