Sensing the meridians - share experiences

[gareththomasnz]

I often wonder at the details of meridian theory. Proven with GSR measurements.

How though did the ancient Indians and Chinese discover or sense the Nadis/meridians

In my personal experience I have come closest to this while practising extreme isometric tension exercises.

For example holding two 24kg kettlebells in the hands in a standing stance for as long as possible I will swear I can feel the meridians in my arms and microcosmic circuit

Have others had similar experience with isometric exercises ?

In meditation though I feel that I am only imagining the meridians.

[Andy Miles]

feeling a meridian is a lot like feeling an individual muscle fiber.

You really won't unless there is a problem with it.


How did they find it out?


Torture.

[taai gihk yahn]

Originally Posted by gareththomasnz

For example holding two 24kg kettlebells in the hands in a standing stance for as long as possible I will swear I can feel the meridians in my arms and microcosmic circuit .

do a little research on the autonomic nervous system, especially the parasympathetic plexi and sympathetic chain, and "poof" goes the metaphor of the meridians and orbits...

[ShaolinDan]

Originally Posted by taai gihk yahn

do a little research on the autonomic nervous system, especially the parasympathetic plexi and sympathetic chain, and "poof" goes the metaphor of the meridians and orbits...

You're no fun! Nice to see you posting again.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by taai gihk yahn

do a little research on the autonomic nervous system, especially the parasympathetic plexi and sympathetic chain, and "poof" goes the metaphor of the meridians and orbits...

Exactly. While the concept of meridians was mindblowingly advanced when it was new, it has since been replaced by scientific exploration into the issue. I respect the efforts made in this field, and it really helped modern medicine "fill in the blanks" and help guide research. However, it is terribly outdated.

[Andy Miles]

http://acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/a...e.php?id=31918

I learned for my Shifu that the extraordinary meridians were the first 8 divisions of the body. Later this was found to be cells.

Extraordinary meridians were originally said to express prenatal qi. Its no surprise at all that they are related to adult stem cells. I would suspect they trigger epigenetic changes.

This doesn't show all of the meridians and its certainly not an either/or bongham channel/nerve choice, but it does take us closer to integrating these medical systems.

[gareththomasnz]

Thank you for the link on Bonghan Channels

I know that the meridians are not simply the nerves as there are bioelectric characteristics that prove they exist in the exact form described in all of the literature.

There are also bioelectric links with embryonics and regenerative medicine

Bonghan Channels put it into a whole different perspective. I will spend some time gathering information and research this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyahTD7oB8w

http://safescaninc.com/node/13

http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/16...2%80%99s-cures

[xinyidizi]

I have got most of what I can feel from zhanzhuang and some other qigong exercises that I do complementary to martial arts. According to TCM theory the qi flow in the meridians moves the blood and other body fluids（津液） so we can feel it indirectly by paying attention to our pulse and the heat it can produce in our bodies. Moreover it is also possible to see it to some extent by doing certain exercises.

I don’t know how the ancient people discovered the meridians but I guess since they were closer to nature and didn’t have so many distractions in their lives therefore their bodies were more open and they could naturally sense the qi flow without needing to try hard like most of us. In that case they didn’t really discover the meridians but could naturally feel them. However we have devolved away from those abilities because of the life style we have chosen in our present-day societies.

[IronFist]

Originally Posted by xinyidizi

I have got most of what I can feel from zhanzhuang and some other qigong exercises that I do complementary to martial arts. According to TCM theory the qi flow in the meridians moves the blood and other body fluids（津液） so we can feel it indirectly by paying attention to our pulse and the heat it can produce in our bodies. Moreover it is also possible to see it to some extent by doing certain exercises.

What exercises?

I don’t know how the ancient people discovered the meridians but I guess since they were closer to nature and didn’t have so many distractions in their lives therefore their bodies were more open and they could naturally sense the qi flow without needing to try hard like most of us. In that case they didn’t really discover the meridians but could naturally feel them. However we have devolved away from those abilities because of the life style we have chosen in our present-day societies.

Sure does suck now that we have technology and computers and internet and airplanes and medical science and abundant sources of high quality food. We can't just sit around feeling our qi flow anymore

Welcome to the forums, btw.

[xinyidizi]

Welcome to the forums, btw.

Thanks

What exercises?

Which part? Feeling them or seeing them?

[Drake]

Originally Posted by IronFist

What exercises?



Sure does suck now that we have technology and computers and internet and airplanes and medical science and abundant sources of high quality food. We can't just sit around feeling our qi flow anymore

Welcome to the forums, btw.

It does. We're like any other animal, and now we've done went and overpopulated.

While it's spiffy that we can live to 80 years on average, we're also sucking the planet dry.

Of course, nobody wants to talk about it....

[Scott R. Brown]

Originally Posted by Drake

It does. We're like any other animal, and now we've done went and overpopulated.

While it's spiffy that we can live to 80 years on average, we're also sucking the planet dry.

Of course, nobody wants to talk about it....

That is because we are not sucking the planet dry......yet!

You are suppose to PRETEND to drink the Kool-Aid NOT actually swallow any of it!

[wenshu]

Planet Earth is going to be just fine long after Humans have killed each other off. Or succumbed to mass famine. Or pandemics.

Up until the sun explodes in a couple of billion years that is.

[Scott R. Brown]

We (humans) are less than a dust mite on the elephantine rump of existence!

[rett]

My take on it is that if the meridians are something you can sense, then they represent, by definition, a phenomenological approach to describing the body rather than a scientific one. That doesn't make them wrong. They describe the body as experienced by us. That can make them good for practising as they are.

Those same sensations can be the object of more finely-grained physiological descriptions, but such scientific results might not help us practise. For instance meditating on Guan Yin's name might have a beneficial effect on our nervous system. Suppose someone describes that effect in terms of measurable effects in the brain. Should you then tell the meditator to replace the thought of Guan Yin with a bunch of data?

Or we can see colors. If you say that's not color, that's "just" wavelengths of light interacting with a sense organ and a brain and point to all the data, then sure. I agree. But that doesn't change the fact that what we see are colors.