In acupuncture treatment, there are actually 12 main acupuncture meridians and they go along the arms and legs. These standard meridians are the lungs, stomach, large intestine, heart, spleen, small intestine, kidney, pericardium, urinary bladder, triple warmer, liver and gall bladder. The meridians are divided into two groups which are the yin and yang.
History of the Meridians
Five thousand years ago, ancient Chinese discovered energy in the body that can’t be felt, found or seen with the senses. Any disturbances in these forms of energy could manifest abnormal patterns of cellular growth and organization. Along with this energy that travels inside the human body, the Chinese also discovered and named twelve acupuncture meridians. Acupuncture meridians can be compared to copper traces on an electric circuit board foe they run throughout the body. Each acupuncture meridian was named by the life function connected with them. Majority of Western scientists believed that acupuncture meridians are like imaginary structures since there are no published records or anatomical studies of the meridians in conventional medical journals to validate their existence. This is the reason why western scientists believe that only nerve pathways comprise the true means of acupuncture therapy. Acupuncture meridians are the pathways of the negative and positive energy power that carries the communication of various parts of the human body.
In fact, meridians connect everything in the body like the tissues, organs, teeth, etc. The meridians are believed to pass an invisible energy known as Ch’i. This energy enters the body through specific acupuncture points and they would flow to deep organ structures thus bringing nourishment to all parts of the body. To distinguish acupuncture points from the surrounding skin, they have exceptional electrical characteristics. It is along the meridians that these acupuncture points exist. In character, these points are electro-magnetic and they consist of small palpable spots which can be located by the hand, muscle testing and micro-electrical voltage meters usually when they are not functioning properly.
To optimize human performance, the 500 acupuncture points were mapped and used for centuries and these points are the connection between the negative and positive meridians and functions of the body including the muscles and internal organs. These points are useful both in treating and diagnosing disease states.
The Ch’i that is known to be magnetically subtle is not electrical in nature but they are able to produce secondary electrical fields. This allows changes at the physical cellular level through the initiation of secondary electrical fields. These electrical fields are translated into DC-current interactions from the higher energy meridians into the physical body. They affect the primary bio-electronic processes that maintain and provide unity with the physical-cellular structure. For example, when the flow of energy to a specific organ is disrupted, patterns of cellular disturbance occur. By feeling the pulses, imbalances in the meridians can be detected.