Reflexology: The 5 Elements and their 12 Meridians: A Unique Approach. Inge Dougans

philosophy refers to this ‘organized energy’ as Chi (or Qi, pronounced chee), which originates from and is motivated by Tao. It is the life force in all its manifestations, such as emotions, tissue, blood, organs, plants, flowers and animals.⁷ Chi flows from the environment into the human body through low-resistance energy points on the skin, also known as acupuncture points. These points have electrical properties that differ from the electrical measurements of the surrounding skin. The sensitivity of these points is determined by the emotional and physiological changes within the body. Chi flows throughout the human body in pathways called meridians.

      Although it is difficult to measure Chi, indirect evidence of electromagnetic energy circuits involving the meridians and acupuncture points exists.⁸ Chi goes beyond the life-giving energy the human body receives from ingesting food and breathing air. Chi gives us the inborn urge to breathe, it ‘tells’ our hair to grow and our cells to replicate – it is ‘the inner knowing.’ It is ‘the substance and the activity’; it is each cell and the activities of each cell in the human body.⁹ Once inside the body, Chi provides life energy to all the body organs and body cells through the 12 pairs of meridians. When these meridians allow unobstructed flow of Chi throughout the body, the body is balanced and healthy. But if the Chi is obstructed by congestion, the balance of the body is disturbed and disease will result.

      Chi is considered to be ‘the root of life’, the vital energy within the body that nourishes body and mind.¹⁰ A healthy diet, exercise, healthy breathing, good posture and limited stress will maximize Chi and ensure a healthy individual. A poor diet, lack of exercise, poor breathing and posture, and high levels of stress will deplete Chi, causing imbalances within the system, resulting in disease.

      Everyone is born with Chi, and it remains with us until we die. The maintenance of health is dependent on this energy flowing freely throughout the body to animate all the body structure. Chi is constantly depleted through the pressures of daily living and must be correctly cultivated and maintained for healthy functioning.

      Two types of Chi are distinguished based on its origin: ancestral Chi/prenatal Chi is inherited from our parents and acquired Chi/postnatal Chi is obtained from the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.¹¹ Prenatal Chi is obtained from two sources, the prenatal jing/essence stored in the kidneys (yuan-chi); and from the environment entering the body through the top of the head, the skin and eyes (tien).¹²

      Chi is the substance, as well as the physiological functions of the organs, consequently it is in constant motion - ‘the activity of life.’¹³ It resides in the chest and is associated with breathing, blood, circulation, the heart and lungs. Chi and blood are interdependent – Chi gives blood energy and direction, without Chi blood will stagnate; blood nourishes Chi and gives it form:¹⁴ ‘… energy leads blood, which means that blood flows wherever energy goes.’¹⁵

      Although Chi cannot be seen, it is believed to have been measured through sensitive electromagnetic machines, and is said to have been photographed by infrared sensitive film. So many scientists in China are now concentrating their research on Chi that a special branch of science has developed called Chi-conology.¹⁶ This research is being conducted with the assistance of practitioners of Qi Gong (or Chi Kung) - an ancient practice that involves controlling the movement of Chi around the body. Qi Gong practitioners can apparently concentrate Chi and expel it out of their bodies, and are reputed to be healthy, strong and less susceptible to disease.

       A Question of Energy

      As the concept of energy in healing is an important facet of this book, a short introduction is necessary to illustrate how energy is the core which links all living things in the universe.

      All matter is made up of energy. The holistic health philosophy considers the human body a dynamic energy system in a constant state of change. We are all an expression of energy and this energy permeates all living organisms. Because we cannot perceive energy with the naked eye, we find it difficult to comprehend. This does not mean it does not exist.

      In Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, health is seen as the fluent and harmonious movement of energies at subtle levels. In the East, these energies have a number of names. The Indian yogis call it prana; to the Tibetan lamas it is lung-gom. It is known as sakia-tundra or ki to the Japanese Shinto, and the Chinese call it Chi. In the West, it is loosely translated as ‘vital energy’, ‘vital force’ or ‘life force.’

      Vital energy represents a form of electricity. This does not mean it is electricity, but its behaviour, responses and reactions indicate that many of the laws applying to electricity also apply to vital energy. Every life function depends on this energy. According to Far Eastern tradition, it circulates in the viscera, the flesh and ultimately permeates every living cell and tissue. This energy is considered as having clearly distinct and established pathways, definite direction of flow, and characteristic behaviour as well defined as any other circulation such as blood and the vascular system.¹⁷

      A great deal of research into Chi and meridians has been conducted in the last few decades, but access to this research is limited for Westerners, as it is published in Chinese. Chinese scientists are though to be piecing together the fundamental characteristics of life energy. So far, they know it has four characteristics: electric, magnetic, infrared and infrasonic. Says Dr Joshua Le, consultant to the British College of Acupuncture in London: ‘Many scientists now believe the electromagnetic recordings of Chi have proved its existence. Everyone has Chi, so it should be acknowledged by everyone, even GPs in the Western world. It’s as real as any blood vessels. The significance of this acceptance in medicine worldwide could be tremendous.’¹⁸

      In physical terms, man can be reduced to a collection of electromagnetic fields. What we perceive as solid tissue is actually a mass of cells made up of chemical substances, which are themselves collections of atoms. Every atom carries an electrical charge. An atom consists of protons (positively charged), neutrons (no charge) and electrons (negatively charged). Electrons, being more easily dislodged from atoms than protons, are the main carriers of electrical charge.¹⁹ Thus, at the atomic level, the body is a mass of energy fields, all influencing each other.

      The first ‘modern’ scientific evidence of energy and the human body came from Dr Harold Saxton Burr, Professor of Anatomy at Yale in the 1930s. He was convinced of the existence of ‘animal electricity’ and developed apparatus to measure electrical potential even in very small organisms. He showed that man, plants and animals are surrounded by a life-field (L-field). Each produces an electrical field that can be measured some distance away from the body and which mirrors – and could possibly even control – changes in that body. ‘Animals and plants,’ said Burr, ‘are essentially electric and show a change in voltage gradient associated with fundamental biological activity.’

      Burr, the editor of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, published 28 papers outlining the bioelectric nature of menstruation, ovulation, sleep, growth, healing and disease. With his colleagues, he observed that changes in life-fields indicated changes taking place in the organisms producing these fields and he used these to chart the course of health, predict illness, follow the progress of healing in a wound, pinpoint movement of ovulation, diagnose psychic trauma and measure the depth of hypnosis. This energy field or ‘aura’ can be perceived by ‘sensitive’ people, and has been ‘proven’ to exist by Kirlian photography – a technique that photographs the aura.

      Another Western physician who made an invaluable contribution to the use of electrical energy in healing is Dr Robert O Becker. An orthopaedic surgeon, he was interested in the possibility of electric current regenerating broken bones. After many experiments on salamanders and frogs to examine electric currents at the site of injury, Becker proved the efficacy of his theory. Now it is possible for patients to have small hearing-aid batteries that produce a sustained negative charge implanted close to severe fractures that are reluctant to heal – with dramatic results. He was also interested in electricity as a factor in the overall control of cell differentiation and growth and he demonstrated that the right kind of current could inhibit infection, relieve pain, halt osteomyelitis, restore muscle control, repair intestinal ruptures, close