Learning the power of Animal Acupressure
Last week I was excited to be attending a CPD in Animal Acupressure with Lucy Yeomans.
Lucy is a Reiki, Acupressure, Quantum Touch Healing, Myofascial Release and Visceral Release practitioner as well as an Equine Communicator.
The course was hosted by Rose Holistic Therapies who I have done multiple CPDs with before in Positional Release, Muscle Energy Techniques and Kinesiology Taping.
I have been looking forward to learning about Acupressure and how to apply it to horses, this course also included working on dogs which is cool, as although I am not a dog therapist I do have my own dogs and this was an opportunity to take them with me for the 2 days and learn how to give them some therapy too.
Acupressure differs a little from the other modalities I currently use as it is an energy based healing therapy as opposed to a more physical technique such as massage and joint mobilisations. So this felt a little like jumping into some of the unknown for me but in some ways I already use ‘energy’ in my equine sessions as well as my day to day training of my own horses when I am working with them using horsemanship techniques and playing at liberty.
Acupressure comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine along with Acupunture and other techniques such as Reflexology.
Acupressure is an ancient healing art, perhaps the very oldest in human history. Unlike Acupuncture which uses needles, Acupressure is applied using fingertip pressure.
Like Acupuncture, Acupressure points are stimulated on the surface of the body along energy channels called Meridians. Thousands of years ago, Asian cultures identified locations on the body where the energy channels were close to the surface. In fact, these points can now be located with electronic ‘point finders’ that measure electrical skin resistance. Acupoints have a lower electrical resistance than surrounding skin.
When a finger touches an Acupoint, the energy flowing in the channel is drawn to the surface. As I was to learn during the course, when this happens you can actually feel a pulsation/buzzing under your fingertip. This is because when the energy is attracted to the surface the flow of blood increases at that location and a pulse is felt. The pulse is conformation that the energy is now flowing.
Acupressure balances the body’s energy, restoring harmonious flow throughout the body, correcting any imbalances cause by physical or emotional disharmony.
Acupressure has been shown to:
Release endorphins, helping to reduce pain
Release muscle spasm
Remove toxins and increase blood supply, helping to resolve injuries more readily
Enhance mental clarity to allow focus in training & performance
Release natural cortisone to reduce swelling
Build the body’s immune system
With all these fantastic effects, I think you can see why I was excited to learn more so that I could start to include this modality in my equine therapy sessions.
A few weeks before the course Lucy sent to us a manual, packed full of information on Acupressure, including the history, effects and information on Chi (energy), Meridians and the points we would be learning on both dogs and horses.
Due to the differences in dog and horse anatomy, some of the points differ from each other.
This was the Acu 1 course, where we would be learning to work on the Bladder Meridian. This Meridian runs along the topline of the animal and along the meridian are what are called Association Points, which link to the other 11 meridians in the body.
There are a total of 12 meridians in the body which each link to an internal organ.
We were also going to be learning the Ting Points. These are points on the paws of a dog and the hoof of the horse and are the points where each meridian has it’s beginning or ending.
By learning the points on the Bladder Meridian and the Ting Points it is possible to balance the entire animal.
I have to say, to begin with I was a little overwhelmed with so many points to learn and locate on the body of the animal, and to remember what they relate to and what they are able to help and heal. But Lucy soon put us all at ease and I found her to be a fabulous course leader.
I was also worried that I would not be able to feel the energy in the points, as I have no previous experience with any type of energy healing. But I was soon surprised that I could feel it very easily and even more amazed as I began to get more confident feeling this on both the dogs and the horses and seeing the reactions from them.
I think it’s fair to say that with animals there is no ‘placebo’ effect. So, they really are the best ‘proof’ of whether a therapy has a true effect of not.
Working on my older dog Elsie Nugget, who has a heart condition as well as some arthritis, I could not believe it as I worked on some of the points relating to the heart, bones and also pain relief she began to close her eyes, yawn and totally relax.
In fact, after our first dog session, despite having 5 dogs in the room, none of whom had met each other before (apart from my 2 dogs) all were lay down, sleepy and content and the atmosphere in the room was one of calm and tranquility. Absolutely incredible.
When it came to working on the horses again some incredible reactions from them, and clear indications from the horses when they wanted you to remain on a point, when they were having a release and also when a point did not need to be treated.
One of the horses I was lucky enough to work with was an ex racehorse who was now in his late 20’s and had quite a history before he came to his current owner.
He had huge releases from the emotional point for mental health, including a rippling of the fascia across his back, yawning and a deep sigh. Really quite a beautiful moment.
This was an incredible 2 days of training, opening my eyes to a new modality which I can see that I will easily be able to integrate in to my current sessions. Hopefully allowing me to achieve even better results in balancing the horse’s body and mind to increase performance and well being.
I am so excited to take this with me now and also to be returning in November this year for Acu 2 where we will be learning more specific points on the dogs and horses to help treat more specific conditions. So watch this space!
Jess