HOW TO TAP AWAY TENSION

Lockdown creates the perfect storm for things to go wrong in life. But these sample exercises show you...

OUR confidence gets knocked when ‘life happens’. Perhaps a business deal falls through, or you get into an argument with your partner, or you find yourself juggling many tasks and responsibilities. Lockdown creates the perfect storm for things to go wrong. Trying to work from home while supervising remote learning; spending a lot of time with your partner; being deprived the company of colleagues to bounce ideas off or to seek professional reassurance from. So, when things go wrong, the first and most important thing I want you to do is to forgive yourself; to remember that none of this is meant as a punishment for something you did or didn’t do — problems are part of life. We don’t just need to be kind to each other in difficult times: we must be kind to ourselves too. The tools I want to share are the most reliable I know for overcoming difficulties and returning yourself quickly to confidence, regardless of what is going on around you.

EYES

WhAT we are about to do involves tapping on certain acupuncture points on your body. The thinking behind this exercise is that the code for any stressful feeling is stored like a computer program in your brain.

By thinking about what is worrying you while tapping on these points in exactly the sequence I am going to describe, you will be able to reduce your levels of anxiety, stress or overwhelm quickly and get on with your life.

In a moment, I want you to think of a stressful experience. By the time you have carried out my instructions, don’t be too surprised if your stress suddenly vanishes.

You will need to be able to really concentrate for a few minutes, as it is important to continue thinking about the emotion you have chosen as you go through this process and reduce the feeling.

Before you carry out this technique, read through each step so you know what to do. Focus on whatever it is that you are feeling overwhelmed about. now, rate the stress on a scale from one to ten, with one being the lowest and ten the highest.

This is important, because in a moment we will see how far you’ve reduced it.

You must continue to think about whatever it is that was bothering you throughout the sequence that follows.

Take two fingers of either hand and tap about ten times just above one of your eyebrows.

now, tap under the same eye.

COLLARBONE

NEXT, tap under your collarbone. Keep thinking about what was bothering you and tap under your armpit. This may seem strange at first but it works and the more you do it, the more you will remember the sequence. Continue to think about the stressful experience while tapping your body. nOW, move on to tap on the ‘karate chop’ point on the side of your hand (it doesn’t matter which hand you choose).

Place that hand in front of you and tap on the back of it at the point between the knuckles of your ring finger and little finger. Continue tapping that point and thinking about the stressful situation

HAND

as you do this. Close your eyes, then open them. Look down to the right, back to centre, and then down to the left.

Rotate your eyes 360 degrees clockwise, then 360 degrees anti-clockwise. still thinking about what was stressful to you and tapping your hand, hum the first few lines of happy Birthday out loud. now count out loud from one to five. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5.) Again hum the first few lines of happy Birthday. Return to the start.

still thinking about what was overwhelming to you, tap above the eyebrow, under the eye, under your collarbone, under your armpit and on the karate chop point of your hand.

CHECK IT OUT

OK, let’s stop and check — on a scale of one to ten, what number is the feeling at now? If the feeling of overwhelm hasn’t completely gone yet, simply go back through the entire sequence again until it does. It may take as many as two or even three times before you have completely eliminated the feeling, although most people report getting the feeling down to a manageable level on their first or second try. You can repeat this process as often as you like.