Meridian theory is at the heart of qigong, acupuncture, and other forms of Chinese Medicine. It is the common thread between all Chinese healing arts. This ancient theory is robust, sophisticated, and deep.
But are the meridians even real? If so, where are they?
Naturally, I get questions like this all the time. I’ve already written two articles about the meridians, which you can read below. These articles will answer many of the questions that you might have.
- Qigong Students: Here’s How to Make Sense of the Meridians
- Acupuncture Meridians: What Qigong Students Need to Know
In today’s video blog, I give my thoughts about the meridians and whether or not they are real.
In the video, I mention the discovery of a “new organ” in 2018. Here are just a few of the articles published on that topic:
- National Geographic: New Human ‘Organ’ Was Hiding in Plain Sight
- Scientific American: Meet Your Interstitium, a Newfound “Organ”
I also mention the fascia, which is a topic of great interest to me. Modern research on the fascia is hugely important for qigong practitioners. In particular, the parallels between the fascia and the Chinese concept of the Triple Burner (sanjiao, 三膲) should be of interest to every qigong practitioner, as well as every acupuncture physician.
If you’re new to the idea of the fascia then this quote will be of interest:
“Our biomechanical regulatory system is highly complex and under-studied — though new research is filling in the gap. Understanding fascia is essential to the dance between stability and movement — crucial in high performance, central in recovery from injury and disability, and ever-present in our daily life from our embryological beginnings to the last breath we take.” [Taken from the Anatomy Trains website.)
Watch the video blog here:
From the heart, Sifu Anthony
The human body is indeed a very complex system. I believe the western science can learn from the eastern system and should research in this direction to bring a new path and understanding of how different parts of human body works ‘together’.
Combining the knowledge of the east and west together you can make a different approach to treat or more importantly prevent sickness.
If this knowledge and believe of the east&west approach is embraced in the West Qi Qong will play a big role transferring from an art into a recognized maintenance system for the human body. And there we have ‘the’ solution for our healthcare financial problems.
Absolutely. Qigong could transform the healthcare system as we know it. And that’s already happening, albeit slowly.
Hi.. my own experience in this is as follows.
First time i had acupuncture 13 years ago i came out the room sceptical..thinking oh well i gave it a try..can’t feel anything yet…so.i was walking with my cousin back to my car..then BOOM..oh man i need to sit down i told him….i suddenly felt like i was floating…like i hit cloud 9. I couldnt walk..i felt drunk n drowsy.. then when i got home i was spacey..so something definitely had happened.
I knew then that something was different and when I went back to the TCM practioner from Hong kong (he couldnt speak English) his translator told me it was my chi and the meridians opening up blockages. Wow and it worked he helped me cure my issues back then after herbal teas and further sessions.
Roll on a few years i damaged my back weightlifting. 7 months i was out and went to doctors who told me its sciatica and give up training for a while he said.
I Ignored him and i wondered about acupuncture and guess what…after 2 acupuncture sessions my back was back to normal and after that i trained it stronger then i ever had before.
Now ive started qigong to self heal as i heard its like overall acupuncture.
Something does exist..those acupuncture needles go into some other bodily systems that do things. Meridians or chakras.. whatever they are…they definitely from my personal experience 100% exist.
Shortly after it was published in 1989 I read Vibrational Medicine, written by Richard Gerber, MD. In the section on acupuncture and the meridian system, he referenced studies (by major universities whose names I don’t remember now — but the book’s available online so check it out) which straightforwardly demonstrated the meridian system’s existence.
What I remember is the studies replicated a process wherein dye was injected first into a vein and subsequently into acupoints. The dye injected into acupoints instantly made visible the meridian system.
I remember thinking that the problem wasn’t that acupuncture and the meridian system are primitive. Rather, the equipment heretofore unable to locate it were.
Interesting. I’ll take a look.
Not to suggest we know everything…
In Arthur Firstenberg’s book ‘The Invisible Rainbow’, he mentions research from the 1960s of North Korean physician Bong Ham Kim who published detailed photographs of “an entire network of tiny corpuscles, and threadlike structures that connect them that exist throughout the body in our skin, in our internal organs and nervous system, and in and around our blood vessels… The pathways of the superficial ducts in the skin matched the classical pathways of the accupuncture meridians… ‘On the Kyungrak System’ was published in Pyongyang in 1963.
The research involved special dyes in living subjects. They say the pathways are not visible after death. Others have conducted similar experiments in more recent years with similar results.
For those interested, Pro Han’s report is available on Archive.org (as of September 2023). I mean to skim through myself when I get chance.
Link to NatGeo article doesn’t work but I searched for it on their site and here is an updated link.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/interstitium-fluid-cells-organ-found-cancer-spd
Thanks, Paul! I fixed it with your link!