Sea of Chi, and Acupuncture - Moxibustion
Next: Sea of Chi, and Acupuncture - Moxibustion
Kat writes: Interesting article and good information. I also find direct moxa works well on this point. Three times every morning for a week after meditation and before eating breakfast. Usually corrects the imbalance.
What do I experience? It grounds me — I feel the energy becomes more focused — in a straight line — it’s the only way I can describe it — instead of scattered everywhere. I have been working with an acupuncturist for many years — once a month for eight years — it was like getting a spiritual tune-up.
A: Yes moxibustion, as well as acupuncture, can be very helpful for imbalances in this area. I do think from your description that you are experiencing a “centering” effect rather than a “grounding” effect. Balanced centeredness is an aspect of the third chakra, whereas grounding involves another, though related, process.
Moxibustion is a technique in which a stick or cone of mugwort and / or other herbs are placed on or over an acupuncture point. Moxa warms acupuncture points and adjacent areas to stimulate circulation and promote flow of blood and chi. Historians believe that moxibustion pre-dated acupuncture, possibly having its genesis around the time of the Yellow Emperor.
A 5-Element acupuncturist usually uses moxa directly on the skin, and a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner often will use burning sticks of moxa and hold them over the point treated. It can also be burnt atop a fine slice of ginger root or salt to minimize scarring.
In direct moxibustion, cone-shaped amount of moxa is placed on top of an acupuncture point and burned.
This type of moxibustion can be of two types: scarring and non-scarring. In scarring moxibustion, the moxa is placed on a point, lit, and allowed to burn completely on top of the acupuncture point. This burning can lead to some blistering and sometimes results in scarring after healing.
With non-scarring moxibustion, the moxa is placed on the point and lit, but is snuffed out or removed before burning of the skin occurs. The patient may experience a warming sensation that penetrates deeply into the skin, but usually not experience any discomfort or blistering.
Indirect moxibustion is more popular currently because there is less pain and a reduced chance of burning the skin. In indirect moxibustion, a practitioner lights one end of a moxa stick, roughly the shape and size of a cigar, and holds it close to the area being treated for several minutes until the area turns red.
In another version of indirect moxibustion, the practitioner uses both acupuncture needles and the moxa herbs. A needle is inserted into one or more acupuncture points and retained or held at the point. The top of the needle is then wrapped in or used to impale some loose moxa or a fragment of a stick, and ignited. This results in heat being generated and conducted through the needle to the acupuncture point and the surrounding region. After the desired therapeutic effect is achieved, the moxa is extinguished and the needle extracted.
Burning Moxa on an acupuncture needle
There has been a least one clinical study on the use of moxabustion in this area (Sea of Chi, Tan Tien or lower abdomen) for the treatment of constipation. The study showed an 81.8% efficacy for the moxibustion group. [Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2007 Mar;27(3):189-90.]
© 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.
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