Where is Qi located and how does it move?

We now know that Qi is the animating force in the body that helps it heal and stay resilient in face of stressors. Qi flows specifically through physical and energetic pathways called “meridians” or “channels” (mai) that directly provide nourishment to the cells, tissues, muscles, bones, organs and glands.

There are 14 main channels that are linked to all our main organ system networks. There are several other adjunct channels systems that exist as well that consist of their own pathways and functions that link up the body in various degrees of complexity and consciousness.Chinese Medicine is an Art and a Science. See the Warp and Weft image above where we are woven together by pre and post natal influences.

An acupuncture channel (mai) is often compared to a river. And like a healthy and vibrant river, we like our acupuncture channels to flow freely without undue obstruction. When Qi stagnates or gets stuck, then disease or malfunction occurs, and bodily systems do not communicate as effectively with one another. This affects the integrity of the yin-yang relationship that can have multiple acute or systemic effects on our Body (body-mind-spirit complex). History is written in the river rocks and the Divinity of life unfolds the latent Essence as a “Rivers runs through it.”

Please see the movie “A River Runs Through It” by Robert Redford.