Regret can be a heavy thing to carry. Sometimes it’s a conversation you keep replaying, a decision from years ago, or something you wish you’d said (or hadn’t). It can sit quietly in the background for a long time, then turn up at 3am when you’re trying to sleep.
I made this session for those moments. It’s a gentle EFT tapping practice for the times when you’re ready to be a little kinder to yourself about the past.
Why regret can be so hard to put down
Many of us hold on to regret because it feels like the right thing to do. If we stop feeling bad, it might mean we didn’t care, or that we’re letting ourselves off the hook.
But you made those choices with the knowledge, energy and support you had at the time. You can care about what happened and still stop punishing yourself for it. Those two things can sit side by side.
I like to think of an autumn tree. It doesn’t strain to drop its leaves or cling to them out of guilt. They fall when the time is right. You don’t have to force anything in this session either. We’re simply making a bit of space, and seeing what happens.
Before you start
Find somewhere you can sit comfortably for around ten minutes. You can have your eyes open or closed, whichever feels more settled.
Bring to mind one specific regret. Choose something that feels manageable, rather than the heaviest thing you carry. If you’re new to tapping, it’s fine to start with something small.
Then notice where you feel it in your body. For many people it’s a heaviness in the chest, a tightness in the throat, a knot in the stomach or tension in the shoulders. You might not feel anything physical, and that’s fine too.
Give it a number from 0 to 10, where 10 is very uncomfortable and 0 is not at all. It doesn’t need to be exact. It’s just a way to notice any shift afterwards.
What we’ll do in the video
In the session, we tap through the usual points together while I guide you through the words. Here’s a quick outline so you know what to expect.
We start by acknowledging how it feels. Rather than pushing the regret away, we say it honestly. Things like “all this lingering regret” and “the things I wish had gone differently.”
We gently ask what makes it hard to let go. For some people, regret has become a way of showing that they’re sorry, or that it mattered. It can help to notice that, without judging it.
We move towards a softer perspective. There are phrases like “maybe I don’t have to keep punishing myself” and “I did what I could with what I had back then.” You don’t need to believe them completely. Just see how they feel to say.
We finish with a short autumn leaf visualisation. You imagine holding a single leaf that represents your regret, then opening your hands and letting it drift down. Take your time with this part.
The tapping points
If you’re new to tapping, these are the points we use, in order. Tap gently with two or three fingertips, around five to seven times on each.
- Side of the hand
- Eyebrow
- Side of the eye
- Under the eye
- Under the nose
- Chin
- Collarbone
- Under the arm
- Top of the head
If you’d like a simple walkthrough first, my free Tapping Essentials guide takes you through the basics step by step.
Afterwards
When we’ve finished, take a slow breath in and let it out fully. Then check back in with that number from 0 to 10.
It might have gone down. It might have stayed the same, or shifted in a way that’s hard to put a number on. Tapping affects everyone differently, and it can vary from one day to the next. If nothing much changed, that doesn’t mean you’ve done it wrong.
If you’d like to, try it again another day. Sometimes a regret has several layers, and it can feel easier to come back to it in smaller steps.
A few things to keep in mind
Go at your own pace, and pause or stop whenever you need to. If a memory feels too big or too raw, you don’t have to stay with it. You can look at something lighter, or simply have a glass of water and take a breather.
EFT tapping is something you can explore to support your emotional wellbeing, but it isn’t a substitute for medical or mental health care. If the past is weighing on you in a way that feels too much to manage alone, please talk to your GP or a qualified professional.
Where to go next
If this session helped, you might like to try one of the other free guided tapping sessions. And if you’re newer to tapping, Tapping Essentials is a good place to start.
You don’t have to rewrite the past to find some peace in the present. You can simply start by being a little gentler with yourself today.
