Can Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's 'tapping' technique ease anxiety?
There are many popular techniques to diffuse anxiety, such as breath work, meditation, exercise and even diet changes. But you may not be familiar with one of the simplest methods: tapping.
Last night, at the London premiere for Wicked, the film's lead actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande appeared to be carrying out the technique on the green carpet. First Grande tapped several spots on Erivo’s face and Erivo responded by mirroring the movement on Grande.
While the process may have been a gesture of affection, it has sparked conversations around emotional freedom technique - or EFT tapping as it's often abbreviated.
Specific points of the skin are tapped, similar to acupuncture, helping to relieve pressure and feel grounded in the present moment. Calm describes it as a "holistic healing method that combines traditional Chinese medicine with modern psychological acupressure techniques" that can reduce emotional and physical distress.
EFT practitioner Rachel Stoneley explains: "Tapping is a therapeutic technique that incorporates the Mind Body connection. It involves tapping on meridian end-points whilst using short statements on whatever the issue or feeling is.
"The body is where we store information and where we hold onto things. Using EFT allows us to disrupt and release the energy that isn’t serving us, and ultimately return to a parasympathetic nervous system."
Stoneley continues: "The mental health benefits of tapping are huge. It reduces anxiety, stress and depression, and it can also be used for phobias, trauma and limiting beliefs. Whether you want to use it for self-regulation, or use it as a therapeutic approach to overcome deeper issues, it is really powerful and really effective."
One study found that tapping "significantly reduced" anxiety in people who struggled with the mental health condition, according to Forbes.
In comparison to medication and acupuncture, it’s a very gentle technique that can subtly be done anywhere to try and diffuse any feelings of anxiety you have in your body.
"Anxiety is a very somatic experience," Stoneley adds, "we may think of anxiety as just being 'thoughts' but we experience it very physically. By tapping on the body and using short statements on the specificities of the anxiety, we are able to soothe the fight/flight response and return to a more regulated, calmer nervous system."
The behaviour of tapping your body or face can help your brain relearn what stimulus’ to fear and when to soothe your initial anxiety.
Read more about mental health:
Four grounding techniques to reduce stress and bring calm (Yahoo Life, 4-min read)
Health benefits of positive affirmations as Oti Mabuse uses them on I’m a Celeb (Yahoo Life, 4-min read)
Is seasonal affective disorder any different from depression? (Yahoo Life, 4-min read)
