The technique of applying pressure to particular parts of your body in order to experience relaxation or relief is called, “acupressure”, which is quite similar to acupuncture, but without all the needles! Acupressure and reflexology has been a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM for over 2,500 years!
Eastern medicine practitioning such as TCM, and its smaller subsets like acupressure, have been becoming increasingly more incorporated and accepted into Western medicine. Even the student health fee that I had to pay each semester, back when I was at University, included three acupuncture appointments to relieve stress and anxiety if I had so chosen!
Traditional Chinese Medicine is quite present in our lives!
As I said before, TCM has been slowly becoming incorporated in Western medicine more and more. Herbal medicine, dietary therapy, and of course we are all familiar with massage one of the most popular methods of acupressure that many people enjoy and find relaxing!
Additionally, meditation and tai chi are also considered parts of TCM that we regularly see people incorporate into their mental health regimes! It is the combination of all these things (herbal medicine, acupressure, and meditation) which would make up a whole treatment plan under Eastern medicine.
It is this concern for the overall nature of a person, their mental/spiritual health as well as their physical health, which is quite appealing for many dissatisfied with the constant use of refined pharmacology or dictation of symptoms to fix a person as if they are a robot as the critique of Western medicine often goes.
This acupressure technique may relieve stress and anxiety, Try it out!
This technique is similar to what one might instinctively do if they have a headache.
- Put a gentle pressure on the area between your eyebrows with the soft front of your thumb and hold for 45 seconds.
- Then, gently applying pressure all the way, begin to push upward till you almost pass the midpoint of your forehead and repeat. Continue this massage for another minute. This massage is said to relieve headaches and anxiety, but is even more effective as you transition to a more relaxed state through breathing and sinking deeper into the relaxation.
- After, gently place your thumb at the place between your eyebrows is, but this time touching the part that begins the slope of your nose.
- During this time, you can close your eyes and focus on your breathing. To aid with this you might also apply pressure to the middle of your sternum (The point being “CV 17”, pictured below), between your chest plates at the center, as pressure at this point is said to boost your mood as well as encourage you to take deeper breathes as your chest should not rise as you breathe, but your stomach and sides should; kind of like how a dog breathes when he is resting on his belly.
Give these techniques a try, after all, there has got to be a reason why so many people return from these spas that specialize in Traditional Chinese medicine so refreshed and why so many health care providers are starting to become more versed in it themselves!
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