A few days ago, I shared some cases and discussed the sensation of moxibustion (jiu gan) in A015 Chatting about Moxibustion Sensations. Today I will add more about the moxibustion sensation—the sensation experienced by the practitioner, or what can be called the qi sensation.
I have only experienced this sensation a few times, not often enough. If it wasn’t for my senior brother helping me verify it yesterday, I wouldn’t have known if I had just zoned out:
Senior Brother: I want to tell you something. Just now, when I was moxibusting moxa for my dad, I found that when moving along a certain line, there is a force that supports your hand, keeping it separated from the body. This should be the just-right distance where it’s not hot, and this way, the moxa stick and the body basically maintain the same distance. This force is very subtle, I’m still exploring it. When completely relaxed, the hand and the moxa stick become one, and focusing your mind inside the patient’s body, maybe you can feel what I’m describing. The key is this force — no matter what line it is, whether straight or curved, there is a small force holding it up. It’s very elusive and hard to detect.
Me: Yes, there is a line, sometimes just a point, and then it easily disappears.
In acupuncture terms, after obtaining qi, there is a feeling described as “like a fish swallowing a hook.” The moxibustion sensation described between my senior brother and me is probably this feeling. It has also been mentioned by another senior’s official account.
Generally, when people discuss obtaining qi, it’s mostly in the context of acupuncture. But in fact, moxibustion can also obtain qi. I have reproduced it on myself and patients, at many acupoints including Zusanli, Yanglingquan, Neiguan, Yongquan, etc. As long as the technique is correct, it is easy to feel. The specific sensation I feel is the same as that obtained from drawing qi. Near the acupoint, there is a “field,” and when the moxa stick enters this “field” it feels increased repulsive force, and the patient can definitely feel a sudden rise in heat.
Mindset
So how is the sensation of obtaining qi produced? Nothing else, just a calm mind.
But the state of a calm mind is very high-level, it’s not easy to just be calm. For example, my cousin’s performance in these three articles A013 Three Talks on Tea, First Talk on Disciple, A012 More Talks on Tea, A010 The Tao of Tea Brewing, without guidance on relaxation practice, it is hard for him to calm down. So if I were to teach ordinary people (those with no training experience and prone to restlessness), I can only briefly mention that calmness of mind is the core, while teaching the technique and guiding the student to calm down gradually—focusing fully on doing one thing, and slowly the mind will become calm; practicing skill is about focusing on the task.
As the saying goes, teaching according to aptitude, ordinary people should start with technique and slowly be guided to calm their minds. For senior brother’s kind of state, you just briefly mention the precautions; the rest, once they calm down, they will naturally know. The technique is just a boat to bring you to the other shore, once there, the technique does not matter; the execution itself is the method.
Technique
However, if one has no experience in practice, it is difficult to become calm and obtain qi. Does this mean we shouldn’t do moxibustion? Or that we should just do it casually? No, there are techniques to train oneself. Also, practicing technique itself is a kind of practice; focusing on practicing, the mind becomes increasingly calm.
In fact, techniques have been written in any acupuncture books. Teacher Tiantai also talks about those—indirect moxibustion, direct moxibustion, suspended moxibustion, warm needle moxibustion, etc.
Among these, suspended moxibustion especially has techniques: gentle moxibustion means continuous moxibustion, sparrow pecking moxibustion means moving up and down, circular moxibustion means drawing circles. The teacher also explained “straight pour and straight pull,” meaning pushing and pulling in a straight line.
But no matter which kind, the books say it should be light and easy; it looks simple to watch, but when you start doing it, it’s not like you imagine, especially when no one corrects you, you do it as you want. This easily leads to irreversible errors.