Essay on "Meridians & Points" Class

We started to learn about higher level healing massages than the basic relaxation healing patterns. We learned several complete patterns of healing massage, such as:

- one involving the bladder meridian
- one for nausea
- one for deficient kidney qi
- one for knee pain
- one for sciatic pain
- one for head aches &
- one to revive yang.

We learned the 5 elements;how each is different, and how they interact. This helps me to see the many aspects of an individual. If I refine my [health] intakes over much time I may be able to see more fully who my clients are, and how to treat each individual.

I believe we were all inspired by the movie, "9000 Needles." It truly showed the power of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) healing. I was also inspired by the movie, "Something Unusual is Happening, We don't Know What."

We learned when to use toning & tonifying.

We learned and focused on ways of bringing the best and highest good from ourselves and others. This is a very good space for a healer to be in. This included a "Pay it Forward" exercise.

Having our red book, "Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture" will be good for referencing the points and meridians to use for acupressure point holding. In our yellow book, "Traditional Acupuncture - The Law of the 5 Elements", I like the section on "Traditional Examination." I can foresee incorporating these suggestions into a good complete intake, especially for longer-term clients. The book, "The Web that has No Weaver" has given me a very good overview of the societal mind-set that includes Traditional Chinese Medicine. I start to be able to think more in this way. It is good for letting my Western-raised mind see/feel into what TCM really is.

We have learned and practiced "Smiling Heart Qi Gong" 3 times per week. This has become one of my favorites. I have also been practicing a daily hour-long qigong for my own specific health issues; for several weeks now. This has become more important to me. And, as I learn more, I may be able to suggest qigong to clients who may be open to it.

Being introduced to [health] intakes from the complexity of TCM [Traditional Chinese Medicine] means seeing a person much more thoroughly as an individual. Therefore, I may be able to help clients better as who they are; rather than from the perspective of a very brief Western style [health] intake and diagnosis. Knowing the acupressure points and meridians will help me help specific clients. And, it also gives me a direction to go towards more thoroughly learning specific helpful points.

The Secret

Life has many different secrets that human beings still have to discover. Meridians and their points are one of these secrets. Personally, it made medicine make a lot more sense to me. I have a better understanding of how the body works now that I have learned about meridians and their paths. Meridians are like a map of your body with secret treasure points. Each point corresponds to different organs, which effects your body in different ways.

Everyone wants to be healed from their sickness. It doesn't matter how significant the sickness is, everyone wants to be free of it. It's human nature to want to be healed or want someone else to be healed like a family member or close friend. Meridians are the new hype these days because its a secret map of where your body needs help healing. If one of your meridians are deficient then it's a possibility that maybe the meridian organ its connected to is deficient as well. For instance, if your GB21 (Gallbladder) feels tight and knotted, then it may make your neck or shoulder stiff.

If someone feels dizzy, cold, or has a shortness of breath then they could look up which meridian corresponds to those symptoms. After you have found which meridians help the symptoms then you could massage those points and the symptoms would most likely disappear. This new kind of thinking has really opened my eyes. It's been around for centuries and I had never heard of it before.

I am almost out of massage therapy school and I am glad that they taught us about meridians and their points. This is information that I will use for the rest of my life because it makes sense that your whole body is connected. So, if a certain organ isn't up to par it would definitely have an effect on other areas of the body. Something about disease made a lot more sense and gave me hope for the future. Learning about meridians was another puzzle piece to my big picture of life.

Little Shaolin - Taoist Teaching & Healing Clinic

Back in 2002 I was on my second educational tour to China. The group I was with was visiting Wudang – well known for being the birth place of Tai Chi. This was a 22 hour train ride from Beijing, followed by a walk through a small village, followed by a long bus ride way up into the jungle-like mountains.


Wudang was beautiful, peaceful, and in the middle of nowhere. No computers, some electricity, and hot water turned on only at specific times of the day. The hotel had concrete block walls with holes left out for windows, no screen. Down below, the neighbors caught a chicken or goat each night and slaughtered it on the back porch for dinner. I remember having a zucchini-like squash cooked in a delicious variety of ways for almost every meal, since it was the most abundant locally grown food, and locally grown was all that was available.


We were there to study Tai Chi and QiGong and there wasn’t much to distract us from this incredible journey of self-cultivation.


One day, we took a trip to a nearby Taoist monastery where we had been invited to meet the monks that lived off the land and watch them perform Tai Chi. The monastery was ancient looking and had the feeling of many, many lives being lived there. This day was pure blue sky sunny and about 108 degrees F. No fans, no air conditioning, just cool water to drink and a little shade.


Standing in the hot sun, we were watching the monks do Tai Chi, when all of a sudden a man in our group turned very pale and collapsed. No doctors, no hospital, no telephone or anything else one usually thinks of in an emergency situation.

The monks immediately sprang into action. They carried him through a doorway behind us and laid him on the floor. A monk ran up and showed me a small glass vial with purple liquid inside (Chinese herbs), the look on his face obviously asking if it was ok to administer the liquid. I shook my head “yes” and he lifted our friend’s head and poured it into his mouth.

Another monk showed me an acupuncture needle – his big needle, only one, looked about 200 years old and not washed often. Again the questioning look of “can I do acupuncture on him?” “Yes” I motioned back. What else do you do in this situation?


The monk quickly visually scanned our friend’s body, then knelt beside him and stuck the needle in, pulled it out fast. He did this to about 9 different acupoints, then stepped back to do another visual scan. (In my travel diary I noted all the points used.)


Our friend opened his eyes, sat up a little, and said “I feel ok – thank you! Xie Xie!”


The monks brought him lots of cool water and were happy to see him doing much better. He left a large cash donation in gratitude for their emergency service.

In watching all of this, I was so impressed by how calm everyone was, and how they knew exactly what to do on the spot to take care of the situation. I thought, “This is what I want our school to be like one day! People can walk in and no matter what they have going on, we’ll know how to care for them using these wonderful and very old healing methods.”


This was the seed planted that has now sprouted into the Little Shaolin Clinic. I hope we make our monk friends, so far away, proud of what they inspired.  And thanks to our own Shifu for instilling the depth of cultivation involved in the strong foundation we have to work with.

See:  http://www.touchoftao.com/LittleShaolin.htm


~Cynthia McMullen, School Instructor, Master Massage Therapist & Oriental Bodyworker, Medical QiGong Therapist. Relieving pain and harmonizing symptoms since 1999.