San Fu Moxibustion

San Fu is a traditional Chinese medicine treatment offered during the hottest days of summer.

In Chinese medicine, summer is considered a time of maximum yang. San Fu treatments use this seasonal moment to warm and strengthen the body, particularly for people who tend toward cold, deficiency or recurring symptoms during the colder months.

At my Kingston practice, San Fu is offered as a three-treatment summer series.

Summer Medicine for Winter Health

Chinese medicine has a long tradition of treating the body according to the season rather than waiting for symptoms to appear.

San Fu follows the principle of treating winter conditions in summer.

During the warmest part of the year, warming herbal preparations and moxibustion are applied to specific acupuncture points. Traditionally, this approach has been used for patterns associated with cold and deficiency and for conditions that tend to return or worsen during fall and winter.

The intention is to work with the body's seasonal physiology while warmth and yang are naturally at their height.

Who May Benefit

I may recommend San Fu for people with patterns that include:

Recurring winter colds or respiratory symptoms
Sensitivity to cold
Cold hands and feet
Seasonal fatigue
Certain digestive patterns associated with cold
Menstrual symptoms that improve with warmth
Chronic pain that worsens in cold weather
A tendency toward depletion during the winter months

San Fu is not appropriate for everyone. As with all Chinese medicine treatment, I consider the individual rather than simply matching a treatment to a symptom.

What to Expect

San Fu is offered as a series of three treatments during the summer San Fu period.

During each visit, warming herbal preparations and moxibustion are used on carefully selected acupuncture points according to your constitution and health history.

Acupuncture may also be incorporated when appropriate.

The treatments are intentionally timed to work with this particular seasonal window in the Chinese calendar.

A Seasonal Practice

One of the things I value about Chinese medicine is its understanding that our bodies do not exist separately from the natural world - we are the natural world.

Our physiology changes with light, temperature, food, movement, rest and season.

San Fu is a particularly beautiful expression of this idea. Rather than treating the body as though it should remain the same throughout the year, we use the abundance of summer warmth to prepare for the season ahead.

San Fu Clinic

San Fu is offered for a limited period each summer at my practice in Kingston, New York.

Because the treatments correspond with specific days in the Chinese calendar, dates change each year.

When the next San Fu Clinic opens, current dates and registration information will be posted here.