As the colder weather moves in here in Ontario, daylight hours get shorter, skies are gray, and people everywhere are feeling more tired and lethargic. With these weather changes, so come changes in mood and metabolism for many people. While tracing the meridians can be beneficial any time of year, this seemed like an especially good time to post this information to help keep you healthy, strong, and energetic through these colder winter months. Read on and enjoy!
Tracing the Meridians for Energy, Vitality, and Great Health:
The meridians are energy pathways that run through the body, acting as a transportation system that supplies the physical and subtle bodies with vital energy. Each of the major meridians supplies its corresponding organ system with this vital energy that is required for its healthy functioning. When the flow of energy in the meridians becomes blocked or imbalanced, dysfunction of the corresponding organ system will be present.
There are several methods and techniques that can bring balance and restore healthy flow of the meridian pathways. Stimulation via acupuncture needles, laser therapy, electrical stimulation, Qi Gong, remedy therapies, and other modalities all act in their own way to support the health of the meridians and their associated organ systems.
One very simple method to enhance the balance of energy flow in the body is to “trace” the meridians. Our hands, like the meridians, carry electromagnetic energy and can thus act as magnets that will move the flow of energy through the body as we trace them along the meridian pathways. This quick and effective technique can be easily learned by anyone, making it a wonderful adjunct to strengthen other therapies.
Benefits of Tracing the Meridians:
- Keeps the energy flowing throughout the body
- Releases and prevents congestion along the body’s energetic pathways
- Relieves stress and removes stagnant and toxic energies
- Brings in fresh energy and vitalizes the energetic pathways of the body
- Strengthening the meridians can have a direct impact on the health and vitality of the corresponding organs and systems of the body
How to Trace the Meridians:
Tracing all of the major meridians can be used as a daily exercise to promote healthy energetic balance in the body. Alternately, one may choose to focus on one or more specific meridians that are out of balance and perform this exercise several times daily to restore balance and harmony to the pathway and its associated organ systems.
| Meridian | Circadian Clock | How to Trace |
| Central Meridian (Conception Vessel) | — | Begin with both hands at your pubic bone and bring them straight up along the front of your body to your bottom lip. |
| Governing Meridian | — | Begin with one hand at your tailbone and trace straight up the spine as high as you can, and then reach over the shoulder with your other hand to complete the tracing up the rest of the spine, over the head, and down your nose to your top lip. |
| Spleen Meridian | 9 am to 11 am | Begin with both hands on the outer corner of your big toe and move straight up the inner part of your legs, crossing over to the outside at your hips, up the sides of your rib cage to the underarm and then back down to the bottom of the ribcage. |
| Heart Meridian | 11 am to 1 pm | Begin with one hand underneath the armpit in line with the baby finger of the opposite hand. Trace straight down the side of the arm and off the baby finger. Repeat on other side of the body. |
| Small Intestine Meridian | 1 pm to 3 pm | Begin at the baby finger with the opposite hand. Go straight up the back of the arm to the shoulder, drop back on your scapula, trace over to the cheekbone and then drop back to the opening of the ear. Repeat on other side of the body. |
| Bladder Meridian | 3 pm to 5 pm | Begin with both hands between your eyebrows. Trace your hands up over the crown and down the back of your head and neck as far as you can reach. Release your hands and reach back underneath and continue tracing down either side of your spine to below your waist. Trace back up your waist and then down and around either side of your gluteus maximus (buttocks). Release your hands and reach back up behind to your shoulders and trace straight down the outside of the body to the knees. Move your hands in to the middle of the back of the knee and continue straight down to the floor and sweep off the sides of the baby toe. |
| Kidney Meridian | 5 pm to 7 pm | Begin with your fingers under the balls of each foot on the inside. Trace up the inside of each foot to the ankle, make a circle around the protruding ankle bone (the round knob inside your ankle), and move straight up your legs and all the way up the front of the body to K27, located just beneath the clavicle and above the first rib at the breastbone. Massage or tap these points vigorously to increase energy flow. |
| Circulation Meridian | 7 pm to 9 pm | Begin with the fingers of one hand on the outside of the opposite nipple and trace up over the shoulder. Continue tracing down the inside of the arm and straight off the middle finger. Repeat on the other side of the body. |
| Triple Warmer Meridian | 9 pm to 11 pm | Begin with one hand on the back of the opposite middle finger and trace up the arm, across the shoulder and up the neck to just beneath the ear. Trace around and behind the ear to end at the temple beside the eyebrow. Repeat on the other side of the body. |
| Gallbladder Meridian | 11 pm to 1 am | Begin with your fingers of both hands on the outside of your eyebrows and trace back to the opening of the ears. Trace your fingers straight up approximately two inches, circle forward on the temples and then drop back behind the ear. From the back of the ears, trace back and up around the top of the crown to the front of the forehead. Trace back up and over the crown of the head and down the neck. Release and move your hands to the top of the sides of your rib cage. Trace down and forward to bring your hands together at the bottom of the rib cage. Continue moving downward and flare back out to the sides of the body at the waist, inward at the hips and then straight down the sides of the legs and off the fourth toe (beside the baby toe). |
| Liver Meridian | 1 am to 3 am | Begin with your fingers on the inside of your big toes and trace straight up the insides of the legs. Move out across your hips and continue up the sides of the rib cage and then move inward to end up beneath the ribs in line with the nipples. |
| Lung Meridian | 3 am to 5 am | Begin with one hand over the opposite lung and trace upwards over the shoulder, then straight down the back of the arm and off the thumb. Repeat on the other side of the body. |
| Large Intestine Meridian | 5 am to 7 am | Begin with the fingers of one hand on the index (pointer) finger of the opposite hand and trace straight up the back of the arm to the shoulder, continue along the neck to arrive beneath the nose, and move out to the flare of the nose on the outside of the nostril. |
| Stomach Meridian | 7 am to 9 am | Begin with both hands beneath the eyes, move downward to your jawbone, circle the outside of your face and over the ears to come down on top of the forehead and trace straight down over the eyes to the collarbone. Move outward slightly at the collarbone then continue down over the breasts. Move back to centre at the waist, out at the hips, and then continue straight down the legs and off the second toes (beside the large toe). |
Below are some helpful tips to remember when tracing the meridians:
- Keep your hands open during the tracing, either touching or two inches above the body
- It can be very beneficial to repeat the tracing of the Spleen Meridian, followed by the Central and then Governing Meridian at the end of the routine.
- Remember to shake your hands off every so often to release the built up energy
- Because the Spleen Meridian is so essential for the health of the immune system, Donna Eden recommends beginning with this meridian following the Central and Governing Meridians; however you can begin at any meridian that you choose. It may be beneficial to start at your weakest meridian and continue from there.
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