Sometimes getting your kids out of the house bathed and dressed, fed, and looking like you totally intended to sport the dry shampoo look for the second day in a row is your win for the day. There’s no need to beat yourself up because you pressed snooze rather than waking to meditate, or because you forgot those adaptogenic herbs on the counter in the kitchen. You’re doing your best. You’ll still slay the presentation. Your ‘badass badge’ is still very much intact. Let’s not add stress in the form of judgement, but rather acupressure with ear seeds!
These small stainless steel beads stay on your ears for up to 5 days, can be used to calm the central nervous system in real time when you rub them, and require no care nor maintenance once they’ve been affixed (which you can do yourself on your own time).
Acupressure with Ear Seeds
Does it sound too good to be true? It does, doesn’t it? I assure you, acupressure with ear seeds is a legit solution. These babies are time tested and the protocols are customizable to treat your primary concerns today, in the comfort of your own home.
So here’s the background: there’s acupuncture and there’s acupressure. Acupuncture, which is one of the 8 tools used in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine which requires about 5 years of college to become credentialed in, uses small needles to penetrate the surface of the skin. When inserted in the ear, these needles communicate with parts of the brain responsible for hormone regulation, stress mitigation, and pain signaling. Auricular therapy (or ear acupuncture) is one of the most heavily studied forms of acupuncture and has shown significant promise in the treatment of military veterans for pain mitigation and behavioral conditions such as PTSD and anxiety. It’s also incredibly useful for the treatment of substance abuse, and as such, has been integrated into recovery clinics across the world.
Don’t have needles or the degree to use them? No problem. Acupressure uses small seeds (yes, the kind you can plant!) or pellets made of stainless steel or gold to stimulate the surface of the ear which signals the brain in specific ways without penetrating the skin. This means, you get to decrease your stress palpably, or treat a host of other ailments that plague Americans today, with something as small as a pair of tweezers and an auricular therapy kit. And the best news is: you don’t have to take them out for 5 days. They just do their job, stimulating the brain every time you rub them, until it’s time to take them out nearly a week later.
Empowered Self Care
So grab your tweezers and the auricular therapy kit of your choice, and get to work! Follow the illustrations provided to plant the seeds where suggested, and begin reaping the benefits of empowered selfcare. It’s easy. It’s manageable. And it saves yourself from the potential guilt we too often carry for not doing (or being) as much as we can. Be who you are! Be Well.