How To Press Acupressure Points: The Reset Button For Anxiety

If I asked you to stimulate your heart, you might skip around or do a little cardio jib so you could feel it pumping. But when it comes to your vagus nerve (the key nerve for emotional processing in the body), you will know you have accessed and activated it by how you breathe. Remember: Reactivity often shows up in shallow, constricted, or confined breathing. As you tone this nerve, you will notice how your body wants to take a deep, long inhale, inflating the sides of your waist, followed by a nice, grounding exhale.

I often coach clients to press their reset button when they are over-focusing on their thoughts (following a trigger) or if symptoms of anxiety are announcing themselves. What can happen is, as you slow down, your symptoms are more noticeable. This is not necessarily because you are getting worse but because you were keeping yourself too distracted to even notice. Your body loves when you notice it and attend to it. Be kind and gentle in how you respond. Rather than panic and follow worried or anxious thoughts, redirect yourself by pressing on these points.

Think of your fingertips like magnets pulling and moving energy as you intentionally apply them to certain areas. As this occurs, you are directing the electrical current (your emotions) and providing blood flow between your gut and your brain. Remember, pressing pause is not about stopping your reactions; it is about releasing the emotions!