Has anyone tried tapping?

[BunnyHop]

I've incorporated two different versions of it into my arsenal for the management of anxiety and depression symptoms. These last two years I've been adapting to life since my father died, and had a simply terrible time trying to find a sense of equilibrium, constantly feeling as though my nerves were on high alert, overwhelmed by distress at every turn.

The counselor I've been seeing (a licensed clinical social worker) introduced me to the whole idea of tapping, and her opinion is that the simplest version is overall most effective. My rather limited experience with this tends to agree with her, but I continue to use both techniques just to make sure I don't backslide. We use other techniques in our sessions (Some EMDR, but mostly talk since the pandemic began.)

The first tapping technique, the very simplest, is literally just tapping yourself. It was described to me as a technique to help manage anxiety, so when I feel my thoughts begin to race or my feelings begin to seem overwhelming, I do it for a few minutes. It's so simple I really struggled to understand that's all there was to it. I kept thinking I'd missed the point, or that I should have a specific mindset or breathing pattern or something, but nope, it's just very simple.

Technique-wise I usually pat my thighs, left hand/left thigh, right hand/right thigh, but if you're in the car you can simply tap the steering wheel with a fingertip, left, right, left, right. If you're in public (remember being able to do that?) you can tap a fingertip, for example with your arms crossed, so that what you're doing is barely visible. You do this technique very, very very slowly. Left, right, left right, left, right, etc, etc, etc.. No need for any sort of meditative ritual, setting intentions, breath regulation or anything. Just very slowly tapping yourself, one side, then the other. Do it for a few minutes, then stop. I generally check back in with my emotions or with myself to see if my mind is quieter or my emotions are calmer once I've tapped for a few minutes. That's it.

I do think this technique, it's something that's helpful over time. It seems like you've not really 'done something to help yourself' but for me, there's a pretty clear demarcation in my memory of the time before I started, and the time since. It seems to have helped disrupt the cycle of constant distress I'd been trapped in. Was it the only beneficial thing I was doing at the time? No, I was also working on developing habits of self care/mindfulness/meditation/exercise, etc. that also seem to help. The tapping does seem to have helped me break the cycle. I'd been trying all that other stuff for a while without much difference, so it does seem as though it's helped.

With that technique, I think part of it has something to do with the left brain/right brain of it all. Input stimulus from the left, then the right, then the left, slowly, slowly. I'm not sure why it works, but I'd guess the pace of it helps slow things down?

The other sort, where you have a bit of a script, tap various places, etc. has been useful too. I've got copies of a few of Jessica Ortner's books, and have simply worked my way through them one script at a time. I've had so many issues to cope with they pretty much all speak to my problems, regardless of the focus of any one of them.

Here's a link to her introduction in a Youtube video, for those who are curious. I've explored a bit elsewhere, but keep coming back to her work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPqGjcxoPS8&t=2s
They sell 'Tapping Solution' stuff, but there are lots of free things on their site, and on Youtube, so there's no need to get spendy. (I got used books a while ago.)


HTH!

[Vantreesta]

Anna, thanks for your thorough answer. It's nice to hear this from a real person. I confess any time Lee Holddn instructs to do the tapping I find myself sighing and rolling my eyes thinking it's pointless. But reading your description I see that maybe I have done this myself by sequentially pressing my fingertips together to calm down, particularly during stressful events more than for general anxiety. You've encouraged me to have a more open mind about this. Thank you!

[Pat58]

Anna - thank you so much for the details and how tapping has helped you. Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.

The technique has been very helpful for you. I'm particularly interested on how it has helped you cope with anxiety. To have a life preserver in your pocket when you can't just say "oh excuse me, I need to go in another room and do things that seem odd to you for 30 minutes" is wonderful.

[BunnyHop]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

Anna, thanks for your thorough answer. It's nice to hear this from a real person. I confess any time Lee Holddn instructs to do the tapping I find myself sighing and rolling my eyes thinking it's pointless. But reading your description I see that maybe I have done this myself by sequentially pressing my fingertips together to calm down, particularly during stressful events more than for general anxiety. You've encouraged me to have a more open mind about this. Thank you!

Glad to share! As I say, on the surface, it doesn't seem like much, but somehow it does seem to help. The whole package of self care is important too, but restoring calm once it's disrupted can be very challenging, so I'm happy to have something specific to do.

I didn't realize Lee Holden does any tapping? Guess I don't have enough of his work to be aware of the full scope of his offerings? Wish I'd learned about it sooner, but I guess now I can go back and see what he's got to teach on the subject. Thanks for the heads up.

Originally Posted by Pat58

Anna - thank you so much for the details and how tapping has helped you. Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.

The technique has been very helpful for you. I'm particularly interested on how it has helped you cope with anxiety. To have a life preserver in your pocket when you can't just say "oh excuse me, I need to go in another room and do things that seem odd to you for 30 minutes" is wonderful.

Oh, exactly! 'Pardon me while I leave the room to calm my over-sensitive nerves that just got jolted at random' is pretty much never a reasonable response, people just aren't prepared that way.

Thanks for your sympathies. These last few years have been very hard. Knowing what was slowly and inevitably coming, then coping with it and the aftermath was exhausting. Honestly, if I'd realized what bad shape I was eventually in, I like to think I'd have made a better effort to get some help for myself. I was so distracted getting help for my dad that I didn't have time to think beyond the exercise/yoga nidra/meditation things I was doing. Found some stuff I could squeeze into free moments and just kept going. The main challenge I seem to be facing just now is learning to get off the hamster wheel. Don't need to be there any more, but my nerves still think that's all there is to life.

[Pat58]

{{{Anna}}} I understand how focusing so hard on your father's well-being and leaving little time for yourself can make your grieving worse.

[hypnomoon]

When I was working as a hypnotherapist, I would use this on occasion. It is an effective 'pattern interrupt' technique. It's like doing breathwork. It works in the moment and, used over a long period of time, can have an accumulate affect. I use it for myself when I feel anxiety and don't know where it's coming from.
It doesn't hurt to try it out and see if it is something that works for you.

[bzar]

when my son was 5 YO, we looked into this for his ADHD, along with other modalities. we ended up going with neurofeedback with great success. the tapping therapist we went to was also a licensed psychologist, and was a great professional. it's just that the neurofeedback psychologist worked better for our schedule.

[BunnyHop]

Originally Posted by Pat58

{{{Anna}}} I understand how focusing so hard on your father's well-being and leaving little time for yourself can make your grieving worse.

Thanks for understanding. In retrospect, I think part of my grief was about how focused I became on simply getting through the days, and how oblivious I was to the fact that the actual end was so near, what it would mean to have him permanently gone, and what this new life might actually be like. The shock to my system really did a number on my nerves.

I'm truly feeling much better these days. The self-care stuff I do really helps, but I've also been learning about using journaling techniques to get my thoughts and plans organized, and that's also done a lot to help me regulate the constant feeling of overwhelm and distress I've been living with.

I rotate between various breathwork and meditation techniques, having a few details to hold my attention helps me get started, which is the hardest bit for me. Doing the same exact thing seems to be a recipe for wandering away from the practice altogether, so I switch it up.

I do the simpler tapping form every morning, because even though I'm resting better now I do still wake up suddenly from intense dreams, with a racing heart. The tapping is a simple way to just get started on the stuff I know I need to do, plus I can actually manage to DO IT even when I'm half awake. I do that, then get up and stand in mountain pose for a few moments, then get on with the rest of it. Simple enough that I don't bother avoiding it.

[wendug]

I hadn't heard anything about tapping before, and then this email from Women's Health Network showed up in my inbox right around the time this thread was started. It seems like an interesting concept. This article says tapping can help with sleep/insomnia.

https://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/...tm_content=all

[BunnyHop]

Originally Posted by wendug

I hadn't heard anything about tapping before, and then this email from Women's Health Network showed up in my inbox right around the time this thread was started. It seems like an interesting concept. This article says tapping can help with sleep/insomnia.

https://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/...tm_content=all

You know, I think they're on to something. When I was doing a good bit of the longer form tapping, I rested better.

Putting it back on the agenda. For me, I do think I get the most out of certain things if I do them fairly early in the day so I can work my way through the intense emotions before bedtime. I think that's why I stopped, since some of the stuff I was thinking about was likely too intense for that time of day.