Sishencong (EX-HN1): The Four Crown Points for a Tense Head and a Mind That Will Not Settle

Where Sishencong Sits

These are four points on the top of the head, set around the crown point like the four ends of a small cross. Each sits one thumb-width from the crown point: one in front of it, one behind it, and one to each side.

Most points belong to one of fourteen lines that run over the body. These four do not. They are what the tradition calls extra points, places that teachers found useful and gave their own name, outside the main lines. The front and back points lie on the midline over the top of the head, the line that runs from the tailbone up the spine and over the skull to the upper gum; the two side points lie a thumb-width out on either side. Because they have no channel number, the international standard gives them a code from the list of extra points of the head and neck. This is the first on that list.

To find them you first need the centre. Put a fingertip on the very top of each ear, where the ear folds over. Imagine a line running from one ear tip straight over the top of the head to the other. Where that line crosses the midline, the line that parts the hair down the middle, is the crown point. On many people you can feel a small soft dip there. The four points sit one thumb-width from that centre. A thumb-width here means the width of your own thumb across the knuckle, which is how the old texts size distances to fit each body.

Under the scalp there is no muscle to speak of, only a tough sheet of tissue that stretches over the skull like a cap and joins the forehead muscles in front to the muscles at the back of the head. The skin is served by branches of nerves from two directions: from the front, branches that come up from above the eyes, and from the back, the large nerve that climbs from the upper neck over the back of the head. Small arteries from the temples and the back of the head meet here too. That is why the top of the head can feel tender when the forehead, the temples and the neck are all tight at once.

Why This Spot

On the anatomical side, the top of the head is where tension from the front and the back of the head meets. When the forehead is creased with worry and the back of the neck is tight, the sheet of tissue over the skull is pulled from both ends. Many people with a tension headache describe a band or a weight on the top of the head, and they rub here without being told. The crown is easy to reach sitting at a table, and the hair does not get in the way of a rounded tip.

In this tradition the crown is the highest point of the body and the meeting place of many lines. The four points around it are described as gathering and settling the mind. They are counted among the main points for a head that feels heavy or dizzy, and for a mind that runs on when you want it to stop: poor sleep, forgetfulness, and a sense of being unsettled.

The name says that. Si means four; shen means spirit or mind; cong means clear, sharp, quick-witted. The Four Alert Spirit points are four points for a clear mind. The Vietnamese name, Tứ Thần Thông, carries the same three ideas.

What the Old Texts Say About Sishencong

The measures used to place points on the head come from the Lingshu, the Spiritual Pivot, a Han-dynasty text. Its chapter on the bones gives the proportions of the head that later teachers turned into the thumb-width units used today. Those units are why the four points can be placed on a large head or a small one in the same way.

The four points themselves appear later. They are recorded in the Taiping Shenghui Fang, a large collection of remedies compiled under imperial order in the Song dynasty, at the end of the tenth century, under the shorter name Shencong, Spirit Clarity. There they were placed in a ring around the crown. Older books did not always agree on how far from the centre they sat. Later teachers settled on one thumb-width, and that is where they sit today.

The World Health Organization's 2008 standard for point locations includes them as the first extra point of the head and neck. It describes them as four points on the vertex of the head, one unit in front of, behind and on either side of the crown point. This page follows that standard, because the Vietnamese handbook of points and channels used for the other pages on this site covers the main lines only.

In Vietnamese practice the four points are among those most often used for poor sleep, a heavy head and a restless mind. That reputation comes from long use rather than proof. It tells you that many hands, over many generations, worked the top of the head when the mind would not settle.

Points That Work With Sishencong

The first partner is the crown point itself, at the centre of the four. In this tradition it is almost always worked with them: first the centre, then the four around it, like a small flower. It is used for a heavy head and light-headedness.

The second is on the wrist. Turn the palm up and find the crease at the wrist on the little-finger side, in the small dip beside the tendon there. It is used with the four crown points when the trouble is a mind that will not settle at bedtime.

The third sits at the temple, in the soft dip about a thumb-width behind the point midway between the outer end of the eyebrow and the outer corner of the eye. It is used when the head feels tight at the sides as well as the top.

How to Find and Press Sishencong

Getting Into Position

Sit upright in a chair with both elbows resting on a table, so your hands reach the top of your head without lifting your shoulders high. Keep your head level and your neck relaxed. If your arms tire, rest them between points. Lying on your back with your head near the edge of a pillow also works.

How to Find It

Find the crown point first, as described above: ear tip to ear tip, where the line meets the hair parting. Rest the tip of your middle finger there. Now lay your thumb flat to measure one thumb-width straight forward toward the forehead. That is the front point. Return to the centre and measure the same distance straight back, then out to the left, then out to the right. That gives you four small areas to work.

Probe each area with a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short. Part the hair if you need to. Move slowly in small steps. Most of the scalp will feel firm and ordinary. In each area, one spot will sting: a small, sharp, pinpoint tenderness. That spot is the point. Often one of the four is more tender than the others; give that one a little more time.

How to Press It

Keep the tip on the stinging spot and rub in small circles, about the size of a fingernail, roughly one each second. Aim the pressure straight down toward the centre of the head. Move the scalp over the bone, not the tip over the hair. Go round the four in order, front, right, back, left, then finish with a few circles on the centre if you like.

How Much Pressure

Moderate. The skull is hard, so a little pressure is felt clearly. Sharp under the tool is right. The sting should fade within moments of lifting off. If the pain stays after you lift, if it spreads or turns into a headache, or the scalp becomes swollen or hot, stop and leave it for several days. If you are clenching your jaw or holding your breath, you are pressing too hard.

How Long

Spend about twenty to forty seconds on each point, so the whole round of four takes one to three minutes. In the first sessions keep to the shorter time. As the days go on, add a little, up to three minutes in all. Once or twice a day is plenty. Pressing longer tends to leave the scalp sore rather than the head clearer.

When to Do It

Before bed is the natural time, when a busy mind makes it hard to settle. Sit on the edge of the bed, work the four points, then lie down with the lights low. The middle of the afternoon suits a head that feels heavy or foggy. Do not press in the middle of the night. If you wake and lie thinking, pressing then tends to wake you further. Keep the pressing for the day and the evening.

What This Won't Do

It will not stop the things that wake you. For many people in their sixties and seventies, waking at night has plain causes: pain in a joint, the need to pass urine, breathing that stops and starts, medicines taken in the evening, a warm or noisy room, or worry that rises in the small hours. Four points on the head cannot remove any of those. They will not restore a memory that is failing either. Pressing works best alongside the plain things: a regular bedtime, daylight in the morning, less caffeine after midday, and an honest talk with your doctor about what wakes you.

It will not replace a diagnosis. A sudden, severe headache, the worst you have ever had, needs emergency help. So does a headache with confusion, weakness on one side, slurred speech, a drooping face or trouble with vision. A new headache that keeps coming back after the age of fifty, a headache with tenderness at the temples and pain when chewing, and dizziness that makes you fall all need to be seen promptly. Memory problems that are getting worse belong with a doctor.

Safety First

Do not press over a scalp that is cut, scabbed, infected or rashy, or over a lump you have not had checked. Leave the area alone after a recent blow to the head or a fall, and after any surgery on the head until your surgeon says it is safe. In young children the bones of the head are not yet joined; these instructions are for adults. If you take blood thinners, bruise easily, have a bleeding disorder or reduced feeling in the scalp, use lighter pressure, keep sessions short, and talk to your doctor first.

Stop at once if the pain stays after you lift off, spreads, or if the scalp becomes swollen, hot or red. Stop too if you feel dizzy, sick or a headache comes on. Nothing here requires you to push through pain. For the full list of cautions and the situations where pressing on yourself is not appropriate, read the full safety guide before you begin.

Questions People Ask

Where are the Sishencong (EX-HN1) pressure points? Sishencong (EX-HN1) is four points on the top of the head. First find the crown point, where a line over the head from one ear tip to the other meets the midline. The four points sit one thumb-width in front of it, behind it, and to its left and right. In English the group is called the Four Alert Spirit; in Vietnamese, Tứ Thần Thông.

Is this one point or four? Four. They share one name and one code, Sishencong (EX-HN1), because they are always used together, like four corners around the crown. Work all four in one session, going round them in a circle.

Why is it not on a channel? It is one of the extra points, places that teachers found useful over the centuries but that sit outside the fourteen main lines. Two of the four, the front and back ones, lie on the midline over the top of the head, but they are still counted as part of the extra group.

How long should I press Sishencong? One to three minutes for all four together, about twenty to forty seconds on each. Keep the first sessions short and add a little as the days go on. Once or twice a day is enough. More is not better on the scalp.

Will it help me sleep through the night? We cannot promise that. In this tradition Sishencong (EX-HN1) is commonly used for a busy mind and restless sleep, and many people find that working the top of the head before bed helps them wind down. If you keep waking in the night, look at what wakes you, such as pain, the bladder or a noisy room, and talk to your doctor.

Can I press them in the middle of the night when I wake? No. Press in the daytime and before bed, as part of winding down. Pressing in the middle of the night tends to wake you further. If you wake, keep the lights low and try slow breathing instead.

Other Points in This Library

Each of these sits within reach of the same hand. They are often worked in the same sitting.

This page shares general information about a traditional practice. It is not medical advice and does not replace what your doctor has given you. If you are pregnant, managing a health condition, or unsure whether this applies to you, check with your doctor first.

The whole inner edge of the foot, laid out on one page with photographs, is in The Foot Map — the free book. For every point in this library, see the full pressure point index.

(Point shown: EX-HN1 · Sishencong · Four Alert Spirit · Tứ Thần Thông.)