What are meridians?

Meridians are the body’s energy channels. Certain Indian esoteric systems, such as Ayurveda and yoga, refer to these energy channels as nadis. Although meridians carry the body’s prana, they are not the same as our nervous system, nor do they follow closely the nerve paths or any other physiological paths identified by Western medicine - for example, the circulatory or lymph systems.

The body has several large meridians and hundreds of smaller ones. We focus on only the two largest channels, for two reasons: first, these two large meridians control the smaller ones; and second, it is along these two major meridians that our major chakras are located. One major meridian runs down the front of the body from the crown on the top of the head down through the heart, front solar plexus, navel, and sex chakras and ends at the perineum (the soft area between the genitals and the anus). In Chinese systems, this meridian is called the functional channel. The corresponding major meridian on the back runs up from the perineum through the basic, the meng mein, the back solar plexus, the back heart, to the crown. Chinese systems call this the governor channel. Those who have read about any Chinese or Taoist systems or practiced them may be familiar with these two channels because together, they comprise what is sometimes called the “microcosmic orbit” or “small heavenly circle.” Many Taoist systems feature a meditation that teaches practitioners to circulate their prana through these two large meridians.

In traditional Chinese medicine, meridians are energy pathways that flow throughout the body. In this video, Dr. Stephen Atkins, an integrative medicine specialist, explains how meridians are thought to work.