For over thousands of years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has mapped meridian pathways that carry Qi, or vital life force energy, through the body. This may sound a bit vague to people grown up with the ‘western’ biomedical system, which was the case for me. As a Medical scientist I could not explain the profound effect I felt after my first acupuncture treatment. Why would sticking a thin needle into your body change the way you feel?
My path into exploration of the Oriental medicine world took me on a journey studying Zen Shiatsu, Yin Yoga and Qigong.
All of these modalities share the aspect of facilitating a free flow of energy through our amazing human body and draw heavily from Traditional Chinese medicine and the 5 element theory.
Modern research into fascia, the connective tissue that forms a body-wide web of connection, support and communication, suggests there’s a scientific doorway into this ancient wisdom.
Fascia: Your Inner Web of Awareness
Fascia is not just the “wrapping” you see in anatomy illustrations. It is an alive, three-dimensional network encasing muscles, bones, nerves and organs. Rich with sensory nerve endings, fascia helps you feel where you are in space (=proprioception), responds to pressure and communicates through subtle electrical signals when stretched or compressed. Through our Fascia we can also feel what is happening on the inside (=interoception), a valuable ability for nervous system regulation.
👉 Release your fascia: Place a tennis ball underneath the ball of your foot, heel down. Lean your weight into the ball, roll sideways. Place ball underneath the heel, then roll the inner arch. Ball aside, stand parallel with your feet on the floor: How does it feel? Is the sensation just in the foot or transcending further? Find a forward fold, allowing the spine to hang. Is one side of your legs more spacious in the back as you fold? As you return to a stance, roll the other foot. Fold forward again, notice the texture and spaciousness in the back of your body.
Meridians and Fascia: Two Maps, One Territory?
In the early 2000s, researcher Dr. Helene Langevin discovered that many acupuncture points align with fascial planes between muscles. She studied the relationship between meridians and connective tissue using an ultrasound scanner (1). Another research team published that all of the main meridian lines are located in the connective tissue among the interspaces of the muscles (2). These scientific findings don’t prove meridians exist, they suggest that the interspaces of the muscles filled by fascia conduct energy, and these pathways are aligning with the meridians mapped out by TCM (3).
Tom Myers did a lot of research into the myofascial tracks of the body, showing how muscles are connected by the fascial fabric forming functional units, to allow movement and distribute tension. Interestingly, most of these myofascial tracks align with the main meridians of TCM (4).
👉 Acupressure practice: Sit down and massage the Kidney-1 point (KD-1; Yongquan) located in the sole of the foot, between first and second toe on the ball of the foot, just about where the ball becomes the arch. Massage on both sides, feel into the texture underneath your thumbs. You stimulate the connective tissues in the sole of your foot. According to TCM, KD-1 supports grounding, since this point is in contact with the earth when standing. Stimulating this point helps draw excess energy down, away from the head. Great for overthinking, feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
Learn 3 acupressure points you can use with Yin Yoga + video class. Get your free Workbook HERE
Yin Yoga: Melting Into the Web
In Yin Yoga, long-held postures create slow, sustained pressure that gives fascia time to release, rehydrate, and communicate with the nervous system. The result is often a feeling of spaciousness, like your inner architecture has been untangled. We use less effort and give ourselves over to gravity. This brings the focus to the Yin tissues, the joints, tendons and fascia. Most Yin Yoga poses stimulate specific myofascial tracks along which we find meridian lines as mentioned above. We can incorporate wisdom from TCM into the practice, by speaking to a specific quality, element or emotion as described in TCM.
👉 Invitation for Yin: After massaging Kidney 1 point in the soles of the feet, find Butterfly Pose (a seated forward fold with the soles of the feet together) for ~3minutes. Use some props to settle in and as you linger, visualize the connection of your myofascia from the soles of your feet along the inner legs into the groins and the whole back body lengthening at the same time. Invite in spaciousness as the energy settles.
Qigong: Flowing With Energy
Qigong, rooted in the Taoist philosophy, uses gentle and intentional movement with acupressure or tapping. Free the fascial tracks to encourage a free flow of energy. This practice is like a moving meditation and great for sooting the nervous system. You learn to immerse in the slow and subtle movements, training your focus and external and internal awareness (proprio- and interception).
👉 Tapping practice: Stand with feet hip-width apart. Soften the joints of the body, spine suspended between heaven and earth. Bring your fingertips to your chest space and start tapping over the surface of your lungs. Then let the right arm hang by your side as you tap along the inner line of the right arm down to the thumb, turn right arm over so you can tap from index finger along the outer arm, outer shoulder. Repeat. Use fingertips, flat palm or knuckles. Then change sides. When you are done, stand in stillness and notice if you can feel your aliveness, your Qi circulating in the upper body.
Science and eastern Tradition meet
Whether we describe it as Qi flowing through meridians or as fascia responding to tapping, acupressure or physical poses, the essence is the same: Yin Yoga invites us to sense the body as one interconnected web where energy, awareness and vitality reside and flow.
Fascia and meridians are part of the hidden architecture of the body. As teachers, weaving Qi awareness into Yin classes can be as simple as guiding students to notice subtle shifts and reminding them that every pose is an opportunity to reconnect with the body’s innate harmony. Or you can integrate tools such as tapping, acupressure massage or myofascial release into Yin Yoga.
With Yinspiration,
Simone x
References:
1- Langevin H. M., Yandow J. A. Relationship of acupuncture points and meridians to connective tissue planes. Anatomical Record. 2002;269(6):257–265.
2-Xie H.-R., Li F.-C., Zhang W.-B. Observation and analysis on the meridian-collateral running track-related anatomical structure in the human body. Acupuncture Research. 2009;34(3):202–206.
3 - Bai Y., et al. Review of Evidence Suggesting That the Fascia Network Could Be the Anatomical Basis for Acupoints and Meridians in the Human Body. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011 Apr 26;2011:260510.
4 -The Fascia guide: https://fasciaguide.com/treatment/fascia-lines-the-intersections-of-the-body/