Acupressure: Simple Steps to Health: Discover your Body’s Powerpoints For Health and Relaxation
Acupressure is one of the simplest and most truly effective ways to treat yourself – naturally.Our practical guide makes Acupressure simple for even a complete beginner.Very similar to Acupuncture – but without any needles – Acupressure works by applying fingertip or thumb pressure to specific points on the skin along the body’s meridian, or energy, lines.This practical guide demonstrates clearly where to place pressure for each treatment. Our book provides Acupressure workouts for:Beauty – facial acupressure• Mind and emotions• Day to day health – colds, backache, headache, period pains.• Preventative medicine – for healthy heart, lungs, liver, digestive system.• Whole body workouts – for fundamental good health and vitality.There are reader friendly explanations of all stages and the language used is Western rather than Chinese throughout – making this an excellent Healthy Explorer guide.
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For my mother and stepfather, Joosje and Don Angel – for all their loving support.
For all the participants at my acupressure classes and clinics;
I have so much enjoyed sharing and learning together.
And for all those who read this book: may you gain many
benefits from the practice of acupressure.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Foreword
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Acupressure Health Workout
Chapter 1: Acupressure Health Workout
Part Three: Acupressure Health
Chapter 2: The Head
Chapter 3: the Joints
Chapter 4: The Respiratory System
Chapter 5: The Heart and Circulation
Chapter 6: Digestion
Chapter 7: The Urinary System
Chapter 8: The Gynaecological Organs
Chapter 9: Sexual Health
Chapter 10: The Whole Body
Chapter 11: Mental Health
Chapter 12: Pregnancy and Childbirth
Part Four: Acupressure First Aid
Chapter 13 Acupressure
List of Acupoints
Further Reading
Useful Addresses
Practical Reiki A step-by-step guide
Reflexology for Women
Big Book of Ch’i An exploration of energy, form and spirit
Searchable Terms
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
This book is different from previous acupressure books written for the lay public in that it focuses on health and preventive health care rather than just on disease. It clearly describes how to balance acupressure points, what the correct sensation is, and how much pressure to apply. It also explains the principles of direction of flow of chi along the meridians and includes complementary techniques such as breathing and visualization, both of which quite definitely affect the flow of chi.
It is an eminently practical book and is very simply set out, with very clear photos and diagrams on what points to use to both optimise health and to treat a whole range of conditions. It can be used perfectly easily without reading the whole book by simply reading the introduction, then looking up your area of concern in the index and turning up the particular part of the book which tells you how to approach it from an acupressure point of view. In each section there is an explanation as to what the points are actually doing, so making this discipline more understandable to the Western mind. This is of great importance, as the concepts underlying acupuncture and acupressure are foreign to the Western mind, making it difficult for us to think in terms of energy and flow of energy around the body. We are culturally pre-programmed to think in terms of organs that we can actually see.
Jacqueline Young has produced an eminently readable text which will be of benefit to anyone who buys this book.
Julian Kenyon, M.D., M.B., Ch.B.
Medical Director, The Dove Clinic for Integrated Medicine, London.
Introduction
Nowadays there is so much you can do to help yourself to health and to stay healthy. Both ancient and modern wisdom and techniques for promoting health are widely available to guide us along the path. Modern research has demonstrated the importance of diet and nutrition, for example the importance of balancing proteins, carbohydrates and other foods and of reducing fats, or the effects of specific vitamins and minerals. Similarly, sports science has clearly demonstrated the importance of regular exercise, and it is now possible to know exactly how to combine different types of exercise and training for peak fitness. Work in psychophysiology and psychology has clearly shown the effects of stress on both the physical body and on the mental state: performance is impaired, chemical changes occur, concentration deteriorates and a sense of well-being is lost. This work has led to the development of a range of psychological techniques to promote both mental and physical health-techniques for relaxation, stress management, positive thinking and attitudinal change.
As we assimilate this wide range of knowledge and experience and try to put it into practice in our daily lives, our attention must also be drawn to the wonderful range of self-care practices advocated by ancient healing traditions. These traditions were based not on scientific research, but rather on long and patient observation of the natural cycles in nature and the rhythms of life. All the ancient Oriental medical systems of China, Japan, India, Tibet and Korea advocate thorough self-care regimes as preventive medicine and as a curative approach for simple health problems. In the same way, the Western traditions of folk and herbal medicine have always recommended specific actions alongside the ingestion or application of remedies in order to prevent ill–health and bring about cure.
Within the Oriental systems a common theme is the importance of the flow of ‘vital energy’ (known as chi or qi in Chinese and ki in Japanese) in the body to promote and prolong health. When this flow is blocked or depleted there is ill-health; when it flows freely and abundantly there is good health and well-being. The supply and flow of this vital energy, which courses through invisible channels in the body known as ‘meridians’, is dependent on diet, life-style, environment, posture, breathing, habits, body movement and exercise, mental attitude, personality and spirit. As a result, self-care approaches emphasize the importance of eating foods according to the seasons and according to what suits your physical constitution and body type. They also recommend behavioural changes such as the need to live a balanced life-style with regular sleep and exercise, living in a moderate environment (avoiding extremes of temperature for example), and the importance of keeping good company. There are also a wide range of exercises for promoting the flow of energy within the body and for both calming and strengthening the mind and spirit, leading to increased mental powers and heightened awareness.
