Common steps and sub-activities
Scalp stimulation
In order to understand this section you need to understand the functioning of the Cerebrospinal fluid system – see Cerebrospinal fluid.
The veins in the skull can be seen in the diagram below. As you can see anything which encourages or promotes a better flow of blood in this area is going to help take away the blood from the brain and lower blood pressure. And this is what scalp stimulation does.
Along with the blood are all the waste products that have accumulated in the brain and which have been swilling around the Cerebrospinal fluid. Thus when you stimulate the veins in your head, you encourage the circulation of the blood. By doing this, it results in removal of ‘waste’ products – toxins, funguses, viruses, bacteria, harmful chemicals – anything that has seeped into the CSF from our nervous system.
There are a great number of methods within this area all with different names – Tuina, Qigong massage, Champissage
Massage - Qigong
In Qigong massage, the masseur stands behind you supporting your head, for him the right hand will trace a clockwise circle and the left hand will trace an anticlockwise circle. The touch should be extremely delicate and gentle. The masseur may use the palm of his hand so that the touch can be more easily controlled and the effect is less 'stabbing' and more gentle.
Tuina
The scalp is stroked and carressed from the front to the back from hairline to hairline. You can see why from the diagram of the blood supply.
The practitioner holds the person’s head in on hand and then uses the other to stroke the scalp. Stroking increases from slow to fast, rubbing the scalp repeatedly.
The left side of the scalp is rubbed first , then the right side second and finally the middle of the scalp. The middle may be massaged for some time. As you can see this encourages the flow of blood from both sides of the brain up tp the central vein and then along wthis vein down to the neck.
Rather alarmingly, the practitioner may also pound Baihu GV20 and its surrounding area with open fists!
This seems to anyone undergoing this treatment to be a bit rough, but if you look at the diagram and the description of Cerebrospinal fluid you can see it is a major junction of veins
An Ayurvedic practitioner might suggest it also opens the ‘crown chakra’.
Observations
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