All memos tagged #acupressure-lexicon

Cun is the traditional body-relative unit used to locate points, about the width of the thumb at the knuckle. In Acupressure PC6 is "three cun above the inner wrist crease" — three of that person's...

Self-acupressure is points the client presses at home, given as homework between sessions. In Acupressure the table hold is the lesson; the same point, their own thumb, thirty seconds to two minutes,...

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...

Shiatsu is the Japanese finger-pressure tradition closely related to acupressure. Both use thumbs on mapped points and meridians. In this library the session work is Acupressure. Shiatsu names a...

Meridian is one of the traditional channels along which qi is said to flow, the map used to choose points. In Acupressure a point is located on that map, then pressed. The channel is a working...

Hold time is how long a point is pressed, usually thirty seconds to two minutes. In Acupressure the clock is a servant of sensation: stay while the ache is dull and breathable; leave if it turns...

GB21 (Jianjing) is the top of the shoulder, used on the traditional map for shoulder and neck tension; avoided in pregnancy. In Acupressure the point sits at the highest part of the shoulder muscle....

GB20 (Fengchi) is the hollows at the base of the skull, used on the traditional map for headache and neck tension. In Acupressure the thumbs rest in those hollows, angled toward the opposite eye, at...

LI4 (Hegu) is the web between thumb and index finger, commonly used on the traditional map for head and neck tension; avoided in pregnancy. In Acupressure the point is pressed in the fleshy web,...

LV3 (Taichong) is the top of the foot between the first and second toes, used on the traditional map for tension and irritability. In Acupressure the point sits in the hollow where those metatarsals...

PC6 (Neiguan) is three finger-widths above the inner wrist crease, used on the traditional map for nausea and settling. In Acupressure the point sits between the two tendons on the inner forearm. The...

Deqi is the dull, spreading ache traditionally taken as the sign a point is engaged. In Acupressure that ache is useful information, not a goal to force. Sharp, electric, or numb is the wrong quality...

Pressure quality is firm enough to feel purposeful without sharp pain. In Acupressure that is the dose: a dull, spreading ache (deqi) is useful; sharp, electric, or numb is not. The person is the...

Point pressure is steady, perpendicular pressure with the thumb or fingertip. In Acupressure the contact stays; it is not a rub and not a needle. The angle is into the point, not sliding along the...

ST36 (Zusanli) is below the kneecap on the outer shin, a general point on the traditional map for energy and digestion. In Acupressure the point sits about four finger-widths below the kneecap, one...

Yintang is the point between the eyebrows, used on the traditional map for settling. In Acupressure a fingertip rests there, light to moderate, often with the breath. The traditional use is the map,...

Acupoint is a specific point on a meridian where pressure is applied. In Acupressure the thumb or fingertip meets that spot and stays. Location uses traditional landmarks and the cun. The word is a...

Ashi point is a tender spot pressed wherever it is found, whether or not it sits on a mapped meridian. In Acupressure the hands can follow the map or follow tenderness. Ashi is the second: "oh yes" —...

The Acupressure Glossary collects the terms used when Acupressure appears in a Somatic Realignment Therapy session note or self-care homework, defined in plain language for clients; the traditional...