Acupressure

Acupressure is as old as instinct itself - the natural response to hold a place on your body that is aching, wounded, or tense. The impulse that makes you double over and press your stomach in response to abdominal cramps is an example of the instinctive practice of acupressure. Everyone at some time or another has used their hand spontaneously to hold tense or painful places on the body. It may well be the ancient form of physical therapy.

More than 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered that pressing certain points on the body relieved pain where it occurred and also benefitted other parts of the body more remote from the pain and the pressure point. Gradually, they found other locations that not only alleviated pain but also influenced the functioning of certain internal organs.

In the early Chinese dynasties, when stones and arrows were the only implements of war, many soldiers wounded on the battlefield reported that symptoms of disease that had plagued them for years had suddenly vanished. Naturally, such strange occurrences baffled the physicians who could find no logical relationship between the trauma and the ensuing recovery of health. After years of meticuloous observation, ancient Chinese physicians developed ways of curing certain illnesses by striking or piercing specific points on the surface of the body.

Natural Hands-On Healing Art

As with Chinese soldiers, people through the ages have found the most effective ways to help themselves by trial and error. The art and science of acupressure was practised by the contributions of people whose awareness was so highly developed that they could feel where the bodies of people in pain were constricted and sense which trigger points would alleviate the problem. The Chinese practice self-acupressure for over 5,000 years as a way of keeping themselves well and happy.

You, too can learn how to complement the care you receive from your doctor. You can help your body relieve itself of common ailments by pressing the proper spots. In the course of trying out these points, you may even find others that work better for you. More recently, high-tech equipment has scientifically revealed that these points actually have a higher electrical conductivity on the surface of the skin.

In traditional Chinese medicine, methods range from the most natural to the most intrusive. The most down-to-earth, natural healing methods, such as breathing exercises, dietary therapy, acupressure and herbalism, were used as a people's form of hands-on, organic healing. If more treatment was needed, acupuncture and chiropractic were used, being more complex and manipulative, followed by drugs and surgery, which use the most drastic interventions in last-resort medicine.

Balancing Systems of the Body

Many ailments can be the result of too much stress challenging the body's balancing systems beyond their limits. The resulting tension and internal stress inhibit the body's ability to cope effectively with the disrupting condition. In order to relax muscular tension and balance the vital forces of the body, acupressure uses a system of points, which tend to collect muscular tension, and meridians, the pathways along which healing energy flows from point to point.

Acupressure considers symptoms to be an expression of the condition of the person as a whole. Thus, acupressure sessions focus not only on relieving pain and discomfort, but also on responding to these tensions and toxicities in the body before they develop into illnesses. Thuis, acupressure works before the toxin constrictions have caused damage to the internal organs.

The Body's Warning Signal

From an acupressure point of view, tension is a stagnation of the bodily flows: the nerves, meridians, lymphatic ducts and blood vessel. Lack of exercise, poor diet, alcohol and drugs all contribute significantly to this stagnation. Emotional repression, neurotic habits, as well as the common stresses of day-to-day living, causes blockages within the body. These physical tensions or blocked emotions (whether concious or not) lock the homeostatic mechanism of the body, restricting proper functioning. Instead of taking aspirin to repress such a signal by cutting off the body's natural alarm system, acupressure releases the tight, constricted muscles to correct the imbalance and its cause. There are a number of possible causes of headaches. These can include emnotional stress; chronic shoulder and neck tension, which can partially block the circulation of the blood to the head; meridian imbalances; cervical misalignment, which creates strain on the head/neck muscles and pinched nerves; intestinal congestion; and dietary imbalances, scuh as the contracting effect of salt, the expanding effect of sugar, the toxicity of most meats. In extreme cases, headaches can signify more serious conditions, such as earaches, toothaches, rheumatism and even internal haemorrhaging.

The practice of acupressure has developed primarily through a combination of instinct and hands-on experience. Its principles and healing techniques have also been influenced by individuals who could feel or see trigger points and meridian pathways. Some healers integrated breathing meditations and mudras (hand positions), while others added herbal remedies and massage. This exciting evolution of acupressure continues today among contemporary practitioners who incoporate traditional principles while discovering new point formulas and bodywork styles of their own.

Variety of Approaches

The ancient points are common to all types of acupressure. Each type has distinctive characteristics that incorporate unique ways of touching and interacting with clients. The following descriptions focus on the primary styles or methods in an acupressure practice.

• Jin Shin was developed in Japan by Jiro Murai, who rediscovered the ancient "ki-flow" (bioenergy) in his own body and mapped out a powerful healing system of points. Combinations of acupressure points are held with the fingers for a minute or more, usually with the client lying on his back
• Shiatsu (literally "finger pressure") is also Japanese in origin. This well-known method uses firm rhythmic pressure on the points for three to ten seconds (with the thumbs in the Namakoshi style) following a sequence of points which are designed to awaken the meridians
• Zen Shiatsu incorporates the creative use of the whole body along with stretches and leverage to awaken the healing channels of the body
• Barefoot Shiatsu uses the foot, allowing the practitioner the added advantage of leaning weight into the recipient