ACUPRESSURE OR SHIATSU – AN INTRODUCTION

© July 2020, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.

All information in this article is solely the opinion of the author and is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as diagnosis, prescription, treatment or cure for any health conditions.

DEFINITION

Acupressure, also called Shiatsu in Japanese, is a safe, effective and simple healing method that will speed up anyone’s development and can be done by yourself or by another without special training. It involves applying pressure with your fingers along the major energy meridians of the body.

The meridians are actually a large group of very tiny energy channels that run vertically through the body from the head to the feet. Acupressure works because it helps open up or decongest these channels or meridians. As a result, subtle energy will flow through the body much better and this improves one’s health and leads to faster development.

Like massage. Acupressure is somewhat like massage, but it is done only along the major energy meridians and it uses more pressure than most massage. Also, it is not necessary to undress because one can apply the pressure right through clothing.

ACUPRESSURE PRINCIPLES

1. Press on the meridians on both sides of the body.

2. Do not just work on one meridian, ignoring the others. It works better to spend a little time on all the major meridians, or at least the kidney and the liver meridians, whenever you do an acupressure session.

3. Do not remain on one area for more than 20 seconds. Move on to another part of the meridian after this time because it is possible to overtreat.

4. While applying some pressure is necessary, it is possible to press too hard. This is another kind of overtreatment and can cause soft tissue damage.

5. In most people, the most important part of the meridians to press on are in the legs. We are not certain why this is so, but it is usually true.

LEARNING WHERE TO PRESS ON THE BODY

We use seven energy meridians. They are not quite the same as what is taught in most acupressure and shiatsu books. We know this will be confusing. Basically, the meridians are:

1. Liver – outside of the leg

2. Kidney – inside of the leg

3. Small intestine – front of the leg

4. Large intestine – front of the leg

5. Stomach – back of the leg

6. Spleen – back of the leg

7. Triple heater – back of the leg

Of these, the liver and kidney meridians are usually the ones that need the most attention. Some day, we will prepare a chart to show these meridians.

Finding the meridians. A simple way to identify the meridians is to press all over a person’s lower leg area. Wherever it is tender or sore is usually one of the meridians.

Then move up the leg or down the leg a little and you will usually find that there is a ‘line’ of tenderness or soreness. Just keep rubbing or pressing along this ‘line’ and the soreness will diminish.

RELATION TO REFLEXOLOGY

Reflexology, which is pressing on points on the feet and hands, is somewhat similar in principle to acupressure. Both methods are channel therapies, meaning they open energy channels in the body.

However, reflexology works more by correspondence. On the feet and hands, there are reflex points that correspond to the organs of the body. One rubs or presses on these points and it affects the corresponding organ through a principle of correspondence.

This is a little different than simply pressing along an energy meridian in order to open it up. However, there is some overlap between the two methods because one can have correspondences points or reflex points that are also along major meridians. Pressing on these places will help open the meridian or channel and will also affect an area through the principle of correspondence.

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