In a previous blog post I sent out a self treatment technique for stress reduction called NFP, or neurofascial process. In that post, I provided some tips on how to use the gentle touch of your own hands to calm your nervous system and support your immune system.
There are many, many ways to use NFP for physical or emotional symptoms. It is very effective for calming strong emotions and bringing the body back into balance. When my kids were little and had temper tantrums, I used to put them in time out, have them put one hand on their forehead and the other hand on their lower back and within five minutes or so, their tantrum would subside. (See ‘Limbic System’ below.)
So, how does this work?
Think of your body as multiple highway systems that have to all connect and function together at all times. NFP will remind the body’s highway systems how to communicate with itself and work together as a whole being.
The process is easy. Simply place your hands on your body over specific body sites and the healing wisdom of your body will take over to promote internal balance and calm, support your nervous and immune systems, and ultimately encourage the body to communicate with itself.
NFP can be done in any position: sitting, standing or laying down and you can have another person use their hands to help. (However, your dog, cat or an inanimate object cannot help.) Hold the position for 5-10 minutes or more —holding longer will be more effective.
I’ve outlined some ways below to use NFP for dealing with strong emotions and other issues. Choose one or more of these connections, do them daily and/or whenever strong emotions surface. And remember — You can never have enough or do too much NFP!
Using NFP to Calm Strong Emotions
In Eastern Medicine, it has long been established that emotions are associated with certain organs. Place one hand on your ureters (lower back) and the other hand over the site (organ) associated with the emotion you’re experiencing:
Anxiety
For anxiety, place your other hand on your Adrenals, located in your mid back. If your arms are uncomfortable behind your back, wrap both of arms around your upper and lower abdomen.
Fear
For fear, place your other hand on your kidneys (mid-back).
Sadness
For sadness, place your other hand on your lungs (chest).
Anger
For anger, place your other hand on your liver (right lower rib cage).
Rage/tantrum
For rage or tantrums, place your other hand on your limbic system (on your forehead between your eyebrows).
More Helpful Neurofascial Process Connections
Voice
For issues speaking up, place your hand on your throat and other hand on your low back.
Relaxation
To support relaxation, place one hand over your heart (left side of chest) and the other on your forehead.
Immune support
To support your senses in this information overload age and protect your immune system, try these special connections:
One hand over your eyes and the other on your mid chest: This connection can help with handling and balancing the constant bombardment and vigilance of visual information.
One hand on your ears the other on the soles of feet: You can accomplish this by having your feet touch each other in butterfly position or by having someone hold the bottom of your feet: This connection will help if you’re hearing too much information but you still need to move forward.
One hand on your nose and one on your mid-back: This connection helps with handling incoming non-verbal information and balancing the spectrum of fear to trust. Think of the saying “smell fear”.
One hand on the mouth and one on the top of your head: This connection helps with the ability to speak with good intention from our best self.
Physical Pain
Place one hand on your ureters (lower back) and the other over any site of pain or discomfort to support your body in reducing your pain.
If you need any help or have questions on NFP, please send me an email at denise@themanualtouch.com. I’d be happy to help.
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