Japanese Acupuncture

This morning we slept in and then waited for the electrician to arrive to take down the fan above the bar and to put up our lanterns. He was delayed until 11 but then it didn't take too long. Ann and I zipped downstairs to the grocery lady while Dad stayed with the electricians to check they were on the right track.

After they had gone, Dad and I spent a couple of hours finalizing my designs for the beading table that I wanted to have made in Melaka. Before we knew it, it was 1pm. I had a quick bit of lunch before we all headed out to Bangsar.

We had a coffee at Coffee Bean before I left Dad and Ann to do some window shopping while I walked up the street to the Japanese Acupuncture place for my appointment with Oran. It was the first time I had tried Japanese acupuncture and it was very different from the usual Chinese. First we chatted for about 15 minutes about my health and the issues that I had. Then I hopped up on the bed and Oran read my pulse for a while and prodded around my stomach. He then placed a small (5mm) copper disc on my right ankle and a small zinc disc on left wrist. The two metals have opposing polarity and so set up an energy flow through the body. Already my muscles in my stomach became less tense and I could feel the difference when he prodded them again.

He explained that Japanese acupuncture is a process of trying different things to see what works. He moved the zinc disc to my right wrist but this was no good and made my muscles tense up again and my pulse go faster. So once he decided on the two spots that work for me, he burnt some Moxa (a herb commonly called mugwort) over the two areas. He rolled the herb into a very thin cylinder and then lit the end and touched it to my skin. There was no pain just a slight tingle and warming sensation. This process is known as Moxibustion and is used in conjunction with acupuncture in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine.

After the moxibustion, Oran found a meridian line that ran down the inside of my left knee to start acupuncture on. The needles used in Japanese acupuncture are much finer than those I was used to with Chinese acupuncture. Oran inserted the needle and held onto it for a few seconds before whisking out of my leg again. I couldn't feel the needle at all. He repeated this on points on my other knee, ankles, stomach and neck. By this stage I was incredibly relaxed!

Next I was asked to turn front down and Oran used a piece of bamboo with smoking Moxa inside to gently tap across my shoulders and back at certain points and at different rates. The idea was that this would soften the muscles in my shoulders - but I really didn't feel too much difference although it was kind of relaxing.

After this, we were done. The whole process took about an hour and I floated out of there feeling incredibly relaxed. I met up with Dad and Ann at the Coffee Bean again and took some time to "wake up" from the session.

We went for a drink at the Social before heading to the car to go and pick Ross up from the train station. The traffic was bad and as I was driving home I started to get a headache. By the time we got home it felt like a full blown migraine. I went to lie down in the dark for half an hour and the pain and nausea finally passed. I think it was a reaction to the session with Oran and will mention it to him next week.

Ross and Ann made mini pizzas for dinner and watched some TV before heading to bed.

Today's photo is of a shop window showing these little figurines that were pretty unusual. It was particularly weird considering the shop was a  watch shop!