Six Resources for Self-Acupressure

Acupressure is a great tool for DIY Wellness practitioners. It benefits health in myriad ways, is simple to learn, and requires no equipment. It's also highly portable and flexible enough to use in situations ranging from stressful trips to the dentist to being laid up at home with the flu. In my experience it is especially powerful when dealing with muscle or joint pain, or high stress levels. 

The idea behind acupressure is that there are little points on your body that you can press on to influence health. While acupressure is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) like it's well-known sibling, acupuncture, there's no need to learn a bunch of theory before getting into the practice (and no needles, hence the "pressure" instead of "puncture). There are some basic safety tips to be aware of, and some ground rules to make it more effective. Fortunately, there are many resources available to the beginning practitioner: 

1)  Acupressure's Potent Points by Michael Reed Gach. This is a very complete beginner's guide, covering a variety of points and health conditions (arthritis, insomnia, colds and flus, etc.) It has rather cheesy but useful pictures of happy self-acupressurists showing you where the points are. It also gives you some safety guidelines.

2) Acupressure for Emotional Health by Gach and Beth Henning. This one is a follow-up to Acupressure's Potent Points, above, and goes into much more detail on subjects ranging from trauma to abuse to depression. Some of the "positive thinking" mantras were not my style personally, but still a good resource to keep handy. 

3) Acupressure.com, the website of Michael Reed Gach, also has videos and other resources on it. You will be entering the Cheese Zone when you take this link, just so you know. Make sure you check out the blog. 

4) Of course there's an app for that. In fact, there are many. While I am dubious about the quality, the price and convenience are both great for these. 

5) Local classes on self-acupressure. These have the advantage of helping you find some of the more elusive points, as well as question-and-answer interaction. If you're around Madison, WI, I do many workshops in this area- here's my events page.

6) Getting professional sessions of acupressure and Asian bodywork. There are many styles out there, but getting work from a pro is a good way to get a better idea of how to work on yourself, and many practitioners teach their clients techniques for self-care. Getting work from someone else is often more powerful than yourself, so it's useful for serious conditions.

Kitchen Herbalism

People sometimes tell me that herbalism is total bunk, that herbs have no effect, etc. My favorite reply is, "Do you drink coffee or tea? Do you think they effect your state of well-being?" Obviously, coffee is a prime example of herbal use: grinding up part of a plant, then extracting components of it using boiling water, and drinking the result. There are arguments back and forth about whether coffee is good for you in the long run, but there is no doubt that it can lift mood and alertness in the short run. Green tea may be a better example, as it has long been known to have health benefits.

So the point is that herbs do have an effect on mind and body. Many of these herbs, a.k.a. spices, reside in your kitchen. You may have heard of some of their benefits: ginger for nausea, turmeric to fight inflammation, fennel to sooth the digestion. Many companies have tried to extract components of herbs and spices to sell in  convenient, high-dosage forms. Unfortunately, the complexity of the plant often gets lost in the process, along with health benefits. (This also happens with decaf green tea extracts- the caffeine helps activate other components of the plant!) This can be helped by taking "whole food" supplements from a reputable company like New Chapter. Personally, I prefer to simply eat and drink my medicine when possible, saving money and building my DIY ethic. 

How do you get started becoming a kitchen herbalist? Fortunately, there are many good resources. Herbal primers by David Hoffman and Rosemary Gladstar are nice foundations which include kitchen spices along with other, more exotic plants. And of course there are a slew of websites of varying quality that give a basic run-down for you. 

One important tip: both taste and quality are improved when buying fresh! I get my herbs from my local co-op's bulk herb aisle to ensure this. The turmeric and paprika shine vibrantly, and taste amazing. Don't buy so much that the spices begin to loose their punch, either. Some things, like nutmeg, can be grated at home for added freshness. 

Unshouldering the Burden

The number of people who come to me for help with shoulder and upper back problems is probably around 70% or so. Partly, this comes with the territory in a society dominated by sedentary, sitting work stations. It also reflects the fact that our shoulder is an inherently unstable joint. So we are susceptible to rotator cuff problems, torn ligaments, and generally tension and stiffness throughout the shoulders, neck, and upper back.

Unfortunately, most of us have trouble keeping this joint open, and use ineffective approaches like pulling the arm back in the doorway, which gets into the joint between the shoulder and arm that doesn't usually need stretching (although you might feel a bit of relief when yanking on it). These approaches can actually do more damage than good, by overstretching ligaments, which is something you really do not want to do!

So, along with bodywork therapy, I usually show clients one or more techniques to provide self-care. These include acupressure points and stretches along with explorations of body posture and breathing. Here are a couple of those techniques, used to balance the shoulders in a more complete way. The first one is from Ida Rolf, the founder of Rolfing Structural Integration:



And here's a classic stretch for after desk work:



For this second one, I like to breathe in as I bring my hands together, and out when I lower, not holding but moving slowly and repeatedly. I also bring the tips of my fingers together overhead, but it's more important to start by maintaining good position rather than forcing it!

Exercise - How Much?

How much exercise do you really need? Many of my clients struggle to start or maintain a fitness program, finding it daunting or time consuming. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that hard. Recent research has found that the first 20 minutes of exercise are the most important for one's health, physically and mentally. This is as easy as taking short walks a few times in a week. Of course, you can add in things like weight training, and whatever fancypants suspension-Russian kettle bell-cardioyoga-etc. thing you want to, but the point is to do anything active.

On the other hand, hardcore training can also lead to burnout and wind up being worse for you than watching Hunt for the Red October reruns on the couch. Some purported impacts of "overtraining syndrome" include fatigue, muscle pain, prolonged weakness, and even weight gain as our metabolism tries to protect us from our own excess! This is not surprising to us Asian bodywork therapists, who advocate a balanced exercise protocol. In Asian medicine, we often advocate that sufferers moderate their exercise, and include nurturing forms of activity like qi gong and tai chi, which serve as a good crosstraining methods if you're doing a more draining exercise like distance running or weightlifting.

So, basically, just do anything, and be sane. That's it. Enjoy yourself, and you'll be likely to continue for it's own sake.