Hello Friends,
I will talk more about Acupressure, the Meridians and energy medicine, over the weeks and months to come. It’s a vast subject and one that I am passionate about. But to give you a basic level of understanding to help get started with your practice I am going to some up the very, very basics of Acupressure in a short paragraph, as well as share with you some useful links and tips to get you started.
Acupressure & the Meridians
When I get asked about what Acupressure is, I always start by saying that it is like Acupuncture but without the needles. Acupressure is an alternative therapy that uses pressure applied, often from a finger, on specific points on the meridian lines around the body to promote wellness, relaxation and homeostasis in the body. Traditional Chinese Medicine talks about the meridians as being invisible channels in the body that carry energy, (called Chi or Qi) around all organs and parts of our body. It is said that when one or more of these meridians are blocked or out of balance, we get sick. Using Self Acupressure we can apply gentle pressure ourselves to specific points along each of these meridians to help restore balance, wellness, relaxation and wellbeing in our body and mind.
I have used Acupressure over the years to balance and calm my emotions, release stress and treat common physical ailments such as neck and shoulder tension, backache and headache. And, like I said above I have found it to be an absolute life saver for me on my journey of healing from sexual abuse.
Guidelines for Practice
To help you understand more about the practice of Acupressure and how to practise safely I have shared below two links to articles written by Micheal Reed Gach, one of the key teachers of our time on Acupressure.
Guidelines and precautions for beginners
Acupressure Points: 5 Guidelines & Precautions for Beginners
How to apply pressure to Acupressure Points
In addition before you begin practising Check your 3P’s
- Points – Are you comfortable with the location of the points you are working on. You’ll often, although not always, know you are in the right spot for the point if the area is tender. Often, when there is imbalance in the body the area on the point may be tender.
- Posture – Check your posture and that you are not straining in any way, in particular your back and shoulders. Check that you can reach and hold the position of the points without staining for the duration of the exercise. Whichever position you are choosing to practise in make sure before you hold your positions for practise that you are comfortable reaching the points before you come to practise. You will be holding the points for around 3 minutes on each side of the body so make sure that you are comfortable first.
- Pressure – Check you are comfortable with the level of pressure that you are going to apply. Donna Eden speaks about the level equating to that which you would apply in order to hold a penny onto a wall.
I hope that this helps to get you started.
With love
Sophia Grace