The First Time Feels Strange
You're about to tap on your face while talking to yourself. It will feel odd. That's worth saying plainly before we begin, because the awkwardness keeps many people from trying something that could genuinely help.
The EFT tapping technique is a research-backed practice that pairs gentle touch on specific points of your body with honest acknowledgment of what you're feeling. More than 300 published studies of tapping, including nearly 100 randomized controlled trials, have examined this practice. A 2020 study published in Psychological Trauma (Stapleton et al.) found that one hour of tapping cut cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, by 43%, more than double the drop from an hour of talk-based education.
But none of that matters if you never try it because it looks too strange.
So here is our invitation: give yourself five minutes with this article. Follow the steps. Feel what happens in your body. Then decide whether it's worth continuing. You don't need to feel confident to begin.
For those wondering whether this practice fits within Christian faith, we address that question directly in our article on whether EFT tapping is biblical. The short answer: we anchor every session in Scripture and prayer, never in self-generated acceptance or vague spiritual language. But first, let's learn the technique itself.
What You'll Need Before You Begin
Nothing, really. Yourself, a few minutes of quiet, and willingness to try something new.
You don't need to believe it will work. You don't need to feel spiritual or centered. You don't even need to understand why it works.
The one thing that helps: honesty. Tapping works best when you name what you're actually feeling rather than what you think you should be feeling. God already knows what's happening in your heart. This practice is a way of bringing that truth to the surface where it can be released.
The Nine Tapping Points
Before walking through a full session, you need to know where you'll be tapping. There are nine points, all on your face, hands, and upper body.
For the complete breakdown of each point's location with Scripture pairings, see our full tapping points guide. Here's the quick reference:
- Side of hand (the fleshy part below your pinky finger—like a karate chop point)
- Eyebrow (inner edge, just above the bridge of your nose)
- Side of eye (on the bone at the outer corner)
- Under eye (on the bone directly below the pupil)
- Under nose (between the nose and upper lip)
- Chin (in the crease between your lower lip and chin)
- Collarbone (find the notch at the base of your throat, then move down and out about an inch)
- Under arm (about four inches below the armpit, at bra-strap level)
- Top of head (crown, where you'd balance a book)
You'll tap each point about five to seven times using two or three fingers. Either hand works. Either side of your face works. There is no wrong way to do this; close is close enough.
The Three Parts of a Tapping Session
Every tapping session follows the same basic structure:
Part One: Rate Your Distress
Before you start, take a moment to notice what you're feeling. Name it plainly—anxious, overwhelmed, sad, tight in your chest, whatever is true. Then rate its intensity from 0 to 10, where 10 is the worst it could be and 0 is completely peaceful.
This number isn't about judgment. It's a baseline that helps you notice whether something has shifted by the end.
Part Two: The Setup Statement
The setup statement acknowledges what you're feeling and pairs it with a truth. In secular EFT, that truth is typically "I deeply and completely accept myself." At Tapping in Faith, we replace that with something more honest for those who follow Christ: acknowledgment of God's presence, His love, or our trust in Him.
The setup statement follows this pattern:
"Even though I [feel this thing], [I trust God / God is with me / I bring this to Him]."
You say this statement three times while tapping on the side of your hand.
Part Three: The Tapping Rounds
After the setup, you move through each of the remaining eight points while speaking short reminder phrases—honest acknowledgments of what you're feeling. You might say "this anxiety" or "all this tightness in my chest" or "I can't stop thinking about it." The goal is not to push the feeling away but to name it while you tap.
After one or two rounds through the points, you check in. Has the intensity shifted? If it's moved from an 8 to a 6, you continue. If it's dropped significantly, you might shift into gratitude or prayer.
A Complete Beginner Script: Casting Anxiety on Him
Here is a full session you can follow right now, anchored in 1 Peter 5:7:
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
Before you begin, bring to mind something that's weighing on you. Not your deepest trauma. Choose something present. A worry about tomorrow. A conversation you're dreading. A low-grade hum of anxiety you can't quite name.
Notice where you feel it in your body. Rate its intensity from 0 to 10.
Setup (tap on the side of your hand)
Say each statement once, continuing to tap:
"Even though I'm carrying this anxiety, I trust that God cares for me."
"Even though this worry won't leave me alone, I bring it to Him."
"Even though I feel this weight, His invitation is to cast it on Him."
Round One (move through each point, one phrase per point)
- Eyebrow: "This anxiety"
- Side of eye: "This weight I'm carrying"
- Under eye: "All this worry"
- Under nose: "It feels so heavy"
- Chin: "I can't seem to let it go"
- Collarbone: "It's right here in my body"
- Under arm: "This anxious feeling"
- Top of head: "I've been holding onto it"
Round Two (continue through the points)
- Eyebrow: "He invites me to cast it on Him"
- Side of eye: "Because He cares for me"
- Under eye: "I don't have to carry this alone"
- Under nose: "His care is real"
- Chin: "Even when I can't feel it"
- Collarbone: "I choose to trust Him with this"
- Under arm: "Releasing this worry to Him"
- Top of head: "Letting my body settle"
Check In
Take a breath. Notice what you feel now. Rate the intensity again from 0 to 10.
If the number has dropped, you've just experienced what tapping can do—not by pushing the feeling away, but by bringing it honestly before God while you tapped.
If the number hasn't changed much, that's normal too. Some feelings need more time or more specific focus. You haven't done anything wrong.
Tapping in Faith is a practice alongside faith and good care, not a replacement for either. If you're living with trauma or a health condition, keep working with your doctor or counselor.
What Just Happened in Your Body
Tapping on specific points while you name what's troubling you sends a calming signal to the brain's alarm center. When your nervous system shifts out of fight-or-flight, the prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain that handles language, reflection, and deliberate worship — comes back online.
This is why Scripture can feel more accessible after tapping. It's not that God was absent before. It's that an activated nervous system makes receiving His peace physiologically difficult. Tapping helps calm the body so the soul can pray.
Common Questions from First-Timers
"It still feels strange. Am I doing it wrong?"
If it feels weird, you're doing it right. The strangeness fades with practice. What matters is not how natural it feels but whether something shifts in your body.
"Do I have to say the words out loud?"
Out loud is ideal. If you're in public or can't speak, think the words while you tap.
"What if I tap on the wrong spot?"
Close is close enough. You can't break this. Do your best.
"Should I close my eyes?"
Either way works. Some people find closing their eyes helps them focus inward. Others prefer to keep them open. Try both.
"How often should I do this?"
Whenever you need it. Tap in the moment of distress, or make it a daily rhythm.
Taking the Next Step
You now have everything you need to practice tapping on your own. The technique you just learned is the foundation—the same sequence you'll use whether the issue is anxiety, grief, sleep, or anything else weighing on you.
But following a written script is harder than being guided through it. That's where the app comes in.
Tapping in Faith offers guided sessions for specific struggles—each one anchored in Scripture, spoken in a calm voice, with space for your nervous system to settle. You don't have to remember the points or come up with your own words. You follow along.
If you'd like to bring this to God in a guided way, our page on how tapping fits with Christian faith addresses that question directly.
When you're ready, you can try a free tapping session. No card needed. Five minutes with something that might genuinely help.
