The Ancient Art of Tui Na Self-Massage: Putting the Power to Heal Back in Your Own Hands

Ancient practices like self-massage and Qi gong that cultivate health, self-care and vitality are being rediscovered and embraced with enthusiasm by a growing number of people throughout the Western world.

I’ve worked as a practitioner of acupuncture and Tui na (Chinese massage therapy) for 25 years. It’s a very different world now than it was back in 1994 when I started my practice. For me, this is the age for empowering and inspiring people to recognise that healing comes from within. That with the support of a skilled practitioner we connect and resonate with, we have the innate ability to heal ourselves.

Acupuncture and all forms of massage and bodywork that exist today from Shiatsu and Osteopathy to Emotional Freedom Technique (or EFT) (i.e. tapping), have their roots in ancient Chinese massage or An Mo (press and rub), renamed Tui na (push and grasp) in the Ming Dynasty.

Ancient shamans and doctors used their hands and a smouldering herb commonly known as moxa, to stimulate points and channels, to treat disease and maintain the health of the people in their community. Hands came before needles and all of our acupuncture needling techniques are extensions of simple, effective and intuitive massage manipulations.

Traditionally treatment for disease and trauma would be given daily in Courses of treatment. A Course of treatment would be somewhere between 5-10 days in length depending on the nature, severity and duration of the problem. Typically, the doctor may prescribe 2-3 Courses of treatment with a 2 day break between each course for the patient to integrate and process the experience. This is very different from the once a week approach adopted by most practitioners in the West, due the constraints of time and finance.

Doctors of Classical and Traditional Chinese medicine would also prescribe An Mo/Tui na self-massage routines to their patients to increase the effectiveness of treatment and to ‘top up’ the dosage when necessary.

I regularly prescribe simple self-massage Tui na routines to my patients to support the work we do together in the treatment space. People are generally very curious about the points and channels that I’m working with and want to engage actively with treatment. The healing journey is enriched and empowered by our patients involvement. It’s a wonderful thing to watch people learn how to stimulate their own points and channels. To show them how to treat themselves, to relieve pain, manage symptoms and to help to maintain their health and vitality. It’s literally putting the power back into people’s hands.

Giving massage to ourselves is an act of self-care and love. With a simple daily routine of Tui na self-massage and Qi gong we reconnect to our body’s innate wisdom, develop greater trust in ourselves and our ability to heal and live well, happy and vital lives.

Self-massage is practical, tangible and rewarding. You’re getting to know the nature of the points you’re working on, how they feel locally and how you feel generally in your whole body. Spending two minutes activating a point by pressing and kneading, tapping/dotting, or gently pinching it. Feeling the sensation of the ‘exquisite ache’ in a point, of a channel warming, of your energy waking and flowing, your blood moving, your senses enlivening, mind calming, breath deepening and settling.

Self-massage is a practice of meditation and mindfulness, of self-healing and Qi (vital energy) cultivation.

The Tui na self-massage videos here take you through routines in real time with me for the treatment of common ailments such as headaches and migraine, stiff neck, insomnia, lower back pain, anxiety, sinusitis, menstrual pain, PMS, common cold, cough and asthma. I’ve also included a routine that’s wonderful for maintaining health and vitality and the prevention of disease.

Tips for practice

To get the most benefit and enjoyment from the practice of Tui na self–massage, I offer you the following suggestions that have been passed down through a system that is thousands of years old.

Regular repetitive practice yields the greatest benefit.

Work on yourself a little every day. The morning is optimal and after Qi Gong practice is ideal. If you can work on yourself every day for a month there is no doubt that you will feel the benefits. With gentle and persistent daily practice, you will move what is stagnant, unbind what is tangled, nourish what is depleted and promote a long healthy and happy life.

An act of meditation.

The state of mind you’re in when you practice Tui na self-massage is key to the benefits you will receive. Before you begin, spend a few minutes connecting to the earth, to Gaia. Visualise roots growing from the soles of your feet and moving down into the belly of the earth. Breathe in from the earth, through your roots, up through your legs and into your abdomen. Stay with this until you feel a strong sense of connection to the earth, a feeling of grounding and stability. Allow yourself the time to centre yourself and for your breath to become deep and even in your belly. As you massage yourself, remain mindful and present, feel the sensations that arise, keep returning to your breath and reminding yourself to relax as much as possible.

Visualisation & imagination.

Use your imagination and the power of your mind to visualise as you work on points and channels. For example, let’s say you’re gently applying circular rubbing technique (Mo fa) to your abdomen to strengthen your digestion. You may imagine you are polishing a golden egg or that the sun is radiating from the centre of your belly as you breathe a golden breath in and out of the area you are massaging. If you’re working on the site of an injury like a sprained ankle, keep sending your breath into your ankle as you work and visualise the ankle as already healed. Perhaps you see yourself skipping or running freely. Using the now moment, see yourself as healed, restored and realigned.

Point Stimulation.

Before you begin to stimulate a chosen point, bring your thumb very gently to the point and be aware of that initial soft touch. Relax as much as possible, imagine you become like water and begin to dissolve into the point. Close your eyes, bring your presence and focus to the point. Imagine sending your breath into the point and that it opens like a doorway from the inside. From this state of presence and relaxed connected focus, you will find you can easily drop into a point for pressure (An fa) and from there, you can move into any other point stimulating technique such as kneading (Rou fa), gentle striking, tapping (Ji dian fa) or grasping (Na fa).

General considerations.

Practice in a warm, comfortable environment and wear loose clothes. Empty your bladder and bowel before you begin. Don’t practise if you’re very hungry or if you have just eaten a big meal and have a full stomach. Keep away from drafts or exposure to wind during practice. Rest for 10 minutes after practice or take a warm magnesium/Epsom salts bath.

Application of the massage techniques.

Apply the techniques softly but not superficially. Take the time to connect and avoid pressure that’s too heavy. Always start softly and slowly and building depth and speed as needed.

To strengthen what is weak or depleted, apply the techniques softly, gently and slowly for a longer time. For a point, 3 minutes would be about right.

To clear, move and disperse what is stagnant, congested or obstructed, apply the techniques more quickly, with softness and strength and for a shorter period of time, about 1 minute for a point would be enough.

Feel for sensations like the ‘exquisite ache’ or tenderness to indicate that the point is active and alive.

Above all, enjoy working with this ancient practice of Tui na self-massage, take the power back into your own hands, trust your body and your innate ability to heal. May you be well, vital and happy.

Self-massage is one of various traditional self-care practices available within the Jing app for practitioners to recommend to their patients. Click here to read more about the app.