Tap and Breathe
[00:00:00] Welcome back my friend. This is Stefanie here, your host. And today we're going to dive into an easy way to do tapping. A lot of the time when someone is new to tapping, it is very intimidating because there's scripts, there's words. "What do I say? I don't know what to do, I don't know how to walk myself through it!"
[00:00:31] Don't worry. That's why I love this simple method called tap and breathe. That's all you need to do. Tap on the point, take a breath, move to the next point. Tap there. Breathe again. And that's just the simple, straight forward. I'm going to go into more depth about how you can use tap and breathe in ways that feel [00:01:00] best to you and to play with that for yourself.
[00:01:04] When you're learning a new skill, it can be very intimidating. And so we want to break it down into bite size pieces that we can master before we move on to things that are more complex. So I love tap and breathe when you don't know what to say, you don't know how to guide yourself through. But maybe you just need to relax.
[00:01:31] Maybe you have an underlying feeling of: "uh, like, I don't know what it is. I can't put my finger on it, but I just feel off". It's also really great when you just feel unsettled and you're trying to meditate or you're trying to be mindful, but there's just some sort of buzzing energy that you can't put your finger on. Or maybe your thoughts are racing and you're trying to quiet your [00:02:00] mind, doing something like tap and breathe every day, is like a way for you to train or retrain your nervous system to respond to stress in a different way.
[00:02:16] So if you didn't listen to the first episode about the power of emotional freedom technique... the reason that tapping is so powerful is because it communicates with the amygdala in our brain and reduces cortisol levels in our body. And cortisol is a stress hormone. So even if you just did tap and breathe daily, for five minutes before bed, and you practiced that for 21 days, it's going to have a cumulative effect on your body's cortisol levels and your stress levels. So, if you were looking for a place to [00:03:00] start and you want to build this habit, but the whole thing feels a little bit too complex and overwhelming, then just start with something simple.
[00:03:12] I often encourage my clients to do tap and breathe before bed. And the reason is because it is so calming and if you have trouble sleeping, it's a great way to train your body, to get ready for sleep because of the relaxation response that our bodies have to tapping.
[00:03:38] So, how does it work? Well, it's the same points. So if you haven't already grabbed that free tapping guide, go ahead and go into the show notes either now or after this episode. And go sign up for that free guide. It takes you through tap and breathe, but it also takes [00:04:00] you through an overview about how to use tapping in general and gives you a sample script to use to address self-doubt.
[00:04:10] So the points are the same. It's the same nine basic points that you're going to be using for tap and breathe. So if you're going to be using it for prepping for meditation, which I highly recommend. You're going to do what you usually do, you're going to get settled. You're going to get ready, you're going to close your eyes, if that feels good.
[00:04:32] Not right now. If you're driving, especially don't close your eyes, just giving you a general idea of how to get prepped for using tapping for meditation. And I love closing eyes because at least in my experience, it helps me to connect to something deeper within myself. And then you just start tapping.
[00:04:59] And there's [00:05:00] different breathing methods that you can do, and you can choose your favorite breathing exercise, but I'm going to give you a few suggestions for options. If you want to keep it simple, then I recommend just an inhale and exhale at each point. And then once you finish that cycle of breath, then you go onto the next point and tap there. It's easy. You don't have to think about anything really. You're moving to the next point. After each exhale.
[00:05:37] The second breathing technique I really like is to focus fully on the breath while you're tapping at each point. And then you're going to keep tapping there until you feel a sense of completion and that's different for everyone. Some people really enjoy tapping for a little bit longer [00:06:00] time on each point. And you might really like this approach, if you're one of those people where you don't like moving to the next point with each new statement. If you were using a script or for this, with each new breath, you can just tap on the point until you feel that sense of completion.
[00:06:22] The third suggestion for breathing at each point is to inhale at one point and then do a slight hold of your breath as you transition to the next point and then do an exhale at the point afterwards. So you'd inhale at one point, hold, and exhale at the next point. And you can play with this. That's what I love about the way I've decided to approach not only tapping, but my life in general.[00:07:00]
[00:07:00] It's about finding what works for you. And what I love, you might not love. And you might have something that works better when we're talking about tap and breathe right now, so you might have a breath that you are already love that you want to incorporate with tap and breathe. Do it! Follow your gut.
[00:07:25] Essentially you want to do what feels good and what feels relaxing. Whether you using it to drift off to sleep or whether you're using it to dive down deep into a meditation to help yourself get settled.
[00:07:40] So that brings me to the next way to use tap and breathe. It's when you're just feeling unsettled when you feel off, but you may not know what it is. You don't have the words and you just, you need some TLC. You need to [00:08:00]reset so that you can have more clarity around that feeling of, of not knowing what's going on, even though you're aware something is going on, but you have no fucking clue.
[00:08:13] So you're going to use the same points. And for this, you don't have to worry about controlling the breath or a breathing method. You just, you're going to tap at the point. You're going to allow your breath to be whatever it is. And you're going to tune into that feeling into the unsettled, "uh", and just be with. And you'll move on to the next point, when it feels right, you're going to allow your breath. You going to tune in, you're going to hold space for whatever's there.
[00:08:52] You don't have to worry about labeling it or figuring it out. When you give yourself time and space [00:09:00]to do this, when you're unsure about what you're feeling and what you're thinking, it's really a gift because you're not running away from it and you're not avoiding it. You're being present, completely present and allowing. You're tuning in without having to name it without resisting it and just be.
[00:09:25] And that's powerful. There are times when I don't have the words where something may have just happened and I just feel rattled. I will go into the kitchen. I don't know why I go into the kitchen, but I do. Um, because it has a little bit of privacy from our living room when I don't have to go downstairs to the bedroom and I can just go in there and tap and breathe while I just feel, I don't have to [00:10:00] talk.
[00:10:00] I don't have to worry about a label and just be present. And for me, it prevents a lot of reaction when it comes to interactions with my family. It's a pause button that I can push so that I can come back to whatever situation I was trying to process. And be able to respond instead of reacting in a state of being unsettled or frustrated or whatever it is. Taking that pause to really hold space for a feeling that I don't have a name for yet, so that I can come back more centered, more calm.
[00:10:47] And not only more present with myself, but more in-tune and present with the situation or the person. I would [00:11:00] encourage you, if you're using tap and breathe, to have a journal or a piece of paper handy. And I mean, let's be real. Sometimes we don't have that, even if it's the notes app on your phone to jot down anything that does come into your awareness that you would like to capture so that you can come back to it at another time.
[00:11:25] And if you've been tapping for a while, you'll know why this is so important. You will either have things come into your awareness that need some attention so that you can process it and let it go and reframe the way you're thinking. Or you're going to have some higher self messages come through that bring a lot more clarity and direction for your next step.
[00:11:55] No matter what you were dealing with, whether you're using tap and [00:12:00] breathe for meditation, or just a grounding relaxation before you go to bed, or if you're using it for a feeling that you don't have a name for, or he just don't have the fucking words it's great.
[00:12:17] I absolutely adored this method because it's so easy. You don't have to think, you can just be present with yourself. And at the end of the day, we all need more of that. We have such a habit of abandoning ourselves when we feel off. Pushing it down, suppressing it. And that, that pushing it down and suppressing it is the last thing we want to do.
[00:12:53] Choose to be present with yourself. Choose to be [00:13:00] your inner coach, your inner confidant, your inner support, instead of pulling the rip cord and abandoning ourselves in the moments when we need ourselves the absolute most.
[00:13:17] I hope you found this valuable today. This is one of my favorite methods, easy, simple.
[00:13:26] And if things aren't simple we're not gonna do 'em. So if you're trying to build a tapping practice for yourself, start with tap and breathe. Talk to you next time.