TFT - Tapping Your Problems Away

If I told you there was something you could do any time, any day, anywhere that would give you a natural high, that costs nothing, that has no risks or side effects, you would be interested to learn more, wouldn’t you?

I’m talking about tapping. Or Thought Field Therapy to be exact. In the 1980’s, Dr Roger Callaghan, a well respected psychologist, pioneered this technique which involves tapping with your fingers on specific points of the body located along energy lines, while focusing on the thing that is troubling you. These lines, or meridians, coincide with acupuncture points, and by tapping on them, you can eliminate imbalances in the body’s energy system and in the process, get rid of negative emotions and psychological distress.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And it is.

Tip – if you are sitting on a bus and don’t want to be thought of as the local nutter, just imagine running through the sequence. It will have the same effect. Alternatively, if you want to keep the seat free beside you, then tap away!

Tapping can help you deal with trauma, grief, anxiety, stress, addictive cravings (including cigarettes, food, alcohol and drugs), phobias, depression, anger and rage, guilt, shame / embarrassment, jet lag and physical pain, to name but a few.

But rather than reading about it, why not try it? Use the exercise below whenever you are feeling stressed or anxious. This same sequence also works on cravings. At first, you may have to run through the sequence a few times, but every time you do it, you are teaching your body how to relax, and you will get to the stage when you just need to start the sequence and the feeling of relaxation will flood over you.

It may sound funny to start with, but believe me it works.

Tapping for Anxiety / Cravings (as described in “Tapping The Healer Within” by Roger Callaghan)

1. Tune the thought field – i.e. think about the thing that is making you anxious.

2. Give it a rating from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst you could possibly feel, and 1 being no trace of upset (this is so you can compare your rating after the sequence and see the change)

3. Using two fingers of one hand (I use the index and middle finger), tap five times under the eye. About an inch below the bottom of the centre of the bony orbit, high on the cheek. Tap firmly, but not hard enough to cause pain.

4. Tap solidly five times under the arm, about four inches below the armpit, using rigid fingers. In men, this spot is under the arm about even with the nipple. Women can locate this spot by tapping at the centre of the bra under the arm.

5. Tap the collarbone point. To locate it, take two fingers of either hand and run them down the centre of the throat to the top of the centre collarbone notch. This is approximately even with the spot where a man would knot his tie. From there, move straight down an additional inch and then move to the right one inch. Tap this point five times.

6. Perform the nine gamut treatments. Locate the gamut spot on the back of the hand, about an inch below the raised knuckles of the ring finger and little finger when making a fist. Begin tapping the gamut spot with two fingers of the opposite hand, about three to five times per second, and continue tapping while performing all nine steps below (tap five or six times for each of the nine gamut positions). It is very important to tap the gamut spot throughout all nine of these gamut treatments:

· Open the eyes

· Close the eyes

· Open the eyes and point them down and to the left

· Point the eyes down and to the right

· Whirl the eyes around in a circle in one direction once

· Whirl the eyes around in the opposite direction once

· Hum a few bars of Happy Birthday (Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to you)

· Count aloud from one to five

· Hum Happy Birthday again

7. Tap five times under the eye again.

8. Tap five times under the arm again.

9. Tap the collarbone point five times again.

10. Rate your level of anxiety / craving again from 1 to 10. If it has gone down to 1, move to step 11. If not, repeat the process until it has come down.

11. To close the process, roll your eyes from floor to ceiling. Hold your head level and move your eyes down. Then begin tapping the gamut point as you move your eyes upwards.

When I teach this to people for the first time, they usually giggle. But the effect is amazing. You can use this technique as much as you want – the more you use it, the more you will want to use it.

For more information about TFT, case studies and tapping sequences for other problems, read “Tapping The Healer Within” by Roger Callaghan.