Guest guest Posted July 24, 2000 Report Share Posted July 24, 2000 I would like to look at acupressure. When I touch a point, What happens to the meridian? Is it automatically activated? or Is it tonified? Or does it strictly depend upon which point of the meridian is touched? Let's say I read the pulses and they say that Spleen is deficient. Can I tonify spleen by touching any point along its pathway? Or is the best way to touch any point on a mother meridian of the spleen like Small Intestine? Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 1, 2000 Report Share Posted August 1, 2000 >I would like to look at acupressure. >When I touch a point, What happens to the meridian? Is it automatically >activated? >or Is it tonified? Or does it strictly depend upon which point of the >meridian >is touched? I've been trying to research this, and I can't find anything. I suspect that acupressure works a lot like acupuncture without being able to fine-tune the use of points as one can do in acupuncture (tonification and releasing via different needling techniques). This is general info for the readers new to TCM, so I hope you and the other acupuncturists on the list will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong or leave anything out. One cannot actually add Qi or Yin to the body with acupuncture (or acupressure). What is being done is to " shunt " or move energy to areas of the body which will favor Qi or Yin. For example, if one tonifies the Spleen, one is indirectly increasing Qi in the case of Spleen Deficiency because the Spleen plays a major role in Qi reserves in the body. The Spleen is responsible for extracting the Grain Qi from food and then carrying it to the Lungs where it mixes with the Air Qi the Lungs extract from air. Improve the functioning of the Spleen with acupuncture/acupressure, and the Spleen is better able to extract Qi from food. If a person is not taking in enough food or has a really crappy diet, no amount of acupuncture or acupressure is going to be able to do much for the person because there's not enough Qi in the food to extract and the acupuncture and acupressure can't directly add Qi to the body. However, Yang can be added directly to the body with acupuncture (and I assume with acupressure) if moxa is used. >Let's say I read the pulses and they say that Spleen is deficient. Can I >tonify >spleen by touching any point along its pathway? Only with the points along the Spleen meridian that specifically will help Qi. For example Spleen 6 (Three Yin Meeting) is a very good point for ALL Spleen Deficiency patterns. Plus it's also good for Yin and Blood Deficiency, especially Kidney Yin Deficiency. But a point like Spleen 8 (Earth Pivot) is used for Excess patterns like removing obstructions from a channel and stopping pain, and eliminating Blood Stasis. Some of the points along the Spleen meridian are good for Qi Deficiency and other Deficiencies, but some of the points are better for treating Excess. >Or is the best way to touch any point on a mother meridian of the spleen >like >Small Intestine? I haven't worked with using a mother meridian. I have worked with using the Shu/ Element points. I need to do a brief review here for readers new to TCM. According to the 5 Element Theory, if one tonifies the " mother " , the " son " automatically is tonified. Wood is the " mother " of Fire, and Earth is the " son " of Fire. The elements follow a Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water-Wood sequence. The one coming before is the mother; the one coming after is the son. The Shu or Transporting points are 5 special points which lie between the fingers and elbows or the toes and the knees for each meridian. Since Qi is unstable and very close to the surface in these areas of the body, manipulating these points can be very powerful. These 5 Shu or Transporting points also are known as Element points. Each meridian has a Wood point, a Fire point, an Earth point, a Metal point, and a Wood point. The Spleen is an Earth meridian. Fire is the mother of Earth, so according to the mother-son rule, if I work the Fire point on the Spleen meridian, which is Spleen 2, I automatically tonify the Spleen. Working Sp 2 will tonify the Spleen, but it seldom gets used for this according to Maciocia. Spleen 2 also is a Spring point, and the Spring points are used to clear Heat from the body. Spleen 2 more often gets used to clear Excess Heat. Now, let's assume for a minute that someone is at an intermediate stage of studying TCM. This person has a correct TCM diagnosis but doesn't have access to a book like Maciocia's The Foundations of which goes into many points in detail. What the person does have is a knowledge of the 5 Element Theory and the mother-son rule. So the person says to her/himself, my Spleen is Deficient, Fire is the mother of Earth, so I will press the Fire point on the Spleen meridian which is Sp2. By working Sp2 this person is going to help the Spleen Deficiency problems because this point will tonify the Spleen. Later on the person gets a copy of a book like the Maciocia Foundations book and realizes that Sp 3 (Great White) actually helps more. I was in this situation. I learned about the 5 Element theory before I learned the the specific points. When it comes to tonification - pressing the mother point on a meridian to help Deficiency problems - this works very well. However, I cannot state that the second part of the mother-son rule - treat Excess by sedating the son - works equally as well in acupressure as in acupuncture. In acupuncture there are special needling techniques. Maciocia states in Foundations, " In accordance with this theory, therefor, every channel has a tonification and sedation point correspoinding to its Mother and Child Element respectively. It must be stressed, however, that the needle technique is all important when tonifying or sedating; in other words we cannot rely only on the tonification or sedation character of a point, in order to tonify or sedate. " (p. 341) Contrary to what Maciocia states, I did find that pressing the mother points worked very well for me without any special tonification methods. But I had a lot of Deficiency problems. I had a lot of problems overall and was in a generalized hypo-state because of the severe Kidney Yang Deficiency problems. I can't state that just pressing the sedation point is going to help get rid of Excess without using special needling or massage techniques which sedate. It may, but I don't have the experience with this to know. Victoria ______________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 2, 2000 Report Share Posted August 2, 2000 Victoria, Thanks for your candor. Can I ask the question in another way? When we touch a point are we calling the body's energy to that point? Once the energy arrives, does the point direct the energy to be used according to the principles of that point? If a point is used for dispersing energy, does energy get called to that point and is then dispersed? The reason I ask is that, it seems like it would really help to know how a point works. I suppose people are still trying to figure this out. Even so, are there any basic principles that explain how a point responds to being needled or touched? Ed Judy Fitzgerald wrote: > >I would like to look at acupressure. > >When I touch a point, What happens to the meridian? Is it automatically > >activated? > >or Is it tonified? Or does it strictly depend upon which point of the > >meridian > >is touched? > > I've been trying to research this, and I can't find anything. I suspect that > acupressure works a lot like acupuncture without being able to fine-tune the > use of points as one can do in acupuncture (tonification and releasing via > different needling techniques). > > This is general info for the readers new to TCM, so I hope you and the other > acupuncturists on the list will jump in and correct me if I'm wrong or leave > anything out. One cannot actually add Qi or Yin to the body with acupuncture > (or acupressure). What is being done is to " shunt " or move energy to areas > of the body which will favor Qi or Yin. For example, if one tonifies the > Spleen, one is indirectly increasing Qi in the case of Spleen Deficiency > because the Spleen plays a major role in Qi reserves in the body. The > Spleen is responsible for extracting the Grain Qi from food and then > carrying it to the Lungs where it mixes with the Air Qi the Lungs extract > from air. Improve the functioning of the Spleen with > acupuncture/acupressure, and the Spleen is better able to extract Qi from > food. If a person is not taking in enough food or has a really crappy diet, > no amount of acupuncture or acupressure is going to be able to do much for > the person because there's not enough Qi in the food to extract and the > acupuncture and acupressure can't directly add Qi to the body. > > However, Yang can be added directly to the body with acupuncture (and I > assume with acupressure) if moxa is used. > > >Let's say I read the pulses and they say that Spleen is deficient. Can I > >tonify > >spleen by touching any point along its pathway? > > Only with the points along the Spleen meridian that specifically will help > Qi. For example Spleen 6 (Three Yin Meeting) is a very good point for ALL > Spleen Deficiency patterns. Plus it's also good for Yin and Blood > Deficiency, especially Kidney Yin Deficiency. But a point like Spleen 8 > (Earth Pivot) is used for Excess patterns like removing obstructions from a > channel and stopping pain, and eliminating Blood Stasis. Some of the points > along the Spleen meridian are good for Qi Deficiency and other Deficiencies, > but some of the points are better for treating Excess. > > >Or is the best way to touch any point on a mother meridian of the spleen > >like > >Small Intestine? > > I haven't worked with using a mother meridian. I have worked with using the > Shu/ Element points. I need to do a brief review here for readers new to > TCM. According to the 5 Element Theory, if one tonifies the " mother " , the > " son " automatically is tonified. Wood is the " mother " of Fire, and Earth is > the " son " of Fire. The elements follow a Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water-Wood > sequence. The one coming before is the mother; the one coming after is the > son. > > The Shu or Transporting points are 5 special points which lie between the > fingers and elbows or the toes and the knees for each meridian. Since Qi is > unstable and very close to the surface in these areas of the body, > manipulating these points can be very powerful. > > These 5 Shu or Transporting points also are known as Element points. Each > meridian has a Wood point, a Fire point, an Earth point, a Metal point, and > a Wood point. > > The Spleen is an Earth meridian. Fire is the mother of Earth, so according > to the mother-son rule, if I work the Fire point on the Spleen meridian, > which is Spleen 2, I automatically tonify the Spleen. Working Sp 2 will > tonify the Spleen, but it seldom gets used for this according to Maciocia. > Spleen 2 also is a Spring point, and the Spring points are used to clear > Heat from the body. Spleen 2 more often gets used to clear Excess Heat. > > Now, let's assume for a minute that someone is at an intermediate stage of > studying TCM. This person has a correct TCM diagnosis but doesn't have > access to a book like Maciocia's The Foundations of which > goes into many points in detail. What the person does have is a knowledge > of the 5 Element Theory and the mother-son rule. So the person says to > her/himself, my Spleen is Deficient, Fire is the mother of Earth, so I will > press the Fire point on the Spleen meridian which is Sp2. By working Sp2 > this person is going to help the Spleen Deficiency problems because this > point will tonify the Spleen. Later on the person gets a copy of a book like > the Maciocia Foundations book and realizes that Sp 3 (Great White) actually > helps more. > > I was in this situation. I learned about the 5 Element theory before I > learned the the specific points. When it comes to tonification - pressing > the mother point on a meridian to help Deficiency problems - this works very > well. However, I cannot state that the second part of the mother-son rule - > treat Excess by sedating the son - works equally as well in acupressure as > in acupuncture. In acupuncture there are special needling techniques. > Maciocia states in Foundations, " In accordance with this theory, therefor, > every channel has a tonification and sedation point correspoinding to its > Mother and Child Element respectively. It must be stressed, however, that > the needle technique is all important when tonifying or sedating; in other > words we cannot rely only on the tonification or sedation character of a > point, in order to tonify or sedate. " (p. 341) > > Contrary to what Maciocia states, I did find that pressing the mother points > worked very well for me without any special tonification methods. But I had > a lot of Deficiency problems. I had a lot of problems overall and was in a > generalized hypo-state because of the severe Kidney Yang Deficiency > problems. > > I can't state that just pressing the sedation point is going to help get rid > of Excess without using special needling or massage techniques which sedate. > It may, but I don't have the experience with this to know. > > Victoria > > ______________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > > > > > Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine > Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- > List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner > > Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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