TUESDAY TAP: Tapping and Prayer

I had a great conversation with a leader in the tapping community yesterday. She was gracious enough to give me 17 minutes of her time and expertise. It was an eye opening quarter hour, plus.

I have been trying to get a publisher to pick up my book on tapping prayer. Chalice Press gave it a couple of looks but ultimately decided it was too New Age for their company. I don’t know what that means because I don’t see tapping prayer as “new age.” “New,” I get...but “new age” always strikes me as being a departure from mainline Christianity. I see tapping prayer as a continuation of that story.

Anyway, through a series of emails I was able to connect up with Carol Tuttle (My Energy Profile)  yesterday. Thanks to Cassy Elliott from thetappingsolution.com for making that possible.

We began our conversation talking about the importance of honoring everyone’s foundational belief systems, and then moved on to the wisdom of self publishing and how to reach the widest audience. Carol has developed something called; Energy Profiling, and it helps people understand their most natural state in relationship with other people’s natural states. The upshot is that knowing our profile helps us live in greater harmony with one another...not a bad thing. I am new to energy profiling, but Carol seemed to think that I am a Type 1 personality. You can read a little about that on her website by clicking here.

As the conversation was winding down, Carol shared that she did not believe that tapping was a form of prayer. She experiences tapping as an tool in energy psychology that clears away past trauma or negative beliefs so that we can experience hope...which ultimately leads to faith.

I knew that our time was limited, so I didn’t try and explain how I DO believe that tapping is a form of prayer...but I have all the time I need in this blog, so here goes.

Throughout my life I have witnessed  lots of different models of prayer. From my earliest years when I would kneel by my bed and pray, “Now I lay me down to sleep...” to learning how to hold my hands for the Lord’s Prayer, I have been exposed to different postures for communicating with God. More recently I have heard of and seen people who use walking as a form of prayer, dancing as a form of prayer, gardening as a form of prayer...even reading the newspaper as a form of prayer! The means to reaching out to God and experiencing God reaching back are all about that...interacting with the Holy. They are ways of communicating our holiest concerns to the holiest of holies. No one way is better than the other. They are just different means to the end of being closer to God. They all have some sort of ritual attached to them. They all have some sort of intention attached to them. They are all not that different from tapping prayer.

Tapping prayer utilizes a ritual motion that comes out of energy psychology and imbues it with a holy intention.

When we practice tapping prayer, we are calling on God to connect to our concerns through pathways that have been shown to be conduits for spiritual energy. We are asking God to travel those paths and with a sacred memory of our hurts, bring peace to places that have been troubling us. We are acknowledging where we are with our distress before and after the prayer, and as we experience healing, we are responding with thanksgiving to the one who facilitates that peace.

If you would like to learn more about tapping prayer (or try it for yourself) check out my website at: www.tappingintoprayernow.org . If you have any questions about tapping prayer, click the Interact page and leave me a note. I will try and get back to you as soon as possible.

There are a variety of gifts of the Spirit, and I am glad to share tapping prayer as one of them.

Peace,

todd

Tapping Tuesday prayer on doubt

24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came (on Easter). 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” --John 20

I can’t believe it!

Show me the money!

I doubt it.

Never in a million years.

We’ve all said it. We’ve all felt it. Something is so unbelievable, so beyond what our imaginations can comprehend, that we demand proof. You may have even had that experience around tapping prayer!
We chant with Thomas, “Unless I see it, and feel it, I will not believe it.” Sometimes our doubt is warranted, but since I began prayer tapping, I wonder if there are at least as many (if not more) times when our doubt is either an excuse, or a declaration of our own limited vision.

What if our doubt was really based in a limiting belief about God’s involvement in our life? What if the Holy really did want to help us lose weight, or get that job we wanted, or mend that fence that had been broken for so many years? Could it be that Jesus’ spirit might even make it possible for us to draw closer to God, despite the nasty way we had treated the Divine? That seems to be what John is saying. Even though Thomas had his doubts about Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus comes to Thomas and takes him by the hand. He puts Tom’s fingers on the answer to his doubts, to his limited beliefs about what is possible with God on the case. There is no chastising. There is only healing. Healing for Tom. Healing for us.

What are you doubtful of today? Your ability to find happiness? Your capacity to pay your bills? Your potential to feel less pain?

Imagine that Jesus has just walked into the room, and he is guiding your hands toward the tapping points on your body. He wants to heal your doubt. He wants to share his peace.

After identifying a doubt or a limiting belief, check out that belief’s SUD. (If this is your first time trying tapping prayer, click this link to learn the basic recipe) On a scale of 0-10 how much does this doubt upset you? Frustrate you? Keep you from feeling peace? Write that number down.

Now, try and think of the first time you had this doubt? Where did you learn about it? Who taught you to have doubt around this issue? If you can’t remember, no worry. I’ll take care of that in the prayer.

When you are ready, please take responsibility for your participation in tapping prayer, and let’s pray:

Thomas is my mentor, God. I doubt all kinds of things. I doubt the veracity of stories I hear from my friends. I doubt my ability to execute particular tasks. I doubt the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. Like Thomas, unless I see it, or feel it, I cannot believe it. Unfortunately, some of my doubts are getting in the way of my happiness. They are limiting my peace. They are making a statement about you, that I am uncomfortable with. Help my disbelief today, God. Heal this particular doubt that I am bringing before you. Help me feel your peace, so that I will take chances to heal from other doubts in my life. Hear me as I pray.

Karate Chop: Even though I have this doubt, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though I can’t believe this issue I am thinking about, God loves me unconditionally. Even though I have this limiting belief about the this issue that has a SUD of …...., I am deeply loved and completely accepted by you.

Top of head: This doubt.

Eyebrow: This limiting belief.

Outer eye: It could never be true.

Under eye: It couldn’t happen.

Under nose: I have this doubt.

Under lip: I have this inability to believe this...

Collarbone: I’ve gotta see it to believe it.

Underarm: I need evidence.

Wrists: I have evidence that my disbelief is holding me back.

Top of head: I have evidence that I am not as peaceful as I’d like to be.

Eyebrow: I have this limiting belief.

Outer eye: Maybe I know where it came from.

Under eye: Maybe it is connected to fear.

Under nose: Maybe it is connected to sadness.

Under lip: Maybe it is limiting me like it limited the people who taught it to me.

Collarbone: I have this doubt.

Underarm: I didn’t ask for it.

Wrists: I wonder if I need it?

Top of head: What would happen if I let it go?

Eyebrow: I wonder what would change if I let go of this limiting belief?

Outer eye: I might have to think about the world in new ways.

Under eye: I might disappoint whoever gave me this doubt.

Under nose: I hate letting people down.

Under lip: I’m not thrilled with how holding onto this disbelief makes me feel, either.

Collarbone. Even though I have this doubt, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Underarm: I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Wrists: Even if I choose to let go of this doubt I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Top of head: I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Take a deep breath...I thank you, God for taking my hands and putting them in holy places so that I could begin to experience your caring around my disbelief. Help me to be attuned to how your spirit has been working to heal me in this prayer. In your holy name I pray. Amen.

Check your SUD around the doubt you began with. Is it higher or lower or just the same. Remember that the more specific your language is the more focused God’s healing will be around a particular doubt or disbelief. If you have anxiety about not knowing what to do if you let go of your doubt, try prayer tapping on that anxiety.

Jesus didn’t chastise Thomas for his doubts. Instead, Jesus set about to help Thomas heal. Hopefully this prayer has brought you some healing. If it was helpful, please feel free to let me know, or try it on some other doubts. Perhaps there are more possibilities for us than we have been able to imagine before now.

Peace,

todd

Good Friday tapping on the death of a loved one

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” --Matthew 27: 50-54

I have been with many people as they died. Sometimes the passing from this life into a next is peaceful. Sometimes it’s restless. Sometimes (as in Jesus’ case) traumatic. When death comes, the person is still. They are at peace. The family and friends who gather by their side at that moment, have lots of other responses ranging from sadness, to disbelief, to anger, to regret, to relief, to confusion. People might even cry out something unusual, like, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

All of these emotions can leave the survivor feeling less than peaceful. God hopes for us to have peace, even in the midst of our grief. Today’s tapping prayer is targeted at the grief we experience after the death of a loved one.

Before we begin to pray, please take a moment to identify a loss in your life. Take an inventory of the feelings you have associated with that loss, and give those feelings a SUD. If you are new to tapping prayer, you can learn the basic recipe by clicking here. After you choose one feeling (there will be time to attend to other feelings around your loss after we pray for this first issue), please take responsibility for your tapping prayer, and let’s pray:

Surely you know the pain of loss, God. You watched Jesus die a terrible death. You were there with his family and friends as he drew his last breath. You gathered Jesus up into your arms and brought him into new life, even though those by his side could only think about the days that they had already spent with him. We have experienced such a loss in our life. We have deep feelings associated with that loss, and we are bringing those feelings to you today, in prayerful hope that you can heal us, and bring us peace.

Hear us as we pray,

Karate Chop: Even though I have this loss, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though my loved one has died, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. Even though I have this heavy feeling associated with my loved one’s death, God is loving me and accepting me completely.

Top of Head: I have this loss.

Eyebrow: I miss my loved one a lot.

Outer eye: I have this deep feeling about my loved one’s death.

Under eye: I have this deep feeling about God concerning my loved one’s death.

Under nose: I have this death I am dealing with.

Under lip: This death that is keeping me from feeling peaceful.

Collarbone: I am distracted by this feeling I have.

Underarm: I can’t feel peace with this feeling pulsing through my soul.

Wrists: I have this death of a beloved person in my life.

Top of Head: Even though my loved one has died, and I have this disruptive feeling, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Eyebrow: Even though I feel angry at God I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Outer eye: Even though I can’t believe in God, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under eye: My loved one is deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Under nose: I accept that I am feeling this loss.

Under lip: I do not accept that I am feeling this loss.

Collarbone: I hate this feeling...but here it is. I feel this way about the death of my loved one.

Underarm: I can’t understand how this happened...

Wrists: ...But it happened, and now I have this uncomfortable feeling.

Top of Head: Even though I have this uncomfortable feeling about my loved one’s death, I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God. I am deeply loved and completely accepted by God.

Take a deep breath, and note your SUD concerning the feeling you were praying for relief from. If the number has gone down, but not to a 0-2, try to identify what about the feeling is keeping you at a higher number. Try to remember when you experienced that issue around a different event in your life. Ask God to follow that path for healing, and pray with that focus. When you are now feeling peaceful about the original feeling you were praying about, check back on your SUD regarding the death of your beloved. Where else could God’s spirit attend to you? If you are too disappointed in God for allowing the death of your beloved, try using the words, “I can consider being deeply loved and completely accepted by God.”

May the peace that transcends our deepest sorrow be yours today.

--todd
ps. next post will be on Easter Sunday re: feeling overwhelmed.