Meridians, or energy pathways, run through the body, connecting it to the organs. This entire meridian system is one vast network, and within this network, life is abundant. Life energy (qi – pronounced “chee”), blood, and bodily fluids flow through these pathways, ensuring that our food is digested, that our organs, muscles, brain, and bones are properly nourished, that we can think, play, walk, be moved, work… When the qi is out of the meridians, we are dead, and a lifeless corpse lies there.
It’s fascinating that every organ has a meridian. Acupuncturists refer to them as, for example, the liver meridian, or the heart meridian, and so on. Through these meridians, we can make the organs healthier or heal them, and conversely, the organ itself projects itself into its meridian. The meridians are, as it were, the mirror of the organs. This is interesting because it allows us to see the inside from the outside, and we can improve the inside through the acupuncture points on the meridian.
How does this network of meridians relate to, for example, the circulatory system, the nervous system, the lymphatic system, the hormonal balance, and so on? The meridian network encompasses all these systems. Treating the meridians through the acupuncture points affects the circulatory system, the nervous system, the lymphatic system, and the hormones.