·    Do you get lost for words when you try to tap on your own?

·    Do you worry you are not getting your words right?

·    Do you get confused about whether you should be tapping on the positive or the negative?

Remember you can tap and say nothing and still do really effective work. Just be conscious of your emotions as you tap and notice changes in how you are feeling as they happen.

Getting caught up with making the perfect tapping script is a trap you don’t need to fall into. After all, how long does a round of tapping take to do – one minute, two minutes? So, even if you haven’t quite got it clear in your head when you first start tapping you are not doing any harm and each subsequent round you do will bring you closer to your core issues.

To help those of you who do get caught up with the words, to the extent that you actually stop tapping, I’ve devised a simple Tapping Template. You can print out as many copies as you like and fill in the set up statements and the reminder phrases to get yourself started.

Download The Working On The Body Tapping Template

Requires Adobe Acrobat

Gauge your level of distress or pain
Before you begin don’t forget to gauge the intensity of your emotions so that you can track the progress of your therapeutic work as you acknowledge changes in intensity. The easiest way to do this is to asses your emotional intensity or physical pain on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being hardly there at all and 10 the highest level of distress or pain you can imagine bearing. Make a note of this number and ideally your work is complete when your issue scores a zero.

N.B. A loss or bereavement is often unlikely to be cleared all the way down to zero for a number of very appropriate reasons. The aim in these sort of situations would be to make the pain of one’s loss bearable and improve one’s ability to continue living a fulfilled life while acknowledging the real and appropriate sadness.

How to use the Tapping Template
Each sheet is divided into three different set-up statements that begin with
Even though……. Here you can write in an emotion or a physical sensation for instance Even though I have this sadness, or, Even though I have this sharp pain in my knee, I completely and fully love and accept myself. If you’re working with children or young people you can change the acceptance part of the statement to something that resonates more for them such as, I’m a good kid, or, I’m a good person.

Working on the Body’s Tapping Aid Memoir
The reminder phrases follow the abbreviated Tapping Points on Working on the Body’s own Tapping Aide Memoir so you’ll need to print that off too.

First Round – Focus on the negative
With your first round consider focussing on the negative emotion, or the physical pain that you want to work on. Along the lines of:

Even though I have this sadness, or,
Even though I feel out of control around food, or,
Even though I am afraid to take a holiday by plane, or,
Even though I have this pain in my knee.
Each one of the set up statements ends with I completely and fully love and accept myself. The reminder phrases are just shortened versions of the set up statement along the lines of:
This sadness
This terrible sadness
Lots of sadness
Sadness, or,
This sharp pain in my knee
Pain in my right knee,
Sharp pain in my knee
Pain when I bend my right knee

As you can see you can vary the reminder phrases as you tap around. Just say what feels good for you and remember there is no right or wrong way to say these things if you are truly present and in touch with how you are feeling

Second Round – Alternate with Negative and Acceptance
With the second round it can be beneficial to start with a negative and follow with acceptance. The set up statement changes to Even though I have this terrible feeling of sadness I know I am a good person. This is reinforced by alternating reminder phrases between the negative and acceptance on each tapping point along the lines of:

I have this sadness
I am a good person
This terrible sadness
I accept myself, or,
Pain in my right knee,
I am a good person
Sharp pain in my knee
I accept myself
Although you start with the negative always end with a positive acceptance!

Third Round – Pat Carrington’s Choices
The third round is a perfect opportunity to put in some choices. Choices in EFT were developed by Master Practitioner, Pat Carrington as a powerful way to cause shift to happen when tapping on issues. It’s beautifully simply and very effective. The set up statement would change to read Even though I have this terrible sadness in my life I choose to give myself love for instance or, Even though I have this pain in my knee I choose to take better care of myself. The reminder phrases change too, again beginning with the negative and finishing with a choices statement.

This sadness
I choose to give myself lots of TLC
This terrible sadness
I choose to forgive myself for holding on to this sadness
Lots of sadness
I choose to give myself love, or,
This sharp pain in my knee
I choose to give myself more rest
Pain in my right knee,
I choose to forgive myself for putting my knee under pressure
Sharp pain in my knee
I choose to forgive my knee for taking so much strain

Check Back Time
Once you’ve written out and tapped all three set ups it’s time to go back and check your initial number registering your emotional intensity or physical pain. Has the number changed? Has it gone up or has it gone down? Where is it now? Did other issues pop into your head while you tapped around? If they did then write them down too as that is future tapping work.

Repeat the tapping rounds until your number is down to zero or close – depending on what feels appropriate. If the number has gone up it often signifies that you’re not quite working on the core issues so tap on the collar bone and breathe deeply and check in with yourself to get in touch with the emotions you are feeling. It you are feeling overwhelmed or not sure you can deal with your issues on your own then find a good EFT practitioner to work with.

Good Luck! Keep tapping and use it on everything!

Sally