Increase Your Metabolism By Practicing Acupressure
If you are already eating healthy foods and exercising regularly, you can boost your metabolism even more by adding acupressure into your daily routine. This ancient Chinese therapeutic method can smoothen the flow of vital energy called qi or chi throughout your body, enabling all your organs to work to its maximum, making sure you get optimal benefits out of the food you eat.
Metabolism in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
According to traditional Chinese medicine in Overland Park, metabolism is viewed as the abundant and free flowing movement of chi or subtle energies within your body, a paradigm totally unlike Western medicine. In the Confucius Institute Online, it is stated that the spleen controls the distribution and movement of chi, while the liver guarantees the smooth flow of things within your body. Stress and injury can affect the movement of chi, but more often than not, heavy emotions are usually the malefactors that cause injury to the individual organs. Worry especially affects the spleen, while anger, in particular, disturbs the liver. Try to eliminate or avoid these emotions while you work on your metabolism.
The Role of Chinese Nutritional Therapy in Metabolism
From the point of view of TCM, what one eats is as vital as how well the body imbibes and distributes chi. Author and acupuncturist Dr. Jeorg Kastner says that your body obtains 70% of its chi from the food you eat. Consume slightly sweet warming foods such as seafood, cooked grains and yams. To make the spleen work more efficiently, eat warming spices such as cinnamon and ginger. During winter, avoid eating raw vegetables. Eating lightly spiced simple meals that aren’t too heavy or too rich can do wonders to your liver.
TCM Principles
Chi moves all over the body via pathways of energy known as meridians. Each meridian pertains to a specific internal organ or organ system. All acupuncture points lie on the meridians. You release tension to a certain organ when you massage an acupuncture point (acupoint) since the massage releases any blocked chi along the meridian. According to the Eclectic Energies website, when you apply pressure on an acupoint and hold that pressure for a few moments, you pull more and more chi into the meridian, which energizes the organ.
Moving Between & Great Surge Acupoints
According to the website, Yin Yang House, you can balance your spleen chi by massaging the spleen acupoint situated on the inside of both legs above your ankle bone. On the midpoint of your ankle bone, place your forefinger, then measure three cuns (four finger widths) upward. Palpate the spot until you find a tender area. To bring back smooth flow of chi to your spleen, massage, press and maintain pressure on the area. To treat stagnation in your liver qi, massage, press and maintain pressure on the cavity between your second toe and big toe on both feet. This region is where you will find the Moving Between and Great Surge acupoints. When stimulated, these points can increase blood flow to your feet and hands, eliminate irritability, and relieve headaches —all signs of a malfunctioning liver.
Tips
Search for acupoints in natural dips formed by bones and tendons. According to the Stanford School of Medicine’s acupressure website, PointFinder, when you find an acupoint that generates a sharp pain, this means that your chi is blocked. While massaging the acupoint in small circular motions, apply strong pressure for a minute or two, then press and hold the acupoint. When you work on the spleen qi acupoints, your head might become clearer, you’ll probably feel warmer in your feet and hands, and your stomach may rumble a little. All these indicate that your acupressure therapy is working.