EFT in Daily Life

Imagine you're having a bad day....

You didn't sleep very well, so you're already feeling tired and grumpy when you get up. The kids are fighting while you try and make breakfast and lunches, and you end up screaming at them. Then you beat yourself up for being a bad parent.

The traffic is worse than usual and you feel stressed when you get caught in a traffic jam. You get to work late, feeling flustered. You grab a coffee but that just makes you feel more wired.

At morning teatime, somebody brings in a birthday cake. You've been watching your weight and know you shouldn't have the cake. But you feel so stressed that your willpower crumbles. Then you beat yourself up again.

After lunch, your boss asks you to come into his office. He gives you a dressing down about something that wasn't your fault and doesn't give you chance to respond. As you leave, you swear to yourself that "One more time, and I'll quit". But you need the money, so you know you won't.

You have a dentists appointment after work, and you hate going to the dentist. You've been dreading it all day, and feel yourself tense up as you drive to his office. Although it's only a checkup, you feel rigid in the chair and break into a cold sweat. As you leave your head starts aching.

You get home and find the house a mess, and your spouse sitting down with a glass of wine and the paper. You feel that you always have to do everything and get into a fight. Stony silence for the rest of the evening.

Your son has been quiet all evening and at bedtime tells you that he hates school, but won't tell you why.

A friend rings to moan about her terrible day, and after half an hour on the phone, you feel totally wrung out.

Bedtime comes and you feel worried and too wound up to sleep, and so the cycle continues.

Realistically, you probably wouldn't remember or be able to tap at every incident in your day, but if you did, your day would be very different. Even tapping on some incidents would make a big difference.

When you wake up at 4am, and can't get back to sleep, you go into the lounge and start to tap. You tap on all the things that are swirling round in your mind, and after 15 minutes, start to doze off. Back to bed, and you sleep soundly till 7.

When the kids start fighting round your feet, you feel more rested and able to deal with it, and after a few deep breaths and some tapping on the collarbone point, you calmly move them into the bedroom.

Caught in a traffic jam, and starting to get tense, you take the opportunity to tap while you wait, and feel yourself relax. When someone cuts you off, you notice you don't mind, and just wonder why he's so impatient.

The birthday cake is your favourite kind and you're feeling tempted. But you're committed to your goal of eating better foods, so you unobtrusively tap on the gamut point. Pretty soon, your desire for the cake fades and you can watch everybody eating without caring.

After the showdown with the boss, you go into the toilets and tap. Instead of feeling angry and resentful, you start to realise the stress that the boss is under, and how much somebody's mistake hurt the company. This enables you to say a friendly goodbye to him as you leave, instead of a surly one. To your surprise, he calls you in and says "Sorry for yelling at you, I know it wasn't your fault."

Last week, you did some tapping with a friend around your fear of the dentist and you feel quite calm as you drive there. Once you're in the chair, you notice a bit of fear, triggered by the smells in the room. You do some "imaginary tapping" and relax again.

You get home feeling relaxed, and are happy to see your spouse. When you start tidying up, you feel an arm round your shoulder and a warm voice saying "Sit down and have a wine with me, then we can tidy up together."

At bedtime, you and your son have a new routine where he talks about his day - the good and the bad - while you tap on him. He talks about why he hates school, and you tap on what happened today. As he drifts off to sleep, he murmurs happily "Can I wear my new shoes to school tomorrow?"

When your friend rings, you suggest she taps continually through the tapping points while she complains about her awful day. You tap as well, and at the end of the conversation she feels much better and you're happy to have helped.

You spend 20 minutes tapping on an upsetting incident from your past before bed, and drift off to sleep feeling peaceful and content.