[ASMR] Tracing Acupuncture Meridians + Leg and Foot Massage with Marika (Real Person)

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