Tapping to ease stress in school
Tapping is used in many PTS Post Traumatic Syndrome therapies to help release feelings and thoughts that threaten to overwhelm our daily lives.
As complex individuals, we build layers of feelings over events. We create stories around what we say to ourselves.
Over time, these stories form into beliefs that make us act and react in certain ways - often ways that aren't good for us.
We may have repetitive negative feelings around certain issues, repeated emotions on particular topics, thoughts about things, people, events etc. And all these can stop us from acting well. In fact they can make us think bad things about ourselves and how we should handle ourselves.
But the beauty of Tapping or EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) lies in the release or freedom that it can give us, if we learn how to 'do ' it.
You don't need to be an expert to get the basics. The steps are simple.
There are many videos and explanations online. Some may give different guidelines and exercises but the essence is the same.
You can get the Science and research part from Google, but let's keep it simple.
Tapping is a combination of the ancient art of Acupressure with modern psychology. By tapping on the body's meridian or energy points whilst speaking out our worries, we send signals to the part of our brain that control our stress.
The tapping reduces the stress we feel, leaving us lighter and more able to balance our feelings.
It is now a recommended Mindful Practice with a number of Mental health issues.
It’s simple to learn and easy to speak out our feelings once to get clear on what’s catching us out and stopping use from being our best.
There are many benefits for those in Education, especially in a programme designed to support students with their Well Being, and in the run up to Exams.
Benefits for students
- self administered
- can be used when required
- puts students in control of their feelings
- quickly learned
- easy to do with a little practice
- painless form of self-help
- because it's a low visibility activity, no-one needs to know you're 'doing' it
benefits for staff
- able to handle own stress levels
- less sickness
- increased bounce back/positivity
- higher engagement with school
benefits for school
- happier students
- calmer behaviour
- students have choices in handling things their way
- easy shared
- no expertise required
- long term benefits in handling stress
- beneficial with many Mental Health challenges
The process can help students uncover their feelings and emotions about things on a deep level.
When we're unhappy, the part of our brain that likes to help us deal with problems brings up past problems - all in an effort to help us make sense of things.
It chunks memories together. And in normal situations that's good as it helps us process the best way to deal with things. The problems occur when we're already stressed or unhappy and then presented with even more challenging memories. It heaps more problems onto an already difficult thought pattern.
It can tip us into an increasing spiral of worry.
Tapping works as a pattern interrupter stopping our usual way of thinking. It jogs us out of our normal automatic responses.
Perhaps this could be part of your new well being programme.
Question – how could it help you and your school manage stress?
Click here for your 13pp workbook on ‘Using Tapping to Let Go of Stress and Worry'. It’s packed with ideas on how to make it part of your school programme.