What is EFT (Tapping)? How it works and why it’s life-changing

Have you ever felt stuck in the same old patterns and looping thoughts you can’t seem to escape? Or maybe you’re carrying around stress and tension that feels like it’s weighing you down? This is where EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques, can help.

EFT—also known as tapping—is a simple, safe and incredibly effective tool that helps you shift what’s been holding you back. You can do it anywhere, anytime. No fancy equipment, no complicated rituals. Just you, your hands and a willingness to let go of what no longer serves you.

What’s really happening when you tap

To understand why EFT works, it helps to know a little about your brain—specifically, the limbic system, which is the part of the brain that processes emotions and memories.

Two key players in the limbic system are the hippocampus and the amygdala:

• The hippocampus stores the memories of events in our lives, like a mental scrapbook.

• The amygdala is like an alarm system, processing fear and anxiety and triggering the fight, flight or freeze response.

  
  

Here’s how they work together: when you think about a traumatic or stressful memory stored in the hippocampus, the amygdala kicks in with a stress response—even if the event happened years ago. Your body reacts as if it’s happening right now, flooding you with the same emotions, tension and fear.

When you tap on these memories, something incredible happens. The amygdala’s alarm starts to relax. Your brain begins to uncouple the memory from the intense emotional charge. Over time, the memory remains, but it no longer has the same power over you.

This is why tapping doesn’t just calm you down in the moment—it literally helps rewire your brain, breaking the old loop of stress and overreaction.

What can you use EFT for?

One of the most beautiful things about EFT is how versatile it is. You can use tapping for so many areas of your life, including:

• Stress and overwhelm – calming your nervous system when life feels too much

• Anxiety and fear – softening racing thoughts and finding a sense of safety

• Old traumas or difficult memories – gently releasing the emotional charge they hold

• Limiting beliefs – shifting stories like 'I’m not good enough' or 'I’ll never succeed'

• Physical tension or pain – supporting the mind-body connection to ease discomfort

• Overthinking and self-doubt – quieting the inner critic so you can hear your own truth

• Habits and patterns you want to change – breaking the emotional hooks that keep you stuck

• Money, success and self-worth – clearing blocks that stop you from receiving what you desire

• Relationships – healing emotional triggers so you can connect from a calmer, more authentic place

• Cravings – break away from your dependency on smoking, sugar and comfort eating

• Phobias – feel more relaxed around spiders, heights or whatever gives you the heebie-jeebies

  
  

EFT works beautifully for the 'big' things—deep fears, past trauma, long-held patterns—but it’s just as powerful for the everyday moments where you feel off, stuck or unsure.

How do you do it?

There are many techniques and variations, but here’s the basic flow:

1. Identify the issue

   Pick something specific you want to work on. It could be an emotion like anxiety, sadness or anger, a limiting belief such as “I’m not good enough”, or a situation that’s triggering you.

   
   

   Take a few moments to write down everything you’re feeling about it—all the thoughts, emotions and physical sensations that come up. This helps bring the issue into clear focus so you know exactly what you’re working with.

   
   

2. Give it a rating

   Notice how strong it feels right now, from 0 to 10 (where 10 is very intense). This gives you a baseline to help track shifts and improvements.

   
   

3. Create a setup statement

   The setup statement defines the issue and brings in a self-affirming phrase to balance it. This creates the foundation for EFT to do its work. The goal is to acknowledge the problem and affirm your worth and acceptance, despite it.

   
   

   It always has two parts:

   • The first part names the issue or challenge (“Even though I feel overwhelmed about money…”)

   • The second part is a positive affirmation about yourself (“…I deeply and completely love and accept myself”).

   
   

   This tells the brain: 'Even though this is true for me right now, I’m still okay. I don’t have to fight or suppress it—I can hold it with compassion.'

   
   

4. Tap on the karate chop point

   Using the fingertips of one hand, gently tap on the side of your other hand (the fleshy part below your little finger—often called the karate chop point) while saying your setup statement three times.

   
   

5. Tap through the points

   After the setup, tap gently on each of these points while saying out loud each of the points you wrote down in step one to stay connected to the issue:

   • Top of head

   • Eyebrow

   • Side of eye

   • Under eye

   • Under nose

   • Chin

   • Collarbone

   • Under arm

   • Under your ribs

     
     

     

6. Check in

   After a few rounds of tapping, take a breath, tune in and notice what’s shifted. Has the intensity gone down? Do you feel a bit lighter? You can do more tapping focusing on what’s left, or move to a more empowering phrase that feels true.

   
   

7. Have a stretch and drink water

   After every round, give yourself a little stretch and drink some water. This helps your body process the release and stay hydrated as you shift energy.

   
   

Why I love EFT

Because it works so quickly.

Tapping helps quiet the endless chatter in your mind. It stops the overthinking, the dwelling, the gripping. You find more ease, clarity and flow—so you can trust yourself again.

So much of our energy gets tied up in old stories and societal conditioning. EFT helps you clear what isn’t yours and reconnect to who you really are. From this place, you can take action on what feels true for you.

EFT doesn’t just release what’s stuck—it creates momentum. It helps you feel safe to move forward, to dream bigger and to take the next step towards the life you want.

You can do it anywhere

That’s one of the best things about EFT. You can tap at home, in the car (when you’re parked!), in the bathroom before an important meeting, or even quietly in bed before you sleep.

It’s like having an emotional first-aid kit right at your fingertips.

Ready to try it?

Whether you’re wanting to release stress, shift old patterns or simply feel more like yourself again, EFT can support you. It’s a practice of coming back to your own centre—again and again—until the things that once felt heavy no longer have the same hold over you.

I use EFT as a powerful tool in my Inner Harmony sessions—a supportive space to work through whatever’s holding you back and reconnect with your inner wisdom.

For ongoing support, you can join Inner Connection, my membership portal full of EFT videos, guided meditations, astrology masterclasses and more resources to help you stay centred and empowered every day.

Want to tap into more abundance?

If you’d like to receive a free EFT video to help you clear blocks around money and abundance, sign up for my mailing list below. It’s a gentle guided tapping session designed to open you up to receiving more ease and flow in your financial life.

Sign up below and start your EFT journey today!