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מה בין ין יוגה ומרידיאנים
The Meridians
Sorce: YinYoga.com
In Chinese medicine the channels that conduct energy throughout the body are called
"meridians." These conduits form a network. If the network is disrupted, if blockages occur,
the body will not function properly - Chi, Ching, and Shen do not flow as required, the organs
will not perform their function, and imbalance arises. When the meridians are clear and open,
energy flows freely and all is well once more.
When we looked at the highways within our subtle body from the yogic perspective, we
discovered the ancient yogis sensed thousands upon thousands of individual passageways,
which they called the nadis. Some text suggested there were seventy-two thousand nadis
while other texts claimed there were three hundred thousand. The use of large numbers is not
meant to give an exact tally of how many lines of energy there actually are in the body. Large
numbers simply signify that there are too many to count. The learning to be taken here is that
our bodies are full of conduits for the subtle energies that flow within us.
As in India, the Chinese mystics realized that not all channels are equally important. The
Indian yogis described eleven nadis by name and further claimed that only three were really
important for spiritual practice. In China, with a greater concern over physical well-being and
longevity, seventy-one meridians were named and of these, fourteen were most important.
Each of the ten major organs has its associated meridian, and the meridian may be yin or yang,
depending upon the zang or fu nature of the organ it pertains to. Additionally, the pericardium
and the San Jiao also have their associated meridians, which, along with the others, make up
twelve major meridians, known as a group as Jing Mai. We can consider these twelve to be
major channels.
Each of the major channels has one or more collateral channels, side roads leading to
destinations other than the pertaining organ. Along the meridians are found special points that
can be stimulated, through acupuncture, to mobilize energy or remove blockages. On the
major meridians, there are three hundred and sixty-one regular points, although during an
examination a Chinese doctor may discover even more. In more recent times, a branch of
acupuncture focusing just on the ear has discovered fifty-four additional points on each ear.
In all there over two thousand acupuncture points used to help maintain or rebuild health.
That is far too many for us to investigate in this journey. The interested reader can take up the
trail by studying one of the many textbooks used in Traditional Chinese Medicine raining such
as the newly compiled Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion, published by the Shanghai
University. Even more highly recommended, and easier to follow, is Ted Kaptchuk's book The
Web That Has No Weaver.
We will limit our investigation to the fourteen most-discussed meridians. There are six
meridians that begin or end in the feet. Relative to their position in the body these meridians
can be considered yin meridians, compared to another six that begin or end in the hands,
which can be considered yang meridians. Being yin meridians, these lower ones are more
strongly affected during a Yin Yoga practice than the higher yang meridians. We will begin our
investigation with these six lower lines. Note that we will describe each meridian as a single
line but usually there are two meridians; one for each side of the body