My Self EFT Tapping Protocol - PETS# Tapping

Hi, everyone! This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel, and in today's video I will demonstrate the simple steps that I follow to do EFT tapping on my own. I call it PETS# Tapping.

I'm a big fan of body-based calming techniques and my favorite by far is EFT tapping.  I did a 2-part video series that included a demonstration and explanation of how it works to discharge emotion and calm the nervous system.  If you don't know anything about basic tapping, go back and watch the first video in that series before watching this one. 

So, I think highly enough of this technique that I use it almost daily to manage my nervous system and investigate feelings that I'm having.  I tried to meditate 10 minutes a day for something like 5 years -- with pretty dismal results.  I'm just a little too ADHD to meditate successfully.  I think this technique has a lot of similar benefits, but is more active and engaged, which I MUCH prefer.  I've said this in previous videos, but this brings together cognitive, emotional, and body-based techniques to feel big emotions and discharge them.  And in so doing, gives you more compassion, both for yourself and for those around you. 

Here's the protocol that I use -- which I call PETS# tapping.  I put a link to an instructions sheet in the description of this video, so you don't need to take too many notes.   First you'll need to get out a piece of paper and write  P E T S # vertically down the left side.  Okay -- this is the cognitive part.  Mentally investigating your emotions and thoughts serves to bring your prefrontal cortex online which aids in emotional regulation.  So just writing this stuff down can be enough to start to calm down. 

• P - stands for problem - what is bothering you today?  Let's use the problem "I'm upset that I lost my job earlier this week."  Write that down. 
• E - stands for emotions - what emotions come up when you think about this problem?  Make sure you are identifying feelings rather than thoughts. Feelings generally fall into 5 buckets: mad, sad, glad, scared, and disgusted.   This is straight from the movie Inside Out.  Don't stop with the main category, try to be as specific as you can -- because you have to name it to tame it.   Okay, in this case I'm angry and stressed and anxious.
• T - stands for thoughts - what thoughts, ideas, or beliefs bubble up when you consider this issue?  Don't hold back here -- we are trying to generate intense emotion, not talk ourselves out of it!  Say all of the awful things that you are thinking. "I'm worried I won't find another job."  "I'm angry they didn't listen to my side of the story."  "I feel like a loser -- who gets fired from an entry level job?"  "No one cares about me." "I just can't get a break."  You get the idea.
• S - stands for sensation - close your eyes and take a few moments to locate the feelings inside your body.  Is your chest tight?  Do you feel it in your throat?  Do you feel nauseated or pain anywhere?  In this case, I have a pit in my stomach and my head feels like it's buzzing.  And finally,
• # - is for the level of intensity - on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is none and 10 is the worst you could feel, what is your current level of emotional intensity?  For this, I would say a 7.

Okay -- now that we've gathered all of this data from ourselves, we can start with a couple of set-up statements. I'll show you where I pull these statements from on the sheet as I go.

Start by tapping the karate chop point.

"Even though I'm upset that I lost my job earlier this week, I deeply and completely accept myself."

"Even though I feel angry and stressed and anxious, I deeply love and accept myself."

"Even though I feel this way, I choose to relax and feel safe now. "

I used a couple of different options for set up phrases, just to give you an idea, but you can use the same one 3 times or just say it one time.  I find that saying the acceptance part at least one time is an important part of the process, so make sure it is something that feels true or at least like something you can aspire to.

So, now that we've said the setup statements, we will start tapping through the points, saying a reminder phrase at each point.  The reminder phrases are there to pump up the emotion.  Remember, this technique requires you to feel the intensity of the emotion and at the same time, counter it with tapping which sends calming signals to the brain.  This contradiction is the magic that eventually cancels out and dispels the intense emotional charge.  Okay, let's start and say these out loud if at all possible:

I'm upset that I lost my job earlier this week.

I feel angry

and stressed and anxious

I'm worried I won't find another job.

I'm angry they didn't listen to my side of the story.

I feel like a loser -- who gets fired from an entry level job?

I have a pit in my stomach

And my head is buzzing

Now, I just continue tapping thinking about the reminder statement that brought up the most emotion.  In this case, maybe it was "I feel like a loser." Or "They didn't listen to me."  I just keep tapping through the points and bringing up the emotion until I have either another thought bubbles up, another feeling, or I feel a release like a yawn or a deep breath. 

At that point, I do a heart hold (hand over hand on the middle of my chest), take a deep breath in, and just notice and investigate what came up.  At that point, I record what emerged -- maybe a new sensation "I don't have a pit in my stomach any more, but I have a tightness in my lower chest." Or a thought "It's not fair that they fired me without listening at all!" And I always check in on what intensity I'm at.  Maybe it reduced to a 5 or pumped up to an 8.  Even if just one thing changed, that's enough to take a pause and investigate. 

Now with that new information, I do a set up statement and start tapping:

Even though I had the thought "it's not fair that they fired me without listening at all", I deeply and completely accept myself. 

And I start tapping through the points.  At this point, I can decide to say the reminder over and over, throw in some of the original phrases that still feel accurate, or just keep the thoughts and feelings in mind while bringing up as much emotion as I can.  And again, I keep tapping until something new comes up or I feel a sense of relief. 

Here are some cool things about this whole process:

• Calming - It really works to calm down. Within 10 minutes, you can go from full fledge panic attack to a 3 or 2 of intensity.
• Excavating emotions - It is a great way to find out what is lying beneath some of the more intense emotions. A lot of times sadness or fear is lying beneath anger and frustration.  If you do this process for long enough, those feelings will bubble up. Identifying and processing the underlying feelings helps to work through things and make better decisions.
• Nervous system tune up - Doing this regularly tunes up your nervous system so that you can calm down more easily in the moment.
• Self trust - Knowing that you can calm yourself helps you to trust that you can get through challenging and difficult emotions with resilience and strength.

Give this a try and let me know what you think! Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching.

PETS# Worksheet