What’s that smell in the clinic ?
Recently a few patients have been in this position… they’ve booked their treatment at the Buddha Bar and they’ve been looking forward to it all week. They head over to Newtown and enter the clinic, escaping the hustle and bustle of King Street, and there it is. It’s subtle but they can smell it and it seems kind of familiar. They take a seat and they think they know what it is – someone is smoking funny stuff! They see the Acupuncturist, Ilan, and the smell is following him around. It’s clear he is up to something. He introduces himself and they follow him into the treatment room. Everything seems normal, he makes a few jokes about the burning of Moxibustion, or Moxa, which causes the ‘funny smell’ in the room, sometimes getting a laugh and other times to just raised eyebrows.
Moxibustion is the therapeutic practice of burning Moxa, a tinder made from the dried leaves of Artemisia vulgaris, commonly known as mugwort. It is safely lit on or near the skin to aid treatment. The history of this heat therapy can be traced back to people living in cold climates who used burning Moxa to warm up painful areas.
So, contrary to popular belief, Ilan is not smoking funny substances before your treatment, it’s just Moxa and it’s all in the name of healing!
