Career Training At The Acupressure Institute

By Michael Reed Gach

Jenny, a thirty-eight-year-old woman complained of minor depression, anxiety, fatigue, occasional insomnia, and headaches. Many of her problems were caused by stress. She had difficulty coping at work and dealing with her marital issues. Her tension, worry, and anxiety made her troubles seem insurmountable. Overwhelming feelings drove her to eat compulsively. Jenny's life was in such a rut that she felt helpless, overwhelmed, and incapacitated. Once she received a few acupressure massage therapy sessions from one of our recent graduates, she wrote the following about the changes and feelings she experienced:

"Only weeks ago overwhelming anxiety attacks created great hardships for me. I now feel the 'mud' around my heart lifting; my body seems to be filtering out toxins held for years. Learning to give myself acupressure not only helped me realize many of the causes of my stress, such as holding my breath at work, but also has enabled me to handle stressful situations with greater ease. Instead of doubting myself and holding back, I feel more empowered to express what it going on with me. When I notice my body tensing, I hold a few points and almost immediately experience a greater sense of serenity – at home, while stuck in traffic, in the midst of a meeting with my boss or at a social event. I've found acupressure a great blessing for my busy professional and personal life."

Everyone suffers from stress from time to time, given the tremendous challenges, options, and responsibilities in our busy lives. Your stress may be the result of a long day at work, rush hour traffic, tension with your boss, or a relationship issue. But stress can be exhausting and drain your vital energy, making coping with daily activities difficult.

Stress can cause shallow breathing, which can lead to irritability, frustration, and fatigue. Many people turn to unhealthy habits like smoking, overeating, and excessive drinking to "counteract" stress fallout. Instead, you can use acupressure to transform these everyday tensions and hindrances into opportunities for growth

Acupressure is an ancient healing art developed in Asia over 5,000 years ago. Using the power and sensitivity of the hand instead of needles, acupressure is effective in relieving stress-related ailments, in self-treatment and in preventive health care. Acupressure releases tension, increases circulation, reduces pain and heightens health.

Acupressure uses the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body's natural self-curative abilities. When these points are pressed, they release muscular tension and promote the circulation of blood and the body's life force to aid healing.

Learning acupressure can establish a sense of purpose, being able to help people wherever you go – without having to travel with any equipment, you always have your hands to use in rewarding ways. Learn to relieve common ailments such as headaches, backache, pain, insomnia, nausea, carpel tunnel and more. When acupressure points are stimulated in massage and used with other Asian bodywork techniques included in the basic acupressure training, greater effectiveness results. For instance, using acupressure with Reiki can send greater healing energy through the points and tap into the great wealth of healing information within traditional Chinese Medicine. You'll learn to easy find the acupuncture points with your hands, instead of using needles.

There are also great advantages to using acupressure as a way to balance the body and maintain good health. The healing touch of acupressure reduces tension, increases circulation, and enables the body to relax deeply. By relieving, stress, acupressure strengthens resistance to disease and promotes wellness.

Several different kinds of acupressure are currently practiced, although the same ancient trigger points are used in all of them. Varying rhythms, pressures, and techniques create different styles of acupressure. Shiatsu, for instance, the most well known style of acupressure, can be quite vigorous, with firm pressure applied to each point for only three to five seconds. The Jin Shin style of acupressure gently holds each point for a minute or more, using point formulas to balance your body's healing energy.

Acupressure can enable you to use the principles and techniques of these ancient healing arts in your bodywork. Massage Therapists can also receive CEUs approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork approved under Category A. Over the last 20 years alternative medicine and complementary health care have flourished in the U.S. Along with this growth in public awareness, national certification for Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology has established the professional stature of these healing arts. Wider public acceptance of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology has also contributed to the greater recognition of Acupressure & Shiatsu Therapy.

The next step for Acupressure Massage and Shiatsu Therapists is to solidify our professional stature. National testing & certification can play a major role in this process. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), the organization that created the national certifications for Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology, now offers national certification for Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT). The Acupressure Institute encourages students who are on an "acupressure career path" to consider how National Certification would benefit their work and stature in the healthcare community.

At the request of the AOBTA (American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia) the NCCAOM created the ABT National Certification Exam. This exam establishes NATIONAL recognition of a practitioner's training and competency via testing and certifies those who pass the test – making the ABT Certification the most powerful credential in the field of energy work.

The goal of obtaining National Certification supports the broader acceptance of Acupressure as a professional healthcare modality. As more states license therapeutic massage/bodywork, as more municipalities accept certification as a demonstration of competence for a business license, and as more health insurance companies use certification as a basis for treatment reimbursement, National Certification will become even more valuable.