Tapping for anxiety and fear -
5 steps of the basic EFT procedure

by Vlasta Kuster

Tapping for anxiety is a part of tapping technique developed by Mr. Gary Craig in 1995...

...that contains tapping on acupuncture points on the head and on the upper part of the body.

By doing this, we release negative emotions that have accumulated in us during stressful events.

Today, we suggest that you use the basic EFT tapping procedure when you feel anxious and fearful.

Whenever you feel apprehensive, you can always use the basic tapping process.

The basic tapping process consists of these 5 steps:

Step 1 of tapping for anxiety and fear : pay attention to your body

Step 1: First, inhale and then exhale and pay attention to your body.

Calm yourself down and feel your body.

Pay attention to the discomfort that you feel in your body.

• Is this the tension in your neck and shoulders or is it a lump in your throat ?
• Do you feel pressure in your head or is there tightness in your chest ?
• Perhaps you feel tension in your stomach ?

Simply feel your body and recognize how you really feel. Maybe you are sad, frightened or angry.

Pay attention to both the negative emotions as well as the unpleasant feelings in the body.

Tapping for anxiety and fear - step 2: use a scale of discomfort from 0-10

Step 2: Now determine the intensity of all these negative feelings.

Use a scale of discomfort from 0-10, where 0 means you feel great and 10 is the greatest possible measure of discomfort. Therefore, 10 means the most critical situation and 0 means that you currently have no problems whatsoever :)

Step 3:  start tapping on the karate point and say the basic EFT procedure sentence

The karate point

Step 3: Now start tapping on the karate point on your hand and say the sentence you have designed as a combination of two parts:

• in the first part we always talk about our discomfort, therefore about fear, anxiety, tightness in your chest...
  
• In the second part of the sentence we always say the unconditional acceptance of what we feel.
  

Therefore, we are talking about the discomfort that we detected during the first step.

• If you feel fear, then say:

"Although I'm afraid, I love and accept myself."

• If you have tightness in your chest, then as you tap on the karate point say:

"Although there is tightness in my chest, I love and accept myself".

• If you are sad, say:

"Although I am sad, I love and accept myself."

• When you are angry, say:

"Although I am angry, I love and accept myself. "

Step 4: Tap on the 8 tapping points & talk briefly about discomfort

Continue tapping on the other points on the face and on the upper part of the body.

Repeat the sentence precisely about the discomfort that you detected in step 1

and then formulated an introductory

sentence in step 3.

At this point, the sentence is brief. Just talk about the discomfort. Very simple and to the point:

• "I'm afraid"

or

• "Tightness in my chest"

or

• "I'm sad"

or

• "I'm angry."

Complete round and include all 8 points.

The tapping points are located

1. at the inside of the eyebrow,
   
2. on the side of the eye,
   
3. under the eye,
   
4. under the nose,
   
5. under the chin,
   
6. on the collar bone,
   
7. under the armpit and
   
8. at the end on the head.

The 8 EFT tapping points that should be tapped on when tapping for anxiety

Tapping for anxiety and fear - step 5: focus, inhale, exhale, identify

Once you have completed a full round of tapping,

1. focus on your body again. 
   
2. Inhale and then exhale and
   
3. identify what had happened in your body while you were tapping.

Use the scale of 0-10 again in the same way you used it in step 2.

In so far as the intensity of your feelings has fallen, but you still feel them, you can still use the procedure over and over again until the negative feelings have completely disappeared.

Tapping for anxiety and fear video

Vlasta Kuster, holds an MA degree in Basic Medical Sciences and uses her 3-month EFT therapy in her work to help people to do away with panic attacks and anxiety for good. She has more than 10-year experiences in EFT therapy and achieves at least 90% success in permanently eliminating anxiety and panic attacks. You may contact her through her website freeofpanic.com