Almost every question I receive in the Tapping Q&A inbox is about how to tap. I am asked about the best way to start, the best phrases for a certain issue, and how to decide on which issues to tap for.
All of these questions are about how to begin and what to do once you are tapping.
The question that seldom comes up is about how to end a tapping session.
And that makes sense because when we are done tapping, we are done tapping. We just then continue on with what is next.
In many cases, just getting on with whatever is next is fine, but in my experience, ending your tapping session with a clear intention provides two benefits. First, it helps you to return to your day in a healthy way. Second, you can set yourself up for a continued healing process, not just a healing moment of tapping.
This week in the podcast, I share how I end my tapping sessions. The process is a brief single round of tapping that can make a world of difference. It will help you to return to your day feeling focused and clear, seal the healing you just created, and allow the healing to continue even after the tapping is done.
It is amazing how a single round of tapping can pack so much power!
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How to End a Tapping Session
There's something I've been neglecting to teach my students. We spend plenty of time figuring out what to say, where to start, how to focus, and where the resistance is. But we never talk about one important piece: how to end a session.
Why I Focus on Getting People to Tap
For the last two or three years, I've been focused on one thing in my work: making sure people don't just know more about healing and transformation, but actually tap more. It doesn't matter how much we know. It only matters what we do and how we execute it.
That's why I've talked about creating tapping habits, how to start a session, what to do when you don't know what to say, and how to find hidden resistance. I believe the most important part of any tapping session, or any intention to tap, is the first 30 to 60 seconds. We don't get results unless we tap, and it takes real effort to go from being stuck in an emotion to getting past the inertia and starting. That's why entry points matter so much.
The Part We Skip
Most of the time, we don't talk about ending a session because we just end. I'm tapping along, I feel better, maybe I take a deep breath, stretch, or sip some water, and then I go back to what I was doing. That's especially true for quick emotional first aid in the moment, but it's also true after a longer session. We've done the work, and we carry on.
That's fine, and in most cases it's sufficient. But I've found there are two things you can add at the end of a session that make the tapping you just did more powerful and help you step into whatever comes next in the best possible state. It takes about 20 seconds.
- Acknowledge what you just did and how it continues.
- Put yourself back in your body and allow yourself to move forward.
A Quick Demonstration
Assuming you're not driving, take a nice, big, deep breath and tune in for a moment. Do a round of wordless tapping, moving from point to point and remembering to breathe. You don't need to focus on anything. Just tap. I'll also tap the liver spot and the side of the hand at the end for good measure.
I already feel a little better. Now this is how we end.
Part One: Ground the Healing
Here's what that looks like for me, as I tap:
I recognize that this is a healing process, not just a healing moment. As the rest of my day unfolds, the healing I just did is going to continue, because my system is a healing machine.
As that healing continues, there will be moments when I recognize it as it happens, and I can smile in appreciation. In other moments, it will happen in the background, completely anonymously. Even if I don't notice it, I appreciate that it's happening.
And as I sleep tonight, this healing and transformation will integrate into me on a cellular level. When I wake up tomorrow, it will be like a software update and a reboot, integrating the healing.
In short: I recognize that this is a healing process, that it will keep unfolding, that I might notice it and celebrate it, that it may also happen in the background and I can appreciate that, and that overnight it will integrate like a software update. This helps ground the healing we've done.
Part Two: Put It Away
The second part goes like this:
Even though I'm returning to my day, I give myself permission to honor this work and put it away, the same way I would tidy up after a project. And if I need to return to this, I can unpack it again. But for now, I put it away so I can return to my day.
Here, we're saying, "I'm going to pack this up." Mentally, I can see myself closing all of the loops I opened during the work, so that when I step back into my day, I'm not carrying a giant open loop from the session I just did.
Keep It Simple
You can do both parts, or just one. The first part is recognizing that this is a healing process, honoring it, and letting your system know it will continue. The second is saying, "I just did some work, I'm wrapping it up, and I'm putting it away so I can pull it out again in the future."
Together, they take less than a minute. Over time, I've found they make a huge difference. I can feel myself more grounded in the moment because of that little bit of tapping.
Try It Next Time
The next time you sit down to tap, don't just think about the issue or how you're going to tap. Give yourself permission to spend a little time at the end. Feel the healing in your body. Acknowledge that healing is ongoing. Give your system permission to keep healing and to integrate. And remind yourself that you're tidying this up, so when it's time to work on it again, you're ready.
Any one of these ideas will make a difference. It makes your transition back into your day easier, which makes the tapping more powerful and the day better. There's also a hidden bonus: you're much more likely to come back and tap again, because your system saw that the work was valuable when you called that value out. Naming the healing process makes it so much easier to return.
You don't have to do this every time. If you've just done a minute of wordless tapping, you probably won't spend another minute on this. But the next time you do something powerful or go deep, give yourself permission to work through this little process.
