In Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM for short, the meridians and their effectiveness have been known for around 2,000 years. Some treatment methods are based on them. These classical medical procedures are also being used more and more in Germany and are now even subsidised by some health insurance companies. In the following article, we explain what exactly meridians are and what role these energy channels play in TCM.
What are meridians exactly?
First of all, the term meridians, which is commonly used in Europe, is not quite correct and thus easily misunderstood. Strictly speaking, the Chinese word jīngmài or jīngluò refers to a network of pathways. The human life force, the so-called Qi, flows in these.
The term meridians goes back to European travellers to Asia in the 17th century. When describing the energy pathways, they felt reminded of the grid structure of the maps they knew and therefore henceforth used the term meridians. We will also use this now common term in the following to avoid possible inconsistencies.
The structure of the meridian network
Basically, you can imagine these energy pathways as branched channels between the individual organs of our body. TCM designates twelve main meridians, each of which forms the functional circuit of a specific organ. The individual systems are associated with the Chinese elements wood, fire, earth, metal and water and also react to them.
The 12 main meridians belong to the following organ systems:
Lung and Large Intestine (Metal), Stomach and Spleen (Earth), Bladder and Kidneys (Water),
Gall bladder and liver (wood), small intestine, heart, pericardium and Triple Warmer (fire).
They run just beneath the skin, which makes it easy to influence them from the outside. Their path always leads along the body axis and never crosses the so-called meridian plane. You can imagine this as the centre line of the body as an extension of the spine.
Each of the 12 main meridians has its maximum energy level for exactly two hours a day and thus influences the functioning of the body. This phenomenon is also called the organ clock.
In addition to the 12 main meridians, there are 8 extraordinary vessels, 12 pathway tendons, 15 connecting channels, 12 special meridians and the so-called water pathways. We will not go into the names of these individual energy channels, where they run and what their function is. For that, you have to go much deeper into the matter than you should as a layman. What is important, however, is that all these channels cross each other again and again. These points are also called meridian points. Our body has a total of 317 meridian points. So you can already see how complex and profound this subject is. It is not for nothing that training in this field takes a lot of time and effort.
How do the meridians influence our health?
If the natural energy flows in our body are free, then the Qi can flow uninhibited and the organism is healthy. However, if congestion or even blockages occur, functional disorders develop first. If these are not corrected promptly, they can develop into serious complaints and even illnesses. In many cases, the flow of Qi is restored on its own after a short time and the body can heal itself. However, if blockages persist over a longer period of time, it may be necessary to correct them externally.
Each of the 317 meridian points stands individually for an organ or a specific problem. Locating these points precisely and stimulating them is the basis of some classical TCM treatment methods. Our body often shows not only physical but also mental effects of such a disturbance of the energy flow.
A blockage in the kidney meridian can lead, for example, to listlessness, low self-confidence and anxiety, but can also result in hormone disorders and diarrhoea.
Interruptions in the flow of the heart meridian, on the other hand, often cause heart problems and dizziness, but are also responsible for nervousness and restlessness.
What therapies are known to traditional Chinese medicine?
So what should be done when the meridians, or the energy channels of the body, no longer function properly or are blocked?
In order to let the Qi flow freely again, TCM has developed several forms of therapy that are also known in Germany. The most important of these are:
- Acupuncture: Fine needles are inserted through the skin to precisely stimulate the individual meridian points.
- Acupressure: In contrast to acupuncture, acupressure relies on targeted blunt pressure on individual areas. Depending on whether the thumb, elbow, knee or a special tool is used, several median points can be stimulated simultaneously.
- Tuina: This chinese form of massage essentially consists of pushing, rubbing and pulling. This action on the skin and the underlying tissue is intended not only to relieve congestion and blockages, but also to stimulate individual organs in a targeted manner. Depending on the technique used and the force applied, this therapy can be quite painful. Japanese shiatsu, which is often better known here, developed from this form of massage.
- Cupping: In this form of therapy, negative pressure is created via an attached vitreous body and thus the underlying tissue is stimulated. The treatment is by no means always static. By moving the glass on the oiled skin, tense muscles can be loosened and the Qi flow reactivated.
- Yin Yoga: This special style of yoga aims to strengthen the mobility of the individual body parts in relation to each other. Due to the positions (asanas) being performed almost exclusively in a sitting or lying position, this style is considered particularly calm and passive.
The system of meridians from a scientific point of view
Even though forms of treatment such as acupuncture have now gained a foothold in Germany and are even subsidised by some health insurance companies for certain indications, there is no scientific evidence for subdermal energy pathways or meridians.
A well-known experiment to prove the existence of these Qi channels did not produce the hoped-for results. In this experiment, slightly radioactive substances were injected under the skin in order to trace their movement in the body. Instead of following the traditionally assumed meridians, the individual substances were transported away via veins and lymph vessels. The attempt to identify meridians via the electrical conductivity of the body tissue has also failed so far.
Of course, this is no reason to close oneself off to the therapeutic possibilities of TCM. However, it should be seen more as a supplement to classical orthodox medicine and not as a substitute.
TCM is a central component of world medicine and is also described and practised accordingly in Extended Medicine. Researching the energies and energy flows of our body is one of the great medical challenges of the coming decades. Unfortunately, this kind of development all too often depends on the interests of external financiers, and research into these Far Eastern healing methods does not represent a lucrative source of income.
Of central importance will be the question of what influence the smallest subatomic particles can have on large systems such as the human cell. Incidentally, this question was first formulated by the founder of quantum physics, Erwin Schrödinger, in 1944 during a revolutionary lecture in Ireland. The scientific community is still waiting for a satisfactory and complete answer.