The Traditional Treatment of a Panic Attack: The Coining Healing RitualTypically the Coining Ritual Consists of Six Steps

Treatment of the head with khyl oil: dabbing khyl oil below the nostrils, where it creates a stream of pungent odor; massaging the temples in a circular motion with a finger tip coated with khyl oil; various other khyl techniques such as cracking the joints

Coining with khyl oil or ointment along the trunk and arms

[530 minutes][A few minutes]

Step I: Initial treatment (doing the vessels)

Step II: Coining

Taking Advil or other antipyretic, taking khyl medicine, drinking warm water

Doing the vessels, such as rubbing the body with khyl oil; massaging the limbs; pulling on the ears and hair; twisting the head; cracking the knuckles of the hands and feet; snapping out the arms; having someone step on the vessels

[A few minutes][1545 minutes]Step III: Drinking warm fluid, taking medicationStep IV: Doing the Vessels

Wrapping the body in blankets and eating hot rice porridge

[5 minutes to an hour]

Sweating brings relief (e.g., escape of khyl through the skin pores)

Step V: Creating Bodily Heat by Eating Hot Fluids and Wrapping the Body

Step VI: Sweating

Camphor is absorbed into the blood as a result of coining and may increase vagal tone, which in turn appears to improve orthostatic adjustment as well as having other effects

The coining rituals creates a space of interpersonal interaction, an opportunity for affectionate care, a space for conversation

The coining ritual actually heats the body through coining and the khyl oil, activating metaphors of warmth and security (ko kdaw)

The coining ritual increases physical and psychological flexibility through direct, body-work-type healing effects: the flexile body resulting from massage and other techniques as an embodied metaphor of flexible adjustment

The Possible Positive Effects of the Coining Ritual