How EFT Tapping Can Help You Heal through Grief (And Why You Need to Try It Today).
- Christina
- Feb 24
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 14
Grief Hits Hard—What If You Had a Way to Ease the Pain?
Let’s get real for a minute. Grief can be messy. It’s raw and can be like an unexpected storm that knocks you off your feet, leaving you gasping for air. Sound familiar? Whether you're grieving the loss of a loved one, a relationship, or even an old version of yourself—like the person you were before cancer changed everything—grief can feel like a heavy weight pressing down on your chest. It makes you wonder: Will I ever feel normal again?
Here’s the truth: grief doesn’t just disappear. But what if you could turn down its intensity? What if, instead of being consumed by waves of sorrow, you could navigate them with more ease, confidence, and even—dare I say—hope?
That’s where EFT Tapping comes in. This simple yet powerful technique helps you move through grief without getting lost in it. And the best part? You don’t have to re-live painful memories or “fix” anything. You just tap, breathe, and let the wisdom of the body do the rest.
If you’re curious about how EFT Tapping can help you find relief, keep reading—because this could change everything.
What Is EFT Tapping for Grief (And Why Is Everyone Talking About It)?
Imagine a mix of acupuncture (without the needles) and mindfulness that works like a reset button for your emotions, your thoughts and all those uncomfortable griefy-things that come to say hello. That’s EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Tapping.
It works by tapping on specific acupressure points while acknowledging your emotions, helping to regulate your nervous system, reduce emotional overwhelm, and bring your body into a state of calm. Think of it like a volume dial in your hand —you get to decide how loud grief plays in your life.
And now, it's loaded with science backed data. Studies now show EFT can lower cortisol (your stress hormone) by up to 43% in minutes.* That means less anxiety, less intensity with fewer grief spirals, and a whole lot of peace coming your way.
Grief Affects your Body and your Mind
Grief isn’t just an emotional experience—it’s a full-body rollercoaster that you didn’t sign up for.
Did you know that in the first year after a the death of a loved one, you are at increased risk of experiencing heart problems including a heart attack? In her amazing new release, on The Grieving Body, Dr Mary- Frances O'Connor talks about how the stress of grief can lead to increased inflammation in the body that can contribute to health issues like heart disease, broken heart syndrome and more so paying attention to your body's signals and exploring ways to reduce that stress are super important.
Common grief symptoms (just to name a few):
Exhaustion (grief can be so tiring)
Tightness in the chest (like your heart is literally aching and yes there is such a thing as broken heart syndrome)*.
Brain fog (can’t focus, can’t think)
Sleep disturbances (your mind won’t shut off and your rhythms are a little off centre)
Loss of appetite or emotional eating
Inflammation & dysregulation of the endocrine system (disrupts your hormones)
Weakened immune system (you can sick from the stress of grief).
Your body holds onto grief in ways you may not even realize. Like a silent storm brewing inside, it's the wisdom keeper of all information about your life experiences and it's constantly giving you signals that there's more happening beneath the surface. This is why I love tapping so much, as it helps calm the stress, and allows greater coherence in the body and mind to be experienced quickly.
How EFT Tapping Works (The Quick and Easy Breakdown)
Let me get straight to it for you. Tapping works by sending a “chill out” signal to your brain, telling the amygdala (your stress centre) to calm down. Think of your amygdala like an overprotective friend—it means well, but sometimes it overreacts as this friend still has habits dating back to the cave days. EFT gives you the ability to hit the pause button, to process, and shift out of the stress response before it takes over you.
With EFT tapping, there are 8 Main Tapping Points to get familiar with. If you need a visual tapping guide, grab your freeby here and let's get into it.
1. Eyebrow (start of the eyebrow)
2. Side of the eye
3. Under the eye
4. Under the nose
5. Chin (under your lower lip)
6. Collarbone
7. Under the arm (4 inches below the armpit)
8. Top of the head
Before you start any tapping, you need a Set Up Statement, a statement that tells your brain what to focus on in your grief (e.g. all this sadness) and then a statement to tells your brain that you are still you (e.g. I accept myself). For details on how this works see the Complete Beginner Guide to Tapping through Grief .
If you want to try this out now — tap along as you read!
Start with your Set Up Statement - tap on the side of your hand (karate chop point) and repeat:
“Even though I feel this (grief / emptiness / sadness etc), I deeply and completely accept myself.” (Repeat this 3x)
Now tap through the main points and acknowledge what’s showing up:
Eyebrow: “This grief feels so heavy.”
Side of Eye: “All this sadness.”
Under Eye: “I don’t know how I'm going to get through this.”
Under Nose: “This grief inside.”
Chin: “This grief hurts.”
Collarbone: “All this pain, this grief.”
Top of Head: “I don’t know if this will ever get easier.”
Now take some natural breaths and notice how you feel. Keep repeating rounds of tapping using words about your grief until you find your chill and calm.
Pro tip: Adjust the words to fit your experience! And once you begin to experience more calm and ease in your body and mind, consider more positive statements to tap on like "even with grief, I can still get through my day".
If you want more on how EFT tapping for Grief works check out The Beginners Guide to Tapping for Grief and grab your free Tapping for Grief guide here. It includes all the visuals you need to start on your journey toward more ease.
EFT Tapping vs. Traditional Talk Therapy: which is one is right for you?
Now before we talk about tapping vs traditional talk therapy, I want you to know that I’m a total advocate for traditional talk therapy—it’s powerful and makes you feel seen and heard, and it can help you connect with your grief in profound ways. EFT tapping though offers something different: a way to process emotions without getting stuck in the intensity of it all. The true difference in what’s right for you comes down to your preference. Here's a few differences to note.
Traditional counselling: Helps you explore grief through storytelling, reflection, honouring practices and cognitive work (exploring thoughts, beliefs and emotions that are no longer serving you and working through strategies to help shift those experiences).
EFT Tapping: Works with your body and the mind to release stress and emotions without having to discuss in depth your grief related experiences. Can be great for those tricky repetitive thoughts or grief related events, like being told her partner has cancer. Working with a qualified EFT practitioner can be a game changer as there are techniques to help you move distressing emotions and perceptions held about events to ones that create freedom in your body and mind. The best part about this is the techniques are safe and you are in the drivers seat.
If you aren’t sure which approach is best for you or if you find yourself struggling with the cognitive approaches that can be used in therapy, consider trying both. EFT is a fantastic complement to traditional therapy, giving you an on-the-spot resource to manage emotional waves when they hit, which brings about more clarity and ease to talk through strategies that may be helpful for you. If you have tried traditional counselling methods and wondering why they aren’t working out for you, you may want to hit the reset button. That is, take time to pause, reflect and talk with your therapist on how to get the most out of your therapy sessions.
Why You Should Try EFT Tapping for Grief.
Grief is one of the hardest things you’ll ever navigate. But here’s what I want you to know:
• You don’t have to suffer endlessly.
• You have the power to turn down the intensity of your grief stressors.
• Grieving with ease doesn’t mean forgetting—it means finding ease in the pain.
And EFT Tapping can help you do just that.
So why not give it a try? Try out the script above, notice how you feel, and experience it for yourself. You might just be surprised at how much lighter you feel even just after a few rounds of tapping.
If this post resonated with you, share it with someone who needs it, hit the like button and let’s make moving through grief easier for everyone.
References:
Christina is a holistic social worker, Matrix Reimprinting, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner and Reiki master-teacher with a love of holistic practices to enhance wellbeing.
She works with people to free themselves from their grief struggles including those experienced through cancer, so they can move through life with more ease, confidence, love and joy, all while honouring their loved ones and themselves in their own unique way.
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