Stimulating Your Palms to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

Is the secret to relieving stress and anxiety right in the palms of your hands? Palmtherapist Moshe Zwang certainly thinks so and he explains to us what Palmtherapy is and how it works.

Palmtherapy is an alternative form of medicine that helps people deal with stress and anxiety. Palmtherapy works by stimulating lines and areas in the palms of the hands. These areas are supposed to have a link to the brain. Moshe Zwang says although the palm of a hand is just a small section of the body it has a relatively large representation in the brain. Using Palmtherapy is supposed to relax you in minutes and once you learn which areas of your palm to stimulate, it can be done anywhere at anytime.

Moshe Zwang created Palmtherapy in 1985. He calls himself Doctor but he is not a MD. He is a Doctor of Naturopathy and the author of "Palm Therapy: Program Your Mind Through Your Palms."

Naturopathic medicine is the practice of integrating traditional natural therapeutics such as botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, homeopathy, acupuncture, traditional oriental medicine, hydrotherapy and manipulative therapy with modern scientific medical science and standards of care.

Palmtherapy, as defined by Moshe Zwang, is the art and science of enhancing optimum potential, self-growth, fulfillment and success in all aspects of life through the stimulation of specific areas and lines in the hands which represent the energy pathways of various characteristics of the personality and brain/mind activities.

Palmtherapy’s stimulation apparently bypasses the cognitive mind’s critique and disapproval for new changes in thinking and behavior patterns. Therefore, it leads to rapid corresponding changes in mood, behavior and thinking patterns, as well as potential, talents, personality in one’s life. Palmtherapy can be done anywhere. It's important to note that Palmtherapy is not a replacement for psychotherapy and/or psychiatric/medical treatment so if a person has some serious issues that they're trying to overcome, Palmtherapy probably isn't the answer.

When using Palmtherapy, the more severe or acute the emotion is the more radical the shift is after massaging the palm. For example: For phobias, anger, or grief it may take as little as 5 to 20 minutes to feel the change after locating the right area of stimulation on the hand. It varies from person to person and may take longer. Palm Therapy is done by a moderate stimulation of carefully selected lines and areas of the hands. It is usually done with the thumbnail. The use of electro-stimulation machine or a non-sharp pointed device is sometimes recommended.

Throughout the years, it has been proven and documented by researchers of the brain that stimulation for a few minutes in certain areas in the brain (directly and indirectly), can arouse emotions from overwhelming dread to pleasure and wellbeing. Stimulation of an area in the brain called the limbic system and other areas, as well, proed to evoke sensations such as anger, hate, guilt and love; childhood memories arose, too, during the process.

With the use of electrodes implanted in various parts of the brain, researchers were able to turn these reactions on and off. The cause and effect relationship between the stimulation of the brain and the emotions or the behavioral changes was obvious. There are many billions of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. The neurons have a spidery structure that enables them to form a network of interactions, forming gaps or synapses in the complex structure.

Scientists found that stimulation of the skin surface, such as rubbing, can lead to various rapid chemical changes in the synaptic gaps that are accompanied by pain relief and involve endorphines. They also found that often there can be a link between the level of certain neurotransmitters in the synaptic gaps and the various mental states. Furthermore, brain mapping reveals that the human hand, although relatively oly a small section of the body, has a large area of representation in the cerebral cortex, both in the motor and sensory sections. This means that your hands, including your fingers, can perceive an enormous amount of information to and from your brain. These findings may give us a clue as to why anticipated changes in the state of mind may be achieved rapidly with Palmtherapy.

For example, activation of certain lines on the palms can induce an instant relaxation, while stimulation of other lines may evoke negative childhood memories. Other areas of stimulation accelerate mental alertness, vitality, concentration, memory, talents, planning, decision-making, and features that are vital for fulfillment and success. These may be the result of chemical changes and other physiological processes that are achieved through the stimulation of specific lines and areas in the hand,

There are two main differences between Palmtherapy and Reflexology. Palmtherapy focuses on the mental and emotional aspects of the individual, on problem solving and improving quality of life. While Reflexology focuses mainly on the physical well-being and only to a lesser degree on the mental aspects of the person. Palmtherapy focuses on the visual aspects of the hands such as the lines of palms and certain mounts of the hands. While Reflexology focuses on sensitive spots and areas of the hands that can be detected with simple pressure of the spot or with the aid of electronic acupuncture point detector.

Palmtherapy, is the stimulation of specific areas and lines in the hands that represent the energy pathways of various characteristics of the personality and brain/mind activities. Palmtherapy is the simple stimulation done on the hands that releases fears and anxiety. The hand is a map. When you're dealing with emotions you use the heart line. The heart line is the uppermost line in the palm and when you're dealing with the brain, the center line is the dominant one in the palm. We stil need more research, but Palmtherapy helps to relieve stress by the connection of the brain to the hand. The main difference is that reflexology deals with physical problems, Palmtherapy deals with the emotional aspect.

Palmtherapy, Refexology and other therapies are taking small parts of the hands since the hands can affect the direction of the mind. That's why Palmtherapy is so powerful. I've seen people dealing with grief after the death of a loved one and Palmtherapy has been effective in helping them deal with their grief, that's why its so important to make sure that people know about it.

More from CBS News