With American Olympic athletes suddenly sporting red and purple cupping marks, this ancient healing modality has set the Internet and traditional media ablaze with questions and surprise about those big circular marks.
Of course, cupping is not new. It’s been used in Asia for millennia. And if you were paying attention to Chinese swimmers in past Olympics, you would have noticed the same sporty marks.
Today’s show goes not only into what these marks are about and why they are therapeutically helpful. But also discusses the various methods of using and applying cups. We also talk about the surprising use of cups for conditions that you will not hear about in the mainstream press.
Cupping is not difficult to learn. It’s the rare grandma or auntie in China that doesn’t know about how to use cups to treat a variety of common ailments. You can learn how to do this yourself! Listen in for the details.
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Show Highlights:
2:14 What’s up with these big purple cupping marks?
5:02 What happens to living tissue under the influence of a vacuum.
7:42 Cupping does not always result in purple marks
10:00 Cupping marks come in different colors.
10:44 There are 3 different kinds of cups.
16:19 Some surprising uses of cupping.
20:50 What about learning cupping, is it difficult?
Trained both in the USA and Asia, Michael Max practices acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine at Yong Kang Clinic in St. Louis, MO. He has translated non-mainstream materials on Chinese medicine, and writes extensively on health and wellbeing on his website and in his clinic’s monthly newsletter.
While many in the West have heard about acupuncture and associate it with being an effective treatment for pain relief. In fact, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can successfully treat a wide variety of ailments from allergies to migraines, anxiety to reflux, stress, depression ,fertility and women’s health and much more. He started the Everyday Acupuncture Podcast show as a way help us Westerners understand there are accessible and effective solutions to health challenges that do not require a pharmaceutical medication, but instead can be gently and naturally coaxed from our body’s own innate ability to balance and heal.
Links and Resources:
Frequently asked questions about cupping from the Yong Kang Clinic website.
Bruce Bentley “cupping master of the universe” has lots of great information on his website, and some excellent essays on cupping. He also teaches classes.
You can learn that basics of cupping with a soon to be released free online course over at www.learncupping.com.