A Point for Opening the Chest and Calming the Stomach: Landscape of Your Body #14

Every time I press this point, I find myself drawing in a deep, slow breath. It's tender, but it feels so good.

Kidney 27 (a.k.a. Shu Fu, or “Shu Palace") is known to "unbind the chest," for people who are dealing with lung tightness, coughing, or phlegm. That unbinding action also sometimes helps bring about emotional release.

We use Kidney 27 to help descend "rebellious" Stomach Qi. Our hunger and our food should go in the downward direction, guided by Stomach Qi. Experiences like nausea can mean that this Qi is rebelling upward. A full, distended abdomen can mean that the downward movement isn't flowing. Massaging this point can help.

How to find Kidney 27 on your own landscape:

It’s just below the collarbone, and just outside the sternum (breastbone). We could say that it's about 3 finger-widths away from the midline of your sternum - but that's pretty awkward to measure on yourself. I find it much easier to press outward from the center of the sternum until you find the spot where your fingertips can sink in more deeply. That is, the spot where you're no longer pressing on bone, and can sink into muscle.

This is where the surface branch of the Kidney river ends, but the flow continues internally, and will reemerge on the surface as the Pericardium channel (a little bit lower and further outward on the chest).

Find it? Does it feel sensitive, tight, or tender? Does your breathing feel more free?

To find more acupressure points on yourself, check out the whole Landscape of Your Body series by clicking here.