What is Seated Acupressure?
Seated acupressure is the foundation of corporate chair massage — a fully clothed, drug-free treatment that releases tension in 15-20 minutes. Here's how it works.
The practice of acupuncture dates back more than two thousand years to ancient China. The earliest unambiguous written evidence known is a text called The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, dating from about 100 BCE.
Acupressure, which is a non-invasive form of acupuncture, involves applying pressure at certain points in the body — points which act as channels for life energy (chi) — in order to fix or alter perceived blockages which lead to disease. Different points relate to different problems. Pressure is commonly applied using the hand or elbow, as opposed to acupuncture, which uses needles.
It first became popular in the Western world in the 20th century after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it has grown wildly in popularity ever since.
A Modern Western Take
Some Western practitioners do not follow the traditional Chinese reasoning for treating the pressure points. Instead, they consider how needles or pressure on the body encourages the release of endorphins and stimulates nerves and muscles.
This has led to the development of many different varieties of acupuncture and acupressure — such as electroacupuncture, sonopuncture, and the topic of this post: seated acupressure.
What Makes Seated Acupressure Different
Seated acupressure is a specialised form of acupressure used in the corporate world. All that is required is a specialised office massage chair, which is portable and provided by the acupressure provider. There is no need for employees to remove any clothing, and as there is no oil used, they can return to their desks immediately afterwards.
Acupressure points which help the back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and scalp are concentrated on, as these are the areas that sedentary office workers are likely to find causing them problems.
What It Helps With
Not only can it relieve the tension, low mood and headaches caused by stress, seated acupressure can also be effective in alleviating pain caused by conditions such as lower back pain (which is the cause of over a third of workplace musculoskeletal disorders) and repetitive strain injuries of the wrist (often caused by bad seating and keyboard positioning at a desk).
When to Consider It
If you are looking for a safe and effective way to help your workforce deal with a stressful period in their work year, or would like to reward them for successfully completing a difficult project, please get in touch with our qualified staff.
A seated acupressure session — which we also refer to as corporate massage — usually lasts between 15 and 20 minutes. This means it is easy to fit into the working day with minimal disruption.
Sources
https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/43/5/662/1788282
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/managing-lower-back-pain-disorders