How To Use The EFT/Tapping Technique To Ease Holiday Stress

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and cheer. However, this is far from reality for many of us. Feelings of stress, anxiety, sadness, anger, and guilt can all put a damper on the holiday season—especially this year.

Strained relationships with family, memories of lost loved ones, financial hardship, and the pressure to keep up with expectations can exacerbate the holiday blues. And due to the pandemic, many of the activities that once brought us joy during the holiday season (sharing traditions and hugs with loved ones, traveling, attending social gatherings) will be off-limits.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a stress-relief tool that combines elements of traditional Chinese medicine and cognitive behavioral therapy. The energy-clearing technique is also referred to as "emotional acupuncture" because it involves tapping on meridian points while being mindful of our thoughts, emotions, or sensations.

Whether you are feeling sad, angry, or guilty, try to connect with that emotion and identify its cause. For example, you might be feeling sad because you cannot be with your family for the holidays. As you start tapping on this problem, be as specific as possible when you describe the reason you feel sad.

Some of us try to cope with stress or negative emotions by resorting to unhealthy behaviors such as overeating. EFT can help us curb those cravings so that we are more in control of our bodies.

For example, if my go-to stress food was chocolate, I would rate the intensity of that craving and be as specific as possible in describing how I feel when I eat chocolate. For example, the setup statement could be: "Even though I love chocolate—I crave it so badly, I love its sweet taste, its velvety texture, and it makes me feel so good—I accept myself and how I feel about chocolate."

Sometimes we might get stuck in a downward spiral and feel unmotivated to make a positive change or see any silver lining to a situation.

Feeling extremely pessimistic and cynical can sabotage our efforts to feel better. Fortunately, I've found that tapping on all those negative feelings and thoughts can help give us the energy to get moving again and open us up to looking at things differently.

In this situation, our setup statement could be something like this: "Even though these holidays are hard, I am sad, and there is nothing I can do to feel better, I accept how I feel." Or, "Even though these are the worst holidays of my life, they could not be any worse, and I don't think EFT or any other tool can help me feel better, I accept how I feel." Oftentimes, a few rounds of tapping on these feelings of hopelessness can do the trick!