Which direction to rub?

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

here's another subject for discussion.

 

A. There is some controversies regarding which direction of our

reflexology massage should move.

 

Let us take on the lung and trapezium reflex zones. Some move

downward (toward the heel) or upward (toward the toes). Some would

massage it outward (toward the outside of the foot) and some would do

it inward (toward the inside of the foot). So then which direction

is the right one?

 

As I've been under three Chinese Reflexology Masters before, I got to

learn their different methods and systems. It seems to me the

direction of your massage determine whether you want to sedate or

strenghten the body organ.

 

The motion of inward and upward massage is said to strenghten the

organ. While the outward and downward motion seems to carry a

sedative effect. I've seen one of my Master when he found the lungs

to be " overworked " or it has excessive " Yang " energy, he would

massage it outward and downward to pacify the lungs. If it is weak

with too much " Yin " , then he would strengthen and tone it by moving

inward and upward.

 

What I know is never to rub the feet to and fro and the conflicting

motion will create problems as the toxin accumulated do not " know "

where it should go.

 

However, for the small and large intestines the motion is always

downward following the movement of our bile and digestive systems.

Except some would (a) horizontally rub outward on the transversume

colon, (b) vertically rub downward on the descending colon, and ©

vertically rub inward the rectum following the motion of the colon.

 

B. Also, it is said that we need to refer to the constructive and

destructive cycle of the five elements whether the particular organs

or body system need to be strengthened or sedated. Does the Western

practitioner also follow this system or is there another theory which

you adopt?

 

I wonder if this is true according to the Western views.

I hope someone out there can further enlightened me on this subject.

[Guest guest]

>A. There is some controversies regarding which direction of our

>reflexology massage should move.

 

For those unfamiliar with reflexology, it refers to working on the feet or

hands in order to trigger changes in various parts of the body. There are

charts which show which areas of the feet and hands respond to which areas

of the body.

 

This is another one of those healing methods that sounds goofy, like how

could it possibly work, but yet often does seen to help.

 

I have a personal story concerning reflexology. Years ago when I was

teaching computer classes, one of my students was a professional massage

therapist and reflexologist. Back then I didn't know I had CFIDS and didn't

know very much about alternative medicine. It was hot because it was during

the summer quarter, and I had been overworking at home, getting everything

spiffy for company that was coming. On this particular day I felt lousy. I

had my head down on my desk, and this student came in early. She said she

could help. She told me to remove my shoes. I though this is weird and

maybe I made a mistake in agreeing to this. She started to massage, and I

gradually started to feel better. She also made comments during the

massaging. She asked me if I was aware that I had thyroid problems. This

was impresssive because I have a history of on again, off again thyroid

problems. But it didn't necessarily say anything for reflexology. She

could have picked that up from observation. Thyroid problems present with a

number of visible clues.

 

Then she made the comment that I had fallen on the base of my spine when I

was very young and injured it. I had. I remember I couldn't move for a

couple of minutes when I did it. Again, very impressive, but she was a

professional massage therapist, and she could have picked clues to this

visually.

 

But the last thing she said was really impressive. She said, " By the way,

you have an infection building in your lymph system. " I knew I had an

infection building in my lymph system because I had had a problem with

recurring infections for years. It had been going on for so many years that

I knew from long experience that it was not yet bad enough for a blood test

to pick it up, that I would just have to suffer a few more days before going

to the doctor, and it would have to get a lot worse before the blood test

would pick it up and the doctor would give me the antibiotics which would

knock it out for a while. And here was this woman telling me something that

I knew a blood test wouldn't reveal at that point! If she was picking up

visual clues, I sure wish she or someone like her would have shared them

with my doctor so I wouldn't have to wait for treatment. So I definitely

recommend taking a closer look at reflexology, as impossible as it may

sound. Maybe she and other reflexologists are picking up on visual clues

and not realizing it. Or, maybe there is something else operating, some

other skills. This one deserves more attention before accepting or

rejecting it.

 

Back then, the only thing I knew to do for the recurring infection problem

was antibiotics. As I began to learn more and more about alternative

medicine, it turned out that there are a number of things which worked a lot

better than the antibiotics. Wish I had known about them earlier because

they turned out to be more effective than the antibiotics and the

antibiotics also caused some problems. In the third post on allergies we'll

be looking at how the overuse of antibiotics can set up a situation in which

allergies develop.

 

I don't know a lot about reflexology. But I do want to make some comments

about the massage of acupoints and some other things in TCM.

 

>The motion of inward and upward massage is said to strenghten the

>organ. While the outward and downward motion seems to carry a

>sedative effect. I've seen one of my Master when he found the lungs

>to be " overworked " or it has excessive " Yang " energy, he would

>massage it outward and downward to pacify the lungs. If it is weak

>with too much " Yin " , then he would strengthen and tone it by moving

>inward and upward.

 

If the Lungs are too Hot, one technique for relieving this Excess is to

promote bowel movement. The Lungs and the Large Intestine are paired

systems. The Lungs are Yin Metal; the Large Intestine is Yang Metal.

 

Relationships between paired systems often get used in acupressure. (I

don't know about acupuncture. Perhaps some of the acupunturists on here can

elaborate on this.)

 

Lo points are where deep Yin meridians (pathways of Qi flow) meet up with

more superficial Yang meridians at a pulse. They're used when there is

Excess in one coupled merdian and Deficiency in another. In the example

given above, when there is Excess in the Lungs, this Excess can be

diminished by shunting it off to the Large Intestine.

 

The coupled systems are Yin Water Kidney and Yang Water Bladder, Yin Wood

Liver and Yang Wood Gall Bladder, Yin Fire Heart and Yang Fire Small

Intestine, Yin Earth Spleen and Yang Earth Stomach, and Yin Metal Lungs and

Yang Metal Large Intestine. The Lo points are where these coupled meridians

meet.

 

In Chinese massage, the direction of massage along the course of a meridian

will matter sometimes. For example, the proper direction of flow of both

the Spleen and the Kidney meridians is acsending. Some books recommend that

when massaging these two meridians (on the inside of the legs) that the

massage be from bottom to top in order to encourage Qi to ascend. Kidney Qi

in particular transports Qi upwards. On the other hand, the proper

direction of flow for the Lung meridian is descending, and one of the

functions of Lung Qi is to transport Qi downward. (A person can run into

some real breathing problems when the Kidneys and Lungs aren't harmonized,

and Lung Qi is not descending at the same time Kidney Qi is not ascending.)

 

Stoamch Qi is supposed to descend. When it ascends instead, the result can

be nausea, reflux, belching, and vomiting. Sometimes massaging the course

of the Stomach meridian in a downward motion can help to encourage the

Stomach Qi to descend. (Other times more specific points besides those on

the meridian in question will be needed. For example, if Stoamch Qi is

Rebelling (flowing upwards instead of downwards) because the Liver is

Invading the Stomach, no amount of massage of the Stomach meridian in a

downward motion or holding acupoints specific to getting Stomach Qi to

descend is going to help very much. The Liver Qi Stagnation and Liver

imbalance problems are going to have to be addressed so the Liver will quit

invading the Stomach.

 

>However, for the small and large intestines the motion is always

>downward following the movement of our bile and digestive systems.

>Except some would (a) horizontally rub outward on the transversume

>colon, (b) vertically rub downward on the descending colon, and ©

>vertically rub inward the rectum following the motion of the colon.

 

What is being referred to here are reflexology zones on the feet for

different parts of the body, not the course of the meridians in TCM.

 

>B. Also, it is said that we need to refer to the constructive and

>destructive cycle of the five elements whether the particular organs

>or body system need to be strengthened or sedated. Does the Western

>practitioner also follow this system or is there another theory which

>you adopt?

 

I can't speak for Western massage therapists using anything like the 5

Elements theory because I don't know that much about Western massage

techniques. What I can state is that when I first started using acupressure

on myself, all I knew was to use the Element (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and

Water) points and the relationships between the Elements. It was very

effective. It also enabled me to figure out some things that helped which

one doesn't encounter in " cookbook " acupressure books. Later on - after a

lot more reading and learning - I did find out that some of the points I

learned to use because of the 5-Element theory are points that are

recognized as being helpful for the particular problems I had. They just

aren't mentioned in most beginner's books.

 

Victoria

 

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