Tapping Can Help You Cope Better Every Day and It Goes Hand in Hand with Mindfulness

Caregivers face challenges and a wide variety of emotions on a daily basis. I know, I’ve been there! If you are experiencing any of the feelings listed below, using tapping for self-care can be a powerful tool that will help:

• guilt
• Stress
• loneliness
• overwhelm
• Burnout
• resentment
• sadness
• fear of the unknowns ahead
• anticipatory Grief

I’m excited to announce I have partnered with The Tapping Solution to create a series of six Caregiver Support Tapping meditations made specifically for caregivers’ relief. I’ll let you know as soon as they’re available, which should be in the near future. I’ve used tapping throughout my life when facing difficulties, and hope you’ll give it a try.

What is Tapping?

Tapping, also called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), is a combination of the principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology. Specifically, it is a method of saying positive affirmations or meditations while tapping gently on nine places of the upper body.

It is easy to learn and effective in decreasing stress, Anxiety, guilt and many other difficult emotions caregivers feel.

What are the Benefits of Tapping?

• It’s easy to learn. You can learn at home, on your own, and no special equipment is needed.
• Tapping can be done anywhere — spoken out loud or to yourself.
• A tapping Meditation takes only 10-15 minutes maximum, and you can shorten it if needed.
• Tapping gives you the opportunity to reframe your Caregiving day from a negative into a positive space. It helps to reduce stress, worries, guilt and all of the other challenging feelings you may have.
• And, it goes hand-in-hand with mindfulness because you will be in the present moment and focused while tapping.

How Do I Start to Tap?

The basic Tapping technique requires you to focus on a negative emotion at hand. This can be a fear, a worry, or an unresolved challenge or problem. While keeping your mental focus on this issue, you use your fingertips to tap 5-7 times on nine specific meridian points of the body, the same used in acupressure.

Tapping on meridian points sends a calming signal to the brain, reducing cortisol levels and letting your brain know it’s safe to relax. The script you hear and repeat helps take your mind from distress into a much improved state — all within a 15 minute maximum time frame.

Watch this video below for a brief introduction on how to tap from Jessica Ortner, CEO of the Tapping Solution:

Does Tapping Work?

Stress is an inherent part of caregiving.

There are hundreds of scientific studies about the effectiveness of Tapping. One study found that Tapping decreases cortisol, known as the stress hormone, by 43% in our bodies.

Read what researchers have learned in EFT Tapping research studies and results.

Tapping is also proven to improve Sleep, reduce anxiety, decrease negative feelings, increase productivity, and more. That’s why it’s being used by so many people around the world. The Tapping Solution app has been downloaded by people in over 130 countries. And soon we’ll have a Tapping meditation series completely dedicated to caregivers!

I’ll announce when the Caregiver Tapping Series is scheduled to launch!

And if you can’t wait to start Tapping . . .

Simply click here to learn more about all of the different Tapping meditations available.

Linda Abbit Author, Speaker, Family Caregiving Expert

Linda Abbit is an eldercare professional and caregiver with more than 25 years of experience caring for her parents and other family members. She is the author of "The Conscious Caregiver: A Mindful Approach to Caring for Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself," (Simon & Schuster, 2017).

Linda worked for over 10 years in the eldercare and health care professions. In 2021, she retired from her position as Community Outreach Manager for Alzheimer’s Family Center, an adult day health care agency designed solely for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and their families.

She currently speaks, leads workshops and assists family caregivers through her book, blog and the Tender Loving Eldercare Facebook page. Her talks are engaging, inspiring and, most importantly, full of real-world practices for new and veteran caregivers to implement in their daily caregiving.

In June 2023, Amy Dickinson recommended Linda's book to family caregivers in her nationally-syndicated column, "Ask Amy."

Linda holds a Master’s degree in Education and was a support group facilitator for the Alzheimer’s Association in Orange County for many years.

Her motto is "Self-care is NOT selfish."