In my day job as an FT columnist, I cast a sceptical, often irreverent eye over the world around me. I tend to be someone who challenges everything — not for the sake of it, but because I’m suspicious when a whole group of people believes the same thing. I have often been labelled a “contrarian”. I once hosted a podcast series called A Sceptic’s Guide to Crypto. I have the word “snark” in my X bio. You get the idea. 

So you might be surprised to hear of some of the things I dabble in during my free time. I use the word “synchronicity” with no sense of irony. I swear by my definitely psychic kinesiologist. I am a member of a coven called Sisters of the Sanitary Cloth (both the descriptor and our name are slightly tongue-in-cheek, though the latter more than the former). I’ve become obsessed with Co-Star, an app claiming to use Nasa data to give you “super-accurate” AI-generated horoscopes, ahem. (It was recommended to me by a senior colleague. I shan’t be naming names.) I write Morning Pages, as espoused by Julia Cameron, author of the creativity bible The Artist’s Way. I am, you know, “doing the work”. 

I am mainly tapping to clamber off the dating wheel of doom

But how can someone who is so wary of consensus views, and so passionate about the importance of truth and objectivity, be so into what many of you might consider quackery? I think it’s quite simple: I have an open mind. And while I believe in the value of reason and empiricism, I would also argue that it is actually rational to explore alternative approaches to science and medicine and life. 

Which is how I find myself standing underneath a chandelier in a plush, Edwardian-style suite in the Savoy hotel, using the tips of my fingers to gently tap my “eyebrow points” as silent tears roll down my cheeks. “I feel like I’m on a never-ending hamster wheel of dates,” I repeat after my instructor as I tap (we have already discussed how I’m feeling; she’s not just guessing). “I’m fed up” — I move my fingertips down to tap just to the side of my eyes. “Eurgh” — below my eyes. “Bleurgh” — below my nose. “So many dates” — under my lower lip. “So many dates!” — collarbone. “But I’m prepared to stay open to love” — top of my head. “And I trust my intuition more and more each day” — back to my eyebrow points. Et cetera. 

My instructor is Poppy Delbridge, a former Warner Brothers executive who quit the world of entertainment TV in 2018 to dedicate herself full-time to tapping, a mainly self-administered form of therapy that combines modern psychology and ancient Chinese medicine. I came across her a few months ago, having decided it was high time to meet the love of my life. I went along to a “taster session” feeling rather dubious, spent most of our hour together in a state of deeply cathartic weeping (she has had this effect on me in all of our one-to-one sessions), and left feeling as if I was floating on air. 

I now tap every day. I am a tapoholic. Guided by Delbridge’s Rapid Tapping app as well as her book, Tapping In, I have tapped on park benches, in saunas, on a Greek island, in the bath. I have completed her “Pivot into Power” personal empowerment programme (fellow graduates include British Fashion Council chief executive Caroline Rush and The Royle Family co-writer Phil Mealey). I have been on one of her “rapid retreats” (our group of five included a Delevingne sister and a superfan who’d flown in from the Caribbean). And I’m now doing her “30-day Love Cleanse”, which, like all of Delbridge’s programmes, involves not just tapping but also some quite intense soul-searching and personal development work. 

How to do the two-minute tap

Poppy Delbridge’s guide to “Rapid Tapping”

Getting Started

Sit or stand comfortably.

Set your intention: decide how you’d like to feel right now (calm, energised, focused).

Check your frequency level: place both hands on your chest and notice your current feeling. Rate yourself from +10 (high joy) to -10 (low energy or stress).

Take a breath.

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Move your hands: slide them a few inches down from your collarbones and massage your “sore spots” firmly to balance and ground.

Set your intention: 

1. “I feel … ” identify your current emotion. 

2. “Because … ” acknowledge why you feel this way.

3. “But it is possible for me to … ” 

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Rapid Tapping Sequence

Using two fingers on each hand, tap on these points while repeating your three-step answers. 

1. Between eyebrows

2. Sides of eyes

3. Under eyes

4. Under nose

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5. Chin

6. Collarbone and heart area

7. Top of head 

Finish with a head hug and shake-it-off: rub your hands together, place one hand on your forehead, the other on the back of your head, and hold for 10 seconds. Hold and smile.  Then shake out your hands and body to recalibrate and refresh. 

The 7-Day Rapid Reset is available in the free app as a video demonstration

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Tapping is a so-called “somatic” therapy, meaning it focuses on the connection between the mind and the body. It has roots in ancient Chinese medicine but was invented by an American psychologist in the 1980s and then simplified by one of his students in the ’90s to become “Emotional Freedom Technique”. With EFT, you tap on nine main “meridian points” — pressure points that are also used for acupuncture — in order to release trapped energy from traumatic experiences stored in the body. While some have dismissed it as pseudoscience — Gary Bakker, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Tasmania, calls tapping a “purple hat therapy” and tells me “there is no evidence whatsoever that tapping on your imaginary meridians does anything for a clinical psychological problem” — there are studies that argue that tapping can be a way of treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, food cravings and even physical pain and the symptoms of autoimmune conditions. 

And the more I’ve been tapping, the more issues I have found it helps me with — particularly around stress, lack of motivation and self-doubt. 

Delbridge’s version, “Rapid Tapping”, focuses on seven meridian points that EFT uses and also usually includes an initial massage of the “sore spots” — fleshy bits about an inch below the collarbones that feel tender to the touch — as well as a “head hug” at the end (her app includes a how-to video). She wants to use tapping to focus less on moving away from bad things in the past, as with traditional EFT, and more towards good things in the future, by “rewiring our neural pathways”. To put another way: to “manifest” the things that you desire into your life. 

If this sounds gushy, be assured there’s none of that distinctly woo-woo brand of toxic positivity. The fact that every session begins by stating out loud how you really feel and, if that’s negative, repeating it until the feeling starts to become less acute, is part of what I think makes the practice so helpful. Not only does it feel like you are releasing tension when you say your negative feelings out loud, but some of them start to feel a bit ridiculous once you do.

Most taps start by asking you to score how you’re feeling — either in general or on a particular issue — and end by asking you to score it once again. Some days my emotions only edge up; other days my mood is totally transformed in minutes. Whatever it’s doing, it does feel like something is working. I also sigh when I’m tapping, a lot. Other people yawn. “I joke that I’m the only public speaker that, when the whole audience is yawning, I’m not offended,” says Nick Ortner, who has more than 100,000 subscribers to his The Tapping Solution App.

“At the very minimum you’re resetting your nervous system into an  arasympathetic state — from fight or flight into rest and relax,” says Dr Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and one of Delbridge’s clients, who now taps most days. “People who aren’t used to being in a state of relaxed alertness can end up feeling sleepy.”

For my part, while I may not have yet met the love of my life, sigh, I feel I have broken down a number of barriers — or “love blocks” — since my first session with Delbridge in May. I also seem to spend much less time self-sabotaging, and am managing to regulate my emotions more successfully. I now use tapping as part of my morning routine, and sometimes at other points in the day too, and find it similar to meditation in the way that it grounds me, though it is usually more uplifting, motivating, and can be more focused if you want it to be.

I can assure you I felt like a fool — a fool! — the first time I did it, but these days tapping around my face and chest with my fingertips feels weirdly natural. Give it a try, I say. What’s the woo-woorst that could happen? 

CNN
 — 

A 23-year-old man faces attempted murder and assault charges after he allegedly pushed another man onto New York City subway tracks, police say, adding to a string of recent violent encounters across transit stations during the holiday season.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon at the 18th Street station in Chelsea, Manhattan, according to police, and took place the same day authorities announced the identity of a woman who was set on fire and killed on another New York City subway train last month.

The suspect in Tuesday’s attack, identified as Kamel Hawkins, has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree, the New York Police Department told CNN.

The victim, a 45-year-old man, was taken to Belleview Hospital in critical condition after the assault which left him with a head injury and broken rib, a law enforcement official told CNN.

Police said Tuesday night the victim was in stable condition. Authorities confirmed he was not struck by the train but fell on the tracks as it passed.

It is unclear what the attacker’s motive was or if there is any relationship between the suspect and the victim, police say.

CNN is working to determine Hawkins’ legal representation.

Violet Paley was on board the 1 train when the attack occurred.

“All of a sudden there was an abrupt stop and because of everything I’ve been seeing on the news, the first thing that came to my mind was that someone probably got pushed in front of the subway, which is such a dark thought,” she told CNN.

Roughly 10 minutes went by before the conductor went on the intercom to make an announcement.

“He said we had to evacuate because there was a man under the subway,” Paley said.

She said police officers and paramedics swarmed the area.

“They pulled him out, and he was laying there, and I saw his hands and fingers move. I was in so much shock that he was alive. It was unbelievable.”

Paley, a former New York resident, said when she lived in the city 10 years ago, she would always take the subway with no concerns.

Now, she’s nervous for the safety of her loved ones living in the city due to the randomized crime.

“It’s pretty chilling to imagine that this can happen to anyone,” Paley said.

Tuesday’s incident comes as police announced the identity of a woman who was burned alive while she was sleeping on another New York subway train last month.

The NYPD identified the victim as 57-year-old Debrina Kawan, a New Jersey resident.

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old undocumented migrant accused of killing Kawam, was indicted Friday on charges of first- and second-degree murder and arson. He has yet to enter a plea and is due to be arraigned January 7.

Authorities took more than a week to publicly identify Kawam. Investigators were using advanced fingerprinting and DNA evidence to try to identify her “badly burned” body, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said last week.

Kawam had a “brief stint” in the city’s shelter system, and officials have spoken to her next of kin, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday at a news conference.

“People should not be living on our subway system. They should be in a place of care,” Adams told CNN’s Mark Morales. “And no matter where she lived, that should not have happened.”

The victim was initially believed to have been homeless, which complicated efforts to identify her, law enforcement sources previously told CNN.

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Bank of America and Citigroup on Tuesday said they were quitting the world’s largest climate alliance for banks, the latest sign corporate America may retreat from climate goals during Donald Trump’s second term as US president.

BofA and Citi are the latest large US lenders to exit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance this month, following Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. The UN-backed climate pledge, which Citi helped launch in 2021, was hailed as a major step towards reducing global warming by limiting investment in and lending to industries that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

In a statement, Citi said it remained committed to its climate goals despite exiting the alliance, and it planned to refocus its efforts on providing capital to emerging markets in order to support climate initiatives in those countries.

“We will continue to work with our clients on their transitions to a low-carbon economy while helping ensure energy security,” the bank said.

Like Citi, BofA in a statement said it would work with clients to meet their climate goals.

But US banks and other large companies have increasingly come under pressure from Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from pledges that would force banks to lend less to the oil and gas industry or other traditional energy producers.

That pressure has increased in the wake of Trump’s presidential win.

In November, Republican-led states filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, accusing the three largest US index fund managers of using their investing power to constrict supplies in pursuit of net zero carbon emissions goals.

Additional reporting by Kenza Bryan in London and Patrick Temple-West in New York