Tonify and sedate is the traditional distinction between pressure meant to strengthen a point and pressure meant to calm it.
In 📝Acupressure that distinction is a quality of contact on the traditional map — slower, holding, or slightly more for one aim; lighter, dispersing for the other — not a medical claim to strengthen an organ or to sedate a disease. This practice stays with breathable pressure either way. The terms name the map, not a lab effect.
Clients feel a hold or a slightly lighter contact. Sharp pain is the wrong quality for both.