How to use EFT tapping to boost confidence
Often referred to as acupuncture without the needles, emotional freedom technique (EFT) also known as ‘tapping’ is a humanistic energy psychology approach. It seeks to offer relief from physical and mental pain that manifests in the body as negative emotion.
Working on the premise that the body is made up of energy channels also known as meridians, EFT aims to clear and rebalance these blocked channels by stimulating them through touch.
“You know how you feel when you’re ‘in flow’, you could do anything, you are ‘in your power’? This is because energy is flowing through your body’s meridians, nothing is disturbing it,” says coach, NLP practitioner and EFT trainer, Judy Bartkowiak. “But then you’re triggered. A limiting belief disturbs your flow, a memory from childhood perhaps when you felt ‘not good enough’ and in that moment your confidence goes.”
Judy says that when you recognise that this has happened, you can start tapping through a sequence of points on the upper body whilst repeating how you feel.
EFT is an ancient energy technique where you tap on these meridian points as you say what has disturbed you, for example “I feel nervous”.
Tapping directs kinetic energy through blocked meridians, gradually clearing channels and neutralising the emotional blockage.
EFT for confidence
When it comes to boosting your confidence, Judy shares that the reason EFT is so effective is that it’s fast, simple and silent and can be particularly effective for workplace confidence.
Often used as a therapeutic intervention for lack of confidence, EFT can be helpful for similar feelings of ‘not being good enough’, ‘not heard’, ‘not important’, ‘not valued’ or ‘can’t speak our truth’, says Judy.
“We look for a logical reason but when we can’t find one, we then feel even worse because we have nothing to ‘pin’ it on. Friends may say “I don’t know why you feel nervous, you know your stuff” or “How can you lack confidence, you’re great at what you do” but whilst we may feel relaxed in a 1-1 situation, we may fear groups, people we don’t know, presenting to a corporate team, talking about certain subjects, etc.”
Judy shares that in situations like these, EFT has a variety of benefits.
- To prepare you to be in your best state for situations you know you struggle with.
- To keep yourself ‘topped up’ with confidence during your working day.
- To give yourself a good confidence boost at the end of the day when you feel tired so you end the day on a positive note.
- To share as a tool with clients and colleagues to support them in tricky challenging situations.
So how does it work?
How to do EFT tapping
Below, Judy walks us through a specific example of EFT tapping for confidence, and explains how you can adapt this for your own situation.
1. Tune in
Close your eyes and think of a recent time when you’ve lacked confidence. Picture the scene and what happened, who said what, what you felt.
Now locate that feeling in your body and notice everything about it:
- Is it in your chest, tummy perhaps, what colour is it, what size is it?
- What is the emotion? Give it a name, is it worry, nerves, fear?
- On a scale of 0-10 – 10 being the most intense – how bad is it?
2. Set up the tapping routine
Use these words (in your head or out loud): “Even though I feel (colour) (emotion) in my body, I love and accept myself anyway.” Say this three times and breathe deeply in between to help the energy shift and clear.
For example, “Even though I feel green, sick and nervous in my stomach, I love and accept myself anyway.”
3. Start tapping
Starting at the top of the head and working through the points ending at the wrist, use seven taps on each point, and say a reminder phrase from your set-up.
So using Judy’s example you would say (out loud or in your head):
- green tap seven times on top of your head
- sick tap seven times the eyebrow point (in between the eyebrows when one brow starts)
- nervous tap seven times on side of eye
- in my stomach tap seven times under eye
- green tap seven times under nose
- sick seven times under mouth
- nervous feeling tap seven times on collarbone
- green tap seven times under arm
- sick tap seven times on wrist
Then go back to the top of the head and repeat the process so you do two rounds.
4. Reflect
Pause and check in with where you had the feeling at the start.
- Has the colour changed?
- Is it the same size?
- Is the feeling the same?
- What number is it on the scale? (we call it the SUDs scale)
You will find there are changes, so go back and use the new words you describe the changed feeling as and do another two rounds of tapping. Repeat until your SUDs level is at zero or one.
If you struggle with low confidence, EFT tapping or coaching, or a combination of both could support you in helping unlock your true potential. To find a coach who can help with confidence, you can reach out to Judy directly or use the advanced search tool to find a practitioner in your area.
To find out more about Judy’s work with EFT, head to her profile and book a free initial chat. Judy is a coach, NLP practitioner, children and teens specialist using art, tapping, reiki, CBT and NLP in her therapy. She has two published books, Understanding children and teens – a practical guide for parents, teachers and coaches and Empower your Kids! A coaching guide for parents that explain EFT and PTT (Picture Tapping Technique) in more detail.