- BEFORE YOU START CHECK YOUR SUDS LEVEL – SUDs stands for Subjective Units of Distress. If you check in with how high you are on the scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not at all distressed to 10 being the highest level of distress, you now have an objective way of measuring change. This helps you identify if you have really tapped on the issue, if nothing is changing it may be a sign that you need to shift the focus because you are being too general, or it may mean that you need to do the 9 gamut, or that you might be reversed, so it is a helpful way to start the process and measure results.
- USE THE KARATE CHOP POINT – I see a lot of videos where they don’t start with the Karate Chop Point, and it isn’t necessary if you aren’t psychologically reversed, but it only takes another 15 to 20 seconds and it insures that you clear up any reversal that might be there.
- BE SPECIFIC – Let’s say you have a fear of flying, is it really a fear of flying or is it more a feeling of claustrophobia on the plane, is it a fear of crashing, is it sitting next to someone you don’t know for 4 hours, fear of using the airplane toilets. The more you can hone in on the aspect that is causing the distress the better, and if it is all those things you may need to tap on each of those different aspects.
- CLEAR All the ASPECTS – Tapping on global issues like feeling sad or feeling anxious can help lower your distress at the moment but may not be the most effective way of say dealing with the loss of a relationship. Just like in the airplane scenario, you may need to tap on fear of never meeting anyone again, on the betrayal, the resentment, the void it leaves with the loss. Be specific and clear each aspect. What will likely happen is that as you clear one or two things you will just start to feel better about the situation over all.
- JUST DO IT – The most important thing is to just do it, the research shows that it lowers cortisol levels in the body, so if nothing else it will help you feel calmer. The words you use are not as important as focusing on the feelings, so don’t let “I don’t know what to say” stop you.
- FOCUS ON THE PHYSICAL SENSATIONS – If you are at a loss for words, not sure what the feeling is, use what you notice in your body. For example – this heaviness in my chest, the feeling of knots in my stomach, the weight of the world on my shoulders, this tightness in my shoulders. In my experience when you focus on what’s happening in the body and just tap, the thoughts, the memories will pop in and then you have a better idea of what to tap on.
- STICK WITH IT – The one minute wonders are amazing but they are not the norm, you may need to tap for 10 or 15 minutes, go back to this remaining anger, make sure you are still on the original issue and haven’t shifted aspects, if you started with anger and now you feel disappointment, check back in and make sure the anger is gone before continuing to tap on the disappointment, that is likely another aspect.
- WRITE OUT YOUR THOUGHTS FIRST– If you are tapping on your own it’s easy to get sidetracked, writing out the thoughts and feelings will help you stay focused, it will also help you get in touch with the emotions, and will be there to check back to make sure it’s cleared, when you can read it without feeling the original angst you will know you have cleared it.
- USE THE 9 GAMUT – If you still aren’t getting results you can always use the finger points and the 9 gamut
(These directions were taken from EFTUniverse.com – a great resource)
The 9 Gamut Procedure is designed to engage parts of the brain involved in the resolution of trauma. It involves eye movements, humming and counting. It’s designed to engage both the left and right sides of the brain. The 9 gamut Procedure is a 10-second process in which 9 “brain stimulating” actions are performed while you tap continuously on one of the body’s energy points–the Gamut Point.
The Gamut Point is located on the back of the hand a half inch behind the midpoint between the knuckles at the base of the ring finger and the little finger.
You perform these 9 steps while tapping the Gamut point continuously, they are:
1. Eyes closed.
2. Eyes open.
3. Eyes down hard right while holding the head steady.
4. Eyes down hard left while holding the head steady.
5. Roll the eyes in a circle as though your nose is at the center of a clock and you are trying to see all of the numbers in order.
6. Roll the eyes in a circle in the reverse direction.
7. Hum 2 seconds of a song (Happy Birthday is an easy one if it isn’t traumatic for you).
8. Count rapidly from 1 to 5.
9. Hum 2 seconds of a song again.
Use these steps in the exact order they have been given.
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- TAP ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BODY – I found this suggestion from another practitioner that studied with an acupuncturist, what she learned was this: The meridian system is made up of 14 meridians that branch out into hundreds of tiny energy pathways. These pathways are bilateral and when you tap on one side of the body you are sending vibrations down through your meridians and up and around to the other side of your body. With tapping, you are opening the blocked meridian associated with your issue. So, say for instance that you are tapping on the right side of the body and the blockage is behind your left knee, the vibrations must travel down the right side of your body and back up the left side, some of the mojo may be lost by the time it gets back to the left knee
Doing this could increase the efficiency of your tapping by 15% and cut down the amount of time to resolve an issue with little extra effort. This is certainly worth a try if you aren’t moving down the SUDs scale.