Grounding, Centering, Calming – with Foot Self-Acupressure by Andy Mia Kranz

When you feel like you need some grounding, centering or calming, simple foot Acupressure is a gentle and supportive way to find this.

Learning Acupressure was part of my training to become a Shiatsu practitioner. Shiatsu therapy is a form of bodywork developed through a Japanese lens, which works with the same channel (or meridian) system as Chinese Medicine. We use palms, thumbs & fingers, forearms, elbows, knees and feet – applying gentle yet firm, deep pressure along the length of the channels. We may also pause and hold Acupressure points (or ‘tsubos’, as they are called in Japanese) for more specific effects. These points are the same as Acupuncture points – places where there is direct access to certain therapeutic qualities.

In this form of bodywork, therapeutic effects go beyond just where our hands are working. Everywhere we work encourages some kind of movement throughout the system.

So how do we do it?

Holding the feet invites the energy (or qi) and circulation in our bodies to flow down towards them, to where we walk upon the earth. This is one way we can draw the energy of an active, agitated or scattered mind away from the head and down through our bodies, to our feet. This allows us to quiet our minds, to become more centered and embodied, and to have more focus in our lower body and feet – where we connect to the earth, both literally and metaphorically.

Working the feet with Acupressure, we encourage this grounding direction of movement within. There are many Acupressure points to choose from – here are a few I’ve chosen for you to hold, to help you feel centered and calm. East Asian & Chinese Medicine is full of poetic metaphors for our human physiology and physical form, many from the natural world. So I’ll use some of these too, to evoke the actions of these chosen acupressure points.

Acupressure Points

Kidney 1 Bubbling spring – calming, like the sound of running water.

Spleen 3 Supreme White – grounding, like the feel of the earth beneath our feet.

Kidney 3 Supreme stream – quieting, like a deep, still lake.

Liver 3 Supreme Rushing – releasing, like the feel of an invigorating wind.

Bladder 60  Kunlun Mountain – settling, like the way an animal lies down to rest.

Find the quiet you need by holding these Acupressure points.

Audio: Les Goûts réunis, dixième concert: III. Plainte pour les violes. Performed by Atsushi Sakai. Christophe Rousset, Marion Martineau. Composer:  François Couperin.

Andy Mia Kranz
Shiatsu Therapist