What is tapping?
Tapping is a unique healing technique that anyone can learn to use. I chose to add this tool to your package so that you have another strategy you can use on a day-to-day basis to help you feel empowered to take healing into your own hands and realize your body’s amazing potential to release whenever you need to!
The simple explanation for how tapping works is that we are made up of energy and this energy flows through meridians in our bodies. When we experience negative energy it can become trapped in our bodies and manifest as physical pain, disease or negative thoughts, feelings and emotions. The action of tapping on these meridians while focusing our attention on what we would like to release brings that energy to the surface so we can acknowledge it, desensitize the “charge” attached to it and let it go. Tapping is a simple way to find the root cause of what is causing our discomfort so that we can release it at the source rather than only trying to heal the symptoms that are presenting for us.
Incase you are brand new to tapping this is a great video that gives a little more detail and will show you what tapping looks like!
How can tapping help with birth trauma?
Taping can help you uncover your beliefs around birth and release the emotions that come up as you process your experience. For most of us, typically our first instinct is to power through any big emotions that come up around our birth because we fear that diving into them will leave us feeling overwhelmed. With tapping you will learn to acknowledge and accept those feelings in a gentle way so that you can let them go!
*I’ve outlined the process below with a script for birth trauma specifically but feel free to change it in any way that fits for you or for any areas of your life where you are struggling.*
The Process
Here are the basic steps of tapping, please give them a read and then I will guide you through a script so that you really get the idea of how to do this! If it feels more comfortable, you can start with something that feels less intense than your birthing experience. Some examples of topics that can feel less triggering could be, anxiety about a messy house or annoyance with a whiney kiddo. (Those are TOTALLY my own personal stressers right now 😉!) Choose anything you would like to work on that is causing you to feel unsettled.
OK! Let’s get started!
1. Choose a topic you want to focus on and be very specific. Here are a few common examples of the feelings some women struggle with after a traumatic birth.
The sadness I feel about how my birthing went.
The anger I feel about how myself or my baby were treated.
The shame I feel about my body “failing” me or not being “strong” enough to birth naturally.
The shock I feel surrounding the birth.
2. When you think about your birth experience, what sensations do you notice in your body? What number would you assign the most prevalent sensation you are experiencing based on its intensity on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most intense.
3. Now, you create your set up statement.
Example: “Even though, *Insert your topic here* (example: I am feeling anger about how babe was born) I totally love, *completely forgive* and fully accept myself.”
** Add “forgive” to your set up statement if you are feeling any guilt around how things happened even if you KNOW it’s misplaced guilt. **
4. Now, it’s time to tap! Tap on your karate point and repeat your set up statement 3 times. Always begin with “Even though.”
5. Now, continue tapping through the rest of the points while either talking through the thoughts that are coming up or just repeating the sensation you are experiencing ( ex: this tightness in my chest). It doesn’t have to be perfect, just say whatever comes up for you around the topic you are tapping on. The point is to focus on the energy you are wanting to release. Notice what emotions you are feeling most intensely and choose words to reflect them. If you can, as mentioned above, pinpoint where in your body you are experiencing the feeling or sensation! The more specific you can be the better!
Some examples: “This anger in my chest”
“ This shame in my stomach”
“This sadness”
6. After you have tapped through all the points ending on your head, take a deep breath and release, then check in to see how the sensation has shifted on your scale of 1 -10 and how you feel overall. Have the feelings and sensations shifted?
7. Keep tapping through the points until the intensity comes down and feel free to shift your attention to whatever the strongest or most intense feeling is in the moment. You may start in one place and then realize an even stronger feeling has surfaced so you will want to shift your attention to that feeling first.
What if I feel resistance to tapping?
Here are some questions you can ask yourself if you are feeling resistant to tapping.
✨What’s the downside of getting what I want?
✨How does it serve me to stay how I am?
✨Who do I blame for this problem in my life?
✨What might I have to deal with if this problem was resolved?
The answers to any of these questions then become the words you tap on. You don’t need to answer them all, they are just to help you pinpoint your focus if you are not sure where you would like to start.
✨So what is the downside of releasing trauma? Maybe no one will really understand how bad it was? Maybe then you will be expected to go back to being a full-time, overworked, overtired mom with not as much support.
✨How does it serve me to stay how I am? Maybe you are finally receiving the extra support and connection that you were missing in your relationship before this happened.
✨Who do I blame for why this traumatic birth happened? Do you blame your partner for not advocating for you, the medical professionals, or maybe even yourself?
✨What might I have to deal with if my trauma was healed? Maybe there is a feeling you will need to share your story to evoke change in the birthing world and that isn’t something you feel ready for or may never want to do….Or you will be expected to be “super mom” again with no excuses for why you need to rest.
What if I have physical pain/injuries from birthing?
Often, our stifled emotions present in the form of physical issues within our body or can prevent us from, or slow down our bodies natural healing abilities . So asking yourself a few simple questions to uncover the emotions behind any physical pain you may be feeling is important.
✨What was going on in my life when this pain began?
✨What limiting beliefs do I have about this pain?
✨What is the downside of recovering from this pain?
For example: No one is truly validating how badly my incision hurts, When I recover no one will ever truly understand how painful and horrific what I went through really was.
The feeling: fear or frustration that no one will ever understand.
Setup statement could be: “Even though I have this pain and don’t feel like anyone understands the severity of what happened to me, I totally love and accept myself. “
Then your reminder statement could be: “This fear that no one understands my pain.”
Where do I go from here?
Ok, so that is tapping in a nutshell. I really hope it will be another tool you can utilize not only for processing your birth trauma, but for your day-to-day struggles as well. 💜
*For more information on tapping and an AMAZING free summit every year click here!