As I begin to use EFT, I discover so many different ways it can help with anxiety. One way is as an emergency technique when you are in the middle of a panic attack, or to stop the development of a panic attack. In general, EFT is quite structured and you follow a series of steps to help eliminate fundamental emotional problems.

But EFT is also incredibly useful as a quick fix when you’re just not in the right frame of mind to go through the motions! In fact, while this works for panic attacks, it also works for any very emotional state where you want to calm your body and your emotions (for example, when you are crying, upset, or angry).

The technique

With your fingertips, touch the pressure points around your face and neck. The pressure points are:

• The top of your head
• Above your eyebrow
• The outer corner of your eye
• Under your eye
• Under your nose
• Under your lips
• Just below your collarbone
• Under your left arm

But you can touch all or only some of the points and it doesn’t matter in what order the key is to touch at least some of the points and this will have several benefits. You will be calming your emotional state by releasing some of the blocked energy in your body while touching the pressure points. It will also focus your mind on a positive action that will help you stop thinking about the anxiety you are feeling. The repetitive physical action of tapping will also calm the physical symptoms of a panic attack such as palpitations or tremors.

It is true that there are some situations where you may not feel comfortable tapping on many different pressure points, as you may feel self-conscious, for example in a store. In these situations, you may want to touch a couple of points as discreetly as possible, possibly by resting your face on one hand and using your fingertips to touch the side of your eye. But if you feel the panic and anxiety starting to build, try this technique as an emergency tactic. It works!