Jin Shin Jyutsu - how using your hands can reduce stress and induce happiness

What if I told you that you could relieve anxiety, fear, anger, sadness and nervousness by using your own two hands…and nothing else? It sounds a little too easy, right?

It’s part of an ancient Japanese method called Jin Shin Jyutsu - the art of releasing tensions. These tensions are cause for many symptoms in our body, including unwanted emotions like excessive worry, fear, anxiety and resentment.

During this time of unusual stress and discomfort, the five minutes it takes to do this practice is time well spent.

Here’s how it works. Take your right or left hand and wrap your thumb and all fingers around one finger of your opposite hand. Apply some pressure and keep it like this for 1-2 minutes. You may feel it pulsate. That’s a good sign. You are releasing blocked paths of energy flow.

After a minute or two, move on to the next finger. Each finger helps in its own right.

Applying pressure to your thumb can help combat your worries and anxiety. Your pointer finger, fear. Your middle finger, anger and resentment. Your ring finger helps combat sadness and depression, and can help you be more decisive. Finally, your pinky finger can help relieve nervousness and anxiety, replacing it with optimism, confidence and happiness.

The icing on the cake is when you apply pressure to the palm of that hand using the thumb of your opposite hand and it helps balance overall-happiness.

According to ancient texts, Jin Shin Jyutsu has been around since before Buddha or Moses or the Kojiki from 712 AD. It stands to reason that it could help see us through a viral pandemic in the 21st century.