— It’s Chinese and it’s American. It’s strange and it’s familiar.

Bonnie Dunkelberger said the class she’s taking isn’t some weird new idea. Even if it involves poking one part of her body to ease pain in another part.

She and 12 others attended their first session of Introduction to Acupressure on Tuesday night. The non-credit adult education class is being held twice weekly at Indian Capital Technology Center’s Muskogee campus.

Dunkelberger retired from the Veterans Administration two years ago after working as a nurse for 27 years.

“I’ve always been interested in this,” she said. “In nursing, we are taught holistic ideas. Nursing very much emphasizes homeostasis, the balance of care and mind/body/spirit.”

Dunkelberger said relatively non-scientific ideas were taught as far back as 20 years ago. Nursing has continued to blossom with new concepts in treatment.

“There is something new called ‘parish nursing,’” she said. “Churches are hiring nurses.”

Dunkelberger, 69, wants to learn acupressure for use at home.

“I think I will apply it to myself for minor problems like backaches and headaches,” she said. “When you get older, everything aches.

One of the things Dunkelberger likes is that acupressure is non-invasive.

“It’s just something that will possibly help,” she said.

Dunkelberger and a few other students know Gonzalez from his ICTC Spanish class. Born and raised in Cuba, Gonzalez passed out class material typed in English and in Spanish. Several of the more complex ideas he presented about acupressure got an additional explanation in Spanish.

“Some of this is bilingual to give an opportunity to Spanish-speaking people in this class,” he said.

Acupressure has a long history.

“This is from the eastern part of the world — China, Japan and India,” he said. “It is a kind of ‘alternative medicine’ like acupuncture, reflexology and herbal medicine.”

Gonzalez said eastern medicine has origins that go back 3,000 years.

“The Chinese consider the body to be full of the energy of life, and they call it ‘Chi.’”

He said the Chinese concept relies on the human body’s rivers of energy.

“These channels are called meridians, and they control the different organs and parts of the body,” he said. “One characteristic of all branches of alternative medicine is that they consider the body as a whole, not just the parts. When any part of your body is messed up, the rest is messed up.”

In future class, Gonzalez plans to teach the students how to use their fingertips to practice acupressure.

“You must first learn the locations of the acupressure pressure points,” he said. “Sometimes you can find an acupoint on the arm that controls the leg.”

At the conclusion of the class, Gonzalez issued strict warnings that alternative methods must never be used to treat serious health problems.

To enroll



Anyone interested in a Monday to Wednesday class can call Jose Gonzalez at 441-6646.

Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell@muskogeephoenix.com.