Tapping Archives - Page 10 of 19 - Finding the Meaning in Everyday Life

I Don’t Have Time to Exercise

“I don’t have time to exercise.” I say these words a lot. I’m a very busy person. Intellectually I know that what I mean is that I don’t have time that I want to allocate to exercise, but the feeling that I don’t have time is quite real. Tap along with the exercise and see what comes up for you.

Setup (tapping on karate chop point): I don’t have time to exercise. I’m a very busy person. Where would I find the time? I have way too many things to do so I don’t think I really have the time to exercise. In spite of all my excuses about time to exercise, I choose to love and accept myself anyway. Even though I have an amazing number of excuses about why I don’t have time to exercise, I honor that part of me that knows that I really do.

Eyebrow…I don’t have time to exercise

Side of Eye…Sometimes that feels really true

Under the Eye…Sometimes I know it is just an excuse

Under the Nose…I AM really busy

Chin…I have a lot on my plate

Collarbone…Other people rely upon me to get things done

Under the Arm…I often feel overwhelmed with all I have to do

Top of Head…Lets face it, adding exercise to the mix seems pretty daunting

Eyebrow…At the very least it could be quite inconvenient

Side of Eye…I don’t know how I would fit it into my day

Under the Eye…What other things would I have to give up?

Under the Nose…If I get other people to do their own stuff I could probably find some time to exercise

Chin…But that will mean conflict

Collarbone…If I asked for help with some of my own stuff I probably could find some time to exercise

Under the Arm…But asking for help is hard

Top of Head…I realize that I don’t have to do it all at once

Eyebrow…I could do a little bit at a time

Side of Eye…Like just parking one spot farther out in the parking lot

Under the Eye…If I really wanted to exercise

Under the Nose…I could be creative in my scheduling

Chin…The first step is deciding that I really want to do this

Collarbone…Then I can decide what exercise or exercises I want to do

Under the Arm…I might be fun to take a class

Top of Head…And learn something new

Eyebrow…I could get the whole family involved some of the time

Side of Eye…Or I could have this as “me time”

Under the Eye…It feels somewhat good to thing about doing this for myself

Under the Nose…I have the same amount of time each day

Chin…That everyone else does

Collarbone…It is up to me to decide how to use it

Under the Arm…I will have to make some choices

Top of Head….Making me a priority

Deeply Ashamed

This is a tapping exercise that I first used in 2011. It pains me to tell you, but it was true again this week. I am once again deeply ashamed of how out of control I am about food. In my own defense, it isn’t always true, but some things have obviously changed in my life and another aspect has clearly shown up, so I’m bringing this one back — for me. Hopefully it will be beneficial for you too.

I have gained a little clarity about why the problem has returned. I’ve noticed that the time right after work is the most perilous for me and I don’t have the same problem on the weekends usually. There seems to be something about my lack of control with my job and my lack of control with food. (We will likely address that in a tapping video very soon.

The Setup (tapping on the karate chop point). I am so ashamed of my inability to control my eating. Even when I am eating, my brain and inner self often tell me to stop. But I am out of control. Something takes over and I just keep eating and eating and eating. In spite of being like an out of control animal about food, I want to let go of the shame and guilt about this situation. Even though I have shame and guilt about my eating habits at times, I am trying to learn new skills and new ways of relating to food. I get out of control around food and I am ashamed of my lack of control. Even with this “character flaw” of mine, I choose to take baby steps to regain a healthier way of eating and living with food (although I’d definitely be ok with giant steps too.)

Eyebrow…I am ashamed of my eating

Side of Eye…I am often out of control

Under the Eye…I should be able to control my eating better

Under the Nose…I should be able to control myself better

Chin…Its not like I don’t know any better

Collarbone…I blame myself for this

Under the Arm…I am supposed to be a smart person

Top of Head…Obviously Not!!!

Eyebrow…Other people would be appalled if they really knew how I am with food

Side of Eye…I am so ashamed of myself

Under the Eye…I’m not really out of control all of the time

Under the Nose…Just some of the time

Chin…But I am ashamed all of the time

Collarbone…That doesn’t make sense

Under the Arm…I don’t want to be out of control

Top of Head…I don’t want to feel so much guilt and shame either

Eyebrow…I wonder if there might be something about this that I could change

Side of Eye…I wonder if there is a way I could be more mindful about my eating

Under the Eye…I wonder if there is a way to be more gentle with myself

Under the Nose…Feeling out of control is scary

Chin…Guilt and shame are awful

Collarbone…I would like to feel a little bit better about myself

Under the Arm…I could probably let go of these feelings, at least sometimes

Top of Head…I can control myself when I eat salad

Eyebrow…I can control myself when I eat vegetables

Under the Eye…There’s no reason to feel guilt and shame there

Under the Nose…I can control myself when I eat apples

Chin…Another reason to reject guilt and shame

Collarbone…I may have a bad habit of guilt and shame

Under the Arm…I choose to stop beating myself up when it isn’t appropriate

Top of Head…I choose to love myself into better health

Don’t Try – Do! Another Lesson from the Tao Te Ching

While the message Don’t Try – Do! may be more recently associated with my little green guru Yoda, it is also a lesson from the Tao Te Ching. It is also a lesson I have struggled with, although intellectually whole-heartedly support.

Setup (while tapping on the karate chop point): I have a tendency to say I’ll try things. I was taught that I should always be open to trying. That was supposed to help me find the courage to do things that I might think I could to. Unfortunately, saying I’m going to try seems to also set me up for failure at times. I am open to just doing things to whatever level or ability I can at that time and accepting the result – whatever it is. Even though I tend to think in terms of success and failure, I am open to learning a new way of being. Even though trying feels more comfortable to me than doing, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I am aware that this is a lesson I haven’t quite mastered in the past, I love and accept myself fully.

Eyebrow…The words I use may be holding me back

Side of Eye…It seems like saying that I’ll try something should be a good thing

Under the Eye…But that attitude may be limiting me in some ways

Under the Nose…When I say I’ll try, I instantly insert the possibility for failure in my life

Chin…I am open to learning a new way to choose the events of my life

Collarbone…I wonder how things could be different if I just do things instead of trying

Under the Arm…I choose to use words that open up possibilities

Top of Head…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid commitment

Eyebrow…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid responsibility

Side of Eye…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid the possibility of failure

Under the Eye…Well — not really

Under the Nose…I am open to redefining failure

Chin…I am open to redefining responsibility

Collarbone…I am open to redefining commitment

Under the Arm…These are all constructs that I have previously accepted as real

Top of Head…Perhaps there is another way to view the world

Eyebrow…I am open to clarity

Side of Eye…I am open to being less tentative about things I choose to do

Under the Eye…I am open to doing

Under the Nose…When I wake up in the morning – I am doing

Chin…When I eat – I am doing

Collarbone…When I go to bed — I am doing

Under the Arm…In all that I face today – I want to do

Top of Head…Trying is in the past. Now I will do.

There May Not Be a Right or Wrong

There may not be a right or wrong. I’ve been exposed to this concept before and have certainly used it in psychotherapy more than once when encountering someone’s rigid beliefs. Honestly, this is a concept that I often struggle with and I have a marked tendency to see things in terms of right and wrong. It requires a conscious decision to see things any other way.

The second verse of the Tao Te Ching addresses the duality of the world. I understand that I can see beauty because I see ugly and that there is no old without also knowing the existence of young. I have trouble handling things when what seems to be polar opposites exist side by side. I have even more trouble handling it when directly pertains to me. If I do something that I label as wrong, I’m all bad. If I do something that I label as great, I lose sight of other parts of me that might not be as great.

I am trying to embrace the duality of life more often. I’ve been wrestling with the inadequacy of the labels “right” and “wrong” for a long time now. Below is a tapping exercise to help better understand my struggle. I hope you tap along.

Setup (while tapping on the karate chop point): Even though I tend to think in terms of right and wrong, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I struggle with dichotomous interpretations of the world, I am open to having an easier time with this. Even though I have blocks to really accepting the new way of seeing the world in my life, I choose to embrace my willingness to change and accept all of me along the journey.

Eyebrow…Life without sadness means life without joy

Side of Eye…Life without illness means life without health

Under the Eye…Life without tragedy means life without victory

Under the Nose…Life without frustration means life without satisfaction

Chin…I’m afraid to embrace the entire human experience

Collarbone…I really prefer only the thing that I label as good

Under the Arm…The rest really scares me

Top of Head…I can’t quite wrap my head around the whole thing

Eyebrow…A part of me wants to get it

Side of Eye…And another part of me doesn’t

Under the Eye…That is just another example of the duality of the world

Under the Nose…I guess I can’t fully understand the concept of approach

Chin…If I don’t also recognize my own feeling of avoid

Collarbone…I’m not sure how this really plays out in my daily life

Under the Arm…I look forward to those moments when I feel like I really get it

Top of Head…And I guess I need to look forward to the moments where I don’t too. That is the duality of life.

Emotions Are High

It seems that emotions are high (intense) everywhere I go. That makes me uncomfortable. When emotions are high it seems harder for me to predict what is going to happen and therefore, harder to feel safe. I prefer things to be calm and peaceful. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy a good debate, but even then I prefer it to be more intellectual than emotional.

The following tapping exercise is one that I used to begin my journey toward understanding and managing my discomfort. Feel free to tap along.

Setup (tapping on karate chop point): Even though emotions are high and that makes me very uncomfortable, I choose to remain calm and confident. Even though emotions are high and I don’t feel safe with that, I choose to remain calm and confident. Even though emotions are high and I don’t like that feeling, I choose to remain calm and confident.

Eyebrow…Emotions are high

Side of Eye…And I don’t like dealing with emotions

Under the Eye…They are too unpredictable for me

Nose…I like things that can be measured

Chin…I like things that can be anticipated

Collarbone…I like things that can’t be controlled

Under the Arm…On some level I don’t believe that emotions can be controlled

Top of Head…At least not mine

Eyebrow…And I can’t control the emotions of other people

Side of Eye…That scares me

Under the Eye…So the higher the emotions

Nose…The less I feel in control

Chin…I’m not sure where I learned to fear emotions

Collarbone…But I am open to some clarity about this issue

Under the Arm…I am open to learning more about my emotions

Top of Head…And I am open to learning more about the emotions of others

Eyebrow…I can go slow with it

Side of Eye…I can learn about one emotion at a time

Under the Eye…If it gets to be too much

Nose…I can go back to what I’ve always done before

Chin…I can shut it off

Collarbone…That means I will still be in control

Under the Arm…I can let in as much emotion as I can handle

Top of Head…And I can block the rest if I want to

Eyebrow…I am looking forward to feeling safe with my own emotions

Side of Eye…I believe the day will come when I can feel safe with other people’s emotions too

Under the Eye…Then I will look back and be amazed at my progress

Nose…I am pretty sure that I am safe

Chin…Even when emotions are high

Collarbone…The first step is recognizing the emotions

Under the Arm…I can do that

Top of Head…I can do that

While I was doing this tapping I became aware of specific instances from my childhood that involved high or intense emotions and bad things really did happen. The way I managed to staff safe was to be aware of everything going on around me and to be hyperalert to the intensity of other people’s emotions. When viewed from that perspective it is no wonder that I developed this discomfort and feeling of being out of control. The next step is to tap while remembering those specific situations. Whenever you can get really specific and use personal experiences the result is so much greater.

I Am Uptight, Anxious, and Overwhelmed

The words uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed describe me all too often. Life can be going well most of the time, but when something happens that is unexpected (good or bad) it can throw me off my game. Tapping helps me to recover.

Say that statement out loud, “I am uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed.” Rate the intensity or truth of that statement on a 0-10 scale (10=very intense or very true). Write down your rating.

Begin tapping on the karate chop point. Even though I am uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I can do uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed better than almost anybody I know, I choose to substitute calm and confidence whenever possible. Even though uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed come very easily to me, I choose to manifest other feelings that are more comfortable and will help me to reach my goals.

Eyebrow…I am uptight

Side of Eye…And I choose to release it now

Under the Eye…Bit by bit

Under the Nose…Until I am no longer feeling uptight

Chin…I am anxious

Collarbone…And I choose to release it now

Under the Arm…Bit by bit

Top of Head…Until I am no longer feeling anxious

Eyebrow…I am overwhelmed

Side of Eye…And I choose to release it now

Under the Eye…Bit by bit

Under the Nose…Until I am no longer overwhelmed

Chin…Even though I was feeling uptight before

Collarbone…I released it

Under the Arm…Bit by bit

Top of Head…And I choose to feel calm instead

Eyebrow…Even though I was feeling anxious before

Side of Eye…I released it

Under the Eye…Bit by bit

Nose…And I choose to feel confident instead

Chin…Even though I was feeling overwhelmed before

Collarbone…I released it

Under the Arm…Bit by bit

Top of Head…And I choose to feel calm and confident instead

Eyebrow…I used to feel uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed

Side of Eye…I choose to feel calm and confident instead

Under the Eye…I relase the uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed feeling from every cell in my body

Under the Nose…I release the uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed feeling from every muscle in my body

Chin…I release the uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed feeling from every fluid in my body

Collarbone…I choose to accept calmness

Under the Arm…I choose to acknowledge confidence

Top of Head…I choose to accept health and wellness into my body

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Say the original statement again, “I am uptight, anxious, and overwhelmed.” Rate the intensity or truth of that statement now on the 0-10 scale. Continue tapping with these or other more personal statements until your rating is very low. If other thoughts popped up, or specific circumstances came to mind, be sure to tap on those at some point to help you maintain the calm and confident feeling.

Exercise Avoidance

Have you ever skipped a planned workout because you just didn’t want to go? Meridian tapping can help to keep you on track for your health and fitness goals. This is actually a pretty old video. Much has changed since I filmed it. I’ve moved twice, broken my arm, and changed jobs. My commitment to exercise has not changed, but the way I go about it has. I typically don’t go to the gym anymore and now do most of it at home. I’m also thinking about increasing movement rather than increasing the number or repetitions.

Don’t get me wrong, I still set goals for time, speed, and incline when on the treadmill, monitor the number of steps per day on my smart phone, and get excited if I can add weight when lifting. Setting and working toward goals is a part of my personality. In terms of health though, frequent movement seems to be as important as intense movement.

Even though I remain committed, there are days when I just have trouble getting started. That is when tapping really comes to my rescue.

Fear of Spiders

Meridian tapping is an effective tool for alleviating the pain and suffering of specific fears. The video demonstrates tapping for fear of spiders but can be customized to address your own specific fears. It’s a really simple technique. To get the best result, either go look at what you are afraid of, or find a picture of it to look at before you begin the tapping.

Prior Programming

Prior programming is the collection of ideas, concepts, views, and beliefs that we use as our “operating system” in daily life. These programs come from our parents, religious institutions, schools, families, peer group, media, and society. Sometimes the programs are valid. Sometimes they are not. When the programs are not valid they definitely work against the positive changes we may be trying to make in our lives.

One aspect of prior programming may be the expectation that we should be content with what we have. Do you remember an experience as a child when you wanted something but you were told it was wrong to want it? I do. I also remember being told to consider all of the poor unfortunate people who had even less than I had. There is a lot of programming that goes on to convince us to not want more or not want something different (except in TV commercials which do the opposite.)

Say this statement aloud, “I should be content with what I’ve got.” Rate the truth of the statement on a 0-10 scale. Remember that 10 is very intense or very true for you. Write down your rating.

Repeat the following statements while tapping on the karate chop point. “Even though I should be content with what I’ve got, I deeply and completely love and accept where I am right now. Even though I’ve obviously been taught that I should just be content with what I’ve got, I deeply and completely accept myself and all of my feelings. Even though I know I should be content with what I’ve got, I deeply and completely love and accept myself and my desire for more.”

Eyebrow…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Side of Eye…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Under the Eye…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Under the Nose…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Chin…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Collarbone…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Under the Arm…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Top of Head…I should be content with what I’ve got.

Take a deep breath and check the intensity of your original statement, “I should be content with what I’ve got.” Write down your new rating. If the rating is above a 3, continue tapping with the previous statement. Once your rating is quite low, move on to the positive tapping rounds below.

Eyebrow…I appreciate what I have now

Side of Eye…It is ok to want more

Under the Eye…Wanting more doesn’t mean I am unhappy

Under the Nose…It just means that I see possibilities to make things better for myself

Chin…I feel gratitude for what I have right now

Collarbone…I will feel gratitude if I get the things I want too

Under the Arm…I choose to feel calm and relaxed about wanting other things

Top of Head…I choose to love and accept myself and all of my feelings

Take a dep breath and let it out. Check the intensity of your original statement, “I should be content with what I’ve got.” Record your new rating. If it has gone back up, consider starting back and the beginning and repeating the sequence. Or, if you noticed some resistance to the positive tapping statements, it might be useful to just tap while repeating the ones that were most difficult for you.

This is only one example of how tapping can be used to address prior programming that keeps us from moving forward in meaningful ways. Try using it for all of your “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” and you will begin to experience true emotional freedom.

Keeping My Word

In general, keeping my word isn’t a terribly hard thing for me, at least not the way I have interpreted that before. Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star verse 8 includes, When speaking, be truthful. In that sense keeping my word is about telling the truth. The context surrounding the statement seems to be pointing to more than avoiding lies. It seems to be about being in harmony with truth, not just following a rule.

In Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, the translation is Stand by your word. This seems to call for even more personal integrity and elicits many more questions and poses more pitfalls. It would even be easy to get bogged down in this (and I did) with questions like, “can’t I ever change my mind?” or “does that leave any room for spontaneity?”, or even “everybody lies sometimes.”

After tapping and meditating on this for a while I have come to believe that this statement, like much of the Tao, isn’t about behavior as much as it is about who we are at the core. It doesn’t mean that I can’t ever tell somebody I’m going to do something and then decide that I can’t or don’t want to do it. It means that if I have committed to doing something I then need to speak the truth to the person about why I am no longer going to do it. I’m not going to blame someone or something else, make an excuse, avoid, or simply not follow through.

Not only can tapping be useful for gaining a deeper understanding of a text like this one, it can also be quite valuable in changing the way you feel after having gained the insight. I was flooded with memories of all of the times that I have made excuses, heaped blame, and therefore devalued my own word. The emotion resulting from all of those memories have been responding well to tapping. In addition, tapping has helped when I’m tempted to lie, distort the truth, or make excuses.

There are many reasons why we choose not to be truthful or not stand by our word. Are you afraid that you won’t make the sale, get what you want/need, or win the approval of others? TAP!