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Cupping, Moxibustion, Nutrition and Exercise
  Cupping
involves heating air
inside a cup and placing the
inverted cup onto the body. A vacuum
is created, which anchors the cup to the skin and pulls the skin
upward. Cupping is applied by acupuncturists to certain
acupuncture points, as well as
regions of the body that are
affected by pain.
Moxibustion is a therapy which is
often used with acupuncture and involves the
burning of specific herbs at
acupoints. In moxibustion the leaves of the Chinese herb mugwort
(Artemesiae Vulgaris) are dried and then burned using one of
several methods. The "moxa stick" is the most common form in
which moxibustion is used to promote
healing.
The fourth and fifth pillars of Chinese Medicine are nutrition
and exercise. A well
balanced diet is important
for our health and equilibrium. TCM embraces a sophisticated
system of food categorization. Food items are described by their
effect and are selected on the basis of their
correspondence with an individual's pattern, as affected
by climate, season or type of illness. People who are cold and
dry need warm, moisturizing food; people who are hot and damp
need cool, drying food; people with congestion need decongesting
food. Diets are designed to counterbalance
an illness. The appropriate food is determined knowing
the context of the individual patient.
Qigong and Taiji, is a form of
exercise
that triggers health and healing
benefits from both, the Chinese paradigm of energy and the
western paradigm of physiology. The balance and flow of one's
internal self healing energies is enhanced by the slow,
meditative movements of Taiji,
improving the delivery of oxygen and nutrition from the blood to
the tissues. The lymph system's ability to eliminate metabolic
by-products and transport immune cells is increased. The
biochemical profile of the brain and nervous system is shifted
toward recovery and healing.
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