What Is Somatic Tapping?

An introduction to somatic tapping — a simple technique combining touch and breath to help calm the body and support emotional regulation. You'll learn what "somatic" means, how tapping works with the body's natural stress response, and the many everyday situations it can help with, from overwhelming emotions to racing thoughts. No experience needed — just an open mind and a few quiet minutes.

Transcript

Welcome to My Little Corner of the World. My name is Diana, And today we're going to explore what somatic tapping is. I've been using tapping since 2009 when I completed my EFT practitioner training under Gary Craig. Gary Craig is the founder of the Emotional Freedom Technique. I continue to use tapping for myself and I've taught it to many others over the years. I'm creating these practices for everyone to use so you can better regulate your own emotions and really take control of how you experience your feelings and resolve some of them on your own. People use tapping for all kinds of situations. Calming anxiety before a stressful moment. Quieting racing thoughts before going to sleep. Or just easing stress after a hard day. It can also help with overwhelming or upsetting emotions. With grounding in the present moment when you're feeling disconnected or dissociated. And with releasing the feeling of being stuck in a pattern of negative thoughts. It's a flexible tool you can reach for in a wide range of moments, Big or small. So let's get started. What is somatic tapping? Somatic means the body. That means we're using different senses the body has in order to regulate itself. Somatic tapping uses the sense of touch along with some verbalization, But also breathing. Deep breathing stimulates different areas of the body. So primarily in this practice, We're going to be using the sense of touch and breathing together. When touch and breathing are used together, It can actually help calm the body. And our goal is emotional regulation. What that means is that your body is in a calm state on a regular basis. When your body is emotionally regulated, You feel calm and at peace most of the time. It's normal to get upset occasionally. But your body should return to that peace and calm. That's what emotional regulation is. This practice helps train your body to become emotionally regulated. A lot of people wonder, How do we know this stuff really works? In the 1970s, When somatic techniques were first being discovered, There weren't great methods to verify whether they were working or whether they were reaching the areas of the body we thought they were. But our technology has advanced greatly. And there have been many studies showing that activating the senses actually activates a part of the brain called the amygdala. The same place where our emotions are stored and where upsetting memories are stored. The amygdala is where we have our natural response of fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, Or faint. These are reactions to something very surprising or overwhelming. And everyone has their own standard set of reactions. Someone might run away. Someone might fight. Some people freeze. And some people faint. These are all different survival reactions. Clearly some might be more effective than others. But we don't want to get stuck in that reaction permanently. It's fine to have that reaction in the moment, But once the danger has passed, We want the body to relax. Tapping can help you return your body to that relaxed, Emotionally regulated state. So let's get started. There's a lot more to explore. I have a practice on grounded breathing that pairs really well with this one. So I'll hope you'll check that out too. And head over there next.