EFT Tapping for Better Sleep
A personal practice of EFT (aka tapping) has helped me fall asleep, stay asleep and get back to sleep when I need it most. When my nervous system is amped up or I'm feeling wired, whether I know the reason consciously or not; when my mind is racing or I want to distract myself with a tv show or social media – I can set aside a short amount of time to tap into my true thoughts, feelings or sense of discomfort.
In other words, when I tap in small, structured ways before bedtime, sleep comes more easily and my waking life reflects the benefits of much needed rest and relaxation.
Whether you have a history of poor sleep habits or just occasional bouts of sleeplessness or insomnia, a consistent practice of EFT tapping can help, especially if you:
- Have trouble falling asleep
- Wake-up in the middle of the night (or earlier than you'd like)
- Experience poor quality sleep, grind your teeth or wake up stressed
- Are overtired, moody, cranky or anxious during the day due to lack of sleep
- Experience memory issues or inability to focus on tasks related to sleep
- Make mistakes, get clumsier or more accident-prone due to lack of sleep
- Worry about the quality of sleep during waking hours
If you've tried everything, including buying new pillows, beds or expensive gadgets, moving into a separate room, relying upon sleep aids and still nothing works – a program of EFT tapping sessions with a skilled professional can help you explore the oft-neglected emotional contributors (e.g., thoughts, feelings, memories) that may be affecting your body's ability to let go and rest.
Tapping to Fall Asleep
When I have trouble falling asleep, if I'm amped or my mind is racing, I try to carve out 5 minutes to create some better bedtime habits.
One of those habits it to find a spot in my bedroom that I don't normally sit – let's call this my tapping spot. My spot has one of those cotton-stuffed round pillows used for yoga. I've never been a meditator, but I know that I won't be sitting here for very long, as long as I'm diligent – maybe 10 minutes, max.
Once I get situated and comfortable, I close my eyes and start tapping on my Collarbone Point. If I can't fall asleep or I'm having trouble, I will say that to myself for one round of tapping, beginning with: "Even though I can't fall asleep..."
Just saying the words out loud while tapping demonstrates (to myself, to my nervous system) that I'm willing to have this state of affairs, as uncomfortable as it is. The somatic tapping creates a rhythm, a cadence and a framework where I can literally sit, tap and be with this discomfort.
On it's own, this may be enough to fall asleep, or I might quiet my mind enough during the process to begin noticing what's really wrong... what might be bothering me and affecting my ability to fall asleep.
At this point, I'll tap for that and let my body tell me what I might be fighting or trying to push away. If doing this on your own sounds like too tall an order, consider a program of personal EFT sessions for better sleep.
Tapping to Stay Asleep
Waking in the middle of the night has been one of the ways my body tells me something is wrong. I may know consciously what that is – or I may not. All I know is I'm no longer tired, my mind might be racing or I'm feeling amped-up in some way.
Experience has taught me that before I allow this to go on for too long, I'll do a version of tapping that doesn't involve tapping at all. Instead, I ask myself what's bothering me and let my mind wander. At times, the issue will become clear, but oftentimes a simple acknowledgment of "I can't fall asleep" is enough.
Imagine Tapping. Whatever arises, I will imagine going through the EFT sequence.
Saying this in my mind, I also imagine tapping on the Side of Hand point three times:
- "Even though I can't fall back asleep, this is where I'm at right now"
Then I imagine myself tapping on each point, beginning with the Top of the Head
- "I can't fall asleep..."
I usually try to stay out of the details of why I'm having trouble, but sometimes those details emerge easily. If that is the case, I'll use those words instead. Sometimes will even invite the 'amped up' or 'wired' feeling to show up as an image I can observe while imagining tapping on one point such as the Collarbone.
In my experience, acknowledging my struggle while imagining tapping (sometimes without even getting out of bed) almost always helps my body and nervous system relax, let go my racing thoughts and fall back asleep more easily.
