Anxiety and EFT: How Tapping Can Help With Anxiety

Anxiety can affect the way you think, feel and respond physically.

You may find yourself worrying about what might happen, replaying conversations, imagining things going wrong or feeling unable to switch your mind off.

At the same time, your body may respond with a racing heart, tightness in your chest, a churning stomach, muscle tension, changes in breathing, restlessness or an uncomfortable sense that something is wrong.

Sometimes there is an obvious trigger. At other times, anxiety can seem to appear before you fully understand what your system is responding to.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), commonly known as tapping, provides a practical way of bringing attention to these emotional and physical responses while tapping on a sequence of acupoints on the face and upper body.

Rather than trying to force anxiety away or persuade yourself that you should not be feeling it, EFT allows you to begin with what is actually happening for you right now.

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is part of the body’s protective system.

Your brain and nervous system are continually assessing what might be safe and what might require a response. When something is interpreted as threatening, your body can begin preparing you to deal with it.

The important point is that the threat does not always have to be happening in the present moment.

Your nervous system can also respond to something you are imagining, remembering or predicting.

You might be sitting safely at home while thinking about tomorrow’s presentation, next week’s medical appointment or a conversation you are worried about having.

Nothing is happening yet, but your body may already be reacting.

If you would like to understand more about the physical side of anxiety, you can explore why anxiety is felt in the body and how emotional responses can involve the nervous system as well as conscious thought.

What Does Anxiety Feel Like in the Body?

Anxiety is not simply a collection of worried thoughts.

You may notice:

• a racing or pounding heart
• tightness in your chest
• rapid or shallow breathing
• butterflies, nausea or discomfort in your stomach
• muscle tension
• shakiness or trembling
• dizziness or light-headedness
• restlessness
• difficulty concentrating
• a strong urge to escape or avoid something
• a sense of being constantly “on” or unable to relax

These physical responses can sometimes become frightening in their own right.

You may notice your heart beating faster and immediately wonder whether something is wrong. That thought can create more fear, which can intensify the physical sensations and create a feedback loop.

This can be particularly important in fear and panic, where the person may become frightened not only by an external situation but also by the sensations of fear themselves.

Understanding how EFT may help calm the nervous system can also provide useful context for why tapping may be relevant when anxiety feels strongly physical.

Anxiety Can Become a Self-Reinforcing Loop

Anxiety often involves more than a single thought or feeling.

A situation may trigger a threatening interpretation. That interpretation creates an emotional and physical response. The uncomfortable response can then influence what you think or do next.

For example:

Trigger → threatening thought → anxiety response → more worried thinking or avoidance → increased anxiety

You receive an email asking to speak with your manager tomorrow.

You think:

“Have I done something wrong?”

Your stomach tightens.

You begin imagining everything that might happen.

The more you imagine, the more anxious you become.

The stronger the anxiety becomes, the more believable the worried thoughts may feel.

This is one reason telling yourself simply to “stop worrying” may not be particularly effective. There may already be an emotional, cognitive and physiological response taking place.

How Can EFT Be Used With Anxiety?

EFT combines focused attention with tapping on a sequence of acupoints on the face and upper body.

You do not necessarily have to understand the entire cause of your anxiety before you begin.

You can start with what you notice.

For example:

“I feel anxious when I think about tomorrow.”

“There’s a tight feeling in my chest.”

“I’m worried I’ll make a mistake.”

“I keep imagining everything going wrong.”

“I feel overwhelmed when I think about everything I have to do.”

The purpose is not necessarily to find the perfect tapping phrase.

The words can simply help you remain connected with the particular experience you are noticing while you tap.

If you find yourself worrying about exactly what you are supposed to say, see what to say while tapping for anxiety.

Start With Something Specific

“My anxiety” is a very large subject.

EFT can often become easier to work with when you identify something more specific.

Ask yourself:

What am I anxious about right now?

Perhaps it is:

• tomorrow’s meeting
• getting onto a plane
• walking into a social event
• opening your inbox
• waiting for medical results
• having a difficult conversation
• making a mistake
• feeling panicky again
• having too much to do

Once you have identified the situation, notice which particular part of it activates the strongest response.

For somebody worried about a presentation, the trigger might not be “the presentation” as a whole.

It might be:

• walking into the room
• waiting to be called
• seeing people looking at you
• starting to speak
• being asked a question
• imagining your mind going blank

The more clearly you can identify what your system is responding to, the more specific your tapping target can become.

Notice What Happens in Your Body

Once you have identified a situation, gently bring it to mind and notice your response.

Where do you feel the anxiety?

Perhaps there is:

• tightness in your chest
• a knot in your stomach
• pressure in your throat
• tension across your shoulders
• heat in your face
• shakiness
• a sinking sensation

You do not have to analyse the sensation.

You might simply acknowledge:

“This tightness in my chest.”

“This anxious feeling in my stomach.”

“All this tension when I think about tomorrow.”

That can be enough to give you somewhere to begin.

Ask What You Are Afraid Might Happen

Sometimes the surface situation is not the most important part of the anxiety.

The deeper emotional response may be connected with what you believe could happen next.

Ask:

“What am I afraid might happen?”

If you are anxious about presenting, perhaps the answer is:

“My mind will go blank.”

Then you might ask:

“And what would be difficult about that?”

Perhaps:

“Everyone would think I was incompetent.”

The issue has now moved from the broad subject of presenting to something much more specific: fear of judgement, embarrassment or not being good enough.

With panic, the feared outcome might be:

“I’ll lose control.”

“I’ll faint.”

“People will notice.”

“I won’t be able to escape.”

These are different fears and may provide different tapping targets.

EFT for Overthinking

Anxiety and repetitive thinking frequently reinforce each other.

You may replay something that has already happened or repeatedly try to predict something that has not happened yet.

The mind may be attempting to solve uncertainty by thinking harder:

“What if I said the wrong thing?”

“What if this goes badly?”

“What if I’ve forgotten something?”

“What if they think badly of me?”

The thought creates anxiety, the anxiety makes the thought feel important, and the perceived importance encourages even more thinking.

If repetitive thinking is a major part of your anxiety, EFT for overthinking explores how tapping can be used with the particular thoughts, fears and emotional responses that keep these loops going.

EFT for Anticipatory Anxiety

Sometimes anxiety is primarily about something that has not happened yet.

You may be worrying about tomorrow, next week or even an event several months away.

The event is in the future, but the anxiety is happening now.

Your body can respond to an imagined situation almost as though it is already taking place.

This can create the familiar “What if?” loop:

What if I panic?

What if I embarrass myself?

What if I fail?

What if something goes wrong?

If future situations are a major trigger for you, EFT for anticipatory anxiety explores how to break a future event into specific moments and work with the response you are experiencing in the present.

EFT for Social Anxiety

Social anxiety can involve several different layers.

There may be anxiety before an event, fear during the interaction and extensive overthinking afterwards.

You may worry about:

• being judged
• saying the wrong thing
• appearing nervous
• not knowing what to say
• being rejected
• embarrassing yourself

Instead of treating “social anxiety” as one enormous problem, it can be useful to identify the particular social moment and the particular feared outcome that creates the strongest response.

You can explore this in more detail in EFT for social anxiety.

EFT for Fear and Panic

Panic can become particularly distressing because the sensations of anxiety themselves may begin to feel threatening.

A faster heartbeat leads to the thought:

“Something is wrong.”

That thought increases fear.

The increased fear intensifies the physical response.

Now the stronger physical response appears to confirm the original fear.

A feedback loop can develop:

Physical sensation → threat interpretation → fear → stronger physical sensation → more fear

After a frightening panic experience, people may also begin worrying about panic happening again and avoiding places or situations they associate with the previous episode.

EFT for fear and panic looks more closely at physical sensations, fear of panic, avoidance and previous frightening experiences.

EFT for Work-Related Anxiety

Work can trigger anxiety in many different ways.

You might worry about making a mistake, being criticised, speaking in a meeting, meeting a deadline, dealing with a difficult colleague or simply having too much to do.

Sometimes the workday finishes but the mind continues working.

You may replay conversations, check emails repeatedly or begin worrying about tomorrow before today has finished.

Work anxiety can also involve perfectionism:

“I can’t make a mistake.”

“It has to be perfect.”

“I need to prove myself.”

“I can’t let anyone see that I’m struggling.”

These thoughts can carry fears about criticism, failure, rejection or not being good enough.

Our article on EFT for work-related anxiety explores workplace triggers, perfectionism, procrastination, Sunday-night anxiety and fear of making mistakes in more detail.

EFT for Feeling Overwhelmed

Anxiety can also show up as overwhelm.

When there seems to be too much to think about, too much to do or too many demands competing for your attention, it can become difficult to know where to begin.

The nervous system becomes activated.

Thinking becomes more difficult.

The difficulty thinking clearly can make everything feel even more unmanageable.

Instead of trying to solve the entire situation at once, EFT can be used to identify what part of the overwhelm is most present right now.

For a more focused exploration of this experience, see EFT for feeling overwhelmed.

Can Past Experiences Affect Present Anxiety?

Sometimes a current situation produces a response that seems much stronger than the situation itself would appear to justify.

This can make more sense when earlier experiences are considered.

A person anxious about criticism at work may previously have experienced a highly critical parent, teacher or manager.

A fear of driving may be connected with an accident.

A fear of public speaking may be connected with an experience of embarrassment or humiliation.

Fear of panic may be connected with one particularly frightening panic episode.

When something happening now resembles an earlier difficult experience, your nervous system may respond protectively based on what it learned before.

EFT can sometimes be used to work gradually with the specific memories connected with the present response.

There is no benefit in deliberately overwhelming yourself or forcing yourself to relive difficult experiences at maximum intensity. If a memory involves significant trauma, flashbacks, dissociation or overwhelming distress, working with an appropriately qualified trauma-informed professional may be more appropriate.

A Simple EFT Tapping Exercise for Anxiety

Begin with one specific situation rather than trying to work with every aspect of your anxiety at once.

Ask yourself:

“What am I responding to right now?”

Perhaps:

“Tomorrow’s meeting.”

Then notice what happens when you think about it.

You might notice:

“I feel tightness in my stomach.”

If it feels useful, give the emotional intensity a number from 0–10.

You could then begin tapping on the side of the hand while acknowledging your experience:

“Even though I feel anxious when I think about this meeting, this is what I’m noticing right now.”

Then move through the tapping points using simple reminder phrases:

Pause and notice what has changed.

You do not need to decide immediately whether the tapping has “worked.”

Instead ask:

“What am I noticing now?”

The intensity may have changed.

The physical sensation may feel different.

A new thought may have appeared.

You may realise that a different part of the situation is actually bothering you.

Whatever you notice can give you your next tapping target.

If you would prefer a more structured exercise to follow, try this EFT tapping script for anxiety.

You Do Not Have to Force Positive Thinking

When someone is anxious, it can be tempting to immediately replace worried thoughts with positive statements.

But if your nervous system is strongly responding to something it perceives as threatening, saying:

“Everything is fine.”

or:

“I am completely confident.”

may not feel believable.

You can begin with something closer to your actual experience:

“Part of me is really worried about this.”

“My body is reacting strongly when I think about it.”

“I don’t know what is going to happen.”

As the intensity changes, other possibilities may become easier to consider:

“Maybe I can take this one step at a time.”

“Maybe I don’t have to solve everything right now.”

“Perhaps I can deal with what actually happens rather than everything I imagine might happen.”

The aim is not to impose positive thinking. It is to see whether greater flexibility becomes possible as the emotional response changes.

Avoidance and Anxiety

Avoidance can provide immediate relief from anxiety.

You cancel the appointment.

You avoid the social event.

You put off the difficult task.

You do not make the phone call.

You avoid the place where you previously felt panicky.

The anxiety drops.

But that relief can sometimes reinforce the idea that avoiding the situation is what kept you safe.

This does not mean you should force yourself into situations that feel overwhelming.

Rather, working with the emotional response may help you make decisions based more on what you actually want and need, rather than solely on the urge to escape uncomfortable feelings.

Follow What Changes

Anxiety is not always one single issue.

You may begin tapping on:

“I’m anxious about tomorrow’s meeting.”

Then realise:

“Actually, I’m afraid my manager will criticise me.”

After working with that, another thought may appear:

“If I’m criticised, everyone will think I’m incompetent.”

This does not necessarily mean the tapping has failed.

You may simply be identifying different aspects of the problem.

Follow what emerges rather than trying to force yourself through a predetermined script.

When to Seek Professional or Medical Support

EFT can be used as a self-help strategy for everyday anxiety and relatively manageable emotional responses.

However, anxiety symptoms can sometimes overlap with physical health conditions. New, unexplained, severe or concerning physical symptoms should be appropriately medically assessed rather than automatically assumed to be anxiety.

Professional psychological support may also be appropriate if anxiety is persistent, severe or significantly interfering with your ability to sleep, work, travel, maintain relationships or participate in everyday life.

If tapping into an experience causes overwhelming distress, flashbacks, dissociation or difficulty remaining present, stop rather than pushing through the experience and consider seeking appropriately qualified professional support.

EFT is not a substitute for appropriate medical or psychological care when that is needed.

Where to Begin

Anxiety can initially feel like one enormous problem.

But you do not have to work with everything at once.

Start with one moment.

Ask:

What am I thinking about?

What am I afraid might happen?

What do I notice in my body?

What part of this feels most difficult right now?

Then begin there.

You do not have to find the perfect words or understand everything before you start.

Sometimes a useful starting point is simply:

“This is what I’m noticing right now.”

Related Reading

• 
  Why Anxiety Is Felt in the Body
  
• 
  Can EFT Help Calm the Nervous System?
  
• 
  What to Say While Tapping for Anxiety
  
• 
  EFT Tapping Script for Anxiety
  

About Tania A Prince

Tania A Prince is an EFT Founding Master and EFT International Accredited Master Trainer of Trainers with extensive experience working therapeutically and training EFT practitioners. She is also the creator of Mindfulness-Based Inner RePatterning (MBIR™️).

Her work focuses on helping people understand and work with emotional patterns, nervous-system responses and the processes that can keep problems in place.