Chi Organ Acupressure

Use this simple technique to improve digestion and elimination, reduce chronic nerve, back, and neck pain, and help reduce water retention. (See pages 108–109 of Fertility Wisdom.)

CAUTION: Do not perform this technique if you are pregnant or possibly pregnant. Please consult the clinic if you have questions.

1. Lie on your back on a mattress or on a blanket on the floor. Lift your knees to relax your back and abdomen. You can put a pillow or two under your knees. Smile!

2. Breathe in long and deep, filling your abdomen first, then your pelvic floor, then your chest. Exhale to empty your chest first, then your abdomen and pelvic floor. Continue to breathe in this way, deeply but gently, throughout the exercise.

3. If your hands are cold, rub them together to bring heat to your fingers. Then, using the fingers of both hands, feel the thickness and quality of your skin around the rim of your navel.

4. Apply pressure firmly but gently, stimulating the skin around your navel, especially where there is tightness or hardness. If you feel discomfort, press more gently. Continue for 5 to 10 minutes.

5. Moving away from your navel, apply pressure with a pumping motion as deeply as is comfortable. Alternate hands to stimulate the intestines and the deep lymphatic system. This step detoxifies the body by increasing the metabolic rate. Continue for 5 to 10 minutes. Remember to breathe and smile!

6. Starting with your left side under your rib cage, pull skin and underlying organs down toward your navel from under your ribs, loosening cramped tissues under your rib cage. Be gentle but firm. Follow across to your right side, continuing 5 to 10 minutes per side.

7. Apply pressure to your lower abdomen between your navel and pubic bone. Start by rubbing clockwise a few times, then counterclockwise. Then alternate pumping with both hands. Reach deep under your pelvic bone with your fingers, then up towards your navel. If you feel discomfort, be gentle but continue to press. As discomfort diminishes press more firmly. Don’t forget to breathe!

8. Lay your hands flat on your abdomen and send the heat from your hands into your body. Breathe softly and relax as long as is comfortable.