We all have some habits that we wish we didn’t, e.g. biting our nails or smoking. EFT is an excellent tool to use to help you get rid of unwanted habits. What I’d like to share with you today are some ways to get into a good habit – regular tapping. This is another question I get asked a lot by clients – how can they remember to use it on a regular basis.
How to develop a good tapping habit?
Many people recognise that EFT is a fantastic self help tool, but they get so busy and caught up with everyday life that they forget to do it. It only works when you use it and sometimes you have to use it quite a lot. One of the key things with EFT is persistence and chasing the pain back to the root cause (not just tapping on your symptoms). So how can we remind ourselves to tap on a regular basis?
Tips
Here are some ways that you can develop a good tapping habit:
Schedule it (yes literally put it in your diary/calendar)
Tap in the morning as part of your ablutions (e.g. before you shower or after brushing your teeth)
Tap every time you use the bathroom
Tap before your lunch
Tap before you pick up the phone
Use EFT before any meetings
Tap whilst stuck in traffic (perfect for road rage!)
Before bed, tap on anything that didn’t go so well/anything that upset you
Schedule EFT
I hope that these help you make EFT a good habit. If you have any other suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. 🙂
I always recommend working with an experienced EFT practitioner if you have a long standing or complex issue. We can do a lot of very valuable work by ourselves but it is always better to work with a practitioner who will guide and support you when you need it.
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 🙂
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
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.
“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.
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.
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.
If you have experienced the benefits of EFT then you know just how good you feel when you have cleared an issue up. You’ve worked on your issue and you are feeling so much better. This EFT stuff is great you think. Then you leave it alone until the next time you have an issue that needs addressing. Does that sound like you? Well, what I would encourage you to do is to make a commitment to tap every day anyway.
Whether you are working on an issue or not, tapping every day has its benefits. We are toning our energy system and encouraging the chi or energy to flow smoothly throughout our body. We know the benefits of exercising our bodies regularly. So how about discovering the benefits of toning your energy system every day?
I know, it takes time and you’re really busy with a million and one other things to do, which all seem they are a higher priority. What if the tapping every day helped you deal with all that other stuff? What if you felt like you had more energy and you could think more clearly? That would be worth it wouldn’t it?
If you do have some resistance, here is a script which can help. Followed by some tips about how you can easily fit in some tapping into your day. Enjoy!
Even though I’m too busy to tap every day, I accept my feelings about this
Even though I can’t find the time to do EFT every day, I’m open to letting it be easy
Even though it seems like too much effort to make time to tap every day, what if I could let it be easy
Eyebrow: I’m too busy to tap every day Side of eye: I find it so hard to find time to do EFT Under eye: I’m not good at finding time for me Under nose: It takes too much effort to tap every day Chin: I don’t have enough time Collarbone: Ge’ez, I’m busy enough already! Under arm: I just don’t know how I’d find the time Top of head: I can’t make time just for me and my health
Eyebrow: I’m open to finding ways to do this Side of eye: I guess I would feel better Under eye: Maybe I can fit in a few minutes of tapping Under nose: What if I did manage to find some time Chin: I do want to feel better Collarbone: Maybe I can fit in some tapping every day Under arm: I could do manage a few minutes a day Top of head: I am worth finding the time to do some tapping
Now take a nice easy deep breath. Repeat the tapping if you are still feeling any resistance. Adjust the phrases until you get down to a zero and feel ready to fit EFT into your day.Â
Tap every day
Here’s those tips:
Tap in the shower in the morning
Tap every time you go to the toilet
Tap whilst you wait for the kettle to boil
Tap whilst you are waiting at the traffic lights
Tap when you are standing in a queue
Tap when you are on hold on the phone
Tap when you read your email
Tap before you go to sleep at night
You see there are many ways to fit EFT into your day. You don’t have to be tuned into anything in particular if you don’t want to. You can just use finger tapping (especially good if you are in public!). Try tapping in some positive statements, e.g. my energy is flowing freely, I am feeling calm and peaceful, I am healthy, whole and complete.
If you haven’t yet experienced the benefits of EFT then learn now! Checkout my ‘What is EFT?’ page.
Here’s the rub. You hear about this strange-sounding technique called EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques. You discover lots of people have helped themselves or been helped by a practitioner and the more you read the more you think – I’ll give that a go myself! Then you read about those 1 minute wonders and think that will happen for me too.
As an experienced practitioner, I’d say those 1 minute wonders don’t happen very often. Many people try EFT for a couple of rounds and think, ah it’s not working for me and give up.
Well EFT does work. Often it is our persistence that is the key. So my advice is to keep tapping! Here’s some tips to help you, if you were expecting a 1 minute wonder that didn’t happen!
Always do your SUDS level – just think how do I feel about this issue on a scale of 0 to 10? Where 0 is no intensity and 10 is maximum intensity.
Start tapping on your issue and keep going!
After each round or two, re-check your SUDS level.
Keep tapping until you are down to 0.
If you get stuck try saying “Even though I’m stuck on this issue at a 3 (insert your number), I deeply and completely accept myself and choose to easily get it down to a 0”.
You can tap for your frustration if things aren’t moving as quickly as you like. You can also tap for the issue being more complicated than you expected. I’m sure you’re getting the idea now that you can pretty much tap on anything and everything!
Remember that working by ourselves it is often difficult to see our own problems. We can’t see the wood through the trees. So get some help. Preferably from an experienced practitioner like myself. Even a friend will help though – they should help you see things you can’t yourself.
In a future blog post (watch this space) I will list out some fantastic questions that can help you discover the root cause of your problem. With EFT we often peel away the layers as we tap. What we end up tapping on, maybe completely different to what we started on. All that matters though is that we persistently and gently keep working until we get to that root cause. Once we find that true healing takes place.
So always remember to be persistent and keep tapping!
