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In my day job as the FT ColumnsI am skeptical, always with an irreverent eye on the world around me. I tend to be someone who challenges everyone — not for the sake of it, but because I doubt if a whole group of people believe the same thing. I was always labeled as “contra”. I once hosted a podcast series called A Skeptic’s Guide to Crypto. I have the word “snark” in my X bio. You get the idea.
So you might be surprised to hear some of the things I try in my spare time. I use the word “synchronicity” without a sense of irony. I swear to my definitely psychic kinesiologist. I am a member of a coven called the Sisters of the Sanitary Cloth (the descriptor and our name are very small, although the latter is more than the former). I became obsessed Co-Staran app that claims to use Nasa data to give you “super-accurate” AI-generated horoscopes, ahem. (A senior colleague recommended it to me. I won’t name names.) I write for Morning Pages, which is supported by Julia Cameron, author of the creativity bible The Path of the Artist. I, you know, “do the work”.
But how can someone who is so wary of consensus views, and so passionate about the importance of truth and honesty, be so into what many of you would consider delusional? I think it’s simple: I have an open mind. And while I believe in the value of reason and empiricism, I also argue that this is true REASONABLE to explore alternative approaches to science and medicine and life.
Which is how I found myself standing under a chandelier in a luxurious, Edwardian-style suite at the Savoy hotel, using my fingertips to gently tap my “eyebrow points” as silent tears rolled down my cheeks. “I feel like I’m on a never-ending hamster wheel of dates,” I repeated after my instructor while tapping (we’ve already discussed my feelings; he’s not just guessing). “I’m tired” — I bring my fingers down to tap the sides of my eyes. “Eurgh” — under my eyes. “Bleurgh” — under my nose. “Many dates” – under my lower lip. “Many dates!” – collarbone. “But I’m willing to stay open to love” — off the top of my head. “And I trust my intuition more every day” — back to my eyebrows. And so on.
My instructor Poppy Delbridgea former Warner Brothers executive who quit the world of entertainment TV in 2018 to dedicate himself full-time to tap, a primarily self-directed form of therapy that combines modern psychology and ancient Chinese medicine. I met him a few months ago, deciding it was time to meet the love of my life. I went into a “taster session” feeling a bit dubious, spending most of our time together in a state of intense cathartic crying (she had this effect on me in all of our one-on-ones sessions), and left feeling like. when I’m floating in the air.
I now tap every day. I’m a tapoholic. Guided by Delbridge’s Rapid Tapping app as well as his book, Tap onI tap on park benches, in saunas, on Greek islands, in the bath. I completed her “Pivot into Power” personal empowerment program (fellow graduates include British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush and The Royle Family co-writer Phil Mealey). I was on one of her “fast retreats” (our group of five included a Delevingne girl and a superfan who flew in from the Caribbean). And now I’m doing his “30-day Love Cleanse”, which, like all Delbridge programs, involves not only tapping but also intense soul-searching and personal development work.
How to do the two minute tap
Poppy Delbridge’s Guide to “Rapid Tapping”
dash
SERVANT or standing comfortably.
set your intention: decide how you want to feel right now (calm, energized, focused).
Search your frequency level: put both hands on your chest and see how you feel now. Rate yourself from +10 (high happiness) to -10 (low energy or stress).
Take a breath.
actions your hands: slide them a few inches down from your collarbone and massage your “wounded areas” firmly to balance and decompress.
set your intention:
1. “I feel…” acknowledge your feelings right now.
2. “Because…” identify why you feel this way.
3. “But it is possible for me to…”
Rapid Tapping Sequence
use two fingers of each hand, tap these points while repeating your three-step responses.
1. Between the eyebrows
2. Sides of the eye
3. Under the eyes
4. Under the nose
5. Chin
6. Collarbone and heart area
7. Top of the head
after with a head hug and shake-it-off: rub your hands together, put one hand on your forehead, the other on the back of your head, and hold for 10 seconds. Keep a smile. Then shake your hands and body to recalibrate and refresh.
The 7-Day Rapid Reset is available in the free app as a video demonstration
Tapping is a so-called “somatic” therapy, meaning it focuses on the connection between the mind and the body. It has its roots in ancient Chinese medicine but was invented by an American psychologist in the 1980s and then simplified by one of his students in the ’90s to become the “Emotional Freedom Technique”. With EFT, you tap on nine main “meridian points” – pressure points that are also used for acupuncture – to release trapped energy from traumatic experiences stored in the body. While others dismiss it as pseudoscience – Gary Bakker, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Tasmania, calls tapping a “purple hat therapy” and tells me that “there is no evidence whatsoever that tapping your imaginary meridians can do anything for a clinical. psychological problem” – there are studies that argue that tapping can be a way to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, food cravings and even physical that pain and symptoms. in autoimmune conditions.
And the more I tapped, the more issues I found that helped me – especially stress, lack of motivation and self-doubt.
Delbridge’s version, “Rapid Tapping”, focuses on the seven meridian points used in EFT and also usually includes an initial massage of the “sore spots” – fleshy pieces about an inch below the collarbone that feels soft to the touch – as well as a “head hugger” at the end (his app includes a how-to video). He likes to use tapping to focus less on getting rid of the bad. things in the past, like traditional EFT, and even more good things in the future, by “changing our neural pathways”. In other words: to “manifest” the things you desire in your life.
If this sounds gushy, rest assured it’s none of the obvious woo-woo brands of toxic positivity. The fact that each session begins by saying out loud how you really feel and, if that’s negative, repeat it until the feeling starts to feel less intense, is part of what I think makes the practice so helpful. Not only does it feel like you’re releasing stress when you talk your negative feelings out loud, but some of them start to feel a little funny the moment you do.
Most taps start by asking you to score how you feel – in general or on a particular issue – and end by asking you to score it again. Some days my emotions just get worse; other days my mood completely changes in minutes. Whatever it was doing, it felt like something was working. I also sighed when I tapped, a lot. Some people sighed. “I joke that I’m the only public speaker who, when the whole audience is yawning, I don’t get mad,” says Nick Ortner, who has more than 100,000 subscribers to his The Tapping Solution App.
“At the very least you reset your nervous system into an arasympathetic state – from fight or flight to rest and relaxation,” said Dr Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and one of Delbridge’s clients, which now taps most days. “People who are not used to a state of relaxed alertness may feel sleepy.”
As for me, while I have yet to meet the love of my life, sigh, I feel like I’ve broken through a lot of barriers – or “love blocks” – since my first Delbridge session in May. I also seem to spend less time self-sabotaging, and I am able to control my emotions more successfully. I now use tapping as part of my morning routine, and sometimes at other points in the day as well, and find it similar to meditation in the way it strengthens me, although it’s usually more uplifting, motivating, and can be more focused when you want it to be.
I can assure you I feel like a fool – a fool! — the first time I did it, but these days patting my face and chest with my fingers feels natural. Try it, I say. What’s the woo-worst that can happen?
