Moxa

What is moxa?

Moxibustion, also called moxa, is a thousand-year-old heat treatment where rolled Chinese herbs are lit and held or moved over a specific point. Moxa can be used to treat: asthma, abdominal pain, vomiting, impotence, and arthritis (cold type), among others.

The History of Moxa Treatment

The Moxa treatment method is several thousands of years old and can be traced back to the end of the 16th century BC, during the Shang Dynasty, where records of moxa treatment have been found. Moxa falls under Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and was originally used in the cold northern areas of China. Here, the treatment method was based on the belief that the body could only be healed if specific points were directly warmed. In northern China, particular attention was paid to the positive effects of heat on the body and mind, and the people combined this knowledge with meridian points, Qi, Blood, and the Yin and Yang concept to develop a therapy that would counteract the negative effects of cold.

Moxa eventually spread to other regions and places, including Japan. Contemporary discoveries have found records dating the treatment method back to 168 BC. The treatment method became briefly popular in the 7th century when Chinese culture, including TCM, had a great influence on Japan due to imperial conquests. However, its popularity truly surged in the 10th century when the blind acupuncturist Sugiyama Waichi (the father of Japanese acupuncture) used palpation to determine suitable points on the body for therapy, and since then, moxa has in many ways developed in parallel with acupuncture.

Since its origin, the treatment method has been further developed, refined, and is today used both with and without needles, also called direct and indirect moxa. The treatment emits heat used to stimulate acupuncture points, joints, and muscles. The purpose of the treatment is to add energy to the points and thereby stimulate the circulation of blood and Qi.