Do fireworks spike your anxiety? What could you do if the dread of fireworks didn’t get in the way of life for days or weeks leading up to the holidays?
I mean, what if you weren’t bracing yourself for the next sudden bang? What if you could actually go outside, or relax during New Year’s, the Fourth of July, Bonfire Night, Diwali? And what if you weren’t spending weeks beforehand filled with anxiety about what you’ll be subjected to by other people celebrating? And how long it’ll take you to recuperate?
The problem
While fireworks can be pretty to watch, the loud and sudden sounds can be triggering. Especially when you’re Autistic or AuDHD or have sensory sensitivities.
Maybe it’s the sounds that get you. Maybe it’s the bright lights. Maybe it’s the unpredictability—not knowing when the next boom is coming. Or maybe you have painful associations or PTSD triggers wrapped up in all of it.
The usual advice? “Wear earplugs.” “Stay inside.” “Try to ignore it.” “It’s no big deal, you’re blowing it out of proportion, just enjoy yourself.” Which doesn’t actually help your nervous system deal with what’s happening. At best, that’s just… coping. Gritting your teeth through the fireworks, and feeling wrung out for days afterwards.
But there are techniques that can actually help regulate your nervous system through the stress. Are you interested?
The workshop
That’s why I created the Tapping for Fireworks Workshop. This is a 50-minute recorded workshop, available to you right now, on demand.
In it, I’m teaching how to use tapping—also called the Emotional Freedom Technique—to deal with the stress of fireworks. It’s a way to regulate your nervous system so that fireworks might not affect you quite as strongly, and you can deal with them a little bit better, and you’ll be able to recover faster and easier.
If you haven’t tried tapping before, it’s a scientifically sound mind-body technique. Studies show that it helps calm the nervous system and reduces fight, flight, and freeze responses, while dealing with difficult emotions, painful thoughts, sensory triggers, and even PTSD triggers.
It works by guiding you to use your own fingertips to tap gently on specific points on your body—usually the head, face, and upper torso, or on your hands as an alternative—on points that have a calming effect on the nervous system. And while you’re tapping, you’re simultaneously saying things that would be difficult under normal circumstances, like talking about the effects of fireworks, as well as affirming, self-compassionate statements.
This associates the ability to think and feel difficult things with a regulated nervous system. You start by acknowledging the discomfort and then offering yourself reassurance, while teaching the nervous system how to stay regulated throughout.
You don’t need to have any prior experience with this; I’ll walk you through the whole thing, step by step.
What’s in the workshop?
So what will you actually get from this workshop?
One: You’ll learn the basics of EFT tapping and how it works to calm your nervous system—with an Autistic-friendly explanation of why it works.
Two: You’ll get a guided tapping session specifically designed for fireworks anxiety, tailored for the Autistic and sensory-sensitive person’s experience. We’ll tap to reduce the impact of the sounds, the lights, the unpredictability, and all that comes with it—through a trauma-sensitive lens.
Three: You’ll learn how to adapt tapping for your own needs. Because your triggers might be different from someone else’s.
And four: You’ll have a tool you can use not just for fireworks, but for other sensory overwhelm and anxiety triggers in your life.
The elephant in the room
Now, I want to be honest with you.
Will this workshop completely eliminate your fireworks anxiety? No. And I wouldn’t trust any short workshop that makes that promise.
There’s probably a long history of pain and stress and anxiety that has built up, and possibly some PTSD. This one strategy isn’t going to solve all of that. That’s not realistic.
But it can make a real difference.
What I’m offering is a technique that can help regulate your nervous system through the stress. That gives you back some agency. And over time, this can be a factor in making this part of your life genuinely better.
Important details
Here’s the details:
This is the recorded version of a live workshop I gave in December of 2024, so you get the video recording, an audio-only version, a complete transcript with slides included, the slides separately, the tapping script to refer to later, and all workshop materials.
Because it’s recorded, you have the freedom to follow along at your own pace. Rewind and rewatch as much as needed. Engage on your own schedule, as your energy allows. With no pressure to show up at a given time or to participate in a live meeting. And you can use the guided tapping sequence as often as needed throughout the holiday season, or come back months later for the next fireworks holiday.
This is an inclusive, trauma-sensitive, and BS-free zone.
And while this is designed by and for Autistic and neurospicy humans, if my approach resonates with you—maybe you’re a highly sensitive person, or are sensory defensive—you’re welcome here too.
Invitation
So, here’s my invitation.
If you’re tired of dreading fireworks, if you want a technique that can actually help regulate your nervous system instead of just white-knuckling your way through it, this workshop might be what you need.
For more info, or to sign up, go to AutismChrysalis.com/fireworks.
Because you deserve to have tools that work for your nervous system. And it is okay to get help with sensory overwhelm. And it is possible to make this part of your life better.
If that sounds like what you’re looking for, I’d love to share this technique with you. And if it makes things even a little better, then you’ll have it available to you, forever.
Alright, wishing you a neurowonderful day.