Acupressure what is it?

Acupressure What is it?

Acupressure is an ancient healing art developed over 4ooo years by the Chinese. Its purpose is to move and balance CHI (life energy) through applied finger pressure. Energy moves through out the body, mixing with different fluids which crates different forms of chi Protective chi, Nutritious chi, Ancestral chi, and Source chi. By manipulating chi we can assist with rebalancing the energy within the body, to allow it to heal it self. We can identify and affect Chi by causing physical and emotional changes in the body. This energy has both tangible and intangible qualities that are understood and influenced

TCM is based on the mind, body, and spirit, being of one entity. The body is treated as a whole and Chi affects all 3 levels and we do not influence one without affecting the whole. Example feeling ill, this affects our mood/emotions, physical energy and mental ability.

Meridians. Are how energy flows through the body, they are energetic pathways that are just below the surface of the skin. These pathways move chi, blood, nurturance, body fluids, hormones, digestive fluids and waste. There are 12 major meridians that directly relate to a specific organ. Meridians give us a way to communicate and assess each organ system. The organs energy reflects on the association point, located on the dogs back, near the spine. If there is an imbalance it will reflect either as a deficiency or excessive patterns.

Example: A river flows harmoniously until a beaver builds a dame; the dame causes a disturbance in the flow resulting as both and excessive and deficient pattern. Where there is stagnation it will cause a deficiency needing to be tonifed, and where there is an excessive pattern would need to be sedated. Restoring the harmonious flow of energy and creating balance.

Yin	Yang
chronic conditions	acute conditions
fatigue/tiredness	insomnia
dampness	dryness
cold/cool	hot/warm
lethargic	restless
under active	over active
weak musculature	tight musculature
lack of thirst	thirst
pale	red
soft	hard
curled up	stretch out
pale tongue	red tongue
empty pulse	full pulse

Yin and Yang. To better evaluate imbalance you must understand the concept of Yin and Yang. Chi energy is actually a dynamic balance between two polar opposes and is the foundation to TCM.

It is in fact a single entity that lives in constant movement they are interdependent yet neither can exist without the other. Yin is cold in nature, feminine and tends to be chronic and Yang is warming, masculine tends to be acute.

Eight guiding principals Gives an analytical way to identifying imbalances, these are: Yin or Yang, Interior or exterior, deficient or excessive, cold or hot Examples hard surface lumps, swelling, dense tissue mass = yang condition. Lethargic, physical weakness, weak sounds, not thirsty, lies in the sun = yin conditions.

5 Elements. Because people look for ways to understand what's happening with their health the Ancient Chinese philosophers, put together a framework for doing this, which is still used today in Oriental Medicine. It’s called Five Element Theory. The logic of Five Element Theory becomes clear as you begin to use it as a filter for processing observations.

Chinese Philosophers understood that energy flows with in all living, thus giving cause and effect in life’s cycle, through these cycles the body goes through transformation. And energy travels within our body’s in a 24 hour cycle.

	FIRE	EARTH	METAL	WATER	WOOD
Yin Organs	Heart & Pericardium	Spleen	Lungs	Kidneys	Liver
Yang Organs	Small Intestine & Triple Heater	Stomach	Large Intestine	Urinary Bladder	Gall Bladder
Sense Organs	Tongue	Mouth	Nose	Ears	Eyes
Tissues	Vessels	Muscles	Skin 3^rd lung	Bone	Tendons
Tastes	Bitter	Sweet	Pungent	Salty	Sour
Colors	red	yellow	white	blue/black	green
Sounds	Laughing	Singing	Crying	Groaning	Shouting
Odor	scorched	fragrant	rotten	putrid	rancid
Emotions	Joy	Worry/Pensiveness	Grief/Sadness	Fear	Anger
Seasons	Summer	Late Summer	Autumn	Winter	Spring
Environment	Heat	Dampness	Dryness	Cold	Wind
Developmental Stages	Growth	Transformation	Harvest	Storage	Birth
Direction	south	center	west	north	east
Emotional Imbalance	Lack of joy, manic, poor judgment, dull and depressed	Chronic nervousness, lack of focus, obsessive behavior, over thinking	Compulsive, stubborn, aloof, restless	Anxiety , fear, aggression	Depressed, aggressive, chronic irritability, poor judgment
Physical Imbalance	Cardio disorders, irregular breathing, restricted movement and pain in shoulder extending to neck	Weak and depleted energy, bowels, cramping muscles, Movement in gait, atrophy, blood disorders, weight issues, paralysis.	Repertory illness, asthma, bronchitis, allergy	Inability to regulate water retention, edema, sciatica, muscle strain, arthritis, join issues, dizziness, equilibrium, memory	Neurological, stumbling and awkward movements, digestive issues, muscle spasms including seizures.

Creation and Control Cycles; help us to understand flow and manipulation of energy when we see of feel imbalances.

Once it is determined what the primary element imbalance is, we can then utilizing the creation and control cycle to begin to restore balance. By using the above chart shows the different body/mind relationships associated with each organ. To get a sense of these interactions, we look at how these elemental forces generate and regulate energy (chi) in nature, in the body and mind.

The creation cycle runs counter clockwise and represents the growth cycle and generating Energy (Chi) Based on Five Element Theory, each elemental force generates or creates the next element in a creative sequence.

For example:

Water generates wood. Rain nourishes a tree.
Wood generates fire. Burning wood generates fire.
Fire generates earth. Ash is created from the fire.
Earth generates metal. Metal is mined from the earth.
Metal generates water. Water condenses on metal.

Creation Cycle of Generation

When applying this "supportive relationship" to the body we see that each internal organ embodies the energetic qualities of the element it's related to. Each organ is responsible for providing the energy needed by the next organ in the generative cycle.

For example:

Kidney (water element) supports the Liver (wood element).
Liver (wood element) supports the Heart (fire element).
Heart (fire element) supports the Spleen (earth element).
Spleen (earth element) supports the Lung (metal element).
Lung (metal element) supports the Kidney (water element).

To keep the growth cycle in check the control cycle counter acts the creation cycle making sure that it does not over step its boundaries. Regulating Energy (Chi) Based on Five Element Theory, each elemental force is also associated with another element which it is responsible for controlling or regulating.

For example:

Water controls fire. Water puts fire out.
Wood controls earth. Tree roots hold clods of earth.
Fire controls metal. Fire can melt metal.
Earth controls water. A pond holds water.
Metal controls wood. An ax cuts wood.

The Control Cycle of Regulation
when applying this "regulating relationship" to the body, we see that each internal organ embodies the energetic qualities of the element it's related to. Each organ is responsible for providing energy to regulate or control excesses or deficiencies in the energy of the organ it's associated with in this cycle.

For example:

Lung (metal element) controls Liver (wood element).
Heart (fire element) controls Lung (metal element).
Kidney (water element) controls Heart (fire element).
Spleen (earth element) controls Kidney (water element).
Liver (wood element) controls Spleen (earth element).

In summary, your internal organs play a dual role in promoting and maintaining your health: generating and regulating energy for each other. Each organ passes energy to the organ it supports, and, when necessary, controls imbalances in the energy of the organ which it regulates.

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