Smells so good
Okay
Welcome everyone to this video
Today, we have Marika here
and she is fast asleep
She has been gracious enough
to allow me to use her legs today
in some acupressure
Locating some acupuncture points,
as well as some massage
At school, we have been learning
traditional Chinese medicine
and how to apply all the knowledge
that we've learned about
different channels and acupuncture points
in creating an individualized
treatment plan for a patient
How to assess the patient
take a traditional Chinese medicine intake
how to make a diagnosis
evaluate various differential diagnoses
which can get quite complicated
because often times
in traditional Chinese medicine,
it's not that cut and dry
You often have different
presentations happening at the same time
One that comes up a lot is liver
qi stagnation
overacting on the spleen
It's very, very common here
in the Western world
because often times, we have suppressed
anger and other emotions like anxiety
that haven't been released and
worked through
So they end up building up
in our organs
The liver is the organ responsible
for anger
so it holds a lot of anger
and that anger really affects the liver
Whereas spleen, it's overthinking
and pensiveness and worry
That's what affects that, so...
Many, many of us
have spleen qi deficiency
as well as liver qi stagnation
I can talk about that more
as we go through the channels
both the spleen and liver channels
start on the legs
We also have the stomach channel,
the kidney channel
that starts on the legs as well
or the feet rather
We have the urinary bladder channel
and the gallbladder channel
that ends at the feet,
if I remember that correctly
Okay. So we're gonna start off
with a little massage.
Marika can just continue to drift
off into dreamland
I like to warm up the channels,
the meridians with some massage
before I really go into the acupressure
I'm also going to be drawing
the points
tracing and drawing, which will
help as a memory aid for me
as I continue to familiarize
myself with the acupuncture points
I'm finding it very difficult to
memorize them all
and I feel like sometimes
I study them just for the sake
of the exam
Then once the exam's done, the
memory has disappeared so...
I'm just going to work on some of this
If you all haven't checked out Theodore
my friend, Theodore Castasus
Their channel, I highly recommend it
I'll put a link in the
description below
Theodore always talks about the
importance of massaging the feet
You'll find that kidney,
the kidney channel
actually starts here right?
Right in here, I believe
Let me just double check
My memory can be a little
distorted at times
Okay. So it's at the junction
of the distal one third and
proximal two third of the sole
From the base of the second toe
to the heel
That's the line that we're following
Theodore talks a lot about how
this point is
where we allow energy
from the earth to enter
I know. It can be a little bit
uncomfortable, this point.
It's also the point where energy
will flow out
so it is our connection to mother earth
Really helps ground us
Let's work on this one here
Let me put a little bit of oil
here as well
Put right here
Let me warm up your leg
Get it nice and hydrated
and also, allowing the smoothness of
the massage
It's nice and moisturized
Just warm up your feet,
they're a little cold
It's a wonderful point to massage
on yourself
either in the morning,
at night, perhaps both
Alright
Good, good, good, good, good
I'm like just kind of squeezing the
feet. Might give a massage.
I'll do the same thing on this
side, just squeezing the feet
Strange because Marika is actually
asleep right now
but she's reacting to the massage
I wonder if she's dreaming about it
I'm just gonna massage the
achilles tendon right here
Oh, I know, I know, I know
It seems like... it's just a little tender
Very good
Now I'm just going to do a bit
of massage here
the patellar region
Just get a little bit
more of this massage oil
and just apply it right in here
Warming up the area
It can be common for the cold
to enter the knee
So, it's nice to give it
a little massage too
Although, if you really have
cold knees
it's a good idea to try moxibustion,
just kind of like...
you can find smokeless moxibustion sticks
and you can use it to really allow
the heat to penetrate deep into the knees
Really help warm it up
from the inside
You can also receive acupuncture
in this area
and use a method called
"burning the mountain"
I think that's what it's called
It'll really help to heat up
an area
Just a little bit of mobilization here.
Can help to loosen this up.
All the ligaments and tendons here
A little bit
Just to move it in different directions
Good
Okay, very good
Alright
So for the second part of the video,
I want to go ahead and locate some points
draw them, trace them as a memory device
and we can choose some of the points
to apply some seeds as well,
to help Marika with the next day
and also with her sleep
So let's go ahead and start with kidney,
the kidney channel
since that's what we kind of already
started with in the massage
So I'm going to use this Burt's Bees liner
just because it draws on really well
and it's easy to clean off as well
We're going to start with kidney 1,
which is at the junction, the distal
one third, approximate 2
thirds of the sole
When the foot is in plantar flexion,
find it in the depression
Right here
So when you put in the plantar flexion,
it'll be in the depression
Okay, so that's kidney one
Kidney 2 is anterior and inferior
to the medial malleolus
anterior and inferior to the
medial malleolus
in the depression on the lower
border of the navicular tuberosity
Navicular tuberosity
I believe it's here
This point is good for clearing
heat, empty heat
So, sort of yin deficiency heat
and it regulates the lower burner
It's also a spring point and a fire point
Next, we're going to find the source
point, which looks like
it's right behind the medial malleolus
Kidney three
So far, the meridian seems to go like this
but I'll trace it all together later
so we can get a clearer picture of
how the meridian moves
And then after kidney 3, we have kidney 4
which is interesting
It actually moves
After that, it goes back here
Kidney 4 is posterior and inferior
to the medial malleolus
in the depression anterior to the
attachment of the calcanea tendon
Right here
and right here
Next, we have kidney 5
which is 1 cun directly inferior
to kidney 3
in the depression anterior and
superior to the calcaneal tuberosity
anterior and superior to the
calcaneal tuberosity
1 cun directly inferior
1 cun directly inferior
Roughly that
Depression anterior and superior.
About one cun.
I'm just using my thumb to
kind of guide me a little bit
but it's not perfect
Okay. Next, we have kidney 6
which looks like it's actually right
I think maybe my kidney three is a
little bit too close to the medial malleolus
Is that what I did wrong?
Depression between the medial
malleolus and calcaneal tendon
Okay, so I made a mistake here
Let me just redo those points
That's part of the learning process
Okay, sorry about the little mess here
Okay, so kidney 3 is in the depression
between the malleolus
medial malleolus and the calcaneal tendon
More like this
More like that
Like that
And then, I'll go a bit lower for kidney 5
Good. And then for kidney 6, we're going
to go in the depression
at the lower border of the
medial malleolus
Okay. So this point would be
contraindicated in pregnancy
because you don't want to
use it before the third trimester
to stimulate labor
It's interesting, these kidney points
A lot of these down here
tend to have some role in regulating
the uterus and menstrual function
Kidney 5 also has a similar kind
of action
where it regulates the menses,
regulates the uterus
Now we're gonna go up to
kidney 7
Kidney 7 is 2 cun directly proximal
to kidney 3
So with 2 cun, we can use 3
fingers roughly
or we can be a little bit more precise
We can find kind of a
tibial plateau here
From there to the medial malleolus,
it's 13 cun
Cun is just a...
It's a measurement that is used
in traditional Chinese medicine
In Mandarin, it means inches
but in this case, we actually use
the body as a measurement
Sort of like different parts of the
body have different
cun measurements
You can also use your thumb and
your fingers but overall
you also want to look for
the specific landmarks
and the depressions that coincide with
each point
So from here to here, 13 cun
If we go halfway about 6 and a
half, go a little bit lower
6
Then we just divide this into thirds
So here, which as you can see,
roughly 3 fingers width
is kidney 7
Kidney 7 right here.
And you're going to find that it is
on the anterior border
of the calcaneal tendon
There we go
That's the calcaneal tendon,
basically the achilles tendon
Same thing
I guess I don't have to mark
it on both sides
but I've just been doing that
Alright. So now, we're going to
be working on this foot
and like here, while we keep the
other one
nice and toasty warm
So, we ended off at kidney 7,
kidney 8
Kidney 9 is 5 cun directly proximal
to kidney 3
at the lower end of the belly,
of the gastrocnemius muscle
the line joining kidney 3,
kidney 10
Kidney 10 is up here
Line joining kidney 3 and kidney 10
It is 5 cun directly proximal
So...
Again if it's 13
and it's 5 cun
Gonna do....
5 cun
6
Or we can even go a bit lower
and do around 5, 5 cun
and it's gonna be on this
line, connecting from there
So roughly...
Especially if this is 2 cun
Right over there will be kidney 9.
Kidney 8 moves stagnation
dissipates masses, regulates
the menses
and kidney at 9 will nourish the
kidney yin
Clear the heart, resolve phlegm,
release pain in this area
If you move up to kidney 10,
then this point is with a knee flex
We're just gonna flex the knee
a little bit
Just a little bit like that
The point is on the medial side
of the popliteal fossa
between the semitendinosus and
semimembranosus tendons
level with UB 40
Okay, so right here
It's kidney 10
This point also is good for
resolving dampness
and it benefits the kidneys
So it's interesting that this
resolves phlegm
that resolves dampness
I wonder if it's specific in
this area as well
that would be interesting to
look into for future reference
Then a lot of these points regulate
the lower burner as well
So the kidney channel does continue
moving up
It goes up the lower abdomen
and then it looks like
it continues to go up towards the chest
and along the side of the chest
and it terminates
Let's see here. And terminates
on the chest, is what it looks like
Yeah, but we're not gonna do
any of those points
not this time
We'll do it next time
I want to stick to these
So I'm going to start with this
We're gonna trace it all
the way to the first point
kidney 1 to kidney 2
Then to kidney 3
I believe is this one
I'm gonna go to kidney 4,
then kidney 5, then kidney 6
and then it's so interesting.
Kidney 7, 8
9, and then all the way up, 10
That's the kidney channel
It's kind of how it looks like
It looks kind of like a constellation
Alright
Let's keep moving
I hope you're finding this relaxing
I'm gonna continue with
the liver channel
So liver is such an important organ
Oh my goodness, it's a powerful
organ too
It is quick to attack other organs
Like if there's a lot of fire
in liver
it can scorch the heart
If the qi is stagnated, that will
attack the spleen
and yeah, it's a pretty, pretty
fierce organ
and it also stores the anger
component as well
The liver also tends to be the
one to move blood
So there's a lot of... when
there's indications
something like liver blood deficiency,
where there's not enough blood
to begin with
and also not enough blood to
move around
there tends to be scanty menses,
amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea
that kind of thing
So issues with a menstrual cycle
is very common in liver dysfunction
And then also issues with
irritability and anger
There can be with liver fire
the fire can come up into the head
It can cause vertex headaches
It can also cause the eyes
to become red
and the face to take on a red
complexion
In liver qi stagnation, you can see
symptoms of PMS
So you'll find that there is
distension in the breasts
You'll find that there is of course,
irritability
because liver really does control that
You'll find pain, cramping
pain as well
and that's because the qi is stagnating
and it's not moving
So it's really helpful to
work on this channel
as well as other points
that can help to regulate the liver
Alright. So now, we're moving on to the
liver channel.
Let's start with liver one, which is
a Jing-Well point
So this is on the lateral side
of the dorsal, of the big toe
between the lateral corner
of the nail bed
and the interphalangeal joint,
just right over here
And then, we're gonna move to
liver 2, which is over here
Just the web
So, liver one is good for regulating
menses
resolving damp heat, clearing heat,
promoting this smooth flow
of liver qi, calms the mind
and stops bleeding
A lot of these points around
the nail bed are really good
for stopping the bleeding, whether
it's specific to the channel
Like in this case, moreso to do with
the menstrual blood
or it could also be used for other
parts of the body as well
That's a really important point
Then liver 2, we can actually
clear liver fire
It can also subdue liver yang
So as I was... when I was talking about
how when liver yang rises
it can end up causing headaches,
tremendous irritability
red eyes, red face
It's kind of similar to liver fire
We can help to subdue it,
bring it down
That can be really helpful
It can also help to clear heat,
expel interior wind
remove stagnation, calm the mind
It also stops bleeding
Liver 3 is a very famous point
You'll find it just between
the first and second metacarpals here
Sorry, meta... metatarsals
Forgot that we're working
on the feet, metatarsals
It's just distal sole junction first
and second metatarsal bones
Such an important point
The liver 3, if you can needle
liver three, as well as
LI4, large intestine 4, on
the hands here
You open up the 4 gates, which
will help to move qi
It's often used to reduce pain
Another great thing it'll do is
it'll help to subdue liver yang
It can also clear liver fire
It has so many functions
It can smooth the flow of liver qi,
so really good for liver qi stagnation
It can resolve damp heat in
the lower burner
calm the mind, nourish blood
There's so many, so many indications
for this point
and how it's going to act really
depends on what other points you choose
in the treatment
and that'll help to guide this
point, as well as LI4 point
and what it should do while
it synergizes with the rest of the points
that are needled
The next point is liver 4.
Zhong Tang, Zhong Feng.
That's a jing river point, one cun
anterior to the medial malleolus
and midway between spleen 5
and stomach 41
depression on the medial side,
medial side of the tibial centre
So here's the tibialis anterior tendon
I can feel it pretty
well right here
and it will be on the medial side
Okay, very cool
Alright, that's liver four
Now we're gonna move into
some of the higher ones
Okay, so liver 5
It's in proximal to
the tip of the medial malleolus
medial aspect of the tibia
Near the medial border, 5 cun
So it's kind of actually in line
with kidney nine
which I did not locate on this
But it is 5 cun
So let's just measure that really quickly
Around here, and it's going
to be fairly close on the medial
It's literally on the medial aspect
of the tibia
near the medial border
It's located... you can find it in...
Oh, you can actually feel the
depression in the bone
That's really interesting
Here we go
Again, this one promotes
a smooth flow of liver qi
So there's quite a few points here
that will help to do that
I think we said liver...
Liver 1, no
Liver 2, liver 3,
and now liver 5
Liver 6 seems to do something
similar as well
and that is 7 cun
So it's gonna keep going
a little bit higher
and if we just do this again
6 and a half
We're gonna go a little
bit higher here
5, okay
Did I do that one rule?
Let me just check
6 and a half
It should be that depression
that you can actually feel
Ah, never mind. I've been
palpating it wrong.
Sorry, so that is 5
And then, this is 6
Number 7 is all the way up here
It's in the upper portion of the medial
ahead of the gastrocnemius muscle
One cun posterior to spleen
nine, posterior and distal
to the medial condyle
So this is spleen 9
We're going to go one cun
posterior to find liver 7
So, we're going to go ahead
and connect all the liver points
on the lower leg
So let's start with one right here
and we're gonna go up
and then we're gonna go
this way
Then we're going to go this way,
that way and all the way up
That's the liver and it'll keep
travelling up
travelling up the leg, the thigh
lower abdomen, upper abdomen, chest
Once it goes to the chest, the liver
channel will actually go internal
It'll go through the liver organ,
I believe
and then up the breast tissue
and then up the throat
and it can actually go... I believe it
goes all the way up
to the pituitary gland
So it's... yeah
By then, you can't really...
you know, needle any of those points
but you know that, you know where
the liver organ is exerting its functions
So now, let's work on the spleen
channel, which is...
I think it's my favourite channel
because it is so versatile
These points are used... I use them
all the time
and I think I'm actually
going to put a seed
for one of these points for Marika
I might even put a seed
for the liver channel as well
I think that could be helpful, just
to circulate her liver qi a little bit
So let's go back to the liver
really quickly
I'm thinking I would like liver 3
would be really nice to use
This will help with calming her mind
calming any irritability or anger
and also helping with
any stagnation of the liver qi
That can lead to some pretty painful
cramps and other pains
around the body
Sometimes it's not very sticky.
Place it on this foot as well.
Put that nicely there
So we're gonna start with
spleen 1
It is on the medial side
of the big toe
So liver 1 on this side
and liver 2, I mean
I am getting sleepy. So liver one
on this side
and then spleen one on the opposite side
So this point again
Good for stopping bleeding
It can restore consciousness in
the TCM perspective
and it also helps to harmonize
the spleen
It will calm the mind, warm
the spleen, open the chest
and tone by yang
Just a wonderful point
Next, we have the spleen 2,
which is a spleen spring point
and a fire point, medial side
of the big toe
distal and inferior to the first
metatarsal phalangeal joint
the junction of the red
and white skin
just basically where the skin
changes in its texture
and appearance
It's gonna be right there
But it's interesting because
that's what that is
But then, on here, it's...
I guess it'll be here
That's spleen two
Which harmonizes the spleen, clears heat,
resolves dampness
calms the mind, harmonize
the stomach
and tone by spleen yang
Then we have the source point
I find the 3 of the channel
tends to be the source point
not always
and it is proximal inferior
to the head of the first metatarsal
So, proximal and inferior at the
junction of the red and white skin
So basically right here
Can you see that?
Right there
Oh, spleen 3 is a good point
and that's a good point for
tonifying the spleen
and it can resolve dampness and
harmonize the middle burner
regulate the intestine
I think this would be a really
good point for Marika
I don't think we can go
wrong with this one
So let's go ahead and just make sure
Place it right here
I'm going to do the same thing
on the other side
because we want to make sure
it's balanced
So it's going to be right here
Let's put a little seed on there
Just basically, these seeds are basically
like needles
but more of a milder long-
term stimulation of the point
There we go
After spleen 3, we're gonna move
to spleen 4
depression, distal and inferior
to the base of the first metatarsal
base of the first metatarsal
Good, okay
Also this junction
That was kidney 2
Unless kidney 2 is more here
Spleen 4 is more metatarsal.
Approximately here
to the head of the first metatarsal
Okay, so right here
Proximal and inferior
at the junction
I got it, right there
That's where that is, spleen 4
And then, spleen 5 is
and might that be a good point
Tonify spleen in stomach, stops
bleeding, regulates
That could be a really good
point, but I think spleen 3
is enough for now
I might also choose spleen 6
when we get there
Spleen 5, depression,
distal inferior to the medul...
medial malleolus, midway between
the tuberosity
the navicular bone
and the tip of the... ah, okay
So here, yeah
Right there
Spleen 5: tonify spleen and stomach
regulates intestines, resolves dampness
calms the mind
Ouu, that might be a good point
for her, but I also feel like
I'll just go ahead and choose spleen 6
because it also promotes a
smooth flow of liver qi
Yeah, I'll do that
So that's spleen 5, spleen 6,
spleen 6
Spleen 6, 3 cun
Depression
Just posterior to tibia
Right, good
Spleen 6
That's a good point, I think for us
to go and put another seed on
Just make sure... I know
Let's put a seed on that one
Let's put a seed on this side as well
See if I can just
feel the depression
Yeah, right there
Just a little bit closer to the tibia
would be good, I think
Okay, good
Okay, so let's keep moving up
the spleen channel
After spleen 6, we have spleen 7
which tonifies the spleen, harmonizes
the stomach
It's 3 cun proximal to
spleen 6
on the line joining the tip
of the medial malleolus
Spleen 9, which we know,
is right here
So it is 3 cun proximal
to spleen 6
Okay, so let me see if I can...
So here, basically doing this
measurement again and again
But essentially, it's here
and it is just on the line
connecting that spleen 7
and then spleen 8
Keep going
That's going to be 3 cun
distal to spleen 9
So again, I'm gonna find...
sort of right here
on the line
So that is spleen 8
And then, we know where spleen
9 is, which is
such an important point
Hope you guys can all see that
Spleen 9 is the point that is
very, very important
for resolving dampness,
harmonizing the spleen
It can remove obstructions and
regulate water passages
So let's go ahead and trace
So let's start from spleen 1
to spleen 2
and then spleen 2 to spleen 3
which we... then spleen 4
Then spleen 5
So we're gonna go from
spleen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
6
7
8
The last part is right up
here, up to nine
Alright
So, that is the end of this video
I hope you enjoyed it
I'm gonna go ahead and
get Marika back on her bed
so she can really sleep nice
and peacefully
not set up on a massage table
Thank you so much for watching
I hope you were able to relax
and sleep to that
and I wish you a good night
I love you all, bye