Everyday Traditional Chinese Medicine self-care — to carry home with you.
Each class is a hands-on session in practical TCM self-care, with a focus you choose: ear seeding, gua sha, or hair health. Each is detailed below.
Ear Seed Therapy
Discover the ancient healing art of Traditional Chinese Medicine ear seed therapy in this interactive, hands-on class. Ear seeds are small, natural stimulators placed on specific acupressure points of the ear to promote balance, relieve stress, and support overall wellness.
- Foundations of ear acupuncture (auriculotherapy) — the TCM principles behind ear seeds and how they stimulate reflex points connected to the body.
- Ear mapping — key ear acupressure points for common concerns like stress, pain, digestion, sleep, and more.
- Application techniques — how to safely place ear seeds for yourself and others.
- Self-care & maintenance — using ear seeds for daily wellness, and when to refresh them.
Take home
- A set of ear seeds
- An ear reflexology chart
- The confidence to use ear seeds for self-care and holistic health
Hair Health
In this hands-on session, you'll learn to use the seven-pointed star needle (plum-blossom needle) and take your own tool home to continue the practice. You'll also be introduced to traditional Chinese herbs for hair growth and create a personalised herbal goodie bag — perfect for anyone curious about natural, holistic approaches to hair care and wellbeing.
Take home
- Your own seven-pointed star needle
- A personalised herbal goodie bag for hair growth
Gua Sha
Gua sha (刮痧) is a Chinese folk-medicine practice, and its name is a plain description of what happens: 刮 guā, to scrape, and 痧 shā, the sand-like speckling the scraping brings to the surface. A smooth-edged tool — jade or buffalo horn traditionally, and for most families a porcelain soup spoon — is drawn along oiled skin in short, firm strokes.
It is old, and it is domestic. Gua sha appears in Chinese medical writing by the Ming dynasty and long predates that as household care passed between women, most of it practised on the back, neck, and shoulders to move what Chinese medicine calls stagnation and to release trapped heat — the treatment you were given at home when something was coming on. The facial version most people meet first is the recent descendant of that: far lighter pressure, no marks raised, worked along the jaw and cheekbone.
This beginner-friendly, crowd-favorite workshop covers both. Where the practice comes from and what the marks actually are; how to hold and angle the tool; which strokes belong on the body and which on the face; and how to read your own skin's response and know when to stop.
Please note: you'll need to remove your makeup for this class.