32 EFT Meditations for Self-Care and Well-being
WHAT’S UP: EFT meditations can assist us with navigating a wide range of life stressors and strains. EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Tapping is a collection of stress management techniques.
Tapping EFT has been around for more than 40 years and researched now for more than 20 years. The 300+ published journal articles show it positively affects a range of biochemistry in the body (e.g. positive changes in brain activity, cortisol, and DNA expression). You will find a reference list at the end of this article if you’re interesting in learning about the research papers I reference here.
EFT is practiced daily for self-care by kids and adults all over the world. Schools and universities worldwide are also currently integrating EFT into their student and staff well-being initiatives to help support teaching and learning at all levels.
Keep reading if you are curious to learn:
- How and when you may want to tap without words (a body-based method to reduce your stress) just by focusing your attention on the tapping process to stimulate acupressure points on the face and body to reduce stress).
- How and when you may prefer to add a cognitive component to your EFT meditation practice by adding words to your self-care practice.
- A step-by-step approach for doing an EFT meditation for self-care that reduces how stressed you feel in your body when you think about a stressful event or situation.
Disclaimer: At no point should EFT be substituted for traditional medical care. All information and self-help exercises are provided as general knowledge and viewers need to take their own responsibility for their health and getting help when needed.
EFT MEDITATIONS FOR SELF-CARE
You don’t need to add words when you are first learning how to Tap; you can just focus on (meditate on) the physical process of Tapping! All you need is an open mind and a willingness to start learning the basics – the Clinical EFT Tapping points (see below) for grounding.
1. EFT MEDITATIONS WITHOUT WORDS
We know from the EFT research trials that the most important ingredient for EFT to work isn’t the words, it’s the actual tapping itself (see references at the end for more). You see me demonstrating this for you in the 3 educational videos (see below).
Now, if you find it helpful to focus your attention on something specific as you tap through the points, you can add an extra step of trying to just focus your attention on your inhale and exhale. No need to take deep breaths, as that can be triggering and counter productive if you are experiencing stress that is above a certain threshold. Just normal breaths. No need to force anything.
In EFT, we call this the Tap and Breathe technique. It’s where you notice your breath going in and out of your nose as you tap through the 8 key Clinical EFT points. But don’t worry if focusing on your breath doesn’t feel helpful. Just remember the most important part of this exercise isn’t the mindful breath awareness part. It’s the tapping part. So if you feel more comfortable just tapping, then just do that.
Click on the image below if you would like to learn more.
2. EFT MEDITATIONS WITH WORDS
Find having something to think about reassuring while you tap? If you want to add words as you tap through the 8-point tapping sequence, you can repeat at each point this reminder phrase “Right here right now, I am safe.” Or just “I am safe”, if that feels more comfortable for you, for example. This approach can help you ground by taking the edge of the intensity of an emotion when you are experiencing a big emotion.
Another way to add words is by starting your EFT meditation not by going through the 8 points, but by tapping on the side of your hand. This approach is great for when you are not experiencing a big emotion, but want to ‘tune in’ to how your body feels so that you can consciously carve out some time to work on something you want to overcome.
Click on the images below that interest you to learn more.
3. STEP-BY-STEP EFT MEDITATION
If you are a newcomer to EFT Tapping, these videos are a good starting point to learn the EFT basics: where the Clinical EFT Tapping points are located, and ow you can add words to your Tapping meditation.
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Thanks for visiting my website.
If you liked this list of resources, you may want to Bookmark it on your web browser so that you can come back to it whenever you want to dip back in for more.
I’ll continue to add to this list of resources as I create more free video training and educational articles on possible applications of EFT Tapping. So if this is something that interests you, keep an eye out on this page for future updates.
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SOME KEY EFT RESEARCH STUDIES
Dawson, et al (2018), “Is Tapping on acupuncture points an active ingredient in Emotional Freedom Techniques? A systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies”, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol 206.
Anastasia, et al (2013) “Effect of the Emotional Freedom Technique on perceived stress, quality of life, and cortisol salivary levels in tension-type headache sufferers: A randomized control trial”, Explore, Vol 9.
Bach, et al (2019), “Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) improves multiple physiological markers of health”, Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine, Vol 24
Church, et al (2012) “The Effect of Emotional Freedom Techniques on
Stress Biochemistry: A Randomized Controlled Trial”, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol 200
Stapleton, et al (2020) “Reexamining the Effect of Emotional Freedom
Techniques on Stress Biochemistry: A Randomized Controlled Trial”, Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
Stapleton, et al (2018) “An Initial Investigation of Neural Changes in Overweight Adults with Food Cravings after Emotional Freedom Techniques”, OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine Journal, Vol 3.
Stapleton, et al (2022) “Neural changes after Emotional Freedom Techniques treatment for chronic pain sufferers”, Journal of Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, Vol 49
Wittfoth, et al (2022) “Bifocal emotion regulation through acupoint tapping in fear of flying”, Journal of NeuroImage: Clinical, Vol 34
Wittfoth, et al (2020) “Emotion regulation through bifocal processing of fear inducing and disgust inducing stimuli”, BMC Neuroscience Journal, Vol 21.
Maharaj, M. (2016) “Differential gene expression after Emotional
Freedom Techniques (EFT) treatment: A novel pilot
protocol for salivary mRNA assessment”, Energy Psychology, Vol 8.
Church, et al (2018) “Epigenetic effects of PTSD remediation
in veterans using Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques: A randomized
controlled pilot study”, American Journal of Health Promotion, Vol 32.
About the author
Eleni Vardaki works with individuals and schools, offering services and package deals that support parent, teacher, and student well-being. Her business mission is to help bridge the gap between mainstream education systems and the well-being skills we need to thrive. She believes that if we care about student well-being, it makes sense to also care about the well-being of those who care for them.
To book an obligation-free introductory meeting to see if it’s a match: eleni@elenivardaki.com
QUALIFIED EFT PRACTITIONER IN ACTION
- Working with a final year of university student – academic and EFT coaching: “Final Exam Stress, Tapping into Confidence”
- Working with a final year of university student – academic and EFT coaching: “Study Procrastination (Dissertation)”
- Working with an adult student preparing for a professional exam – academic and EFT coaching: “Tapping Away Exam Stress and Study Procrastination”
