Acupressure Points for Anxiety & Nervousness

Video transcription

Hi, I'm Hillary Talbott, acupuncture physician and clinical herbalist coming to you from Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies. Today, we will be discussing acupressure for anxiety and nervousness. Now, all of us at one time or another have experienced anxiety say before a test or a job interview or maybe even in social situations, and some of us experience it more than others which can lead to physical symptoms. So, I'm going to show you a couple of preventative techniques to do on yourself before you enter into one of these situations that you know gives you anxiety. One point that is very helpful is ren 17. Now, the ren channel goes up the mid line of the body and ren 17 is located in between the nipples right on the sternum. It's often tender in those of us that experience any type of anxiety. This point is great if you experience chest constriction or tightness when you do get nervous or experience anxiety. So, because it's tender I tend to use light to moderate pressure just in a circular rotation here with my thumb to try and alleviate this pressure. Another really effective thing to do is while you're massaging this point is to do some nice deep belly breathing. When you belly breathe, you're going to breathe all the way into the belly expanding the abdominal muscles and as you exhale, you're going to pull the naval into the spine and make your exhale longer than your inhale and what this does is it helps discharge any negative energy or tension that you're holding prior to going to one of these events. Another great point that you can do on yourself while you're actually in these events and no one needs to know what you're doing is heart 7. Now, the heart channel is located just on the medial side of this tendon, on the lateral side of the arm in the first crease of the wrist. So, generally, and there's actually a quick succession of points here, seven, six and five and they all work for relieving palpitations and chest constriction and lowering anxiety so your finger breadth is actually enough to cover all of these points. So, if you just start at the crease of the wrist and apply a little bit of gentle pulsating pressure, again if you couple this with deep breathing you'll get even more of an effect. If anxiety and nervousness is something that plagues you daily, I encourage you to seek out a qualified acupuncture physician to help you deal with these. I'm Hilary Talbott, and that was acupressure for anxiety and nervousness.