Journal · Acupressure · What it is
Acupressure Points: 12 Points Practitioners Learn First, With Chart
A chart of the 12 acupressure points taught first (LI4, PC6, ST36, SP6 and eight more): location, pressure, timing and the two points avoided in pregnancy.
Valérie Fabre, Founder & Director, Harmonika Institute · September 13, 2026 · 9 min read
Key takeaways
- Twelve points cover most first sessions. LI4, PC6, ST36, SP6, LV3, GB20, GV20, HT7, KI1, LU7, CV17 and BL10 appear in the majority of sequences our students learn in their first two classroom days.
- Pressure is lighter than beginners expect. Thumb or fingertip, firm enough to feel a dull ache, held 1 to 3 minutes per point, repeated on both sides where the point is bilateral.
- Two points are traditionally avoided in pregnancy. LI4 and SP6 are left alone by convention; a trained practitioner asks before touching either.
- A chart gives you a region, not a point. Locating a point is done by palpation with the cun measure, a proportional unit based on the client's own hand, and the chart is only the starting map.
- Fingers only, no needles, no diagnosis. Needles are acupuncture, a licensed profession in every state; an acupressure practitioner works within a non-medical scope and refers out.
- A full repertoire is 80 to 100 points. Our acupressure curriculum builds from these 12 to that number over 10 in-person days.
Press the web between your thumb and index finger, hard enough to feel a dull ache, and hold it for a minute. That is LI4, the first point most people ever learn, and the reason a surprising number of adults already know one acupressure point without knowing the name. Practitioners learn twelve before anything else. Not because those twelve are magic, but because they sit on easy-to-find landmarks, they recur in almost every session sequence, and they teach the two skills that matter more than memorising a chart: finding a point by touch and applying pressure a client can tolerate for three minutes.
This article is the chart, with the practical notes we give students on day one. It does not cover training paths or state rules in depth; for that, read our explainer on acupressure certification without needles. And it does not weigh the evidence, which has its own article: does acupressure work.
Which 12 points do practitioners learn first?
The twelve below, chosen because they are safe to teach on day one, easy to locate on a clothed client, and present in the stress, sleep and digestion sequences that make up most early practice. Point names use the standard meridian abbreviation and number; the pinyin name follows. Traditional uses are just that: the way the tradition describes the point, not a claim we make to clients.
| Point | Location | Traditional use | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| LI4 Hegu | Web between thumb and index finger, on the top of the hand, toward the index bone | Head, face, general tension | Easiest point to teach for self-care; avoided in pregnancy |
| PC6 Neiguan | Inner forearm, three finger-widths above the wrist crease, between the two tendons | Nausea, chest tightness, unease | The one point with a real research record; wristbands press it |
| ST36 Zusanli | Four finger-widths below the kneecap, one finger-width outside the shin bone | Digestion, fatigue, general vitality | Clients feel a strong ache; ask them to rate it |
| SP6 Sanyinjiao | Inner lower leg, four finger-widths above the ankle bone, behind the shin | Menstrual comfort, digestion, sleep | Avoided in pregnancy by convention; often tender |
| LV3 Taichong | Top of the foot, in the hollow between the first and second toe bones | Irritability, tension, headaches | Very tender on many people; start light |
| GB20 Fengchi | Base of the skull, in the hollows either side of the spine | Neck tension, headaches, eye strain | Use fingertips upward, never press straight in |
| GV20 Baihui | Crown of the head, on the midline, level with the tops of the ears | Calm, clarity, grounding | Light pressure only; a still hand often works better |
| HT7 Shenmen | Wrist crease, on the little-finger side, in the hollow next to the tendon | Sleep, restlessness, worry | A go-to end-of-session point; teach clients for bedtime |
| KI1 Yongquan | Sole of the foot, in the depression a third of the way from the toes | Grounding, agitation, restless legs | Thumb pressure, client lying down; ticklish clients need a firmer hand |
| LU7 Lieque | Outer forearm, above the wrist, in the notch where the index fingers meet when hands are hooked | Neck stiffness, breath, colds | Hard to find; practise the hooked-hand landmark |
| CV17 Shanzhong | Center of the breastbone, level with the nipples in men, fourth rib space | Chest openness, emotional release, breath | Ask before touching the chest; explain the point first |
| BL10 Tianzhu | Back of the neck, one finger-width below the skull base, either side of the spine | Neck and shoulder tension, headaches | Pair with GB20; most clients want this one twice |
Eight of the twelve sit on the forearm, hand, lower leg or foot. That is deliberate: a first-year practitioner should be able to give a useful session to a fully clothed client in a chair.
How much pressure, and for how long?
Less pressure than you think, for longer than you expect. The standard we teach is pressure that produces a dull, spreading ache the client would rate around 5 or 6 on a 10-point scale, never sharp pain, held for 1 to 3 minutes, with the client breathing slowly. Use the pad of the thumb for large points such as ST36, the fingertip for small hollows such as HT7, and the knuckle only on the sole of the foot.
- 1
Find the landmark
Locate the bone, tendon or crease the point sits against. On LI4, that is the edge of the index-finger bone; on PC6, the two tendons of the inner wrist.
- 2
Palpate for the hollow
Slide the fingertip until it drops into a small depression or meets a spot that is more tender than its neighbours. That is the point, not the chart's dot.
- 3
Apply pressure gradually
Build over 5 to 10 seconds. Ask the client to say when the ache reaches a 5. Hold there.
- 4
Hold and breathe
One to three minutes, stationary or with a slow circular motion the width of a fingertip. Watch the client's shoulders and jaw for release.
- 5
Release slowly and repeat the other side
Ease off over 5 seconds. Bilateral points are worked on both sides in the same session.
From the training floor
Almost every student presses too hard in week one and too briefly in week two. The correction is the same both times: ask the client for a number. A client who says "six" and keeps breathing is at the right pressure; one who holds their breath is not, whatever the practitioner feels under the thumb.
Which points are avoided in pregnancy?
Two on this chart, LI4 and SP6, plus a handful of lower-abdomen and sacral points that beginners do not learn anyway. The tradition holds that these points influence the uterus. The evidence that gentle pressure has any such effect is thin, but our practitioners follow the convention without exception, because leaving two points out of a session costs nothing. The practical rule: ask every client at intake whether they are or might be pregnant, note the answer, and if it is yes, work the remaining points, keep the session shorter and prefer the seated position after the first trimester.
PC6 is the exception in the other direction: it is the point that pregnant clients most often ask about, because wristbands pressing it are sold for morning sickness. It is considered safe to use. What a practitioner may say about it is a scope question, covered below.
Why do we teach location by palpation, not by chart alone?
Because a chart shows an average body and your client has a particular one. Traditional point location uses the cun, a proportional unit defined by the client's own hand: the width of the thumb at the knuckle is one cun, four fingers held together are three. A point described as "three cun above the wrist crease" therefore sits at a different absolute distance on a tall man and a small woman, which is why we measure with the client's fingers, not ours.
Even the cun only gets you close. The final centimetre is found by touch: a slight hollow, a change in tissue texture, a spot the client reports as more tender than the skin around it. Our acupressure curriculum spends its second module almost entirely on locating, palpating and working points on classmates, because students who learn from diagrams alone can name a point and still miss it by two finger-widths. Two finger-widths is the difference between a session that does something and a pleasant hand massage.
Pulse and tongue: conversation, not diagnosis
Students also learn to look at the tongue and feel the pulse, and our curriculum is explicit that these are conversational tools, not diagnosis. A practitioner might notice a fast pulse and ask about sleep and caffeine; a practitioner never tells a client their liver is out of balance. That line is drawn on day one.
Where is the legal line for acupressure in the U.S.?
At the skin, and at the word diagnosis. Anything that penetrates the skin is acupuncture, licensed in every state and requiring a master's-level degree and a national board exam. Acupressure uses fingers, thumbs and occasionally knuckles or a blunt tool, and that is the entire toolkit; there is no version of our training that involves needles, cupping or moxibustion.
Check your state
Acupressure is regulated alongside massage in most states. Our May 2026 survey of U.S. providers found that soft-tissue work for compensation generally falls under massage licensure, and that longer acupressure programs are framed as "Asian bodywork therapy" for that reason. Where you live decides whether a private certification is enough on its own or whether you need a massage licence to charge for hands-on sessions. Ask your state board before you book a paying client; our guide to massage licensing and energy bodywork explains the categories.
On the word side, the rule is the same across the modalities we teach: no diagnosis, no treatment claims, no advice to stop a medication. A practitioner says "this point is traditionally used for nausea, and some people find it helps", not "this will fix your nausea". Our scope-of-practice guide gives the full script.
How do these 12 points fit into a full session?
As the skeleton of a 60-minute sequence. A typical first session, as students practise it in class, runs: five minutes of intake and consent, five minutes of pulse and tongue observation as a conversation opener, eight to twelve points worked bilaterally for roughly 40 minutes, then ten minutes of rest, water and a short debrief. For a client who arrives tense and sleeping badly, the sequence might be GB20, BL10, LI4, LV3, HT7 and KI1, moving from the head downward so the session ends at the feet.
How do you learn the other 70 to 90 points?
Slowly, and on people. A practitioner-level repertoire is 80 to 100 points, organised by the twelve primary meridians and the eight extraordinary vessels, and it takes months of palpation practice to hold them all in the hands rather than the head. Our May 2026 survey found the best-known U.S. acupressure school teaches its 150-hour basic level over 21 days for about $2,100, and that programs framed as professional bodywork run to 500 hours or more.
We chose a different shape. Our in-person acupressure program runs 10 classroom days (70 teaching hours), plus about 64 hours of personal study between sessions, for $2,800, in cohorts of ten so that every student is palpated and corrected by an instructor every day. It is a wellness-practitioner track, not a bodywork-licensure track, and we say so on the admissions call. If you want to know what the twelve points above can honestly be expected to do, that is the question the next article answers; if you want to know what sits under your hands, start with the chart, find LI4 on yourself tonight, and count to sixty.
Questions on this topic.
What are the most important acupressure points for anxiety?+
The points most often taught for a client who feels anxious are HT7 on the wrist crease, PC6 on the inner forearm, GV20 on the crown, KI1 on the sole of the foot and CV17 on the breastbone, each held one to three minutes while the client breathes slowly. The tradition describes them as calming; the research on acupressure for anxiety is small and short-term, so a practitioner presents them as something to try, not a fix.
How long should you hold an acupressure point?+
One to three minutes per point is the standard taught in most programs, with pressure that produces a dull ache rather than sharp pain. Bilateral points are worked on both sides. Some sequences hold a point for up to five minutes when the client is very tense, and light points such as GV20 on the crown are often held with a still hand rather than pressed. Holds of 15 to 30 seconds do little.
Can you do acupressure on yourself?+
Yes, and self-care is the way most people first meet it. LI4 on the hand, PC6 on the forearm, HT7 on the wrist and LV3 on the foot are all easy to reach seated. Use your thumb, build pressure over ten seconds to a dull ache, hold for one to two minutes and breathe. Avoid LI4 and SP6 if you are pregnant, avoid broken or bruised skin, and stop if anything feels sharp rather than achy.
What is the difference between acupressure and acupuncture?+
Both use the same points and meridian map from Chinese tradition. Acupuncture inserts fine needles and is a licensed profession in every U.S. state, requiring a graduate degree and a national board exam. Acupressure uses fingers, thumbs and blunt tools and does not penetrate the skin. It is taught in private certification programs and, in most states, sits under massage or bodywork rules for anyone charging for hands-on sessions. The evidence base for the two also differs.
Does acupressure hurt?+
It should ache, not hurt. A well-placed point under the right pressure produces a dull, spreading sensation that clients usually rate around five or six out of ten, and that eases as the point is held. Sharp, stabbing or electric sensations mean the pressure is wrong or the practitioner is on a nerve, and the point should be released. Some points, LV3 on the foot and ST36 below the knee in particular, are tender on almost everyone.
Which acupressure points should be avoided during pregnancy?+
By long-standing convention, LI4 on the hand and SP6 on the inner lower leg are avoided during pregnancy, along with points on the lower abdomen and sacrum. The evidence that finger pressure on these points affects a pregnancy is weak, but practitioners follow the rule because omitting two points costs nothing. PC6 on the forearm is considered safe and is the point pregnant clients ask about most. Always tell your practitioner if you are or might be pregnant.
How many acupressure points are there in total?+
Classical texts list 361 points on the twelve primary meridians and the two midline vessels, plus several hundred extra points from later traditions. No practitioner works them all. A wellness-practitioner repertoire is 80 to 100 points, and a first session draws on eight to twelve. Beginners start with a dozen on the hands, forearms, lower legs, feet, neck and head, because those are easy to locate on a clothed, seated client.
Do you need a licence to practise acupressure in the U.S.?+
There is no acupressure licence, but in most states hands-on work for payment falls under massage therapy licensing, and a private certification alone may not be enough to charge for sessions. A few states exempt certain traditional bodywork; others do not. Needles are never permitted without an acupuncture licence. The reliable answer is the one from your own state board, and any serious school will tell you to ask before you enrol rather than after.
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AcupressureWhat it isScope of practice
About the author
Valérie Fabre · Founder & Director, Harmonika Institute
Valérie Fabre founded Harmonika Institute in 2025, after a decade seeing clients in private kinesiology practice and, before that, thirteen years in international trade. A French-born polyglot who now splits her time between Dallas and Miami, she sets the school's curriculum and editorial standards and champions ethical, in-person training.
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