Service one · the start of the day
Moxa Round Desk
The Moxa Round Desk is where every bench day begins and where the whole room draws its first breath. Moxa rolls arrive at the desk in paper tubes and are checked by hand before anything else happens. The roll is tested for density and evenness, then lit and timed in a slow turn so the heat builds from the outside in rather than arriving in a sudden flare. A roll that burns unevenly is set aside to rest and replaced before the next round begins.
The desk keeps a small working log rather than a formal record. Each line notes which rolls are ready, which are cooling, which have been set aside and roughly how long each round held its warmth. When a client arrives, the desk already knows which rolls are waiting, so there is no delay and no scramble for supplies. This quiet preparation is why the bench feels calm on arrival even when the day is full.
The round desk also decides the order of the morning. Rolls that warm faster are used first, and heavier rolls are saved for the visits that need a longer, deeper round. Nothing at the desk is left to guesswork. The same care that goes into a systems diagram goes into the row of rolls waiting in their paper tubes.
Service two · the cupped line
Cupping Log Rounds
Cupping Log Rounds are the spine of the bench. Cups are set along the back in a careful, evenly spaced line, held for a quiet count and then lifted one by one. Every cup has a position, a hold time and a short note of how the skin responded. The log round is not a formality. It is what lets the next session repeat what worked and adjust what did not.
The log is written during the round, not after it. Between each cup the therapist marks the line, so the record matches the moment rather than a later recollection. Over several visits this produces a simple but telling pattern: where the cups sit comfortably, where the skin pulls more, and which positions to shorten or move. Clients often ask to see the log, and it is always shown when asked.
When a log round closes, the cups are set back on the linen drape, the markings are checked and the bench is wiped down. The whole round takes its own time and is never compressed to make room for the next visit. That patience is the reason the cupping line rarely needs repeating and always reads clearly in the book.
Service three · the weekly map
Meridian Chart Weeks
Meridian Chart Weeks give the bench its memory. Once a week, the chart is unrolled beside the bench and each body line is marked where warmth sat, where tension held and where the movement had eased. One chart covers one full week, and the charts stack into a slow picture of change that a single visit could never reveal.
The chart is drawn by hand with a fine line, and the marks are small and consistent so that week-on-week comparison stays honest. Points are placed where the warmth was strongest, and a thin line traces the meridian from shoulder to knee. When the following week comes, the new marks are laid beside the old ones and the differences are read aloud before any treatment begins.
The meridian chart also ties the other services together. The rounds at the desk, the cups on the back and the stretch at the table all leave their trace on the chart, so no part of the bench works in isolation. This is what makes the practice feel like a single continuous course rather than a string of separate appointments.
Service four · the open table
Stretch Table Days
On Stretch Table Days the bench is cleared and the table extended so that slow, supported movement can take the lead. Each stretch is held long enough to register and released with a breath. The order is the same every time: shoulders first, then the upper spine, then the lower back, and finally the knees, where the thin tape rules mark the line of the bench.
Stretches on the table are assisted, not forced. The therapist guides the movement to the edge of its range and waits there until the body lets go, rather than pushing through resistance. Because the heat lamp and the moxa rounds have already warmed the room on the days before, the table does not feel cold and the movement arrives more easily.
Each table day ends with a short note recording which stretches held well and which needed more time. Those notes feed straight into the meridian chart and into the plan for the following week. A stretch that opened up on one table day is often the first thing revisited the next time the table is set.
Service five · the warm corner
Heat Lamp Sessions
Heat Lamp Sessions warm a small, specific patch of bench before the cups and moxa arrive. The lamp leans over the lower shelf on a short arm and is timed by the round desk rather than by feel, so the warmth stays steady from the first minute to the last and never arrives too strong at the close. A session is short and deliberate, and it is never left running while the room is empty.
The lamp has a second purpose. The lower shelf where it points is where the salve jars are kept, so a heat session also keeps the salves soft and workable. This is a small detail, but it is the kind of detail that decides whether a salve spreads smoothly at the end of a long day or drags cold from the jar.
Heat sessions are usually quiet and short, but they are never skipped. The warmth they leave behind is what lets the cupping line settle and what makes table stretching feel less abrupt. When the lamp is checked before a visit, the bench already knows the room is ready rather than hoping it is.
Service six · the close of the week
Salve Restock Evenings
Salve Restock Evenings close the bench week. The shelf is brought down, the jars are checked, the labels are read and any blend that is running low is noted for replacement. The work is slow and unhurried, and it is done best when the room is empty and the lamp is off. Restocking is not glamorous, but an empty jar at the start of a visit is the one thing the bench never allows.
Each jar carries a small label with the blend name and the date it was opened. During a restock evening the labels are checked against the bench book so that the salve written on a client card matches the salve actually on the shelf. If a blend has changed, the change is recorded and the previous note is kept so that the history stays complete.
By the end of a restock evening the shelf is full, the labels are clean and the bench is ready for the week ahead. The last act is always the same: the moxa bay is checked so the round desk can start without a gap, and the bench book is closed with a short line noting that the week is complete.