In acupressure class last night we were learning about a style of Hara diagnosis which is a method of palpating the abdominal region to determine illness. Ingrid, our teacher, mentioned that we will feel a blood pulse down the center of the abs because those arteries are close to the aorta. Contrary to the other acupressure things we've learned, if the patient is healthy we won't feel any other pulses (blood or energy). However, she said that if there is heat or excess in one of the organ systems, you might be able to feel one. She offered herself as a test subject and let us feel around on her abdomen and we found one spot where there was a faint energy pulse in the Liver area (the energetic liver, not the physical one).

I decided to feel that spot on my own body to see if I had a pulse... and unconsciously vocalized "woah" when I found it. It was easily two or three times stronger than her pulse (which is a bad thing, remember this pulse is unhealthy). When she heard me say "woah" she said, "Oh yes, you have a good deal of heat, you probably have a strong pulse there. Would you might laying down and letting the class feel it?"

No worries, that doesn't bother me at all. So, I lay down on the table and pull up my shirt a bit so they can see my tummy and the teacher says, "Oh.... the class doesn't need to feel it. We can see it!"

doh.

Apparently, the pulse was so strong you could literally see it on the skin. How freaky is that?

The herbs I'm taking are supposed to help with this and Ingrid told me how I can do these exercises on myself to help drain some of my own heat.