Acupressure
Acupressure is a catch all term for a therapy which works by using pressure on acupoints.
That is it is part of the traditional east asian medicine systems and as such has a long history of use. One of the theories about how acupuncture developed- perhaps the most convincing- is that people noticed that certain points when pressed had certain effects on the body.
You know how sometimes instinctively, we will press and rub an area that is sore, like the temples if you have a headache, or a muscle if it is sore from hard work, and it helps. The idea is that this practice, over time and with the benefit of the oldest writing system in continuous use in the world, the Chinese developed and codified which points and areas were useful for what, and that some of these were distant from their site of action.
Then, again over time, with healers passing their knowledge on and developing it in turn the points were organised into channels associated with different organs that we know today. They got more refined over the centuries and indeed the field is still developing.
There are not a lot of definitive sources for this, but we know that medical knowledge in China went through this process in the time we do have records for, and it seems reasonable.
So in order to practice acupressure effectively it is necessary to have an understanding of the acupuncture channel system (jingluo) and the diagnostic systems underneath it, as well as having practised and developed good manual skills and touch.
There are two main traditional systems of acupressure massage, Tui Na from China and Shiatsu from Japan, though if acupoints are stimulated by pressing, it can be considered acupressure.
Tui Na (trans. Pushing and Grasping) combines various manual techniques in a flowing treatments that will work up and down channels deemed appropriate to a patients problem, or just as a full body treatment. There are some methods in tui na you don’t find in other massage systems.
Shiatsu (trans. Finger Pressure) similarly is a full system including diagnosis which stimulates the points and channels for healing, and not just muscle relaxation. There are different schools of shiatsu which place more emphasis on either specific points (tsubo) or the channels
Anmo (Chinese) or Anma (Japanese) translates as massage but specifically means ‘pressing and rubbing’ anfa and mofa which are specific techniques in tui na massage. It is usually more general and practiced with the aim of relaxing muscles and helping the physical health.
All these systems aim to facilitate the flow of qi in the body and bring about a more balanced state of health
If you are interested in acupressure therapy and would like to book an appointment or find out more just contact us.
