A brief overview, and my personal experience with moxa

Moxibustion

An Overview

Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine (TMC) technique which using the burning of mugwort. There are several varieties; Direct, both scarring and non scarring, where the moxa is placed directly on the skin and burned until it becomes too hot, or with the scarring method it is left to burn completely. Indirect utilizes moxa poles, moxa on an insulating medium, warming the needle, and warming instruments. It can be used with needles and is commonly paired with acupuncture. Non scarring and indirect styles are what we commonly see here in America. In TCM the aim is to free qi and blood, disperse cold, eliminate damp, and warm yang. It moves things that are stuck, and causes activity. It is also known for it’s ability to ward off disease.

Common Uses

Moxibustion can treat many conditions, including:

• Headaches/Migraines• Back Pain• Joint and Wrist Pain• Muscular Tension• Digestive Irregularities • Irritable Bowel Syndrome• Menstrual Problems• Elimination Problems• Neck Pain• Shoulder Pain• Stress Relief and Stress Management• Tinnitus• Insomnia

Skin conditions

Moxibustion is well known for it's use in dealing with skin conditions, such as bruising, cuts, whiteheads, and psoriasis. In these cases, a moxa pole is used for usually 5-15 minutes to indirectly apply heat over the affected area. It brings blood and Qi to the area which accelerates the healing. It also works to pull toxins out of boils.

Muscular Tension and Pain

Moxibustion does wonders for shoulder and back pain. The warmth from the moxa penetrates deep into the muscles and has a very soothing effect. Moxa also breaks up stagnation and invigorates the blood, which can help relieve the ache. Just by bringing awareness and healing energy to your pain you can sometimes help release it.

Moxibustion for Energy & Mood

A Personal Experience

This is something I've seen be very effective in myself. I have Lymes Disease and suffer from chronic fatigue and occasional low mood. Moxa has some very nice energetic properties. In class we practiced an indirect technique called a belly bowl. The moxa was in hollow stick form and placed in a small bowl which kept it raised slightly from my skin. The bowl had holes in it to enable the heat and smoke travel deep into my core.

We did this outside on a wonderful sunny March day. After Cynthia, my teacher, lit the moxa and placed it in the bowl it was set about an inch above my navel. Within the first minute I started feeling a sensation, as if there was a spring in my core and it was tightening slowly. I felt myself being filled with potential energy.

This sensation continued on even after the moxa was removed, and I was extremely energized all week. I was more motivated than I had been all season. This led to me getting many tasks done that I had been putting off, even a few hiking trips over the next two weeks. I felt great and I give credit to moxa. I would be interested to know if anyone else with chronic fatigue sees results with this. Please feel free to leave a comment with your experiences and any questions.

Contraindications

Moxa should not be used on anyone who is fasting, has just overeaten, or is intoxicated. Pregnant women should not receive moxibustion on their abdomen or lower back, and all other use should be performed by professional. Moxa should not be used any where that is inflamed or exhibiting fire signs. It should also not be used over blood vessels, arteries, mucus membranes, prominent skin creases, or anywhere on the face. It is not to be used over an active tumor. Anyone with an aggressive personality or in an irritable state should not use it either, it can be too invigorating. Not contraindicated but use caution with high blood pressure. A note for belly bowl moxa, if you are near your cycle it can jump start it.

Sources:

Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture by Ellis - Wiseman - Boss

http://www.quiet-island.com/moxibustion.html

http://www.sharecare.com/health/acupuncture/what-is-moxibustion

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/moxibustion

http://www.xojane.com/newagey/ill-try-anything-once-diy-moxibustion

http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/freshliving/2009/07/have-you-tried-moxa.html

INSIGHT: Emotions Stuck in our Earth Element

Insight: Last night in Acupuncture class we were discussing the Earth Element and how the emotion of "worry" or "rumination" wears down our Earth Qi.

"Rumination" is like chewing on something, then bringing it back up rather than swallowing it and allowing it to digest.

This made me think of the times we have some kind of emotionally impacting EVENT, and then can't seem to get that event out of our minds - it keeps popping back up into our thoughts, or we keep bringing it back up in our conversations.

We say "why can't I just LET IT GO??" Here's the insight: We don't have enough Earth Qi to finish chewing and swallow it so it can digest. If it's in our digestive system (Metal Element) we can let it go - but it's not getting there.

This also makes a lot of sense with an old esoteric Acupuncture treatment that uses a series of points along the Stomach (Earth) meridian to clear toxic emotions that overwhelm us to the point of not being able to function normally.

I think it would be worth the effort to strengthen our Earth Element in the case of emotional events we can't seem to process and let go. How do we do this? Here's a few ways off the top of my head, I'm sure there's many more:

Do these with a conscious intention to allow the emotional event to process and be purged.

1. Abdominal massage with essential oils. We could even use an oil specific to the type of emotion or event. (Emotional Energy of Aroma is my essential oil workshop topic for April)

2. Moxa Belly Bowl with 64-point acupressure treatment to the lower legs, emphasis on the ST & SP meridians.

3. Acupuncture along the ST meridian while receiving Medical QiGong Qi emission to the middle burner. (See my upcoming workshop, joint with Lamar on April 6th.)

Also consider doing a short cleansing fast or home enema (internal bath) AFTER one of the above treatments, and only if it feels right. In some cases the bodywork may need to be repeated several times, sometimes once will do the job.

This follows the treatment concept I find immensely effective of putting the body in the right circumstances energetically to heal, and allowing it to use it's own internal intelligence to handle the details. In this way, we don't concern ourselves with figuring out HOW to emotionally resolve the event, we ALLOW the event to resolve.

If this sparks any insights for you, or you work with this concept I would love to hear your feedback on it. Thanks! 

Learn tons of great information from my On-Line Essential Oils Course series. You can study here at our school in Alaska from anywhere in the world!

My Dancing Moxa

Recently, one Saturday morning, I woke up irritable and anxious, stressed out by life's everyday struggles of a busy life with family, school, bills, etc. Needless to say, by the time I arrived at the Alaska Institute of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture, & Massage Therapy for my regularly scheduled clinic shift, I was barely able to hear myself think and wondering how I was going to touch someone else with this negative energy I was struggling to manage on my own. We had been recently introduced to moxa in our senior class, and I had positive results the first time I had used it, with a boost of energy, and an overall feeling of warmth and comforting. One of my instructors recommended I give moxa another try before beginning my interaction with clients, I agreed, but what I had encountered was amazing and unexpected. I layed down in the main class area, alone, and quiet, and placed a belly bowl of burning moxa, just below my belly button. Before, I had closed my eyes and allowed the warmth to overtake me, but this time I had an overwhelming urge to keep my eyes open. As I lay there I watched the smoke rise above my abdomen. I wanted so badly to become that smoke, flowing freely above it "all", able to maintain my "shape" and essence as the subtle wind blew me around, I imagined myself being that very smoke, not allowing any stress or any thing to keep me down, as I continue to float, dissipate, and reform. Then suddenly my smoke transformed into silouettes of women that appeared to be dancing, this drew me in even further and made me want to be the smoke even more. I watched for a few moments and then in my thoughts began to ask if my smoke could take specific form. In class we had been given individual treatment plans for bodywork and QiGong, so I decided to ask if it could do specific Qi Gong moves. First, I thought "Can you Wave Hands like Clouds?" and as the thought was complete, one would pop up and wave her hands one direction and then another would pop up waving her hands in the other direction. Awed and amazed I watched for a few moments more, then asked "Can you Draw your Bow?" as one by one they drew their bows one in each direction. Then, I asked "Can you Row on the Lake?" and again one by one they'd pop up each one moving as if they were rowing on the lake. I was overwhelmed with this gitty feeling from what I had seen, and had a revelation. My desire to become the smoke transformed into the realization that I was the smoke, able to control every move with my thoughts alone. It was empowering and enlightening, knowing that I could float above the stresses in my life, continuing to dance and move, rising above, until it passes, just by thinking it. An experience that I will never forget and can draw strength from whether I'm burning moxa or not. Hmmm, what an awesome feeling! 

Moxa!

Moxa, also known as Mugwort is a Chinese herb that is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Moxa is considered the mother herb and is very nurturing in nature. It is used to warm what is cold, free what is constrained and not flowing, to soothe what is frustrated or tense and to eliminate what is damp. On a basic level it strengthens the yang of the body; meaning the strong, powerful, warm and awake. Moxa also has the noted ability to ward off disease, is a very strong immune builder of the body.

Treatment with moxa comes in two methods, direct moxibustion and indirect moxibustion. Direct moxibustion is done on the skin and can be either scarring or non scarring, whereas indirect uses a medium between moxa and the skin. Indirect moxibustion is one that I'm more familiar with and the only one we experienced in class, thank Buddha! 

With indirect moxibustion, it can be burned on top of salt, garlic or ginger to individualize treatment; for example, garlic for immune system and ginger for digestive. There are belly bowls which can be used on the abdomen, when placed above navel it is helpful for digestion and when placed below navel it is good for uterine cramps, cysts or simply to tonify yang. Moxa poles or sticks are larger and can be used to follow over an entire meridian line. Moxa irons are usually used for low back area, to warm kidneys and tonify water element. There are also moxa cones that are small enough to place directly on acupressure points, perfect for making a path for your qi (energy) flow. :) 

As a student, almost graduate, here at Oriental Healing Arts Center I have had the opportunity to try moxa and have had a wonderful experience with it, using the belly bowl, cones and sticks. I feel very comforted while receiving the treatment. It's almost like the big moxa energy mom is giving me a hug! 

My favorite method by far is the belly bowl! When using it my abdomen is filled with warmth. At the end of the treatment, a yellowish brown resin is left on the tummy. It is suggested to rub the resin in...as long as you're not wearing white! I am grateful to have my own belly bowl at home so that I can continue moxa after this school year is over. 

While doing moxa treatments I felt myself more at ease and sort of in this comfort cloud. I remember sleeping deeply and having very meaningful dreams. One of the dreams was definitely linked to an inner wisdom of mine. I was with a little girl and being chased by a wall of fire. I told the girl to hide in the corner of the ceiling and as she did, I proceeded with her. I cocooned myself around her, protecting her from the fire. I can remember thinking, it's coming (the fire) then I woke up with a sinking/shocking feeling in my legs. I realized later that the little girl was my inner child and I was protecting her from an intense fire (heart feeling)...what am I protecting her from? The feeling in my legs screams water element, so there is a connection there that is locked in my consciousness, yet being freed by this warming experience.

So yah, moxa gave me some precious information for my journey of life. Am very grateful to it and look forward to continuing my work with the lovely energy mother herb, Moxa!

acu-therapy

After five months of massage therapy school, our class got to the part we had all been waiting for : Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Points and meridians was one of our TCM classes. What are points and meridians? Meridians are invisible pathways on our bodies that connect acupoints to each other, as well as internal organs. The qi (energy) flows through these meridians. The meridians are like highways, when you experience a strong emotion, such as grief or anxiety, your qi gets blocked, similar to a traffic jam. Acupressure restores the smooth flow of qi. Acupoints are specific body points through which qi of organs and meridians can reach the body surface.


You can use acu-therapy to treat:
- headaches
- ortho issues
- weight loss
- addiction
- fertility
- colds
- insomnia
- the list goes on and on.

Basically, any disease you can think of, can benefit from acu-therapy. As a massage therapist, I would not be able to perform acupuncture, but can use non-needling techniques on points. Acupressure is a technique that we have frequently used. Our class has learned acupoint patterns to combat nausea, fatigue, frozen shoulder, sciatica and knee pain.


Now for the fun stuff. Moxa, cupping and gua sha, oh my. Moxa is quite possibly the most delightful herb in existence. It is a variety of mugwort, that is compressed and then burned. You can use it on specific points and meridians that are deficient. By the end of a session, I feel warm and tingling, it is an amazing feeling. Cupping and gua sha are two methods that help remove stagnation, and when I say stagnation, I pretty much mean pain. We have all had those "knots" the size of a golf ball that won't go away. After 15 minutes of having a suction cup placed on the knot and two more cups along the meridian, my pain was 90% gone. Gau sha brings stagnation to the surface, by using a tool to scrape the area. I am sure this might sound painful to some of you, but these treatments are WONDERFUL! I am excited to use them in my practices.

A students experience with the moxibustion belly bowl

I am a recent student of the Oriental healing arts center and this is a brief entry on my experience with the moxibustion belly bowl that we were given the opportunity to try in class.  Something to keep in mind when reading this is that I am a 25 year old male at about 195lbs and I have a fairly high level of energy prior to trying the belly bowl so my experience my differ from others depending on your own body.

The experience starts with assembling a belly bowl with a stick of moxa.  The belly bowl is a rubber cylinder with a metal frame that suspends the burning moxa stick above your skin where ever you decide to place it, mine was located directly above my belly button.  In class we set up massage tables to lie upon while trying this, we started by lighting the moxa stick and laying down on a table with the belly bowl in place.  From here I took deep full breaths and relaxed into the table.  

About half way through I started feeling sensations in my lower abdomen that would travel out to the rest of my body.  The feeling was almost an electricity or something similar to a double shot mocha, like my metabolism was being revved up.  By the end I felt almost a little sick but that quickly went away after leaving the class and getting into the rest of my day.  I noticed the rest of the day that my appetite had significantly increased and I had much more energy than normal.  I participate in alot of outdoor sports and I was amazed at how much I was able to endure in one day energy wise.  This increase in energy and metabolism lasted for about 3 days as far as I could tell.

After the first experience I decided I throughly enjoyed the belly bowl and did several other sessions before the end of school.  For someone with relatively low energy i strongly recommend trying this form of moxibustion, for those that already have a high level of energy I recommend that if you try this it may be a good idea to try this for half a moxa stick at first and possibly a full stick later after you experience a little first.