Can EFT tapping help you overcome the dramatic feeling of overwhelm?
Everyone knows the familiar feeling of overwhelm. It doesn’t matter where you are from, what country you live in, how old you are, what color you are or what your sexual preference is. No one is exempt from experiencing overwhelm at some point if not many times throughout a day or week.
Don’t get me wrong. Some people have learned how to manage it better than others and some have figured out all sorts of life hacks to help them avoid it.
The bottom line is that overwhelm is very real, stressful and frankly… overwhelming.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Julie Schiffman and I am a Holistic Health Coach and I have my Master’s Degree in Social Work. I have helped thousands of stressed out, anxious and overwhelmed people just like you (millions if you include all the folks who EFT tap along with me on YouTube…keep reading for more information on this).
I tell you all of this because even though I may know many tools and techniques to help calm the mind and body, I am not exempt from the things that life throws at us putting us in the all too familiar feeling of being overwhelmed.
What is emotional overwhelm?
Emotional overwhelm is an intense feeling that can overcome someone when the stressors in life feel impossible to manage. This can be about one thing or many things coming at you all at once.
For example, I had a client the other day who was feeling overwhelmed because she had two projects due at work within the week, her mother was recently admitted to the hospital, her son has severe anxiety and she has been trying to find help for him. She was beginning to feel some intense anxiety and having a hard time figuring out how to manage everything!
This can definitely be stressful and overwhelming to say the least. It can also be a lot for one person to manage all at once and the overwhelming feelings around all of this can make it challenging to make good, sound decisions.
What happens to your body when you are overwhelmed?
When you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, your body goes into what we call fight or flight. Cortisol, which is the body’s stress hormone, goes up and basically the body’s defense mechanisms kick into high gear.
When this happens, it can be an unsettling experience. You may find it is hard to make decisions, anxiety levels go up, you may have irrational thoughts and find you are stuck in worry mode. You may also find that you can’t seem to move away from negative thinking. In fact, you may find that you are spiraling with anger, irritability, sadness, anxiety or hopelessness. It can feel like a challenge to get yourself out of this funk if you are trying to think your way through it.
At the same time that cortisol levels go up, serotonin goes down. This is the hormone that helps us balance emotions and fight off depression and anxiety. The combination of increased cortisol and decreased serotonin can make someone feel out of control, making it difficult to manage life stressors in the moment.
So how can you release overwhelm quickly?
There are many stress-reducing techniques out there that can be helpful, such as meditation, breathwork, exercise or just being present in the moment. All of these can be very helpful but what if there was something else that seems different yet could help quickly?
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a tool at your fingertips that can help you reduce stress and overwhelm while also keeping your body balanced and relatively stable?
Emotional Freedom Technique AKA Tapping
Tapping can be a quick and effective way to help you move from feeling completely overwhelmed to feeling like you are in control of your own emotions and actions. This technique can actually help you to stay grounded and help you to create a space in your mind to make sound decisions.
What is Tapping and how can it help?
Briefly, tapping is an effective holistic healing technique that has been proven to resolve many different types of issues, including stress and overwhelm, often in a short period of time.
Tapping is based on the principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and psychology. The basic technique is similar to acupuncture but you don’t need the needles AND it is a gentle modality that you can often use on your own when feeling overwhelmed.
In the basic tapping technique, you focus on whatever the problem is at the moment. In this case, we are talking about overwhelm, but tapping also works for physical pain as well as almost any challenge you can think of.
The process of tapping with the fingertips on particular points on the body, such as the face and torso, while focusing on a problem of some sort, works to clear emotional blocks which often create an imbalance in the body.
If you have pain, if you are worried, if you have food cravings or just having a bad day…focus on the problem, tap on the particular points, include some affirmations and let it all go!
Does this seem too good to be true? Research has shown that tapping reduces cortisol levels, decreases anxiety, reduces symptoms of depression, pain, food cravings AND can increase your body’s immune system.
Ready to try something new and set yourself free from overwhelm?
All you have to do is tap on the related points and repeat the words below. You can follow along with the attached chart:
Feel free to change the words as needed. This is about YOU and this is a very general tapping script so be sure to make it specific about what is going on in your own life.
Please be sure to take responsibility for your own emotional and physical well-being and reach out to a practitioner if needed.
Let’s start tapping!
Side of the hand: Even though I am feeling overwhelmed…I have so much going on and too much to do, I accept these feelings and I am open to letting go.
Even though I am SO overwhelmed! Too much to do or too much to figure out in my life right now, I am open to the possibility of relaxing about this and letting go.
Even though I am only one person and I can’t possibly get everything done, I love, honor and accept all of my feelings and I am ready to feel better now.
Top of the head: I am so overwhelmed
Inner eye: I am really overwhelmed right now
Side eye: I feel like I am in the eye of the storm
Under eye: And I can’t see beyond it
Nose: Everything seems to be coming at me so fast
Chin: It is hard to cope with every little thing
Collarbone: It’s just too much right now
Underarm: So many demands on my time
Top of head: A list a mile long
Inner eye: An important job to get done
Side eye: Others expect too much from me
Under eye: So much riding on this
Nose: So many expectations
Chin: It just feels like a lot
Collarbone: I am feeling really stressed about this
Underarm: I am tired
Top of head: Overwhelmed
Inner eye: Exhausted
Side eye: So much mental energy is going into this
Under eye: So much emotional energy
Nose: I need to settle down
Chin: It’s so hard
Collarbone: I am finding it hard to cope at moments
Underarm: I am so overwhelmed
Top of the head: I am no good to anyone when I can’t cope
Inner eye: Especially myself
Side eye: I am trying to control everything around me
Under eye: Hoping it gets better
Nose: And then something else happens to me
Chin: And I feel out of control
Collarbone: There are actually things in life I cannot control.
Underarm: Too many things.
Top of the head: I am so overwhelmed
Inner eye: I can’t seem to get a grip
Side eye: I am feeling resentful
Under eye: Angry
Nose: Freaking out
Chin: I am feeling guilty that I can’t do it all
Collarbone: I feel ashamed that I can’t manage everything
Underarm: I am open to feeling better about this
Top of the head: I am taking a minute to step back
Inner eye: Breathe
Side eye: I have the power to change how I feel
Under eye: Right now
Nose: I have the power to turn this around
Chin: I do have some control
Collarbone: I do have control over my emotions
Underarm: And how I handle this
Top of the head: I am taking a breath
Inner eye: Breathe in…
Side eye: Breathe out…
Under eye: I am looking at one thing at a time
Nose: Doing things differently than I normally would
Chin: I have been overwhelmed before
Collarbone: It always works out once I see it through
Underarm: It is essential to take care of me first
Top of the head: Breathing
Inner eye: Tapping
Side eye: Sending a signal to my brain and body
Under eye: That I am safe
Nose: I can be in the moment
Chin: Everything is ok, right now
Collarbone: One step at a time
Underarm: I will make it through this
Top of the head: Just like I have made it through all the other times
Inner eye: What is really important here?
Side eye: Me
Under eye: I am just one person
Nose: And maybe that means saying no
Chin: Maybe it means I need an extension
Collarbone: Maybe it means “I can’t do it right now but I will get back to you”
Underarm: Maybe it means I am ok even if I disappoint someone
Top of the head: I am still worthy
Inner eye: One moment at a time
Side eye: Breathing
Under eye: I can do this
Nose: Things will work out for me
Chin: I am beginning to see clearly
Collarbone: I got this
Underarm: I am feeling calmer and more relaxed as I let go.
Breathe in…and breathe out. See how that feels for you. You can go back and tap as many times as you want or need to. The bottom line is that you don’t have stay overwhelmed. Just take a moment to yourself, tap along and let it all go. You WILL feel better which will make it easier to carry on.
I have over 100 tapping videos and demonstrations on YouTube and you can tap along with me anytime! Just go to YouTube.com and search Julie Schiffman. Be sure to subscribe to my channel for new videos that come out all the time.
Read this next: Start with this 5 minute EFT tapping ritual
