09/05/2025
Cupping Therapy:
The Art of Drawing Out What is Hidden
🌸
Glass against skin,
a hollow vessel placed upon the body,
a sacred seal between flesh and breath.
The skin rises,
the hidden rivers stir,
and stagnant winds depart.
In crimson blossoms left behind,
the body writes its story of release.
📖
Cupping is an ancient healing practice with roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Middle Eastern medicine, and ancient Egyptian healing texts. The Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE) describes cupping as a method to “remove foreign matter from the body.” Across cultures, it was revered as a way to draw out stagnation, restore balance, and clear “wind” or pathogenic influence from the body.
✨️How It Is Performed
Cupping is done by placing glass, bamboo, or silicone cups on the skin and creating suction — traditionally with fire (fire cupping), now often with pumps. The suction draws the skin and superficial fascia into the cup, creating space for circulation, lymphatic flow, and energetic movement.
✨️The Meaning of Sha Marks
After cupping, round marks often remain on the skin. These are called sha in Chinese medicine.
Darker marks suggest deeper stagnation or toxins being released.
Lighter marks indicate milder congestion.
The marks are not bruises but rather visible signs of stagnation surfacing. They fade within days, as the body clears what has been drawn up.
✨️Benefits
Improves blood and lymph circulation
Reduces muscle tension and pain
Supports detoxification and immune health
Encourages faster recovery from injury
Clears stagnation in fascia and meridians
Promotes relaxation and energetic balance
Energetically, cupping acts as a release valve — drawing out what has been trapped, hidden, or compressed, and allowing new vitality to flow in its place.
🌌 Symbolic Layer:
The Cup: vessel of emptiness that becomes a channel for release.
The Rising Flesh: symbol of surfacing truth, what was hidden beneath now revealed.
The Sha Marks: blossoms of release, sacred imprints of the body’s willingness to let go.
The After: renewed flow, spaciousness, and vitality — the body remembering its rhythm.
✨ Curious about the ancient art of cupping?
📅 Ask about adding cupping therapy to your next massage session.