When I show acupressure points, I usually stimulate them by pressing with a finger or making small circles but pressing isn’t the only way to stimulate acupressure points. This week I will show you an alternative way to stimulate the points using heat.
It is called moxibustion or okyu in Japanese. It is done using a plant called mogusa which is a dried mugwort plant. In English it’s spelled moxa. Traditionally, you make a small cone and light the top. Since you burn moxa, it’s called moxibustion. It does get hot if you leave it too long and you can get burns. That’s why “applying okyu” means both treatment and punishment in Japanese.
Today, you can do it easily with a product like this. I will demonstrate it on the best acupressure point Large Intestine 4. If you want to know why I call it the best acupressure point, watch the video from last week.
Make sure you have a good ventilation because there will be a smoke. Also, have water in a small dish so you can extinguish it just in case.
It comes like this. You simply peel it off from the base. The bottom is sticky so it makes it more stable. You will be lighting it with fire so you want it to be stable. Find Large Intestine 4 at the end of the crease between the thumb and index finger. Stick this on. And light the top. That’s it.
Soon after you see the smoke coming out like an incense. Then eventually you will feet the heat. This particular one is weak as it says on the box so I can tolerate the heat no problem. But if it’s too hot just remove it because it’s not a heat tolerance contest. It’s a gentle treatment.
This is about 2 minutes. And after about 4 minutes it’s over. Remove it from your skin and I wet it to make sure it’s extinguished before I throw it away.
I found some on Amazon. When you see Chosei-kyu or Sennenq, those are popular Japanese okyu products but of course there are ton of others.
moxa kyuSo if you want to use the heat to stimulate the acupressure points, this is an option.
You can also light it first and place.
And I did it without burning my hair!
Massage Monday #572 what is Okyu Moxibustion https://bit.ly/mm-572