I never thought of using M1 for colds and flus, but I haven’t had a cold or flu for the past several years. A friend latched me onto an old folk remedy that has been growing in popularity among the western alternative health community: cosmeticians will use it for facials, but traditionally, the Chinese have always used it for treating colds, flus, fevers and general aches and pain. It’s called Guasha in Chinese or translated in English as microabrasion.
You can buy the guasha tool made from jade or cowhorn, but you can also substitute with a Japanese or Chinese ceramic soup spoon (metal spoons are a little too sharp, though they will still work). Guasha takes only minutes to do and it’s both effective and fast-acting.
Lightly smear on some coconut oil to lubricate the back of the neck and back (the skin absorbs the oil quickly so it’s not very greasy). Aim your scraping tool starting at the base of the neck and scrape firmly (but not too much that it becomes painful) in one direction downwards. Do not scrape up and down as scraping back and forth will cause the toxins to re-enter the body.
Wikipedia show an image of someone’s back which is the result of the scraping. It looks pretty bad; however, if it’s done right, it’s not painful at all but rather soothing. The colour can range from pinkish (meaning you are pretty clean of toxins) to dark purplish red (meaning a lot of toxins); if you don’t have a lot of toxins in you, the marks (aka petechia) can fade within minutes, otherwise within a day or two. Do not take a bath/shower for at least an hour after
guasha (b/c pores are open and exposed to further toxins coming in). I prefer to do it just before retiring to bed, because it helps me to relax.
Several years back, when I suddenly started sneezing and sniffling badly at work and it looked like I was in for a major cold, my boss was pretty sure I would call in sick, but I did some guasha after getting home that night and in less than half an hour, I was pretty much recovered. You need to do the guasha at the start of the cold. If you wait a few days when the cold settles in, it won’t be as effective.