Acupressure Benefits
What is it? The practice of acupressure and acupuncture come from Chinese Medicine which has been practiced for thousands of years. Acupressure and Acupuncture use 14 sets of points that run along certain patterns across the body. These channels or meridians represent the 14 body systems that Chinese medicine recognizes similar to the nine body systems Western medicine recognizes. Some of the names are similar too; i.e., gallbladder, liver, heart . . . but others are different i.e., triple warmer, governing channel etc.
Chinese medicine studies nature putting our bodies in relationship to the world. Yin represented by the earth and Yang (pronounced yawn) whic are the heavens, believing we are a part of the universe. Chinese medicine connects mind, body and spirit and treats it as one. A person is not well if one aspect is ill. Take a person living in chronic pain, sooner or later, affects your mental energy and you can become depressed dealing with pain all the time. This affects your energy.
Our life force/energy is Chi (pronounced chee). A Christian might compare chi to your soul/spirit. Western medicine might call it your will to live or your breath. The meridians are the path the chi travels in our bodies. When chi is interfered with like when we are ill, it is stagnant or blocked and we do not function well. The ancient Chinese doctors learned when they applied pressure to the points those body parts began to improve in function. It was felt the chi blockage was removed so the person could feel well again.
An Acupressure Session
It is very similar to a massage except you do not undress. As you lay on the table the therapist finds the points and either applies finger pressure for a short or longer time. The short time helps to tonify, or speed up, the chi flow in the meridian and the longer the pressure is held helps the chi to slow down. An experience practitioner of acupressure or acupuncture will assess your pulses at the wrists to feel/ assess the strength of the pulse which will tell them which channel to work on.
The practitioner may also look at your tongue, eyes and face to further assess your state of health and listens to your description of how you're feeling to compare the information with his/her assessment. Sessions vary depending on which channel is being worked. The gallbladder channel is very long starting at the inside of the eye and extending to the foot. Compared to the heart channel which is short, starting at the finger and working up to the chest. Slowing a channel down takes longer than to speed it up. People usually feel either relaxed or energized depending upon what effect is needed.