1. The Ones Who Lift Me Up
Early this morning, I received a message from Cuiwei, my high school classmate who has always been a guiding light on my moxibustion journey. As she consulted me on body constitution suitability for a friend, I suddenly realized—it was she who first introduced me to the fragrant world of mugwort seven years ago. Today, 70% of the moxa sticks she buys are given away, yet she insists, “It’s for accumulating blessings through good deeds.” Her friendship, beyond any commercial interest, is like the gentle warmth of burning moxa—silently nourishing every dawn and dusk.
I also pictured BabyFox ordering a whole box of moxa sticks without hesitation. This old friend always says, “Your eyes don’t lie,” and her family gatherings have turned into moxibustion parties. Sometimes, trust is lighter than moxa smoke, yet it leaves behind a deeper weight that settles across time and space.
2. The Awakening of “Heat”
A little story with Chongchong about durian last night deserves to be remembered. When she called for help with bloating, it hit me: I used to be just like that five years ago. The change began with the marks left on my calves from consistent moxibustion—scars I once thought ruined my appearance. But it was that persistence that allowed my qi and blood to flow again, like thawed streams trickling around my ankles.
On the beaches of Sabah, while my husband and child turned bronze under the sun, my skin glowed with a honey-like sheen. When I moxa’d my back under the sun, I felt not just its warmth, but the subtle tremble of cold being released from my pores as steam—could this be what traditional Chinese medicine calls the “return of yang energy”?
3. The Temperature Game at Home
Watching my husband lower the AC to 20°C while happily eating ice cream, my wellness routines felt rather “out of place.” Yet when he started sneezing less in the mornings, and when our child began choosing warm water after exercise, those nights I spent avoiding the chill in the guest room suddenly made sense. This morning, as I brewed ginger and date tea, he quietly tossed in two extra slices of old ginger—perhaps that’s our silent code for warmth.
4. The Changes Taking Place
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The old moxibustion marks on my calves have faded into crescent-shaped traces
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I no longer need a hot water bottle at work during my period
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I noticed the supermarket now has a new “room-temperature drinks” section
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I’m beginning to understand: “comfort” does not always equal “health”
To Myself, Ten Years From Now
When you reread this journal in the future, remember these moments from the summer of 2025:
① Trust lingers longer than the smoke of moxa
② The body always knows gratitude better than the mind
③ True wellness is learning to coexist with discomfort
It’s time to tidy up the closet, and yet the warmth of life continues to flow, gently, between the lines.