The BoyWho Couldn't Go to Sleep

This is a teaching story, an entertaining way to teach children a simple variant of Faster EFT. (For more information on Faster EFT-V click here.) I call this technique, Happy Tapping. ​Happy Tapping is tapping along with an easy to remember rhyme. Children can utilize this technique to give them a sense of control over uncomfortable emotions when they arise.

The rhyme can be changed to accommodate any number of differing uncomfortable emotions as they are expressed. The child can also use a non-verbal cue, like a growl or an exaggerated frown, instead of trying to name the feeling. The end of the rhyme may be changed to match the desired outcome feeling or action for the child.

Here's the story. I'll add a few more comments after you see what it's all about.

The Boy Who Couldn't Go To Sleep
Once there was a nine-year old child named Joe. Every morning he woke up and did all the things you do to get ready for the day. Then he played and learned and felt happy all day. Every night he did all the things you do to get ready for bed. Then he got into bed and tried to go to sleep. That’s when everything changed.

Suddenly, Joe felt scared and worried. Every night he worried about different things. Every night those things felt scarier and scarier and it was so hard for him to relax and go to sleep. So, he told his Mama. And his Mama said,
“Can you show me with your hands how big that scary feeling is?”

Joe showed his Mama how big it was by spreading his hands wide apart in front of him.

“This big!” He said.

 Then his Mama said, “Tap, tap, tap, tap that scary away.” 

“Tap?” Joe asked.

“Tap,” said his Mama.

Then his Mama showed him about tapping the happy points around his eyes, and on his chest, and around his wrist.

“Happy points? That’s silly,” Joe said, rolling his eyes.

“It sounds silly, doesn’t it?” said his Mama. “But silly feels better than scary, right?”

“Right,” said Joe.

Silly did feel better than scary. He didn’t want to feel scared and worried anymore. He wanted to be able to relax and go to sleep. So, he tried it. He even learned the silly rhyme that helped him remember how to do it every time.

“Tap, tap, tap, tap the scary away. I can feel safe and sleepy this way.”

He tried it once and took a deep breath, just like Mama had told him. He felt a little bit better.

“How big is that scary feeling now?” Asked his Mama.

Joe thought about it and held his hands out a little closer together. But he still felt a little scared. His Mama said that might happen and if it did, he needed to keep tapping. So, he tapped.

“Tap, tap, tap, tap the scary away. I can feel safe and sleepy this way.”

​He took a deep breath and let it all out.

Joe felt calmer now and he was getting sleepy. But he tapped again, just to make sure.

“Tap, tap, tap, tap the scary away. I can feel safe and sleepy this way.”

Before he knew it, he was so relaxed that he fell fast asleep.

HAPPY TAPPING POINTS

Here's How To Do It
1. Ask the child to show you with their hands how big the uncomfortable feeling is.
2. While tapping five or more taps with two fingers on each Happy Point, say,
- Inner corner of eyebrow - "Tap"
- Outer edge of eye on orbital bone - "Tap"
- Under eye on orbital bone - "Tap"
- Chest, beneath indentation at base of throat and slightly to right or left - "Tap this feeling  away."
- Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze with thumb and a finger around the wrist and say, "I can feel safe and better this way."
3. Now ask the child to take a big, deep breath and let it all out.
4. Ask the child to show you with their hands how much of the uncomfortable feeling is left. Encourage the child to be persistent and keep tapping until the uncomfortable feeling is gone.  

Alternate Ideas
The gender and name of the child may be changed depending on who you are teaching.

The rhyme may be changed to fit the feeling the child is experiencing. Remember that some children may not have a word for what they are feeling and may want to demonstrate with a sound or a facial or body movement. The end of the rhyme may be changed to match the desired outcome for the child.

For example:
"Tap, tap, tap, tap this anger/sadness/shame/worried (etc.) away. I can feel better and want to play." 

Allow children to be creative with this. My nine-year-old grandaughter came up with her own version of a desired outcome that had nothing to do with rhyme, and everything to do with an imaginative activity that felt really fun to her. I think it had something to do with sky-diving and friendly giants. ;)