A Pressing Point: Gentle Healing With Acupressure

Have you ever pressed your fingers to your temples to relieve a headache? If so, you were practicing the ancient healing art of acupressure.

Kin to acupuncture, this pressure-point therapy stimulates "trigger points" on the body, but doesn't require needles - so it's safe for the puncture-phobic.

Instead of inserting needles, the practitioner acts as a massage therapist, applying gentle, sustained pressure to unlock muscles, promote circulation, relax the body, and wake up the body's natural ability to heal.

Why does acupressure work?

This ancient practice is rooted in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory that meridians of energy, or "Qi," traverse the body like waterways, and that we are dotted with hundreds of acupoints, serving as wells that plunge into these inner canals. When an acupoint is stimulated, the whole meridian responds like an electrical conduit, communicating with distant parts of the body that need help. So acupressure on the foot not only relaxes the foot itself, but may also ease low back pain, headaches, and other disorders that seemingly have nothing to do with feet.

"As a point is held, the muscle tension yields to the finger pressure, enabling the muscle fibers to elongate and relax, blood to flow freely, and toxins to be released and eliminated," explains the website of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley. "Increased circulation also brings more oxygen and other nutrients to affected areas. This increases the body's resistance to illness and promotes a longer, healthier, more vital life."

Studies have shown that pressure on acupoints can decrease postoperative pain, reduce nausea or vomiting during and after spinal anesthesia, and decrease pain during medical emergencies. It's also known to treat headaches, eyestrain, sinus problems, neck pain, backaches, menstrual cramps, indigestion, and stress.

Here's a short exercise to try at home.

"Inner Gate" or Pericardium 6 is a point often used to settle the stomach and stop nausea (including motion sickness and morning sickness). You'll find it on the inner arm near the wrist:

Turn your left hand so you're looking at your palm.
Starting at your wrist crease, measure three finger-widths (about two inches) away from the crease, toward the elbow. Lightly trace a line from the wrist crease to this spot, feeling for a tender area or slight depression between the two large tendons. This is Inner Gate.
Once you find the point, press it with your right thumb. Wrap your right hand around your left arm, pressing your right Channel finger to the point directly opposite Inner Gate, on the outer arm.
Press firmly on both points together for one to five minutes to calm the heart and stomach, and relieve nausea. You could also purchase anti-nausea wristbands to stimulate this point.

Although this is a safe, low-risk practice that anyone can try at home (after learning a few cautions), it is usually practiced professionally by certified therapists. A certificate to practice acupressure can be earned after as few as 150 hours of study, although many practitioners invest up to 850 credit hours to diversify their skills.

"The body holds an incredible spiritual energy that thrives on being balanced and healthy," says Anasuya Batliner, a certified acupressure practitioner and nutrition consultant who teaches at the Institute. "Acupressure, bodywork, and nutrition are ways to meet the challenges of human life, so we can shine forth and share more of our best qualities."

Don't we all want to shine forth?

Acupressure is a simple and effective way to help ourselves shine.

Visit the EnvyMyHealth.com Acupuncture and Acupressure Channel!

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