Have Spoon—Will Gua Sha!

April Crowell, Dipl, ABT (NCCAOM), CI (AOBTA), & CHN, currently serves as lead instructor for The Wellspring School Amma Program. We asked April to give us her take on one of the upcoming classes, Complementary Techniques that she will be teaching in Portland in April 29^th & May 1^st. Thanks, April!

Complementary Techniques is one of my favorite classes to teach.  If you ask my students they will tell you that I say that about every class, whether it’s a technique or a didactic class.  But Complementary Techniques is truly a class I love to teach.

Each technique has its own set of benefits, uses and contraindications. For example, Moxibustion warms and tonifies, which is perfect for a cold and deficient client.  Fire cupping can relieve deep lung congestion and pain in general.  Gua sha relieves pain rapidly, releases wind and cold, and is very easy to use. These are just some of the great benefits.

All the techniques are simple to apply once the basics are learned and this class is great because students get the chance for lots of hands on practice.  Practice is what is needed to develop the coordination to get an accurate fire cup seal, to safely use those techniques involving fire, or feeling confident enough to apply gua sha. The point of the class is to learn how to effectively use these beneficial techniques and leave feeling confident.

Through the years, we’ve had a few Comedy of Error moments in the classes; self-singed bangs, dropped cups, flaming cotton balls, and even an emotional release or two. However, students have all left saying this was one of their favorite classes whether they are in the Amma program or taking the class for continuing education. Fire cupping, Moxibustion, Gua Sha, Auricular therapy are excellent additions to any practitioner’s set of skills.  And they are just fun to learn. We get to play with fire, literally.

For more information on this and other classes, please check out the website WSHA website.

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Tags: fire cupping, gua sha, moxa