If You’re Acupuncture-Curious, but Scared of Needles, You Should Know About Moxa

Curious what getting a Moxa treatment really entails? Watch what happens, here. 

Lighting incense is fun and all, but have you ever had your entire body turned into an incense garden? (Me neither. Good on you, if so.) But Ella Dove, our senior video producer, is here to do just that in our latest episode of What the Wellness, Well+Good's YouTube series where she tries the most out-there treatments the industry has to offer.

In this week's episode, she tries out Moxa treatmen at Los Angeles' Vie Healing, a holistic wellness spa. It has many of the same benefits of acupuncture, except the treatment relies on dried herbs instead of needles. Moxa is a Traditional Chinese Medicine practice that uses lit incense "towers" at certain meridians along your body to active your blood flow and nervous system (a treatment like this one runs about $85 ICYWW).

"Moxa is a heat therapy, and what it does is it draws heat into the muscles, veins, and capillaries into the body," explains Mona Dan, acupuncturist and owner of the spa, noting that oftentimes people store coldness in their bodies, which constricts our blood vessels, leading to inflammation. So this heat from the Moxa—which is an herb that's dried and lit—works to relax the entire body, resulting in purported wellness perks galore.

But having lit, dried herbs placed all over your body can sound a little nerve-wracking, to some (especially when you're a Moxa novice). What does it actually feel like? Does Dove feel like a brand-new, rejuvenated woman after her treatment? Watch everything happen in the video, above, to find out whether you should try a Moxa treatment to round out your wellness regimen.

For more What the Wellness goodness, watch Dove try out a 30-minute facial, and what it's really like to have an AI running coach guiding you through your workout.