There are specific points along the body called meridians where pressure can be applied with your fingertips to stimulate the body's natural ability to repair itself. Here are five of my favorites!
1. LV14 (Liver 14)
This point is located in the space between the ribs, for women right beneath where the bra sits usually in line with the nipple. It's the 6th intercostal space, for men it’s usually two spaces below the nipple. The indentation is usually tender & your fingers should fall right into it.
Great for depression from suppressed anger, this point strongly moves Qi & blood through the body to get everything moving. It also helps with: - Frustration - Anger - Frequent sighing - Fullness in the chest - Problems with digestion - Nausea - Gastric reflux - Hiccups - Gallstones - Mastitis - Insufficient lactation - Menstruation issues (bringing on menses, painful cramps, etc) - I could have used this point during own labor, as all my hypnobirthing left when I was in active labor & couldn’t get my breath to move down further than this point... perhaps if I just pressed this point during... -Jetlag when pressed w/ LU1 (Lung 1)
This point can help with wood element disorders outlined above. This point is tender if there is an imbalance.
In Chinese medicine, there is a front point (mu) & back point (shu) that controls each organ... this point is the Liver’s front mu point. It is also the last point of the Liver channel.
You can lie down & press this for a minute while breathing normal paced belly breaths. *Extra relaxation tip: Put your legs up in the air, against the wall, while pressing this point.
2. Lou Zhen (Stiff Neck)
Ever wake up and you can’t move your neck? This point, Lou Zhen 落枕, translates to stiff neck. Typically this happens when you sleep with a window open and the cold air aggravates your neck.
1. Press into this point, find the most dull achy part & hold it 2. Hold or dig into the dull achy point while moving your neck in all positions. 3. Repeat until you can find an acupuncturist &/or massage therapist to do more precise work. My first encounter with this point was as a student at PCOM-NYC when I could not move my neck. My professor took out a thick needle, needled this point on me and had me move my neck... BOOM! I had full range of motion. I was blown away. He heavily stimulated the needle and it was not pleasant at all, but the results were. I often find that I need local work too: Some cupping, gua sha, massage and/or acupuncture directly at neck - but this point starts the ball/ neck rolling. This point reiterates to me how genius our bodies are and how bizarrely divine acupuncture is.
3. Tian Wei 甜味
Ready to quit smoking? Squash the cravings by pressing this point called Tian Wei 甜味. This point is the empirical point for quitting smoking, alleviating smoking cravings and helps with nicotine withdrawal. It is believed to alter the way cigarettes taste to make it easier to quit. Press it and find that dull achy sensation, hold it, breathe and wait for the craving to go away. I smoked cigarettes for 10 years... yes, 10 years. I was five years into quitting, in acupuncture school and taking year-end comprehensive exams at PCOM (which consisted of eight hours of written testing day 1 and four hours of practical testing day 2), I jokingly took a hit off of a friend’s cigarette and boom a year and a half of the worst smoking relapse followed. I ended up getting a smoking related cancer (cervical adenocarcinoma) that shook my world, ended with a surgery and a doctor telling me I needed to have a hysterectomy to ensure the cancer would not come back since the five year recurrence rate was significant (20%). I cried and said I wanted children - What other options do I have? I opted for the biopsies every three months vs. not being able to become a mother. I am grateful I was able to ask questions when they said I had to have a hysterectomy or else my son would not be here. I now have biopsies every six months and each appointment I am reminded that I need to have a hysterectomy. If I quit, so can you. It’s now been six years off and I know what one silly puff can lead to. Find support - Please feel free to email me and I'll be your cheerleader! Acupuncture really can help regulate your body as you decide to quit. Auricular acupuncture works well and if you are somewhere where you have no access to acupuncture you can order Ear Seeds from amazon that come with diagrams of where to put the seeds. They work on pressure points in the ears for addiction and have a packet specifically designed for quitting smoking. Also, the book 'The Easy Way to Quit Smoking’ has helped many of my friends quit.
4. GB8/ TEMPORALIS (TMJ, Vertigo, Migraine, Tinnitus, Meniere’s Syndrome)
GB8 - This point is close to the scalp point for vertigo, hearing & speech. It helps with miniere’s syndrome, tmj, vertigo, tinnitus, deafness, sensory aphasia.
Acupressure massage protocol - Use 3-5 fingers to massage circles around the whole side of the head.
- Find the tender points in this area, press gently with 1-2 fingers, count to 25, release, and use hand to massage circles around the whole side of the head again.
- Repeat as needed on both sides.
- Use a drop of peppermint oil if you have headache or migraine.
- Soak your feet in epsom salt to ground and cleanse the energy released.
Temporalis muscle can be felt here and will be ropey if you have been building it up by grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw. Before acupuncture, I was a massage therapist for many years. This muscle is often over looked and people focus on the masseter but this little nugget needs some TLC too and can be the key to wellness. 5. SP6 (Labor Acupressure)
Research shows that acupressure for 30 min on SP6 during active labor decreases pain, duration of labor, delivery time, and cesarean rate. In a 2010 single blind randomized clinical study of 120 births, scientists found that the group which received 30 min of acupressure to SP6, during active labor (3-4 cm dilated), had a reduction in duration and severity of pain, cesarean and necessity of oxytocin. This is one of the easiest points to palpate. If you run your finger up from the inner ankle bone (medial malleolus) to your inner knee, your finger will just fall into a divot, a little less than 1/3 the way up. If you cannot find it, try closing your eyes to notice the indentation. In shiatsu, this divot is called a ‘tsubo’, roughly translated to mean ‘little bowl’. You can also find it by putting your middle three fingers together, putting one side at the top of the inner ankle bone and the other side is roughly the area of the point. The model in this photo has a point that is slightly higher than average, so each person’s body slightly differs but the indentation does not lie. In a 2004 randomized control study, researchers found that 30 minutes stimulation of acupressure point SP6 when the patient is 3cm dilated decreased pain, labor and delivery time vs. the control. This point can also be used to bring on your period/ menses, helps alleviate menstrual cramps, can help with insomnia, and can be used postpartum while having cramps due to the uterus contracting (while breastfeeding those first few days). Disclaimer: Contraindicated during pregnancy, therefore can be used to stimulate labor so ask a medical professional before using this point.