Bobbi Dempsey

Synthia Andrews has been a message and bodywork therapist for 25 years. She is an authorized teacher of Jin Shin Do Bodymind Acupressure, has been on faculty at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy for 16 years, and was a four-year faculty member at the Kripalu Yoga Institute. She is licensed in the state of Connecticut, where she maintains a private practice, and is currently a forth-year student of Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport. Her Real love is using acupressure to help abused, neglected, or injured horses. You can find classes with Synthia and other qualified professionals at www.bodymindeast.com and www.jinshindo.org. Bobbi Dempsey is a freelance writer for many major publications including The New York Times, Muscle & Fitness, Family Circle, Parents, Men's Fitness, and many others. She is also the author of numerous nonfiction books on topics ranging from diabetes to homemade ice cream. Her Web site is www.magazine-writer.com.

Articles From Bobbi Dempsey

7 results
7 results
Acupressure and Reflexology For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016

Acupressure is mostly a matter of working with meridians, or energy centers of the body — and the human body has a number of meridians to work with. Those meridians are echoed in the feet, and a foot reflexology map is quite useful in energy work.

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Enriching Your Life with Acupressure and Reflexology

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Acupressure and reflexology can have many positive effects on your life — physically, emotionally, and mentally. Here are some of the major benefits you can enjoy by taking part in bodywork sessions. You're more relaxed Acupressure and reflexology both encourage deep tranquility and relaxation by restoring the optimal flow of energy throughout your body, helping your body release the negative energy brought on by stress. By promoting the proper flow of qi (vital force) and helping to remove any energy blockages, which can be stressful, bodywork allows you to enjoy a more relaxed state no matter what you may be doing. You lessen the effects of stress Bodywork treatments can also help alleviate the physical symptoms of stress, such as increased muscle tension, which can cause headaches, stiffness, and muscle pain; elevated blood pressure, which contributes to heart disease; or feelings of anxiety brought on by feeling stressed out. Relieving physical symptoms of stress can put your body in a better energetic state to handle whatever stressful situations you can't avoid. Your life is more balanced A basic principle of both acupressure and reflexology is the restoration of harmonious energy flow, putting qi in proper balance. In Chinese medicine, all illness and distress in life can be attributed to imbalances of qi. So balancing qi brings you more balance and stability, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a result, you enjoy better health, a more positive attitude, fewer aches and pains, and better decision-making skills. You're in less pain Acupressure and reflexology almost always lessen pain. Obviously, if you've suffered a severe injury or if you're dealing with a debilitating disease, bodywork treatments can do only so much. However, for routine pains caused by minor to moderate injuries, illnesses, and other conditions, the healing arts are often very effective in reducing your pain and making you more comfortable. You enjoy better relationships Enjoying better relationships with those around you does tend to happen, for a variety of reasons. First, face it — people who are in pain tend to be a bit crabby. If you feel better physically, you also have a better outlook on life and are probably a much more pleasant person to be around. People are drawn to you and enjoy being in your company. Also, when your energy flow is in sync and you have emotional balance, you tend to enjoy more positive relationships with loved ones and interact better with professional colleagues. You have more energy Acupressure and reflexology are both focused on restoring a person's proper balance and flow of qi. As a result, your energy is no longer blocked or slowed down, and you're able to enjoy more of this positive fuel. Pressure point therapies, as well as massage and other bodywork techniques, have the added benefit of increasing the release of endorphins. Endorphins are neurotransmitters released in nerve synapses that stimulate feelings of well-being, relaxation, and inner calm. This combination of beneficial effects provides you with the optimum combination of more energy, greater alertness, and clam relaxation. You heal faster The body is designed with self-healing mechanisms that require proper fuel and conditions to work. Physiologically, every cell needs nutrients, removal of waste products, fuel from the food you eat, oxygen, and water. In Chinese medicine, vitality, supplied by qi, is included in that list. All physical substances are supplied to cells by the circulatory system, so when circulation is diminished, cell health is compromised. The principle demonstrated through acupressure and reflexology is that where qi goes, blood follows. When the channels of qi are open, cells receive vitality and circulation is improved, providing the cells with all they need to heal faster. You nurture yourself If you're like most people, you spend lots of time taking care of everyone else, and very little time taking care of yourself. Most likely, you often neglect your own physical and emotional needs — even when you're in pain. Engaging in acupressure and reflexology sessions forces you to treat yourself to some "me time," which you most likely desperately need. This "me time" is far from selfish — the better you feel, the more efficiently you can fulfill all your daily duties and nurture the important people in your life.

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Acupressure or Reflexology: Sensations during a Session

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When giving an acupressure or reflexology session to another person, you may expect to immediately be able to feel energy. In time, most people can feel the qi, or vital force, moving through the receiver's meridians or collecting in the receiver's acupoints, but you need practice and patience. Take heart: Giving a session can open your awareness to your own energy flow, causing interesting sensations! An electric current and other common sensations When you hold two acupoints together, you may feel as if a current is running through your hands and you're connecting a circuit. Although this analogy is useful, strictly speaking, it's not what's happening. Your energy isn't flowing into the recipient, and her energy isn't flowing into you. What you're feeling is a process called induction. Try this experiment: Turn on a fluorescent light and hold another fluorescent light bulb tube in your hand. Bring the light tube near the fluorescent light. You'll notice that the tube begins to emit light even though it isn't connected to electricity! This isn't because electricity has jumped from one lighting tube to the other. Rather, the light tube receiving electricity has started vibrating the fluorescent ions inside the tube. When you bring the second fluorescent tube within the vibrating field, the ions in the second tube begin to vibrate as well. Vibration in one induces vibration in the other when their fields overlap. The same is true in acupressure. When you feel the electric feeling of energy moving, it isn't someone else's energy moving into you. It's your energy moving in response to the excitement of your energy field. This can work in both directions, and people you're working on may say things like: "Wow! When you touch me I get an electric surge." Remember that they're feeling their own surge sparked by your vibrating field of energy! Here are some additional sensations you may experience as the giver of acupressure or reflexology: You may feel hot or cold throughout your whole body. You may have tingling in your hands. You may experience the same type of body jolt that the receiver does. Basically, any sensation you have is normal. The body is simply interpreting energy movement. A connection with the recipient When you're giving a session, your body changes too! You may notice that as your recipient relaxes, you relax; as your recipient's brain wave states change, your brain wave states change. This is called entrainment and happens when energy fields interact with each other. Entrainment is a term physicists use to describe the effect that similar frequencies with different rhythms have on each other. For example, when you first put two grandfather clocks in the same room, they each have a similar frequency (one beat per second), but their pendulums are usually swinging in their own rhythms. When you leave them together, eventually they coordinate so that the pendulums are swinging in sync with each other. They have become entrained to each other. This happens to the body rhythms of people, too, including brain wave states. Usually during the course of a session, as the receiver's energy becomes calmer and flows more evenly, yours does too. This principle works in both directions. If you find the receiver is wired and having trouble relaxing, relax yourself and settle your own energy to help entrain the receiver and promote greater relaxation. Your own imbalance, activated You can't catch someone else's imbalance, but if you have a similar imbalance, you can activate your own pattern by giving a healing session. In this instance, the principles of induction and entrainment are working when we wish they weren't. If after giving a session you find that you feel sick or tired or have the symptoms of the person you were working on, you've either activated your own deep patterns of imbalance or you've become overly invested in the session. How do you avoid this? Do your own work. The more aware you are of your own issues, the better you are at giving a good session and the less likely it is that your own imbalances become activated. However, if you find yourself going downhill during a session, take a break. Remember the principles of Chinese healing. Who's doing the healing? The receiver, not the giver! If you find yourself taking on the symptoms of the receiver or feeling depleted after sessions, you're overly invested in the outcome. In effect, you're trying to heal the person by taking his symptoms away or giving him your energy. The best way to help someone heal is to stay neutral and let his body do what it needs to do. His job is to do the healing; your job is to offer support.

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Acupressure and Reflexology Misconceptions

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The healing arts of acupressure and reflexology are often misunderstood or incorrectly represented. Here are a few common fallacies surrounding these practices. Acupressure involves needles Different from acupuncture, acupressure involves no thin needles or sharp instruments at all (in fact, no instruments of any kind). Generally, the only "tools" involved are the practitioner's own two hands. Both acupuncture and acupressure, however, are guided by the principles of Chinese medicine, use acupoints to effect change in meridians, and employ a holistic approach to healing that includes mind, body, emotions, and spirit. The healing arts are connected to black magic and other spiritual stuff A basic tenet of the healing arts is the importance and power of positive thoughts and good energy. The healing arts have been (and continue to be) employed by people of all walks of life and many different religions. This belief originated because the concept of energy is so foreign. In general, people are afraid of what they don't know. Science does not yet have the equipment to measure qi, or vital force, directly (skin measurements are indirect measurements of skin conductivity, not direct measurements of an energy output), and research on the effects and benefits of acupuncture, acupressure, and other energy medicine has been scanty. As such, it has easily been misunderstood. Fortunately this is all changing. Medical research is now more plentiful, and the benefits of energy modalities are more accepted. The healing arts are a substitute for conventional care The healing arts definitely aren't a substitute for conventional care, and we want to stress that emphatically. The healing arts are used in conjunction with (and as a complement to) necessary medical treatment, not as a replacement. No ethical and responsible healing-arts practitioner would ever claim that these techniques can cure cancer, diabetes, MS, or any other serious medical condition. You should always seek a doctor's care for any painful or chronic medical condition, or for a serious accident, illness, or injury. However, bodywork can stimulate the body's healing mechanism and relieve some of the pain and other symptoms that are caused by these and other medical conditions. Acupressure and reflexology techniques are painful Some people believe that acupressure and reflexology techniques are painful. On the contrary, these techniques should make you feel at least a little bit better, often immediately. In some cases, you may experience what's sometimes called "good pain," similar to what you may feel with a really deep stretch or a good massage. However, you should never experience any actual pain — and if you do, you should stop immediately. After a session, some people may experience a healing crisis, which is an exacerbation of symptoms prior to resolution. Acupressure and reflexology are fancy names for garden-variety massages Massage, acupressure, and reflexology all employ detailed, specific approaches based on scientific foundations involving the roots of pain and basic physiology. They all have a holistic approach to wellness, interacting with mind, body, and spirit. However, acupressure and reflexology are much more complex practices that include assessing and balancing the flow of energy along meridian or reflex pathways. Energy is transferable Many people believe that one person's energy is transferred to another in healing practices. We can't speak for all healing practices, but acupressure and reflexology don't exchange energy between giver and receiver. A basic assumption of this work is that the receiver has everything he needs within himself; it's just out of balance or harmony. Acupressure and reflexology seek to balance the energy of the receiver, not give the receiver energy or take it away.

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What Acupressure and Reflexology Can Do for You

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Many healing arts, including acupressure and reflexology, are based on the beliefs of Chinese energy medicine — which people first practiced more than 5,000 years ago. The ancient Chinese believed that spiritual imbalances caused many illnesses and physical ailments. In order to effectively address the pain, you needed to resolve your spiritual imbalance and get your energies and life force in a balanced state. Here are a few specific ways in which acupressure and reflexology may make a healthy difference in your life: Immune support: Bodywork therapies can have a major positive impact on your immune system. The ancient Chinese believed that too much (or too little) energy in a certain meridian or zone could cause undue stress, which would weaken the immune system. Although specific acupoints are often cited as being specific "immune booster" targets, addressing any energy imbalances you may have will certainly have a positive impact on the state of your immune system. For maximum benefit to your immune system, use healing arts in conjunction with related techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing. In addition, avoid stress whenever possible. Circulatory stimulation: One of the basic goals of bodywork techniques is to stimulate the proper circulation of energy. But here's a little secret: blood flow follows energy. So, in essence, by opening pathways for energy, you simultaneously stimulate blood to flow better. Acupressure and reflexology are excellent ways to stimulate your circulatory system, which is essential to good health. Poor circulation can cause all sorts of undesirable problems, from cramps and swelling (especially in the legs and feet) to more serious conditions like blood clots and strokes. Relieving aches, pains, and muscle strains: Bodywork is perhaps most commonly employed as an effective way to treat aches and pains. Although any type of massage or muscle stimulation (if done properly) can help alleviate aches and pains, the techniques used in acupressure and reflexology can allow you to pinpoint the root of the pain, thus treating it much more quickly and efficiently. Plus, by using these techniques correctly, you can often treat pain in several different parts of the body at once (or in rapid succession), thus providing a healing option that can save you considerable time and effort. Rehabilitation and support for injury recovery: Bodywork is also commonly used to help the body heal more quickly following an injury. By encouraging the optimal flow of energy to the affected area (and stimulating its corresponding acupoints), you can often speed up the healing and recovery process. In addition, eliminating or reducing pain in that area makes it much easier to perform physical therapy exercises or other routines involved in the rehabilitation process. Optimal wellness and performance: Improving your energy flow not only helps the specific areas involved, but also boosts your overall well-being and puts you in a more positive frame of mind. This combination allows you to perform at your peak level, while also sustaining proper energy flow necessary for endurance. Stress reduction: Stress reduction is an important benefit of acupressure and reflexology. Restoring balance to the system reduces muscle tension and promotes relaxation. When you begin to change the patterns of imbalance, stress automatically reduces in your life. Emotional growth and transformation: During a pressure point session, you may experience deep relaxation. This type of relaxation allows you to access deeper places within. Here you may find some of the patterns that keep you from being fully satisfied in life. You may find that you're able to see things with a new perspective and that issues that have always bothered you don't anymore. Making you aware that your body is your temple: Universal qi, or vital force, is a pretty special substance. You store it in your body, so increasing internal qi sort of makes your body a temple. When this increase of internal qi happens, you may find that you develop a new appreciation for your body, for being alive, and for the special and unique place you have on this planet.

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Acupressure Meridians

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The human body channels energy (chi) along meridians, or pathways. These meridians have both yin and yang components, based on the direction of the energy flow on the body. The following table identifies the meridians, their complements, and abbreviations: Yin Partner Abbreviation Yang Partner Abbreviation Lung Lu Large Intestine LI Spleen Sp Stomach St Heart H Small Intestine SI Kidney K Bladder B Heart Protector HP Triple Warmer TW Liver Li Gall Bladder GB Conception Vessel CV Governing Vessel GV The illustrated figures following show the location of each meridian:

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Foot Reflexology Map

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Your feet are full of acupressure and reflexology points. The following illustration shows each foot and its reflexology sites. Note that the feet are not mirror images of each other when it comes to reflexology, although they share many characteristics.

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