From Worry to Calm: How to Melt Away Stress and Anxiety with Simple Tapping Exercise
Do You Feel Stuck in Worry or Overthinking?
Have you ever felt like your thoughts just won’t stop spiraling, even over small things?
That tight feeling in your chest, the restlessness, the “what if” loop in your mind… It's exhausting.
If that sounds familiar, this episode of the Happy and Healthy Mind with Dr. Rozina is for you.
Dr. Rozina sits down with Katie Nall, a two-time TEDx speaker and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) expert, to explore how you can release stress and find calm through an easy yet powerful tool called tapping.
Katie calls her approach “Dissolving Your WAFFLES” — a way to release Worry, Anxiety, Fear, Frustration, Lethargy, Exhaustion, and Stress, so you can think clearly and live freely.
Katie Nall: Turning Math Fear into Emotional Freedom
Katie is a two-time TEDx speaker, a professional member of the National Speakers Association, and an Accredited Master Trainer and Certified Practitioner in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). She’s also trained in trauma EFT, quantum EFT, and picture EFT.
Despite joking that she’s a “careless housekeeper and worse cook,” she’s been happily married for over 49 years proving that laughter and compassion can take you a long way.
Katie earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the Florida Institute of Technology just before turning 60 while working full-time at a community college.
Her doctoral research focused on helping students overcome math anxiety, especially adults returning to school. In 2010, she discovered EFT tapping and began using it with students who struggled with fear of math and test anxiety.
The results were incredible:
✅ Students passed math exams they used to fail
✅ Some even earned 100% scores
✅ Most importantly, they began to feel calm and confident
Seeing how tapping transformed her students, Katie became a Certified EFT Practitioner and now teaches others how to dissolve stress, fear, and anxiety using the same method.
What Is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)?
EFT, also known as tapping, is a mind-body tool that helps calm your stress response by combining gentle tapping on acupressure points with mindful focus on emotions or thoughts.
Studies show that EFT can:
Lower cortisol levels (the stress hormone)
Regulate the amygdala (your brain’s alarm center)
Improve emotional regulation and mental clarity
Relieve physical tension associated with stress and anxiety
How to Dissolve Your WAFFLES Using EFT
Katie teaches a simple 6-step tapping process that you can try anytime you feel overwhelmed:
💡 The 6-Step EFT Process
Identify what’s bothering you.
Name the specific issue — for example, “I’m afraid I’ll fail this test” or “I feel overwhelmed at work.”Determine when it last occurred.
Recall the most recent situation where you felt that emotion.Rate the intensity from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most severe.
Notice where you feel it in your body.
Maybe it’s tightness in your stomach or tension in your shoulders.Begin tapping on EFT points.
(You can download Katie’s free gift below for a visual guide.)Repeat until you feel lighter or calmer.
Many people notice relief after just a few rounds.
If you want to see exactly how to do this process, watch the full episode:
What Happens When You Release Your WAFFLES
Once you calm your body’s stress response, your brain becomes clearer and more capable of making sound decisions.
Katie explains it beautifully:
“When we worry, we take away many of our thinking and decision abilities. To find solutions, we first have to release ourselves from that state so we can think clearly, and sometimes discover answers we never thought of before.”
— Katie Nall
People who practice EFT regularly often report:
✅ Increased confidence
✅ Reduced physical symptoms of stress
✅ Better focus and performance
✅ A greater sense of calm and self-control
Try It Now: A Quick Interactive Exercise
Take a moment right now:
Think of one thing that’s been worrying you lately.
Rate the intensity of that worry from 1 to 10.
As you breathe deeply, notice how your body feels.
Then, when you’re ready, use Katie’s tapping steps by downloading the EFT Tapping Points Guide. Download it here for FREE!
You might be surprised by how quickly your body and mind begin to relax.
Stress, fear, and anxiety don’t have to control your life. With a few minutes of tapping, you can begin to dissolve your WAFFLES, calm your body, and regain emotional freedom.
If this episode inspired you to take control of your stress and rewire your response to anxiety, you’ll love The Ultimate Toolkit to Rewire Your Anxious Brain by Dr. Rozina Lakhani.
The book goes deeper into understanding how your anxious brain works and teaches 50+ evidence-based tools to calm it.
Discover the tools to stop worry in its tracks and reclaim your joy.
👉 Learn more about the book here: https://happyandhealthymind.com/rewire-your-anxious-brain
