Learn EFT – EFT 102: Step Three – Tap

This article is part of the EFT 102: How to do EFT, The Basics series.

The third step of the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Basic Recipe is to tap through the body points.

It is important to note the Basic Recipe that I am teaching here is really the “short cut” version.  The original version included 6 other points.  If you purchase The EFT Course DVD from the emofree.com website you will be introduced to these extra points.  The reason they are not taught here is because in most cases they aren’t needed.  Personally, I love the fact that Gary Craig (the innovator of EFT) doesn’t think he has all the answer, or that his techniques should be static.  In EFT’s evolution, it has grown and changed.  One of the changes is the body pints can be reduced from 14 to 8 without any significant decrease in results.

I will introduce the eight points first; then I will show you how to use them.

Unless noted you should tap with you index and middle finger.

1) Eyebrow (EB): The eyebrow point is locate as close to the inside end of the eyebrow as possible. You should not be down on the bridge of your nose.	2) Side of the eye (SE): This point is as far forward on the side of your head without poking your eyeball. If while tapping your vision blurs or you see big light or dark flashes, you are tapping the wrong spot.
3) Under the eye (UE): Located directly below the pupil on the check bone. This point might be a little tender because a sinus canal is under it. If it is tender, tap lighter	4) Under the nose (UN): Located directly between the nose and upper lip.
5) Under the month or chin (UM): This point is the dip between your lower lip and our chin.	6) Collarbone (CB): The point is a little tricky to find. It is right where the collarbone and the sternum meet. The easiest way to get this point is to look at the palm of your hand. Make a letter “L” with your thumb and index finger (with you hand open). Place your thumb on one collarbone and our index finger on the other. With your full palm, tap.
7) Under the arm (UA): This is another slightly tricky point to find. It is located along you side. It is closer to your back than your front it is about 4 inches down. It is about where your bra strap would be, if you are wearing a bra. The nice thing about this spot is it is a little tender. It will feel a little bit like a bruise. If you poke around the general area, you will know it when you find it. To be on the safe side use all four fingers when tapping here.	8) Top of the head (H): Again we are going to use all four fingers. Tap on the highest point on the crown of your head. This is the stop where they place the device to measure how tall you are at the doctors office. Tap as if the four fingers were tracing the mohawk you wished you always had (fingers in a line from back to front).

The steps of tapping are very easy.  We are going to use the same phase that we used in the last step.

1. Tap on the first point and say your reminder phrase (form our examples) “this pain on the top of my shoulder” or “this frustrated at my boss because he always gives me work as I am walking out the door”.  Tap as many times as it takes to say the phrase
2. Move on to the second point.  Start tapping.  Say the phrase.
3. Repeat until you have tapped on all 8 points.
4. Take a deep breath.
5. Take a sip of water (if you would like).
6. Did anything come to mind while you were tapping? Did you get an image, a phrase, a memory, or a picture?  If so, write it down, it might useful for the next round of tapping.  As I said before in a previous article, at the beginning you are going to be so worried about doing it “right”, you are not going to notice these sorts of things.  As time passes, and you get more comfortable with the protocol, you will notice things coming to mind.  For now, just put in the back of your mind this is a possibility, that won’t happen every time, but might.
7. Move on to next step of the Basic Recipe

A few things to keep in mind while tapping:

• The order of the tapping points is not important.  I am teaching them in a top down order because it is easier to remember.  If you want to mix the order up, please do.
• It doesn’t matter which hand and which side of the body you tap on.  To begin with use your dominate hand on that side of the body.  Later in this series there is an article that speaks to the options you have when tapping.  EFT 102: Which hand to I tap with, what side of the body should I tap on and can I tap on both sides at the same time?
• When you tap, tap about as hard as if you were tapping on someone’s shoulder to get their attention.  Don’t kill yourself.  If hurts, tap lighter.  If no matter how light your tap it still hurts, you can just touch the point while saying the phrase.
• Tap between 5 -7 times.  Generally, tap as long as it takes you to say the reminder phrase.
• You just need to be close.  The points you are trying to tap are the size of a pinprick.  The reason we are using 2 (and sometimes 4) fingers is because give us a little margin of error.  There is no penalty for tapping a spot that is not the point we are aiming for.  Be easy about it.  The protocol is very forgiving.

About Gene Monterastelli
Gene is a Baltimore, MD based EFT practitioner, the editor of Tapping Q & A, and the host of the Tapping Q & A Podcast (archive | iTunes). Learn more about Gene here or find out how to work with Gene here. You can connect with Gene on his personal twitter, his tapping twitter or on facebook.