Acupressure for Stress & Anxiety Relief: acupuncture points are within our reach

The covid-19 pandemic is inherently stressful. Consequences to financial, physical and emotional health vary from person to person and family to family, but we all share the need to access moments of calm and feel safe. Even without needles, we can work with acupressure points to guide our nervous system to a calmer state and feel reassured. Inherently stressful, this chapter in our lives can guide us to develop coping skills that will be forever useful.

These points are also great for strengthening our sense of connection with ourselves and others which is essential during physical distancing.

Neck Release through Eyeball Movement - #5 from above...

The vagus nerve is one of the cranial nerves that begins in the skull and connects several organs with the brain. It is an essential part of our nervous system that regulates our arousal. When we are in danger, anxious, or need to fight we depend on our sympathetic nervous system to shunt blood to our muscular system so we can react quickly! When we are safe, the vagus nerve signals the body to resume blood flow to the intestines, slow the heart rate, relax respiration and allow all systems to rest. Research on vagal tone shows that it has positive clinical affects on digestion, IBS, depression, PTSD, and heart rate variability. Polyvagal stimulation also helps in cases of trauma. Many therapies, such as acupuncture, meditation, yoga affect vagal tone and can be used to help you relax and regulate your nervous system.

Instructions: To be practised when I want to shift my body into a more relaxed state. It uses eye movement to engage suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull, drawing the first two vertebrae into alignment. • Lying on the back • Gently interlocking the fingers and cradling the head in the hands so that the back of the head is resting in the palms • Facing forward, looking at ceiling or sky if laying down. The hands, arms and head will stay in the same position throughout the exercise • Moving the eyeballs only, look to the right for 30-60 secs. I will know when to return eyes to centre when I feel a shift in breathing, a yawn, or other sensation of relaxation, release, or calm. This may be subtle. • Repeat, moving eyeballs only, looking to the left

Based on: Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: self-help exercises for anxiety, depression, trauma and autism by Stanley Rosenburg.

• Relax, gently observing the breath, and resting in a comfortable position. Repeat if desired. I can practice this anytime. It is especially helpful at bedtime and you can return to it if I wake in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep.