Moxibustion and the terroir of true moxa
Moxibustion was once regarded as one of the main modalities of Chinese medicine. During the last 75 years, however, the quality of medicinal mugwort has gone into decline and many traditional Moxa techniques have been lost. Fortunately, there is a serious effort to bring back and reinvigorate this almost forgotten therapy....I was privileged to be part of an international research team learning these ancient and potent techniques from the masters.
Dr Zou and Dr Zhang, entrepreneurs turned biodynamic farmers and practitioners, have thrown themselves fully into growing and producing high quality moxa in the Qichun village in the Hubei Province. I, along with 40 other mostly Chinese medicine practitioners, traveled there to learn about these ancient Daoist moxibustion techniques, to see the land where this special mugwort is grown and to learn about the plants journey from cultivation, harvesting, long term storage to its eventual landing place in moxa sticks used for moxibustion treatments.
To begin, Qi Ai, the Chinese name of this real moxa, must come from this particular land in Qichun in order to be considered true moxa. Think of this as the champagne of moxa. Grapes need to come from the Champagne region of France to earn their designation as champagne and true moxa needs to come from Qichun.
Secondly, all moxa that practitioners generally have access to in the US is not 100% moxa - there is anywhere from 80-90% filler in moxa sticks, filler that consists of grass, sticks, cardboard (!), all kinds of non-medicinal stuff that you really don't want in there.
Thirdly, as we learned, moxa itself needs to age, you can't use it until it's at least one year old. This requires an enormous upfront investment in time, energy and storage space - as one moxa stick requires about 50 mugwort stalks.
True moxa must be dried in the sun and then stored for some time. The older the moxa, the deeper the healing properties. The natural minerals in the soil in Qichun determine the quality of the mugwort, there must be no addition of artificial fertilizers or pesticides, truly a difficult task in a consumer oriented market like China.
Harvesting is highly specific: mugwort must be harvested on the 5th day of 5th lunar month (usually June 5th), when the Yang energy is considered most active. For moxibustion for children, the mugwort must be harvested on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month (April 3rd). The fall harvest mugwort goes into special moxa sticks that are more specific to support lung health.
The property of mugwort as moxa is to stop pain and to bring Yang Qi, or the healing vital force of the sun, into the body. I spent a rigorous and intensive week learning about the enormous clinical potential of moxibustion, through daily morning lecture and also through long afternoons of practicing on one another other to learn, through our own embodied experience, the potency and effectiveness of these ancient techniques. I learned how to treat clinical cases of autism, psychosis, behavioral and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis. We discussed treatment plans for autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and minor to significant digestive disorders. There are techniques and different kinds of moxa to treat more physical conditions and then there are techniques and protocols to treat more mental/emotional conditions such depression and anxiety.
Why use moxa for treatment?
To stimulate the self healing properties of the body and recharge the batteries
Clear stagnant and turbid Qi
To bring in and connect heaven and earth energy with the 12 source points on the body.
Kommentare