EFT Tapping Meditation: Nervous System Regulation For HSPs

This tapping meditation is designed to help HSPs (highly sensitive people) regulate their nervous system when feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed due to sensory and/or emotional overload. It includes a few rounds of tapping and the physiological sigh which will help you return to a state of calm and peace.

If you are new to EFT, my talk - An Introduction to EFT Tapping - can be found under my teacher profile. It covers how EFT works and how to accurately locate the acupressure points used in tapping.

Transcript

This tapping meditation is designed for HSPs struggling with feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed due to emotional intensity and or sensory processing sensitivity.

Recognising that our central nervous system is working overtime to process in great depth all the information coming in via our emotions and senses,

Is the first step in returning to a state of equilibrium.

We can do this by checking into our bodies and noticing how we are experiencing the over-arousal.

This is especially helpful for those of us who have a tendency to dissociate from what we are feeling as a coping mechanism.

We can then tap and use the physiological side to calm our central nervous system and return to a state of equilibrium.

Before we begin tapping,

I invite you to close your eyes and take a moment to get comfortable on whatever surface is supporting your body.

Now tune into your body and notice where the overstimulation and overwhelm is showing up.

Is your heart racing?

Are you holding tension in your neck,

Your shoulders or your jaw?

Is there tightness in your stomach?

Or is there some other sensation showing up for you?

Just notice where the discomfort is and give it a score on a 0 to 10 scale with 10 representing extreme discomfort and 0 no discomfort at all.

We will refer back to this score at the end of this practice to monitor our progress.

Pause this track if you need a little more time to feel into what your body is communicating and once ready begin tapping on the outer side of the hand with four fingers and repeat after me feeling free to change any words that I use to better suit what you are feeling.

Even though I'm feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed because my nervous system is struggling to process all the incoming stimuli I accept my sensitivity as much as I can right now even though my nervous system is overloaded and I can feel it in my body I acknowledge that this is where I am at right now even though I'm feeling dysregulated because there is too much to process right now I choose to acknowledge and accept my sensitivity anyway going to the top of the head I'm feeling overwhelmed eyebrow I'm feeling overstimulated outer eye I'm feeling dysregulated under the eye there is a lot to process right now under the nose and it feels like it's too much under the mouth my central nervous system is struggling collarbone and I feel overwhelmed under the arm it's all too much top of the head and it doesn't feel great eyebrow but maybe I can start to feel better outer eye I'm feeling overstimulated under the eye if I allow myself to let go of this overwhelm with each tap under the eye and with each out breath under the nose I'm actively calming my nervous system under the mouth I'm choosing to take care of myself collarbone I'm regaining my composure under the arm I'm finding equilibrium pause the tapping for a moment and take two short inhales through the nose before slowly and gently releasing the breath through the mouth repeat again and out through the mouth gently and slowly one more time followed by an extended exhale through the mouth now tune back into your body and notice what has changed has the symptom morphed or stayed the same?

Has your score out of ten shifted?

Are you feeling a little more calm and at ease?

Don't be discouraged if your score has increased it is just a sign that the emotional energy is starting to shift and with some further tapping it should begin to reduce now I invite you to get curious about the emotion behind what is showing up in your body are you feeling disappointed?

Worried?

Frustrated?

Or ashamed?

That you are feeling overstimulated and overwhelmed?

Overwhelmed?

Or maybe there is another emotion causing the discomfort in your body?

Once you have identified the emotion rate it on a scale of 0 to 10 in this next round of tapping I will keep the wording fairly general but I encourage you to substitute my general phrasing with the particular emotion you are currently experiencing the more specific we are when tapping the greater the results now let's return to tapping on the side of the hand even though I feel all of this emotion because I'm overwhelmed again I accept myself as much as I can even though I can feel this emotion in my body because I'm easily overstimulated I acknowledge and accept my sensitivity and how I feel even though I'm feeling a lot right now I choose to relax and calm my nervous system with each tap and each out breath going to the top of the head all this emotion eyebrow I feel it in my body outer eye outer eye I'm feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated under the eye and I'm feeling emotional about that under the nose it is hard living with this sensitivity under the mouth and I acknowledge and recognise that in this moment collarbone it is okay to be emotional about my sensitivity under the arm I allow myself to feel all of this emotion top of the head so that I can begin to process it eyebrow and then release it outer eye I don't need to hold on to this emotion or bury it under the eye instead I set the intention to process it and then release it under the nose along with any remaining feelings of overstimulation and overwhelm under the mouth letting go of this over arousal with each tap collarbone letting go of how I feel about being overstimulated again under the arm letting it all go with each out breath top of the head feeling my body begin to relax eyebrow sensing a subtle change happening outer eye trusting that my body can return to equality equilibrium under the eye as I take this time to fully release this emotional and sensory overload under the nose letting go a little more with each tap under the mouth finding more and more ease with each exhale collarbone returning to a state of balance under the arm feeling more calm and centred release the tapping and take two short inhales through the nose before slowly and gently releasing the breath and any remaining unwanted energy through the mouth repeat again and out through the mouth one more time followed by an extended exhale through the nose and through the mouth now tune back into your body and notice what has changed has the physical representation of the emotion you were feeling earlier changed?

Has your score out of ten shifted?

And are you feeling lighter?

Just notice where your body is at before we move on to one final round of tapping return to tapping on the side of the hand and repeat after me or in your own words even though it can be hard to remain calm and at peace because I have a highly sensitive temperament I love and accept myself anyway even though my nervous system gets overwhelmed from time to time because I'm sensitive I know that I can take time out to re-centre even though I started this session feeling overstimulated and emotional I set the intention to honour my sensitivity and to feel more calm and at peace knowing that I have the ability to self-regulate whenever needed now begin tapping on the top of the head but this time just listen with your eyes closed and tap as I talk you through the next round of tapping imagine yourself lying in a soft patch of grass eyebrow feel your body supported by the earth beneath you outer eye now start to release any remaining feelings of overstimulation under the eye allow the earth to receive this energy and transmute it under the nose now release any unwanted emotional energy under the mouth let it all seep from your body into the earth below you collarbone feeling your body becoming lighter under the arm feeling your body relax top of the head setting the intention to ground into the earth beneath your body eyebrow feeling your body becoming more and more grounded with each exhale outer eye knowing that there is nothing to hold you back outer eye knowing that the earth is supporting you under the eye the earth is receiving and transmuting any difficult feelings under the nose nothing to do nowhere to be just taking this time to process and release under the mouth knowing that you can ground whenever you feel overstimulated or overwhelmed collarbone knowing that you have the power to regulate your emotions and nervous system under the arm knowing that you can return to a state of peace and calm whenever you take time out to recenter returning to the top of the head and repeating after me valuing and accepting myself and my sensitivity eyebrow bringing increased awareness to my need to self regulate outer eye knowing that I have tools at my disposal to keep myself anchored and balanced knowing that it is within my power to regulate my emotional state and nervous system under the nose setting the intention to ground and release whenever I feel my body starting to get overloaded starting to get overloaded under the mouth feeling my body relax even more as I set this intention collarbone feeling calmer under the arm feeling more at peace release the tapping and take two short inhales through the nose before exhaling fully and slowly through the mouth repeat again and out through the mouth breathe in one more time and release fully and slowly now tune back into your body and notice what has changed hopefully your score has shifted lower and you are feeling centered,

Calm and at peace ideally the level of over arousal that you were experiencing at the start of this session has fallen to a 2 or below and if it hasn't,

I invite you to keep tapping silently or using your own words until you are feeling more regulated until we tap again,

Keep finding ways to self regulate the more you practice the easier it becomes and you will find yourself spending less time feeling over awed when experiencing something new or dealing with prolonged stimulation

Reviews

I am so glad I tried this tapping meditation. As a HSP I store my feelings in my body and experience pain as a result. This is another way to release the tension and pain which I shall return to. With gratitude 🙏 💖.