Compression

• Compression is very used in trigger-point therapy and consists in compression a painful spot with the purpose to relieve the stress and the pain on that spot.
• Compression is very used in Shiatsu as a major component of a therapy session and it follows the rules of an acupressure session following the meridian acupressure points.

• The compression can be static just push your finger on to the massaged spot or it can be circular like in frictioning, the difference being that for a compression the area is more restricted and you have to find specific spots, whereas frictioning can can be executed everywhere on the body.

• According to acupressure in certain cases the circular movement has to be done static or clockwise and with strong force to activate the point, in other cases the move will be light counterclockwise to reduce the point. This however is a distinct and very complex therapy that has to be learned separately.

• You can try to discover them by palpation and with feedback from your client. On the other hand, it isn’t a good idea to do that without any training if you want to make a good impression.
• The best place to press is on each side of the spine starting as low as you can on the spine going all the way up to the neck. The compression should be done at every inch or so with moderate to strong pressure. This is a great procedure for relaxing and reinforcing the spinal muscles.

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