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Lesson 8 Tapping & Efficient Sleep

Lesson 7 REVIEW: Trauma Containment & RhythmTake a few minutes and review your practice from last week . You can check your progress from the practice plan you created last week .

What skills did you practice?

How many times did you practice?

Name what you experienced in doing this practice.

Rhythm How did your practice of rhythm go?

What did you do?

Did this feel more like work or fun?

How did you feel when you finished your homework practice?

If you did not practice rhythm last week, you can always start this week .

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Lesson 8 Tapping & Efficient Sleep

Tapping

Why? The goal of this section is to learn a powerful and effective tool to reduce reactivity and improve your sense of well-being: Emotional Freedom Technique, or Tapping . It is effective in changing thoughts, emotions, memories, and sensations .

How:STEP ONE—TARGETING THE ISSUE

The key to Tapping success is identifying a thought, emotion, or memory that causes distress. This is your target . The effectiveness of this method is selecting a good target . Bring to mind a thought or emotion which is a source of discomfort or distress . This will be your target .

Write down your target . _______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

STEP TWO—TEST THE INITIAL INTENSITY/GIVE A SUDS SCORE

SUDS is a scale from 0 to 10 used to rate your degree of discomfort . A “0” means you are completely calm and comfortable and a “10” is the highest degree of discomfort that you could experience . A “5” is a moderate level of discomfort .

What is the SUDS score for your target issue? ____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

STEP THREE—THE SET UP STATEMENT

Now create a complete statement from the issue you identified in Step One, naming your area of discomfort. Do this by starting with naming an emotion, followed by a “when” statement. For example, “I was hurt when John called me stupid.”

The target, or set up statement, is simple . It is composed of two phases .

Begin with “Even though,” followed by stating the problem .

End with the phrase, “I am okay .”

For example, “Even though I am ashamed that I got a low grade on my paper, I am okay .”

Fill this in to complete your statement: “Even though ____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________, I am okay .”

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STEP FOUR—THE TAPPING SEQUENCE

It is important to follow the protocol as demonstrated . This means using 2–3 fingers to tap on the correct locations and in the correct order . The power of this method is that it targets a specific problem . Before we get started, please remember your target because you will want to focus on that during the Tapping . You can always check the video online and follow along .

You will tap 3-7 times on each point while saying a reminder phrase that is an abbreviated version of your setup statement . For example, you would shorten “Even though I am ashamed that I got a low grade on my paper, I okay” to “low grade on my paper” or “ashamed of low grade .”

TAPPING LOCATIONS

KC: The Karate Chop point (abbreviated KC) is located at the center of the fleshy part of the outside of your hand (either hand) between the top of the wrist and the base of the baby finger; or, stated differently, the part of your hand you would use to deliver a karate chop .

TOH: On the top of the head . If you were to draw a line from one ear, over the head, to the other ear, and another line from your nose to the back of your neck, the TOH point is where those two lines would intersect .

EB: At the beginning of the eyebrow, just above and to one side of the nose . This point is abbreviated EB for beginning of the Eyebrow .

SE: On the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye . This point is abbreviated SE for Side of the Eye .

UE: On the bone under an eye, about 1 inch below your pupil . This point is abbreviated UE for Under the Eye .

UN: On the small area between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip . This point is abbreviated UN for Under the Nose .

Ch: Midway between the point of your chin and the bottom of your lower lip . Even though it is not directly on the point of the chin, we call it the chin point because it is descriptive enough for people to understand easily . This point is abbreviated Ch for Chin .

CB: The junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone, and the first rib meet . To locate it, first place your forefinger on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone (about where a man would knot his tie) . From the bottom of the U, move your forefinger down toward the navel 1 inch and then go to the left (or right) 1 inch . This point is abbreviated CB for Collarbone even though it is not on the collarbone (or clavicle) per se . It is at the beginning of the collarbone and we call it the collarbone point because that is a lot easier to say than “the junction where the sternum (breastbone), collarbone, and the first rib meet .”

UA: On the side of the body, at a point even with the nipple (for men) or in the middle of the bra strap (for women) . It is about 4 inches below the armpit . This point is abbreviated UA for Under the Arm .

KC

TOH

EBSEUEUNCh

CB

UA

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Lesson 8 Tapping & Efficient SleepSTEP FIVE—CHECK THE INTENSITY AGAIN

Do this procedure 3 to 5 times . Now think about what your new SUDS score is . Checking in with your new SUDS score is important . This is how you measure the effectiveness of the Tapping exercise .

Notice whether your SUDS score has remained the same, gone up or down . If it has remained the same or gone up, you may need to redefine your target . Perhaps ask yourself, “What is the underlying problem?” Is there a problem from the past that is involved in this issue? Are you trying to change someone else? If you change your target, you will need to start your Tapping sequence from the beginning with a new SUDS score .

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Efficient Sleep

Why?Efficient sleep means getting an adequate amount of sleep each night . On average, eight and a half (8 ½) hours of sleep are required for optimal brain growth, memory consolidation, immune functioning, food metabolism to keep fit (becoming overweight is more likely with less sleep), and balancing stress hormones . With enough sleep we are better at focusing, thinking, remembering, problem-solving, handling our emotions, and connecting in relationships .

How:You can take action steps to improve your sleep.

1 . During the day don't take naps .

2 . Set a standard wake up time .

3 . If caffeine, alcohol, and tryptophan impact your sleep, you may need to limit your intake to the morning or not at all .

4 . No vigorous activity within three hours of going to sleep . All activity needs to be outside of the bedroom .

5 . Create a cool temperature in your bedroom .

6 . Keep the bedroom dark .

7 . No electronics in the bedroom 60 minutes prior to bedtime . Turn off all blue lights .

8 . No visible clock .

9 . Pets need to be in their own place and not on your bed .

10 . Go to bed when sleepy . Only attempt trying to sleep in twenty-minute stretches . If you are not asleep in twenty minutes, get up, move to another room, and participate in another activity . If you read, have the light come from behind you .

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Lesson 8 Tapping & Efficient SleepLesson 8 PRACTICE PLAN: Tapping & Efficient Sleep

Today we learned a method called Tapping . It may seem very different to you, but it has proven to have positive effects on those who use it . Complete the chart to plan which Mind Matters exercises you will practice this week .

What skills will you practice?

How many times daily?

How many times weekly?

When/where will you practice?

How will you remember to practice?

Focused Breathing

Peripheral Vision

5-4-3-2-1

Coloring

Body Scan

Internal Journal

Loving Kindness

Wheel of Awareness

Homework: Tapping Action Plan Tapping requires a careful consideration of the proper target . There may be several targets around a single incident . Therefore, you may find yourself tapping over different aspects of that situation .

Select one emotion of incident that causes you discomfort . Write it here .

Each time this situation comes to mind, evaluate whether there is a new aspect to this problem and create a new target and tap on it .

Homework: Efficient Sleep Action Plan What steps are you willing to take to improve your sleep? Write three below .