Alaska Institute of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture & Massage Therapy. Located in Anchorage, Alaska, this site is a forum for our students and instructors to post research & topics of interest.
All material provided on this blogsite is provided for informational or educational purposes only, and is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your healthcare professional or physician.
DISCLAIMER: Natural methods work best to prevent or lessen the degree and occurrence of gall stones in someone who may be prone to them. This information is not intended to replace proper medical attention for someone experiencing acute symptoms related to gall stones. If you are in severe pain that lasts more than a few hours and feel like you should be calling your doctor – please do! If the doctor determines it is an emergency and wants to remove your gall bladder this may be the best course of action under the circumstances. If the doctor stabilizes your pain and sends you home, it should be safe to use natural methods as a form of future prevention.
Gall Bladder Flush: (Source, Healing With Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford)
There is quite a bit of internet controversy over this gall bladder flush concerning the “pea-like poop pellets” that come out in the morning. Are they the gall stones or a formation of the oil and lemon juice? This point should not negate the positive results so many experience.
Regardless of this controversy, I have seen this flush work extremely well in numerous people in the clinical setting, and I stand by it. When you understand the relationship of the 5-Element Energy of the food to what it does in the body, it makes sense, and it is gentle enough that it won’t hurt someone to try it. And if you try it and it doesn’t work – no harm done.
CAUTION: If you have an actual blocked or infected bile duct, your stool is very light or white in color, or your skin and eyes are yellow with jaundice, seek medical attention and do not do this flush.
Supplies you will need:
Organic tart green apples – get as many as you think you might like to eat all day
1-3 Organic lemons, squeezed to make ½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup Olive oil
Directions:
For one day, eat only tart green apples – as many as you want. Drink only water and plain herbal tea if desired.
At night before going to bed, mix together the fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Drink it down quickly. This is the hardest part, but you can do it.
Go to sleep on your right side with your leg pulled up to squeeze your abdomen on that side.
That’s it. When you wake up in the morning your bowels should move and the infamous “pellets” will be expelled. Most people report feeling nicely cleaned out, healthier, and more vibrant at this point.
How often to do this?
For most people, once is enough to start. Rarely I have seen someone repeat the flush about 3-5 days later because they felt the need to. After this as long as you make other healthy lifestyle changes doing the flush every Spring is a great idea, or use it only as needed.
Energy of the Flush:
The Liver and Gall Bladder belong to the Wood Element. The flavor associated with Wood is sour and the color is green.
The tart green apples have a natural affinity to Wood because of their color and flavor. In addition, the pectin in the apples helps to soften accumulations – like stones.
Once the pectin has softened the accumulations, the sour lemon juice has a constricting action, while the olive oil will cause bile to flush out in order to emulsify it for digestion. This squeeze/release action is the Flush.
The olive oil also acts like a lubricant in the intestines so that they can empty more efficiently – good news for the Liver, and as a way to expel the toxins released by flushing the liver.
Variation: If you feel like this is too much, there is a great 28-day variation outlined in the Healing With Whole Foods book.
Additional Supplements: For anyone who has their gall bladder removed, or in the case of being prone to gall stone issues, I recommend considering a supplement of Milk Thistle. This herb has a long and safe history of use in supporting liver health. However, it is known to interact with a variety of medications including birth control, anti-psychotics, some allergy pills, some seizure medications, and more. If you are taking any other herbs or prescribed medications be sure to consult with a qualified health care practitioner prior to taking this supplement.
Essential Oil Compress: (see the video overview)
Make an essential oil blend to apply topically over the liver area (right side of the rib cage, under the ribs). This blend helps to clear damp heat and invigorate blood. The oils used have known benefits to the liver and gall bladder.
1 oz Carrier Oil – I suggest 20% Cucumber Seed Botanical Oil* if available, to 80% plain carrier oil such as coconut, jojoba, sweet almond, apricot, or olive.
Turmeric 6d.
Black Pepper 4d.
Lemon 6d.
Grapefruit 4d.
Variation: You can make a 1 oz blend with only Turmeric (12d) and Black Pepper (10d) if desired.
Apply this blend each night before bed. Leave your hands on top for several minutes so the heat from your hands allows the oils to penetrate more deeply. Use for 1-3 months, then take a break.
QiGong: (see the video demonstration)
“Rocking the Baby Dragon” is a wonderful exercise that helps to increase circulation in the ribs and torso directly where the liver and gall bladder are located.
Stand in a relaxed and comfortable position.
Raise the hands, palm up, fingertips touching, in front of the solar plexus area. Elbows are bent and pointed straight out to the sides.
Inhale, and guide your left elbow up towards the ceiling. Allow your eyes to softly follow the path.
Exhale and come back to center.
Inhale, and guide your right elbow up towards the ceiling. Allow your eyes to softly follow the path.
Exhale and come back to center.
Slowly, with your breath, repeat this movement 8-24 times on each side.
Remember to focus on the feeling of contracting and expanding your rib cage.
If you would like additional support with balancing your body back to health, all of the following are excellent choices – see which ones you connect with:
Acupuncture & Chinese Herbs
Massage Therapy
Medical QiGong Energy Healing
5-Element Nutrition
Tai Chi and QiGong
Yoga
These therapies are available at the Oriental Healing Arts Centerin Anchorage Alaska, or find a qualified practitioner in your area.
Want to learn more about using Essential Oils for therapeutic purposes like this? Check out our Online Courses:
Q: “I have somebody that’s very close to me who is severely depressed, and they’re receiving medical attention because they’re suicidal. Is there some kind of distant energy healing technique that I can do to help them?”
A: Let me say first, that in a situation like this it is extremely important that if somebody is very depressed and also suicidal, please get them the medical attention that they need. This energy healing technique is not intended to replace proper treatment.
Energy healing does work very well to send love to this person’s heart. It doesn’t matter if they’re on medications or in the hospital. This will work through all of those things. It is our intention to send them Loving Energy, not to focus on trying to resolve their emotional issues.
Having said that, I’m going to outline a strong energy healing technique in the style of Medical QiGong which is my specialty area.
Medical QiGong Energy Healers go through a lot of training and self-work. One of the most important skills involved in doing energy healing is the ability to connect with your heart, and the ability to deeply feel unconditional love—or at least some degree of love —in your heart, and flowing out of your heart. This is the energy that we’re going to use.
If you can get into the state where you close your eyes and you can feel overwhelming love for this person, you can do this technique.
Feeling Desperation and Fear
When we’re working with someone who has an intense situation, especially if it’s somebody close to us or a family member, it’s very easy to go into the feeling of desperation.
To achieve the best effect, feeling unconditional love is where we need to be. It feels peaceful. It feels calm. It feels like this energy just flows out, and it’s so beautiful. This is what we want to experience.
If we’re experiencing desperation—and it’s really hard not to go there sometimes—we are embodying the energy of extreme fear, which does not work well in Energy Healing. Fear has too much noise around it.
An example of a thought in desperation is like “I want this person to heal so badly, that I can’t think about anything else.” There may be begging, promises to change, and even offering something to God in exchange for saving the person.
And with heavy and intense thoughts going on, if you can, you need to get out of that and bring yourself into a place where you are calm and peaceful and you can feel love.
If you cannot bring yourself to this state, it’s best to get somebody else to help you do the Energy Healing, somebody else who can get there, and then they can do this technique along with you.
This is why energy healers will often say it’s a really good idea not to work on your own family - because we can be too deep into desperation mode.
Non-Attachment to the Outcome
We want to make sure that we’re not attached to the outcome. Whatever happens here is an agreement between the Higher Self of the person who’s going to be receiving the energy, and the Creator.
All we’re doing is bringing unconditional love into the situation. Unconditional means there is no condition attached to it. If the person lives, that’s beautiful! That’s amazing! Of course, we’ll be happy with that.
And if the person doesn’t live, we really need to be careful in that area and not go to a place where it’s our fault or it’s a failure or anything like that. That can be really hard.
But we’ve got to be able to see that there’s still beauty in that side, also. One of the only ways to do this is to shine the light from our heart onto our grief. This can be very hard, but at the same time, if we go through enough training in energy healing, we’ll find that there’s a place inside of us that is so peaceful and so deep, that yes, we can actually do this.
Summary of Intention
So, again, all we’re doing here is allowing the strong feeling of unconditional love to grow inside of us, and we’re going to let that flow out through our hands, and we’re going to send this beautiful healing energy to someone else.
LEARNING THE ENERGY HEALING PATTERN
Step 1: Doing it within ourselves (see video for a demonstration)
I’m going to very briefly take us through a QiGong exercise that’s going to be the same thing that we’re going to do for energy healing purposes on the table. We’re going to do it on ourselves first to get an idea of the experience. It’s a good idea to begin practicing this on a regular basis also.
Three Centers Meditation & The Microcosmic Orbit
Self-Cultivation Practice
This meditation can be done while either sitting or standing.
Start with three deep opening breaths (clearing or cleansing breaths): These are to cleanse or open our energy channels and root ourselves into the earth. They make us pay attention to our breathing and start to put us into a different or special state:
The first breath is to the upper chest area (Upper Dan Tian).
The second breath is to the rib cage area (Middle Dan Tian).
The third breath is to the navel area (Lower Dan Tian)
Then begin the QiGong exercises and breathing as follows:
Lower Dan Tian (pelvic or navel area): Start in front of the Lower Dan Tian with your hands a few inches apart and facing one another. Inhale and slowly draw your hands apart out to the sides, keeping them taut. Then exhale and slowly push them back together, to the starting point. Repeat this movement eight times.
Middle Dan Tian (digestive area): Start in front of the Middle Dan Tian with your hands a few inches apart and facing one another. Inhale and slowly draw your hands apart out to the sides, keeping them taut. Then exhale and slowly push them back together, to the starting point. Repeat this movement eight times.
Upper Dan Tian (heart center area): Start in front of the Upper Dan Tian with your hands a few inches apart and facing one another. Inhale and slowly draw your hands apart out to the sides, keeping them taut. Then exhale and slowly push them back together, to the starting point. Repeat this movement eight times.
Chong Mai (central meridian): Start in front of the Lower Dan Tian with your hands a few inches apart and palms facing up. Inhale and slowly raise your hands, keeping your palms facing up, to the Upper Dan Tian or facial area. Keep your hands taut. Then exhale and turn your hands over, so your palms are facing down, and lower them back down to the starting point. Repeat this movement eight times.
Lower Dan Tian (pelvic or navel area): Return to the Lower Dan Tian and repeat the opening movement to “pump the energy.” Start with your hands a few inches apart and facing one another. Inhale and slowly draw your hands apart out to the sides of your body, keeping them taut. Then exhale and slowly push them back together, to the starting point. Repeat this movement thirty two times. This helps to build up the energy for the Microcosmic Orbit.
(NOTE: This is a total of 64 breaths, the same number of trigrams in the I-Ching Bagua)
Lower Dan Tian (pelvic area): Remain at the Lower Dan Tian and keep your hands stationary here, gently resting one on top of the other against your body. Take a few deep breaths.
Microcosmic Orbit: With your hands still resting at the Lower Dan Tian, begin the Microcosmic Orbit by envisioning Qi flowing in a circular pattern up your spine or back (Du Mai or Governing Vessel), over the top of your head, and down your front (Ren Mai or Conception Vessel). Inhale while intending Qi to flow up your Du Mai, and exhale while intending it to flow down your Ren Mai. Repeat this cycle eight times.
Connecting the Heart Center
Next, to connect the Heart Center, we’ll focus on a special acupoint just above the inner wrist called Pericardium 6. This point strongly connects to and protects our Heart Center. When someone is depressed or they don’t want to live, we really need to wake up this Pericardium energy and reach the heart and Spirit so they are protected.
Hold your left palm over your right inner wrist. Connect with the energy at Pericardium 6 and guide it up to your heart center, then back down. Repeat this cycle eight times on one side, then repeat on the opposite side.
Drawing Down the Heavens to Close
Close with Drawing Down the Heavens: Open your arms wide, extending them out to the sides, with palms facing up, and slowly raise them in a circular motion until your hands nearly meet above your head. Then, with palms facing down, slowly lower your hands side by side in front of your body down to the Lower Dan Tian.
Now it’s time to move to the table to send our Distant Energy Healing.
MEDICAL QIGONG DISTANT ENERGY HEALING TECHNIQUE (see video for demonstration)
I think it helps a lot to have something to use that represents the person, such as a stuffed animal, a doll, a small green alien, or something to help get into the imagery a little better. You can just use their image in your mind if that works well for you. Sometimes it also helps to have a picture of the person, or their name written out.
Using Essential Oils (optional)
I like to use essential oils when doing energy healing, however this is optional if you don’t have any. Choose a special oil that you consider to have spiritual properties, such as Pink or Blue Lotus, Rose, Frankincense, Sage, or another one that is very special to you.
Apply a small amount, diluted, and rub into your hands. I love the way this smells, and I really like the feel of the tone/vibration that the energy picks up as it goes through my hands.
I also like to use an energy spray made of a mixture of hydrosols, essential oils, and flower essences. This helps to clear the energy field in a way that prepares it to receive the energy healing. Here’s one of my favorite recipes, and you can also play around and make your own depending on what you have on hand:
In a 1oz bottle with a spritzer top, combine the following:
Rose Hydrosol (or use another Hydrosol you like. If you don’t have any, use water.)
Shake well before each use. Store in the refrigerator and use it within 12 months.
Preparation for Distant Energy Healing Treatment
If you’re using it, begin by spraying the Energy Spritz over the doll or other representation of the person you are sending this energy to. Otherwise skip this step.
Another optional item to use is crystals. They complement energy healing beautifully and work by amplifying the vibration of the energy, especially when placed on acupoints, energy centers, or chakras. In the video I use clear quartz and rose quartz, however you can use any you are drawn to.
If using crystals, place one symbolically in or near each palm of your “person” and one over their Heart Center.
Begin to connect with your person:
Form an image of the person in your mind, or if you don’t know the person just use their name. We’re all part of one big energy field, and it’s a really nice way of being able to connect with exactly who we mean by their name.
Close your eyes and become aware of your breath. Really feel your breath in your own Heart Center. Our Heart Center is the place that we want to come from.
Draw Down the Heavens three times.
Inhale up and exhale down as if clearing your own channels and rooting your energy into the Earth.
The second time, inhale up and exhale down to honor the healing space.
The third time, inhale up and exhale down to surround your person’s energy field and root their energy into the Earth.
Just like the self QiGong exercise we did earlier, we’re going to do the same movements over our “person”.
Bring your hands down into the energy field. Start several feet above and slowly let your hands drift down just until you feel the shift in density from their energy field. It’s usually at least 2 to 3 feet above an actual person that you’ll feel this, and this is the area you want to work in.
Connect to the Lower Dan Tian, the area below the navel, and just like we did on ourselves, expand and contract your hands while moving with your breath. Do this about eight times.
Connect to the Middle Dan Tian, the solar plexus area, and again, expand and contract your hands while moving with your breath. You are stimulating the Qi in this area. Do this about eight times.
Remember: While doing this, feel within your heart anything that helps you focus and think about unconditional love.
Connect to the Upper Dan Tian, the throat and head area. Expand and contract your hands while moving with your breath. Do this about eight times.
Next move back down to the Lower Dan Tian. Here, we’re going to connect with Chong Mai, the Central Meridian. It’s rooted in the Lower Dan Tian and we’re going to guide energy as if we’re guiding it right up the center and back down. This meridian is strongly connected to our Spirit because it is the core of our being. Do this about eight times.
Again return to the Lower Dan Tian. We’re going to expand and contract the energy field here again, however this time there is more of an intention to gather Qi with our hands and fill the Lower Dan Tian with it. Do this about eight times.
Next, pause and circle your hands over the Lower Dan Tian. We’re going to go through the Microcosmic Orbit. Use your hands off to the side with intention of guiding Qi up the spine and down the front in a nice smooth flow. Do this about eight times.
Pause at the Lower Dan Tian. We’re going to connect with the Heart Center now. On ourselves we only did one hand at a time, however when we’re working with our distant person, we can do both sides together.
Energetically gather some energy at the Heart Center and guide it out to the hands. Circle over the palms and use your intention to also activate the acupoint Pericardium 6, which calms and protects the heart. Guide that back up to the Heart Center and flow back out to the hands and Pericardium 6. Do this about eight times.
While doing this, close your eyes and let your mind go into your heart to really feel like you’re sending love to this person. You can visualize this energy as white light, as an intention, or even as gold shimmering light washing over them.
When you’re ready to end, circle your hands over the Heart Center and the Lower an Tian, then gently withdraw your hands from their energy field. Draw Down the Heavens to close, symbolically close up their energy field, and disconnect.
Take a moment to feel gratitude in your heart for being a channel to send to so much love to another Being in need.
Q: What kind of essential oils and things can I use for insomnia?
A: First, let’s look at insomnia energetically in terms of Yin and Yang.
The light side is Yang, and the dark side is Yin. Yin is very quiet, calm, peaceful, and Yang is awake, alive, active. With insomnia, you get into a place where these are supposed to change into each other, and the Yang is having a problem transforming into the Yin.
All the Yang activity in the body is having a hard time changing and transforming into the quiet Yin aspect. The ability to attain and maintain a state of Yin is our goal for treatment purposes.
There are a number of different things that can be the root of insomnia, however that’s more detail than we’re going to get into here. Let’s look at some things that we can definitely try that will work in many cases.
Step #1 is to look for some essential oils that tonify (strengthen) Yin. Remember, Yin is the cooling, calm, peaceful state that we want. Five oils that are fairly common that we can use are:
Sage
Spikenard
Coriander
Lavender
German Chamomile
We can use one single oil above, or blend 2-3 together. Of course, there are other oils that will work, but these five are fairly easy to find on the market. See if you have one or more of these oils on hand.
Once we have the oil(s) ready, we’ll dilute them down into some carrier oil. Then there are specific areas of the body that we can apply them to.
Spikenard is a super relaxing oil, and if you use this in massage, you may want to have somebody just sit for a little while afterward so they don’t have to drive immediately.
Coriander is another one that’s a very calming, cooling oil. In the video I chose to use Coriander and Lavender together. They smell beautiful and really give us a nice, relaxing blend.
DILUTING THE ESSENTIAL OILS
For single use, which is a very small amount to use right now, place 1/2 tsp of carrier oil in a small bowl, and then add 2 drops of Coriander plus 2 drops of Lavender. This is a total of 4 drops essential oil for a one-time use which is strong.
To make a larger 1-oz. blend to use on a more regular basis, use 1-oz. carrier oil and add 20 to 24 drops total of essential oils.
After mixing up the diluted essential oils, we’re going to apply it on the body as follows:
Apply to the inner wrist on both arms. There are several acupoints in this area that calm and quiet the Heart. (Pericardium-6 and 7,and Heart-4 to7)
Next, apply the oil around the ankle area, focusing on the top of the ankle joint area and the inner ankles. (Stomach-41, Liver-4, Spleen-5, Kidney-3)
If you are a Massage Therapist and you want to add this into a treatment, or maybe you want to do this at home on your family member, apply in this order:
-inner wrists
-inner ankles and top of the ankles
-then do a nice application on the back, especially along the spine
-end with an entire 10-15 minute foot massage
It will be really hard for somebody to stay awake after this!
If you’d like, follow the video here for a visual demonstration of the ear acupressure massage. You can do this on yourself or on somebody else.
Ear reflexology, also called Auricular Therapy when done with acupuncture, is a powerful technique. We use this extensively in the acupuncture clinic because it works amazingly well. Instead of needles you can also use your hand to do acupressure on the same areas.
There are more than 100 acupoints on our ear. We’re going to use some special points on the ear beneficial for insomnia. See below for Insomnia area 1, Insomnia area 2, the Tranquilizer point area, and the whole ear lobe.
This is Insomnia area 1, towards the rim and slightly above the lobe. I generally use this area when someone can’t sleep because they are thinking too much.
This is Insomnia area 2, just over half way up the area just inside the rim. I generally use this area when someone can’t sleep and they toss and turn or move around a lot, or if there is any kind of agitation involved.
This is the Tranquilizer point area. It is very calming.
You can choose to focus on one area, but it won’t hurt to massage all of them.
We’re also going to use the entire earlobe where many points correspond to the face and the head, the whole brain area, and it’s extremely calming to the head.
HOW TO DO THE EAR MASSAGE
You can massage both ears together, or one at a time – whichever is more comfortable for you. This massage can be done to someone else, or to yourself.
Apply a small amount of the diluted essential oil blend to your fingers.
Start by just squeezing the lobe and then gently squeezing up around the whole ear, including the inside.
Stop and incorporate the Insomnia areas and the Tranquilizer point. You can focus on these by rubbing or pressing them about 24 times each. Be sure to use gentle pressure that is relaxing.
Continue to massage the entire ear, coming back to the 4 special areas several times.
This massage should last 2-5 minutes.
QIGONG EXERCISE – JOINING FIRE AND WATER
In order to help change Yang (active) into Yin (peaceful), try the following QiGong exercise. This is great to do either right before bed, or you can also do it even while you’re in bed.
Focus on breathing to your Dan Tian – the area below your navel – is very calming and helps to strengthen the Yin aspect.
Slowly, gently, move with your breath.
Inhale and guide your hands up. This brings Water energy from the Dan Tian up to the Heart Center.
Exhale and guide your hands back down. This calms the Yang energy down and settles it.
Continue to inhale up. Exhale down. Just keep on moving with your own rhythm, your own breath.
Do this anywhere from 8 to 24 times, and if it feels really good, up to 5 minutes.
Have a good night.
Featuring Essential Oil and Oriental Medicine Instructor, Cynthia McMullen, LMT, MQT, SM
A: Rosacea (named for rosy cheeks) is a red skin irritation on the face. It can be anywhere from light and mild to very noticeable and uncomfortable. A doctor must diagnose whether or not red skin on the face is actually rosacea or something else.
There are some really nice things we can do with essential oils for this condition, and they involve using the oils with acupressure on the arms and legs – not applying essential oils to the face which may irritate the condition even more.
In Chinese medicine, rosacea is often energetically related to too much heat in the stomach and the lungs rising up to the face. This can be from many different things, so be sure to talk with a qualified Acupuncturist to determine how this might apply to you.
Here are 5 essential oils to choose from that will help to clear heat:
Lemon
Peppermint
Palmarosa
Clary Sage
German Chamomile
While there are more essential oils to choose from, I picked these five because they tend to be fairly common and easily available on the market. See if you have one or more of these oils on hand.
We’re going to blend between 1-3 of these oils together, dilute them into a carrier oil, and apply them to some acupressure points on the arm and also on the foot.
In the video, I chose to work with a nice blend of Lemon and Peppermint diluted in Avacado carrier oil, however you could use any plain carrier oil you have on hand.
For single use oil – meaning you’re going to mix a very small amount to use right now – use ½ tsp carrier oil. To this add 2 drops of Peppermint and 2 drops of Lemon for a total of 4 drops essential oil. Stir that together with your finger, then it’s ready to apply.
You can also make a 1-oz. size bottle if you plan to use this blend often over a period of time. For this, fill the bottle with carrier oil, then add up to 20-24 drops of the essential oils you are using.
For example, if I was going to use Lemon and Peppermint, I might split that in half and add 10 drops of Peppermint and 10 drops of Lemon to 1 oz carrier oil. Shake it well and place a label on it with the purpose, oils used, and date. Stored properly, this will keep for approximately 1 year.
APPLYING THE OILS – ACUPRESSURE TECHNIQUE (demonstrated in the video)
On the arm, we’re going to be using the Large Intestine and the Lung Meridians. The area we’ll focus on goes from the elbow crease down into the muscle on the thumb (thenar eminence).
Take some of the diluted essential oil blend and apply it to the whole top section of the lower arm. Use your fingers to glide along this area, going from the elbow towards the hand, ending between the thumb and the index finger, which is acupoint Large Intestine 4 on the outside and Lung 10 in the middle of the thenar eminence.
The acupoints to focus on at the elbow crease are Large Intestine 11 and Lung 5. Applying the oil to these areas is going to allow the acupoints and the meridians in the arm carry the cooling, clearing-heat energy of the oils through these meridians and into the face.
Because heat rises up, as in rising from the body up to the face, focus on using a downward stroke direction with an image of pulling heat down from the face to the hand and out. Be sure to lightly squeeze the acupoints and meridians along the edge of the arm.
Do this anywhere from 8 - 24 times, and if someone’s face is severely red and irritated, you could do this up to 50 times.
If, for any reason, the oil starts to get dry, it’s fine to apply a little bit more. When you’re done with one arm, repeat on the opposite arm. You can also do this to yourself.
Moving on to the foot, we’re going to apply these same oils focusing mainly on the inner foot and ankle area.
We’ll use a strong point for heat in the face, which is Stomach 44. It’s located in the webbing between the second and third toes. Apply some of the essential oil blend there, and also to the inside of the foot, right along the edge of the arch. Come up the foot, and then circle around the inner ankle. In this area, we’re using acupoints Spleen 4 and also Kidney 3, which can both be used for cooling the upper body.
The acupoints in the feet are helping to clear heat. The Stomach Meridian begins in the face and travels all the way down to end at the second toe. It is strongly associated with rosacea in the face so even working down at the foot, we’re affecting the upper body.
Stimulate Stomach 44 acupoint anywhere from 8 - 24, or even up to 50 times. You can also just leave your finger resting gently on the point until you feel a Qi sensation, which might feel like a magnetic pulsation or an energetic movement of some kind. Try this energetically for up to 2 minutes.
Next, focus on the inner side of the foot and glide along right in the middle of the arch. There’s a place where you’re going to just come to a nice, natural stop at the edge of a bone. This is acupoint Spleen 4. Finally, glide around to the inner ankle. Right in the middle between the ankle and the Achilles tendon is acupoints Kidney 3.
Glide along this area anywhere from 8 – 24, or up to 50 times. How I decide on the number is that is if someone has very mild red in their face, I would do this 8 to 24 times. The more severe the redness is, the higher number of times, going up to 50.
HOW OFTEN TO DO THIS
Repeat this treatment one time every day to both arms and both feet.
USING HYDROSOLS ON THE FACE
Make a hydrosol spritz. Get a little finger mister bottle and fill with hydrosols and Aloe. Hydrosols are the water by-product of essential oil distillation. There are some really nice companies out there that produce them. See the end for links to my favorites.
Some good choices for cooling are Melissa and Rose, and these are both very nice on facial skin. One of my favorite hydrosol companies, Oshadhi, has an Aloe 10:1 product that blends beautifully with hydrosols. You can also add any pure aloe gel as long as the consistency is thin.
Hydrosols smell beautiful, and they are much milder than essential oils. You really don’t want essential oils or carrier oil on your face when it is red and irritated. For the hydrosol and aloe blend, spray it lightly on our facial skin. It should feel nice and cooling. If for any reason it feels irritating, discontinue use.
QIGONG EXERCISE TO COMPLEMENT THE TREATMENT
After the acupressure treatment and hydrosol facial spritz, it’s time to end with QiGong. This exercise is called Two Hands Draw Down Cool Rain.
Connect with your breath.
As you inhale, bring your hands up over your head.
Exhale, and moving with your breath let your hands lower down. Imagine that you’re hands are gently guiding cool rain over your body. It’s taking all that heat and cooling it off.
Inhale up. Exhale down.
Repeat this exercise 8 - 24 times, or for up to about 5 minutes. You can use this for high blood pressure also. QiGong feels so nice and so relaxing. Just move with your breath.
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