EFT Tapping for Anxiety: A Beginner Routine You Can Do in 5 Minutes

If you searched EFT tapping for anxiety, and landed here, I’m going to do something I know we really shouldn’t…

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume a couple of things:

1. Your body feels like it’s on high alert, and you may be experiencing things like: tight chest, buzzing limbs, brain doing laps at all hours of the day and night…
2. You want something you can do to help alleviate your anxiety, right now. Not something that requires incense, a personality transplant, or a 12-week deep dive into your childhood.

If we’re even mildly on the same wavelength, keep your eyes peeled because I’m going to be sharing a beginner routine you can do in about five minutes and experience a whole lotta relief.

It’s simple, practical, and science-backed and most importantly, comes without the woo.

Just in case you’ve ended up here with no idea what I’m blathering on about this week, in a nutshell, EFT tapping for anxiety is a technique where you tap specific acupressure points while focusing on what you feel, to help your nervous system downshift.

Here’s what you’ll discover in this weeks blog post:

• What EFT tapping is (and what it isn’t)
• Why anxiety is a body state (not your identity)
• A beginner 5-minute tapping routine you can do anywhere
• What to say while tapping (so it actually works)
• The 3 mistakes that make tapping feel like pointless finger-drumming
• FAQs: does it work, how often, panic attacks, tapping points

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My “dog-week-from-hell” PTSD story (why I stopped calling EFT woo)

But first, let me take you on a little side trek down memory lane…

About 8 years ago, I was walking my two furry boys (a Staffie and an American Bulldog) in our local woods, and another dog (a chocolate lab) appeared out of nowhere, no owner in sight and attacked my dogs.

Because I have a bad habit of acting first and thinking about the consequences at some point long, long into the future… I dived in the middle of the fight.

The owner, a male, appeared mid-tussle and just stood to the side pathetically saying the dog’s name and letting me try to handle the entire thing.

Suffice to say, I ended up with a Labrador-sized gouge out of my right arm.

But thankfully, my boys were pretty much bite- and scratch-free.

Unfortunately, the next day, the boys were attacked by a Bernese Mountain Dog in the same woods.

The day after that, they were attacked by a yellow lab in a local park.

So, by day 4 of this very awful week, I had developed full-blown PTSD.

Even the thought of picking up the dog leads would send me into a panic.

• Heart racing.
• Blood pounding.
• Clammy hands.
• Non-stop replaying the events in my mind.

So, I did what all the expert anxiety sufferers do: I just avoided the problem.

A couple of days later, I decided to stop being such a wetter and use some of the techniques I had in my arsenal to deal with the PTSD and get my ass back outside.

At this time, I’d only heard of EFT, but dismissed it as ‘hocus pocus’ nonsense.

Because if it was as good as everyone claims, then I’d have been taught it as part of my psychology clinical modules… right?

CBT to the rescue… kinda

Which left me with something called Exposure Response. Which is when you repeatedly expose yourself to the fearful stimulus and use nervous system techniques to retrain your mind that the ‘thing’ is not actually scary.

It’s a powerful Cognitive Behavioural Therapy technique. But the problem with it is that it takes a LONG time…

So by week 4 after the dog-week-from-hell, I was able to pick up the leads and get the dogs out the back door and down the drive, but that’s as far as I went.

Poor Matt was having to pick up the slack and do both the morning and afternoon walks.

Frustrated with the prospect of another 8 weeks or so until I was able to walk the dogs by myself, I hit the books… okay, not books, but scientific journal databases.

Scouring the reference sections (becuase this is where the real goldmine of information lives), I came across a reference to Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping.

Seeing a reference to something I dismissed cited in a very respectable journal made me stop and reconsider my 12-month dismissal.

So, I fell down the EFT shaped rabbit hole.

What I discovered was insane…

Things like:

• It’s been used around the world for over 25 years as a viable mental health recovery protocol.
• 300 peer-reviewed studies — including more than 200 clinical trials, including 100 randomised controlled trials- have shown significant reductions in anxiety, PTSD, pain and trauma-related distress.
• It was validated as an effective method of treatment by the American Psychiatric Association.
• It has been shown to alter a person on a biological level, including positively affecting gene expression, brain synchrony, hormonal synthesis and a wide range of other biomarkers.
• It’s proven effective whether delivered in person or virtually.
• Evidence-based long-standing positive benefits associated with reductions in symptoms.
• Being a safe, rapid, reliable and effective treatment for psychological and physiological disorders.

Naturally, my first reaction was annoyance.

Especially when I discovered many universities had been petitioning the NHS since 2016 to run clinical trials and the NHS said ‘nope’.

10 years on, and they are only just now using it. Like literally, since Feb 2026.

In my opinion, this is because places like YouTube and forced them into it by people having to seek help where they could access it.

Anyways, back to my EFT discovery and my crazy, non-recommended plan.

The next designated dog walk, I came up with an idea designed to both test EFT and hopefully solve my issues in one fell swoop.

When we got to the bottom of the drive and I handed Matt the dog leads, I’d follow behind him, and anytime I felt the anxiety rise, I’d tap.

I also had him far enough ahead that he could see oncoming dogs, especially those off the leads, and give me a heads-up.

It’s so funny to think about it now.

A 6 ft, gym-buffed-tattooed man walking two dogs shouting ‘dog’ and then about 20ft behind a 5ft 4 strawberry blonde lass looking like she was having some type of weird spasm.

But I didn’t care back then, and I absolutely do not care now.

Because the most insane thing happened.

The next day, I took the dogs for a walk. On my own. No panic. No fear. Just breathed deeply and went.

After that, I became a tapping queen.

Every slight niggle of negative emotion, and it was like my fingers had a mind of their own.

Since then, it’s been a firm feature of any therapy I’ve done.

Before I give you a 5-minute fix, I just want to clear up a few things…

What is EFT tapping?

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), sometimes just called ‘Tapping’, is a method where you tap with your fingertips on specific pressure points on your face and body while focused on your emotional state and saying aloud things that are coming to your mind.

You’re not “manifesting.”

You’re definitely not pretending you’re fine.

You are, in essence, giving your nervous system a pattern interrupt.

How EFT tapping works for anxiety.

Anxiety is not a personality trait, identity or a psychological phenomenon. It is a body state.

It happens automatically, any time your ‘threat system’ is triggered.

Which can happen whether you’ve received a text message from someone you don’t like, or you’re being chased through the jungle by a lion.

Your body does not care what the ‘threat’ is. It just reacts.

As part of the reaction:

• Your breathing changes.
• Your muscles brace.
• Your brain consistently scans for danger and develops dramatic disaster movie scripts about your future. Starting the process all over again.

Tapping gives your system two messages at once:

• Your mind: “This is what I’m feeling.”
• Your body: “We’re safe enough to come down a notch.”

Which is super powerful.

The evidence shows that EFT is not just the placebo effect in full swing with you ‘feeling better because I tried something.’

It creates scientifically validated, measurable shifts.

(Oh, and disclaimer: you have to use it when you need it. Once is never going to undo your 30-plus years of trauma.)

If you want more than one routine, like advanced EFT protocols for habits, motivation, and emotional loops, that’s inside the Happiness Hacks Lab: **https://www.happinesshackslab.com**

Your 5-minute EFT tapping routine for anxiety

Before you start anything, you need to do a super quick 10-second emotional check-in.

Rate your anxiety right now from 0–10.

0 = what anxiety?

5 = hit and miss.

10 = full-blown spiral which may end up with you thinking those heart palpitations are a heart attack and rushing to A&E (and yes, I’ve been here).

You’ll do the same thing again, once you’ve been through the process.

Measuring, testing and understanding whether something is working for you is vital. So please, don’t skip this bit.

The best thing about EFT is you can literally do it anywhere; it works wonders, and it costs you nothing… okay, maybe there’s a slight dent in other people’s perceptions of you if you do it in public, but would you rather people you don’t know or care about thought you were weird, or your anxiety continues to ruin your life?

The 5-minute EFT routine (with a twist).

Step 1: Pick your focus (keep it simple)

Choose one emotion (this is the twist that makes it more effective):

• “This fear.”
• “This dread.”
• “This anger.”
• “This panic.”
• “This guilt.”

Don’t overthink it.

Just focus on the most dominant emotion swirling around your emotional jumble right now.

You’re not writing a novel or auditioning for the next round of Britain’s Got Talent.

Step 2: Setup phrase (Karate chop point)

Tap the squishy bit on the side of your hand, under your little finger (doesn’t matter which hand).

Say this 3 times:

“Even though I feel this [insert emotion] right now, I deeply and completely love and accept myself”

This phrase may trigger you in itself; please persevere, it matters.

Step 3: Tap the points (one short phrase each)

Tap each point around 7 times each.

But you don’t need to worry about counting.

Just tap while you’re talking, and you’ll do it enough.

Say a short phrase that matches what is going on in your mind.

It doesn’t matter what it is, how weird it sounds or how irrelevant it seems to your situation.

Whatever you say is right for you. It’s your experience. It’s your mind quirk.

Below are some examples, but if they are not true to you, they will do nothing to help.

You can start on whichever point you choose; it doesn’t matter.

You can tap on a single point, but be careful; you have to know which point matches the emotion, and so it’s much easier to just ‘tap like a crazy person’.

Go around and around as many times as you feel like you need to. After the 5th thing you say, you’ll be getting to the key beliefs attached to that emotion.

Most people tend to dry up somewhere in the third round.

That’s cool, you don’t need to complete it.

Just go until you are struggling to say something.

Here’s a simple example round:

• Top of head: “I don’t understand why I can’t ever do what I need to?”
• Eyebrow: “Why is everything so hard all the time?”
• Side of eye: “Why does it bother me so much what XYZ said?”
• Under eye: “I don’t even care what they think”
• Under nose: “I’m so [insert emotion] with myself for [insert the thing you did/didn’t do]”
• Chin: “Why didn’t I learn the last time?”
• Collarbone: “I just seem to make the same mistakes over and over”
• Under arm: “Will life ever get better than this?”

There’s a lifelike pictorial represenation of me below showing all the key points in a 9:16 format so you can keep it as a screengrab and laugh at it… I mean… use it… anytime you need to remind yourself of the points.

Download/Screenshot This:

Emotional Freedom Technique or ‘Tapping’ Points — © Katie Woodland

Step 4: Re-rate (0–10)

Take a deep breath and check your emotional charge again from 0–10.

If it only dropped 1 point, awesome work.

Though chances are it will have dropped more than one…

The ugly truth of the words inside your mind is what made this work.

Step 5: Tap in what’s true (positive round)

Because we don’t want to leave you where your mind may be tempted to wander back into those thoughts we just flushed out, we need to finish on a high.

Now we need to ‘tap in’ some affirmations.

The best affirmations, much like the best things to ‘tap out’ are ones which are true for you.

They don’t have to be grand or show-stopping. Just real.

Here’s a simple example round:

• Top of head: “I am grateful for the opportunity to create emotional space in my life”
• Outside of eyebrow: “In this moment I am safe”
• Inside of eyebrow: “I have the capacity to change my future by the actions I take right now”
• Under eye: “I am strong enough to take the first small step, whatever that may be”
• Under nose: “I survived my past and this shows me how strong I am”
• Chin: “I am thankful for the opportunity to grow and change”
• Collarbone: “I accept my past and take responsibility for my future”
• Under arm: “I am the best version of myself”

If anything you say on the positive round triggers a negative emotion, you need to tap through it.

Follow the negative train of thought, then come back to the positive.

I know, I know.

I said 5-minutes, and if you were anything like me, when I first started tapping, you’ll be doing it multiple times a day.

But that is actually beautiful because every time you tap through the things that cause you emotional turbulence, you are releasing it, and this, my dear friend, is you actually healing.

One of my clients embraced EFT so much that her kids thought she was experiencing the same type of bowel upset which comes from doing the 3 tablespoons of olive oil a day for weight loss craze, because she was embarrassed and kept locking herself in the loo.

The beginner mistakes that make tapping feel pointless

1) Trying to be positive too soon

Please don’t start with “I’m calm, confident and in control.”

Your body ain’t stupid, and it will press that giant red bullshit button.

You have to start with what’s true.

2) Using someone else’s script like it’s a spell

If the words don’t match your experience, your system won’t shift.

It literally can’t.

If you have never had PTSD over being attacked by a dog, saying something like ‘It’s safe to be around dogs which aren’t my own’ will do nothing.

The same as if you pick an emotion which you aren’t feeling.

Defaulting to ‘anxiety’ when you feel a pure blind rage will shift nothing and probably see you being even more ‘rageful’.

Use your words. Use your experience. Use your truth.

3) Treating tapping like a one-off miracle

Yes, I, and many others experience life-changing moments due to a single round of tapping.

However, just because my dog-related PTSD shifted, the rest of the crap and trauma I was still holding onto like it was the winning lottery ticket was still there.

One-and-done is not the solution.

Plus, tapping works best before you hit the tipping point.

Use it early.

Use it very often.

Use it daily as part of your routine.

FAQs: EFT tapping for anxiety

Does EFT tapping really work for anxiety?

Over 25 years and 300 different studies show efficacy for psychological disorders such as anxiety, PTSD, pain and trauma-related distress.

It’s not a miracle cure.

It’s a useful tool to have in your regulation toolbox.

How long does EFT tapping take to work?

Sometimes you’ll feel a shift in minutes. Sometimes you need a few rounds. The goal is a drop in intensity, not instant perfection.

If you’ve had quite a few traumatic moments in your past, and this has been left to build up over time, then you’ll need to do multiple rounds.

But it’s not a race.

Just commit to doing it once a day, for 5 minutes.

Then check in and see how you’re feeling in a few weeks from now.

Even now, 8 years on, I still tap regularly.

This helps me keep my mind clear and stops the daily grind from wearing me down.

What if I feel silly doing it?

You’re not the only one.

You look silly.

But I urge you to do it anyway.

Feeling silly is definitely a trade-up, compared to spiralling out of control.

Can I do tapping every day?

100%

Daily use often works much better than saving it for emergencies.

Gary Craig, the creator, was inspired by the effectiveness of EMDR therapy but saddened at its inability to be used outside of a therapy setting.

EFT, was specifically created to be self-used. Though sometimes, if there is deep trauma, it can be useful to seek support from a trained professional as well.

That said, I never sought help from anyone else, just barreled through my trauma, experimenting on myself every step of the way.

Can tapping replace therapy or medication?

Not always. For some people it’s enough. For others it’s one tool in a bigger plan. Medication changes should always be done with a trained professional to ensure the withdrawals don’t cause you harm.

What are the tapping points for anxiety?

The classic EFT points per Gary Craig’s ‘basic recipe’ are: outside of the eyebrow, inside of the eyebrow, under the eye, under the nose, on the chin, on the collarbone, under the arm, and on top of the head.

If you can only remember one, try using the collarbone. It’s easy, discreet, and works well for most people.

Does tapping work for panic attacks?

It absolutely can help reduce the intensity of the panic attack by helping to reharmonise the nervous system.

If you’re in a full panic attack, keep your phrases very simple, but still true to how you are feeling. For example, “This panic”, “Overwhelming”, “Can’t think.” Where you can, try to pair tapping with other regulation tools (see the blog post **How to Regulate Your Nervous System (Fast): 9 Body-First Tools That Actually Work).**

How often should I tap for anxiety?

How long is a piece of string?

Yeah, I know, it’s annoying when people do this.

But it’s true.

Here’s when you might consider weaving it into your routine to get the most out of it:

• Tap at the first sign of escalation
• Use it before known triggers (meetings, school run, bedtime)
• Lean on it daily if you’re in a high-stress season

Most people do best with short and frequent rather than one long session. But again, that depends on the situation.

For me, and the dog-PTSD one full 45 minute walk and tapping constantly was perfect. For my client, she ended up looking like she had a dodgy curry, running off to the loo multiple times during the day.

Your situation will determine what is right for you.

Tapping for anxiety (is it the same as EFT?)

Yep.

Most people mean EFT when they say tapping.

It’s a branding thing.

Not a ‘one thing works better than the other’ thing.

TL;DR (for when you’re spiralling and need the short version):

• EFT tapping helps because it gives your system two messages at once:
• mind: “this is what I’m feeling”
• body: “we’re safe enough to come down a notch”
• Rate your anxiety 0–10 before you start.
• Tap the karate chop point & say the setup phrase 3x.
• Tap through the points while saying what’s true (not what you wish was true).
• Re-rate 0–10. Do another round if needed.
• Finish by “tapping in” a few true, stabilising statements.
• Use it early and often, not as a once-a-month emergency flare.

Want help applying this properly (so it’s not just random tapping when you remember)?

Come into the Happiness Hacks Lab for advanced EFT protocols plus the full regulation toolkit. Start here: https://www.happinesshackslab.com and make your first stop the video called: ‘Struggling With Anxiety? Do this.’

Less Om. More Outcome.

xoxo Katie 😘

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