Jin Shin Do acupressure involves the use of 30 main points. Additional points may be added as the student progresses, but these are the original points with which Jin Shin is based. These points make up the eight “Strange Flows” and include places of common stagnation and blockage in the natural flow of energy in the body. By working on these pressure centers through this pattern of points energy can be regulated and controlled. In addition to these areas, there are a number of points from the “Great Central Channel” that will be included in the thirty pressure-point (tsubo) map. This central “tsubos” are easily found on anatomical landmarks.
The best way to know that you are on the point is by the way it feels. Most often they will be places of tightness and tension, which create a hardness to the touch. There is often a place on the tsubo that feels like a slight indentation or hollow that may rest between tendons and muscle fibers. It is helpful, if you can not find this depression to hold the points that appear more tense. An acu-point can be a very small area, but the area that is being affected is about the size of a dime. As long as you are in the general area you will be able to release any build up of energy. Overtime you will develop sensitivity in your fingertips and be able to detect them more accurately. But, for now, practice is all you need to think about.
This is a basic thirty point numbered system of Jin Shin Do points used to guide the student through a set formula. They are numbered consecutively down the front and up the back of the body, then down the outside of the arms and up the inside arms. There are 12 total tsubos on the front of the body and twelve on the back and 8 on the arms. Remember that the descriptions of each point is bi-lateral, that is to say it is found In the exact spot on the other side of the body. Try to first practice on yourself and then a friend or family member. It is also helpful to get a chart so that you can visual see where the tsubo-points lie on the body. Any Chinese meridian system diagram will do the trick.
Thirty Main Jin Shin Do Treatment Points:
Start on either the left or right side of the body
1) GB 14 – is located on the forehead above the eyebrows. If you draw a straight line up from the center pupil, you will find an indentation on the forehead, a fingers width from the eyebrow. Press gently for a minute or so, (the same goes for all points listed below).
2) ST 3 – is located at the bottom of the curve of the cheekbone, directly down from the center of the eye.
3) ST 13 – is located just below the collarbone in the space between the first and second ribs. About the very middle of the collarbone region.
4) ST 16 – is located in the space between the third and fourth ribs, directly up from the nipples
5) LV 14 – is located at the junction of the ninth rib cartilage to the eighth rib.
6) SP 13 – is located approximately two fingers width above the middle of the groin, usually riding along the crease of your paints at the thigh.
7) SP 10 – is located about three fingers width above the top of the knee, on the inside of the thigh. It may be easily recognized by the usual sensitivity.
8) SP 9 -located on the inside of the leg just below the head, or top, of the tibia.
9) K 6 – is found about a fingers width below the inner ankle bone.
10) SP 4 – is located in the little hollow just below the metatarsal cuneiform joint of the big toe.
11) GB 41 – is located on the outside of the foot, about halfway between the base of the toes and the front part of the outer ankle bone.
12) B 62 – is located just below the outer ankle bone and many be tender upon pressure.
13) GB 34 – is found below the head, or top, of the fibula, along the outside of the lower leg.
14) GB 31 – is located just behind the thigh-bone and about halfway between the top of the femur and the knee.
15) B48 – is found just outside the top of the sacrum, in the dimples of the buttocks.
16) B 47 – and the following two points are located on a long muscular band which can be felt along the entire back. Draw a line from the lowest rib down to the top of the pelvic bone. And then divide this line in half.
17) B 42 – is located between the ninth and tenth ribs and on the muscular band described above.
18) B38 – is located between the fourth and fifth ribs. Draw a line along the inside of the shoulder-blade, then divide this line in half from top to bottom.
19) TW 15 – is located in the little hollow just above the top of the shoulder blade.
20) GB 21 – is located on the trapezius muscle at the base of the neck.
21) (extra point) is located about halfway between the top of the neck and the base of the neck.
22) GB20 – is located just below the base of the skull, in a little hollow between the two muscle bands you will feel.
23) SI 10 – is located on the back of the shoulder just below the joint between the arm and shoulder.
24) Li 14 – is located just below the bulging muscle of the upper arm.
25) LI 11 – is found in the front of the elbow joint.
26) TW 5 – is located above the wrist on the outside of the arm. It is found between the two bones of the lower arm and about two fingers width above the wrist.
27) P6 – is found above the wrist on the inner arm, in a position similar to that of number 26
28) P3 – is located on the crease of the inner elbow region.
29) P2 – is located on the inner surface of the upper arm, within the biceps muscle.
30) LU 1 – is located on the outside of the upper chest. It is found below the collarbone and just outside the rib cage at a level about one fingers width above the underarm.