Come to the Moxibustion for Birthworkers workshop on Sunday, April 21, 9:30am-1pm at Youga in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore City!
This workshop is appropriate for all birthworkers, regardless of experience, including midwives, doulas, acupuncturists, bodyworkers, and herbalists - anyone who cares for birthing people. Learn with Dr. Julia Mandes, an acupuncturist and herbalist, OBGYN specialist, and faculty member teaching obstetrics and postpartum care to acupuncture and herbal medicine students at the Maryland University of Integrative Health.
While moxibustion comes from East Asia and is usually a part of an acupuncturist’s toolkit, it is truly grandmother/kitchen table medicine and is not limited in scope only to licensed acupuncturists. Maybe you’re already using moxa in your practices!
However… there is no such thing as a purely benign and harmless intervention, so let’s deepen our skillset together. We will discuss indications and contraindications for moxibustion and differential diagnoses for its use, including tongue diagnosis. We will learn about different forms of moxibustion including moxa poles and stick-on moxa. We will learn accurate point and meridian location, and we will practice on each other! We will discuss mugwort, the plant that is processed into moxa, and its other external uses in birthwork. Supplies and a moxa goodie bag are included!
Our discussions of the clinical use of moxibustion will be narrowed and focused on 1) ideal fetal positioning leading up to birth and 2) the practice of postpartum abdominal and lower back moxibustion - the two main occasions birthworkers will reach into their toolkits for moxa.
No previous exposure to Chinese and East Asian medicine is necessary. Important to note that this will be a smoky environment for certain portions of the workshop, with smoke from both moxa and incense, so this workshop is not appropriate for very smoke-sensitive people. Most people who are sensitive to tobacco and other types of smoke are less triggered by moxa smoke, but you know your body best. Wearing a tight-fitting N95 mask helps. Windows will be open and air filters will be running.
We will practice moxibustion on each other with the exception of currently pregnant people, people who have contraindications for moxibustion, and those who do not consent to be practiced on. Those people are welcome to participate and perform moxibustion, but won’t receive moxibustion.
Important to note the teaching space at Youga is up two flights of stairs. Street parking around Broadway Market is free on Sunday (please double-check the signage), and the nearest parking garage is one block away on Broadway between Eastern and Fleet.
Class is $80 for 3+ hours of instruction and all materials including moxa to take home. Use the discount code SLIDINGSCALE for a 25% reduction in price. Sliding scale pricing is reserved for people living paycheck-to-paycheck, people with little to no expendable income, people who receive sliding scale pricing and/or financial assistance in other aspects of their life. No proof of income required.