Acupressure techniques for stress and relaxation

For general health maintenance, there are some acupressure techniques that you can do yourself for self healing. The techniques are simple and easy to learn. Acupressure is a no cost, easy and self help method of getting cure for common ailments and it doesn't have any side or after effects.

You just need to select an appropriate massage plan that suits your health need, perform it in the morning and evening and make it last 20-30 minutes each time.

In this article, you will learn some useful acupressure techniques for self-healing. We use a lot of alternative therapies to fight stress and depression which has become a part of our everyday life but acupressure offers a very good solution for this common ailment.

Acupressure for easing mental stress and relaxation

1. Sit still with eyes looking forward and teeth clenched, use the palm to pat evenly over the crown of the head, 20 times,
2. Press the thumbs on the inner sides of the eyebrows (Bl2) and knead 30 times.
3. Wipe the forehead with the middle knuckles of the index fingers, 30 times.
4. Press and knead the corners of the forehead inside the hairline (St8), 30 times.
5. Press and knead along the back of the head within the hairline with the thumbs, 30 times.
6. Knead the lateral side of the wrist (Ht7) on both hands, 30 times.
7. Knead 3-finger-breadths above the inner malleolus of each ankle (Sp6), 30 times.
8. Finish by rubbing the center of the soles of the feet (Kl1), 30 times.

The massage is helpful for insomnia, mental fatigue, absent-mindedness, drowsiness and listlessness. When kneading or pressing on particular points, there should be enough force to bring about numbness or soreness, while rubbing or wiping should create a feeling of warmth.

Source link for pictures and more information: 'Shen-nong'

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How to get self healing from acupressure

I have completed a short acupressure course from a local expert of this therapy and after some practice I can diagnose myself or use the self healing process for the purpose. Acupressure points of your palm become tender or painful relating to the part of body which is an indication that there is some pain or abnormality at that body system or part.

After diagnose, self healing is a very easy process. You just need to put pressure with the help of your finger tips, thumb or with wooden tool(specially made to apply pressure).

How to Start?

Look for sore areas. If a point is sore, it needs work. You should feel sour or numb, but not knife-cut like pain when pressing. The acupoints are usually between or beside the bones and tendons orligaments, on in a depression, never on the bones or blood vessels. If a point is not sore, leave it alone. Fingerpressure will work but most people get a better Healing Response using acupressure tools. They allow morepressure to be applied with less work, stress and potential damage to the massager.

If a point is very sore,press only as hard as you can tolerate do not overdo it this is not a contest. You must be the judge on this.Light pressure for a longer period will give you the same results. Some people who are larger or less sensitivethan others, may need more pressure to activate the healing response.Treatments have a cumulative effect. Sometimes lasting results are immediate, but most often it takes a while.

Each time you activate the healing response it brings the system closer to normal. If you do not get aresponse quickly you can increase the frequency of treatment. Increasing frequency is more effective thenincreasing the duration of treatment. Three or four times a day or even once an hour is OK. It does not mean that the treatments are not working if the pain comes back. This is normal. Eventually you will reach a point where the pain does not retur

* How to apply acupressure

How long you should apply pressure on effected points?

Firm pressure is the most fundamental technique. Use thumbs, fingers, palms, the side of the hand, orknuckles to apply stead; stationary pressure. To relax an area or relieve pain, apply pressure gradually andhold without any movement for several minutes at a time.

One minute of steady pressure (when appliedgradually) calms and relaxes the nervous system, promoting greater healing. To stimulate the area, applypressure for only four or five seconds. Slow motion kneading uses the thumbs and fingers along with theheels of the hands to squeeze large muscle groups firmly. The motion is similar to that of kneading a large mass of dough. Simply lean the weight of your upper bodyinto the muscle as you press to make it soft and pliable. This relieves general stiffness, shoulder and necktension, constipation, and spasms in the calf muscles.

Brisk rubbing uses friction to stimulate the blood andlymph. Rub the skin lightly to relieve chilling, swelling, and numbness by increasing circulation, as well as tobenefit the nerves and tone of the skin. Quick tapping with fingertips stimulates muscles on unprotected,tender areas of the body such as the face. For larger areas of the body, such as the back or buttocks, use aloose fist. This can improve the functioning of nerves and sluggish muscles in the area. Obviously this type ofmassage would be difficult to apply to yourself. But with the proper tools you can treat most of your body'slocations effectively.

* Use acupressure charts

Tips:
- Pressing too hard and too quickly can damage tissues and create more problems.
- Pressing too soft will do little to relieve the problem.
- Use gentle steady pressure and gradually increase it until the body responds back with a significant pain response.
- The point with pain is telling you something is wrong but not to the point where your body tenses more from the pain.

More at: The right amount of pressure