The Body Doesn't Lie (20 page)

TRIGGER POINTS

NOTES

A

Front-Body

Count eight fingers upward from Front B. Apply gentle pressure with your index finger until you find the tender trigger point. Apply steady pressure to that spot, pressing for ten seconds. Take a deep breath in and close your eyes; feel the release as the pain slowly goes away.

This point helps headaches if combined with Back G. Front A also helps with releasing any anger and tension.

Back-Body

Count four to five fingers from the back of the ear to Back A, aiming toward the hairline at base of skull. Use the left hand for the left side (and vice versa). Apply gentle pressure with your left thumb and index finger. You will feel a dip and a tender point.

This point helps blood supply to the brain, face, and middle ear and relieves tension headaches, sinus issues, insomnia, tiredness, dizziness, fear, and confusion. (If you have someone doing trigger-point work on you, for this point you can either sit up or lie facedown on your front with your forearms under your forehead.)

B

Front-Body

Sometimes called the “third eye,” this is the point between your eyebrows. Apply gentle pressure here.

This point clears the mind and fosters calm and relaxation. It’s good for premenstrual anger, combined with Back G and Front M. For panic attacks, combine it with Front C and D, and then with Back G and Front M.

Back-Body

This point is halfway between the tip of your shoulder and your neck crease.

This is a gallbladder point. Chinese medicine states that this point helps control judgment and courage. It helps with local muscle pain coming from carrying heavy bags, emotional insecurity, fear of loss of power or control, and generally carrying the world on your shoulders. Helps to let go of overload.

C

Front-Body

This point is under the clavicle and above your first rib. Count two fingers down from the hollow spot and then two fingers to either side. You will feel a slight dip. Try to hold pressure there for ten seconds. If it feels bruised, that’s a good sign, meaning you’re on the trigger point. Hold until the feeling of the “bruise” starts to disappear. (But be sure you don’t
cause
a bruise from the pressure.)

This point helps with shortness of breath, opens up the throat area, and addresses premenstrual and perimenopausal symptoms, panic attacks, anxiety, grief, sadness, and inability to verbally articulate your thoughts (helps you “spit them out”). This point calms the mind and relieves inflammation.

Back-Body

This point is below shoulder level. From the top of the shoulder, count down four fingers, ending up at a level between the fourth and fifth vertebrae.

This point helps release inner chaos or bitterness and helps you forgive and feel free. It also helps with any panic, sadness, and shock after an accident.

D

Front-Body

Place the top of your palm just between the two Front C points and count eight fingers down to Front D, your so-called heart point.

This point is good for anxiety, panic, and shortness of breath that comes with a shock. It helps you focus. It can also help if you’re premenstrual and you feel sadness, shortness of breath, or fear.

Back-Body

Pretend you place a ruler across your back at the base of your shoulder blades. This point is on this line, on either side of the spine.

This point opens up the diaphragm and helps with pain relief coming from anger or heartbreak. It also helps with negative emotions and fear of the future (anxiety, panic attacks, etc.). Point D is your “diaphragm release point”—it helps you stop holding your breath and aids lymphatic drainage.

E

Front-Body

Place both your hands around the thinnest part of your waist close to your ribcage (your “solar plexus”). The Front E is on your right.

This point helps with anger release, premenstrual tension, and shortness of breath (diaphragm release).

Back-Body

Holding your hands at your waist, as described above, the two Back E points are at your thumbs, but one to two fingers up.

This point helps relieve tiredness, nourish blood, strengthen the heart, and relieve insomnia, lower back pain, and hip pain. Combine it with Back H, I, and J for best lower back pain relief. If you have stomach bloatedness, combine Back E with Front E and F and then follow it down to Front L to clear the stomach channel.

F

Front-Body

Apply gentle pressure on the left-front lower ribcage area. Try to imagine a straight line down from your left nipple to your lower rib cage. As your index finger finds the tender trigger point, slowly hold pressure for ten seconds. Take a deep breath; as you breathe out, you will feel the release.

This point helps with stomach bloating, loss of appetite, insomnia, and shortness of breath, as well as lymphatic drainage.

Back-Body

Find this point while sitting on a chair or on the floor, or lying on your back. Bend your arm or rest it on your desk at a ninety-degree angle. Use your left thumb for the right elbow (and vice versa). Follow the line or crease of the elbow. Start to apply pressure with your thumb two fingers from bony area F, working your way down the middle of the arm toward your index finger, aiming close to Back G. Move slowly down the forearm. Press for ten seconds at each spot until you feel a release and the bruise-like feeling goes away. Keep breathing in and out through your nose; breathe the pain out.

This point helps with constipation, relaxes the large intestine, and relieves bloatedness. A so-called energy point, it also helps with lymphatic drainage.

G

Front-Body

Apply your right three fingers flat to the crease of your left wrist (and vice versa). Use your thumb to find the midline close to your tendon. Gently push the tendon to the side to allow your thumb to go deep, where there’s resistance; flex your wrist up and down until you sense the trigger point.

This is a great point for relieving any nerve pain of the forearm. It also helps calm the mind. It’s a so-called heart point (in Chinese medicine = heart disharmony). It promotes feelings of safety because it regulates the heart, calms the mind, and clears the head. It also helps with insomnia and fear.

Back-Body

Rest your hand with your fingers extended. Release left Back G with your right thumb and vice versa) in circular movements, going deeper each time.

This point is the gate to opening the large intestine; it helps with headache, hangover, and constipation.

H

Front-Body

Place your index finger on the most prominent part of your hipbone. Count four fingers flat toward the middle of your body and locate the tender area.

This point helps with perimenopausal issues and libido.

Back-Body

With your index finger on your front hip bone, locate the most prominent part of your back hipbone with your thumb. Count four flat fingers down toward your buttocks and then use your thumb to locate the pressure point.

This point helps with lower back pain and premenstrual pain. It also helps with lymphatic drainage and improves bloodflow.

I

Front-Body

Measure halfway between your hip bone and the outer part of your knee.

This point helps encourage bloodflow and lymphatic drainage as well as relieve knee/thigh/muscle pain from running or driving long hours or low back pain from flat feet or wearing high heels.

Back-Body

If you imagine a line between the back of the hip (close to Back H) at the back of the knee crease, the middle point on the line will be Back I point.

This point helps encourage bloodflow and lymphatic drainage as well as relieve knee pain, low back pain, and calf pain, especially when combined with Back H and J.

J

Front-Body

This point is toward the outside at the top of the thigh.

This point relieves lower back pain, knee pain, and muscle tightness from flat feet or high heels.

Back-Body

This point is halfway between the Achilles tendon and the crease of the knee, directly in the middle of the leg (on the midline)

This is a great point for relieving pain and stiffness of the lower back and for contraction of the calf; it also helps with piles/hemorrhoids and helps release inflammation.

K

Front-Body

On your inner thigh, move three fingers up from the kneecap.

This point helps release any bloodflow to the ovaries or uterus and relieves premenstrual swelling.

Back-Body

Grip the ankle and apply firm pressure with your thumb in circular movements for five seconds; repeat until the tightness is removed.

This point helps with pelvic pain, lower back pain, menstrual cramps, and hip pain. Outside the ankle helps increase bloodflow to the ovaries. Inside the ankle helps the uterus.

L

Front-Body

Bend your knee to ninety degrees, and with the index finger of that side, feel the outside bone below your knee. Press between the dip at a point two fingers toward the front from the outside of the knee.

This point helps with edema and localized swelling of the limb. It also helps insomnia or sleep disturbance caused by heartburn from stomach heat, relieves bloatedness, clears heat from the stomach channel, and eases nausea and vomiting (balances/ harmonizes the stomach).

Back-Body

Back L is located under the heel crease.

This point helps with sluggish intestines, constipation, and premenstrual tension. It also relieves lower back pain and improves circulation.

M

Front-Body

Sit on a chair and bend your knee to your chest. Use your right thumb for the left foot and vice versa. You can also do this in bed at night. Apply firm pressure between the first (i.e., big) and second toes. Now count six fingers flat from the top of the nail of your big toe and apply pressure there.

This point helps relieve anger, frustration, irritability, anxiety, headache, thirst, and dream-disturbed sleep. This point helps with pain in the shoulder, upper back, and upper arm.

Back-Body

This point is located underneath Front N, beneath your fourth and fifth toe.

This point helps with pain in the shoulder, upper back, and upper arms.