A New Way to Use EFT for Getting to Sleep
Written by Patricia Carrington
From time to time I have written about ways in which EFT can be very helpful when we want to get to sleep and can’t seem to.
Recently, I have discovered an additional way to do this which I find extremely useful. You may want to try a variation of it at those moments when you want to get to sleep quickly.
Before any of us fall to sleep, as I well remember from my studies during the years when I was engaged in research on sleep and dreams, we enter a period known as the “hypnagogic state.”
That short period of time that occurs before sleep begins. It is identifiable on electroencephalographic recordings as having a very different type of brain waves from the fully awake state.
There is a distinct shift in the electrical patterns of the brain at this time and when we are in this pre-sleep state, our mental associations are loosened and our mind seems to drift from one thought or image to another in a much freer manner.
Our thoughts now have an involuntary aspect to them and we glide with these thoughts and images until we are suddenly without realizing it, asleep.
The main characteristic of this hypnagogic state which we all experience every night, is a sense of “drifting” almost as though we were being carried on a gentle stream that is wafting us along.
Because this drifting sensation is the most distinguishing characteristic of the pre-sleep state, I have found that one of the most effective things that we can do if we’re not particularly sleepy when we lie down, is to do EFT in the following way.
EFT Exercise to Fall Asleep
Without using your hands to tap (because to move your body at this time would be to bring yourself back to the waking state), you can use EFT to create and intensify the drifting feeling. Once you recreate the hypnagogic state, sleep almost inevitably follows simply and naturally.
You don’t want to repeat the EFT phrases out loud, but simply think them in your mind, imagining each tapping point in turn.
You may find that you only get halfway through a round of imaginary tapping before you are no longer able to concentrate on the process because the pre-sleep state has taken over and your logical mind no longer focuses. This is a sign that a restful sleep is around the corner!
Here is how you go about bringing on sleep using EFT this way in this manner:
If you are new to tapping, please see How To Tap.
Begin with the inner eyebrow point (you could also begin with the karate chop spot or the sore spot if you prefer) and do a round of mental tapping by saying to yourself in your mind:
“That drifting ness… That drifting ness…” at each EFT spot.
Or you may want to say, “Drifting thoughts… drifting thoughts… drifting thoughts…” at each spot.
Or, “That drifting feeling… that drifting feeling… that drifting feeling…” at each spot.
Use whatever phrase works best for you. The point to remember is that the concept of “drifting” is central. It brings back the memory of the pre-sleep state and that is all you need in order to shift your physiology in such a way that sleep is usually inevitable.
As I said before, you may often drift off to sleep even before you are finished with your first round of EFT!
Dear Dr. Carrington–
This article of yours that I received via an email from Nick Ortner has raised a question in my mind. I have a friend who is 92, very alert and leading a busy life. Her age has not daunted her style or memory. However, she has become exhausted in the last couple of months due to waking in the night five or six times, or more. Even a daytime nap does not restore her. Is there a revision to the wording you provide here for insomnia that might address what she is dealing with? I want to introduce her to EFT and feel a specific set of statements would make the subject more accessible to her, not to mention, she would receive the benefits.
Thank you for any help.
Kind regards,
Regina Clarke
Thank you. Just what I needed to help me sleep at times.
Can you help with anxiety and tinnitus
I also need help STAYING asleep. I don’t have any problems falling asleep. I wake up 2 to 3 times each night. I often use a technique of visualizing that I’m lying on a cloud to help me fall asleep – never knew that I was actually helping get into drifting mode.
Since s divorce 30 years ago I have not slept one night through. I have also been on sleeping pills to sleep. I am sick and tired of this and would do almost anything to sleep peacefully and not have to take a pill to do so. I have tapped on these emotions but need help. Thanks
I have used EFT (imagining the set-up statement and tapping points) to help me get back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. I learned this technique off the EFTuniverse.com (formerly emofree.com) website several years ago. The wording is a little different, but the point is, it works! I am often asleep before one or two rounds! I wish everyone with sleep problems knew this technique!
Can we have one for anxiety please???
I have used EFT to get to sleep, but my preferred meridian point I learned from REMAP:
looking at the back of your hand, the webbing of skin between the thumb and first finger makes a V. Gently rub this area, more towards the point of the V, no words, just an intention to sleep. Works like a catapult into the land of nod for me! I have found EFT, and this point, helpful if I wake up and can’t get back to sleep, although it tends to create a restful state, rather than helping actually return quickly to sleep.
I’m a menopausal woman and I usually don’t have trouble falling asleep (I listed to a Yoga Nidra app) but wake during the night too hot and have trouble falling back to sleep. I usually just focus on my breath and count but most times it doesn’t work. will try the drifting. Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks
Gastritis ¡,, is my problem , i can’t.stop it I tap many hours but the acid reflux keeps coming back