Pressing certain acupuncture points may help promote calm, reduce anger or even help relieve sadness. Acupressure uses pressure from fingers or massage instruments on acupuncture points rather than needles. More like a massage, this type of treatment is less frightening for the needle-shy, and might provide some benefit. Your practitioner will select various point combinations on the body to potentially manage turbulent emotional states. Talk to your doctor before trying acupressure.
Chinese Medicine Theory
According to traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, each of your five major organs rules an emotion. Emotions can influence your health both positively and negatively. Balance is essential; too much of any emotion is considered potentially harmful. Anger is associated with the liver, joy with the heart, thinking or pensiveness with the spleen, grief with the lungs and fear with the kidneys. When the body and its organs work in harmony, these emotions are balanced; one emotion doesn't dominate your life. Each of your organs also has an energy channel, or meridian, that runs through various parts of your body. The acupuncture points along these meridians may influence certain emotional states.
Points That Promote Calm
There are many points on your body that may promote a sense of calm. The spleen channel, with its relation to pensiveness, can give rise to worry and anxiety if imbalanced. Spleen point 6 is found approximately 3 inches above the inner ankle, just behind the shin bone. Pressing this point purportedly promotes calm while also helping with muscle fatigue, heart palpitations and insomnia. Gallbladder 39, found in precisely the same location on the outer portion of the leg, is also indicated for anxiety. Additionally, it may help with mania, indignation and anger. A point found on the back, lateral to the fifth thoracic vertebra and 1.5 inches from the body's mid-line, bladder 15 regulates the heart and may calm the spirit.
Points for Quelling Anger
Anger is often associated with an overabundance of liver heat and energy. It is also caused by deficiencies or excesses in other organs like the heart and kidneys. Liver points 2 and 3 are often selected when anger is related to liver heat or obstructed qi, or energy. Both are located on the foot, between the tendons of the big and second toes. Anger can also purportedly be transformed by stimulating kidney points 1, 4 or 7 as well as heart point 5. Kidney 1 is located on the balls of the feet. Point 4 resides slightly below and behind the inner ankle bone, while kidney 7 is approximately an inch below spleen 6. Your practitioner may locate heart 5 by pressing between the tendons on the underside of your wrist. The point is located about an inch below the wrist crease, between the tendons on the pinky side of the arm.
Points for Transforming Grief
Grief, though related to the lungs, can manifest with imbalances in other organs as well. Lung points 3 and 9 may transform sadness and grief, as well as strengthen lung energy. Lung 3 is nestled between the biceps muscle and the upper arm bone, about 3 inches below the armpit fold. Lung 9 is found on the wrist crease, in the depression below the thumb mound. Heart 7 is also often selected for sadness, and is located across the wrist crease from lung 9, below the palm.
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