Welcome to the Eight Week Meridian Challenge. Hopefully it will be more refreshing than challenging, as you learn the basics about your own meridian system, and a very simple technique for balancing it.
Meridians may be considered esoteric in our culture, but they are considered part of mainstream medicine elsewhere. Today, acupuncture is used in most hospitals in China to treat illness. In Japan, some government employees are required to have their meridians scanned annually for imbalances as a way of detecting health vulnerabilities and prevent disease. In her book Energy Medicine, Donna Eden says meridans can be thought of us "fourteen tangible pathways that carry energy into, through, and out of the body." Hundreds of energy stations line these pathways, each one a well of electromagnetic energy and other subtle energies. These are your "acupuncture points, " and can be stimulated with needles or pressure to help balance the flow of energy through them.
In truth, you only have one meridian. Those fourteen tangible pathways are actually part of a single meridian that runs throughout the entire body in one, long circuit. They appear as twelve segments, however, and are named for a particular organ or system that they serve. Imagine you are floating down a very long river in a tiny boat. The river is named for each town through which it passes. So, you pass through "Kidney Town," and for however long it takes you to float by, you are on the "Kidney Meridian River." Now you are in Pericardium-ville for awhile. Next thing you know, you're floating through Triple Warmer Whistle-Stop (watch out, the natives are fierce here). On to Gall Bladder Burrough followed by Liver Burg and Lung City. Just around the bend is Large Intestine Town. After that is Stomach-ville. Spleen City is the next stop, but you're already paddling your way to Heart Hamlet. It won't be long before you see Small Intestine Town. Finally comes Bladder Burrough, which brings you right back to where you started...Kidney Town.
Two additional meridians, called Central (also known as Conception Vessel) and Governing, run through the very core of your body. These two energies function a bit differently than the other twelve. I think of them as the "yin and yang sprinkler system" for the other twelve meridians. Governing, which runs up the spine, over the top of the head and to the tip of the nose, "juices" your yang meridians (Bladder, Gall Bladder, Small Intestine, Triple Warmer, Stomach and Large Intestine). Central runs up the front of the body, lying just under the chakras, from the pubic bone to the lower lip. It takes care of the yin meridians (Kidney, Liver, Heart, Pericardium, Spleen and Lung). Donna Eden points out several other important qualities about these two meridians which set them apart from the other twelve. One, they "open more directly to the environment," and "energies that surround you can enter and exit through them." They also double as "radiant circuits" and can be sources of profound joy and peace.
You'll be learning more about radiant circuits a little down the road. For now let's just appreciate the fact you have a wonderful energy transportation system which, when balanced, can help to maintain your physical and emotional wellbeing. Over the next eight weeks you will become intimately acquainted with each of your fourteen meridians, and you will learn one very basic method of keeping them in balance. By the end of the eight weeks you will be able to trace all fourteen of your meridians!
Do you know what an Etch-a-Sketch is? It's a toy screen filled with aluminum powder. With a stylus you can drag the aluminum powder where you want to create pictures. Well, I want you to think of your hands as styli, and your Central and Governing meridians as if they're filled with aluminum powder.
To trace your Central meridian, place both hands on your pubic bone. Firmly draw a line straight up the center of your body to just below the lower lip. Imagine as you do that you are dragging fresh, life-giving chi up with you just the way an Etch-a-Sketch stylus would drag aluminum powder up. To finish, press your finger tips in here to "lock in" the energies. Repeat twice more.
To trace your Governing meridian, place both hands on your tailbone. Firmly draw a line straight up the spine as far as you can. Reach over your shoulder with one hand and attempt to touch the other hand. If you can't reach it, imagine you can. "Grab" the energy you've been pulling up and bring it up the rest of your spine, straight over the top of your head, and stop just below the nose. To finish, press your finger tips in here to "lock in" the energies. Repeat twice more.
When Central meridian is out of balance, you might notice you're feeling vulnerable and insecure. It's a great meridian to trace just before giving a public talk! When Governing meridian is out of balance, you will lack the courage to move forward, or overcome problems. Need more backbone? Trace Governing. It's possible you will start to feel more centered, secure and courageous if you trace these two meridians on a regular basis. Try it and see.
And as always, let me know.
Blessings,
Rose
