What is Acupressure?
Acupressure is an ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) healing art developed in Asia over 5000 years ago, using the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body’s natural self-curative abilities. When these acupressure points are pressed, they release muscular tension and promote the circulation of blood and the body’s life force energy, qi, to aid healing. Acupuncture and acupressure use the same points and meridians, but acupuncture employs needles, while acupressure uses gentle but firm pressure and integrates bodywork therapies, therapeutic touch, somatic work, healing imagery, energy psychology, and massage therapy techniques.
Benefits of using Acupressure include relieving pain, balancing the body’s energy, and promoting good health. Acupressure’s healing touch reduces tension, increases circulation, and enables the body to relax deeply. By relieving stress, acupressure therapy strengthens resistance to disease and promotes wellness.
Energy Work: the most potent form of energy work uses acupressure points. Energy (known as Chi or Qi) flows most freely when you touch, press, hold, or massage acupressure points. These healing pressure points are the gateways to the body’s life energy force. This energy source is also the basis of traditional Martial Arts self-defense techniques and various traditional healing art practices. The flow of this vital healing energy governs blood circulation and the functions and balance of the human body. Understanding the location and methods of applying pressure to these acupuncture points is key to transformational energy work and massage therapy.
Activating the acupressure points enables a practitioner to tap into Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) tremendous wealth of ancient healing knowledge – information that is point specific for healing the body.
Ancient Pressure Point Methods all use the same trigger points. Varying rhythms, pressures, and techniques create different styles of acupressure. Some non-Chinese forms of acupressure, can be quite vigorous, with firm pressure applied to each point for only three to five seconds, while other styles of acupressure gently hold each point for a minute or more. TCM Christchurch uses a variety of Tuina (Tui Na) Chinese Massage methods on massage tables, and other healing bodywork techniques on floor mats.