Meridian Tissue

[sifusufi]

A Paul Grilley lecture on yoga anatomy touched on connective tissue and the shortening mechanism which occurs upon repairing micro tears.

 

He prefers the name meridian tissue over connective tissue due to the shrinking or growing with the amount of qi that goes through it.

 

He mentioned a Dr. Larry Dahners research paper, where a wrist fracture in a sling for 8 weeks results in frozen shoulder syndrome,

and that if the micro traumas that occur daily healed in the way where additional tissue was generated (scar tissue) the arms for example would lengthen.

 

 

Hoping anyone who knows about this or anything similar will share their wisdom.

 

I found these links searching for info.

 

Meridians Relationship of Acupuncture Points and Meridians

to Connective Tissue Planes

 

Tendon Injury pdf

looks like some post PhD material

[torus693]

V

Edited February 12, 2011 by torus693

[torus693]

V

Edited February 12, 2011 by torus693

[torus693]

V

Edited February 12, 2011 by torus693

[sifusufi]

V

 

V ?

 

 

 

 

 

Sooo.. I guess no one wants to discuss energy and connective tissue? :(

 

 

 

 

:D

 

I guess "V" is way more interesting!

 

Bring on season 4

[unmike]

Further reading and science on the subject can be found at the Anatomy Trains website, for starters.

 

A search hereabouts for biophotons/piezoelectricity will also net you fun results, as well.

 

The meridians are the leaping off point for understanding why yoga and qigong are so effective, when done properly. Stretching them in such a fashion as to shear the fibers neatly, in the way they were designed to, creates a tiny charge on each one, signaling the osteoclasts who come along to clean up NOT to cannibalize them. They are repaired, fortified, and multiplied by the osteoblasts that follow. Done daily for a length of time, the collagen fibers grow thick and numerous, creating a dense electrical net not unlike a capacitor. In your abdomen, where these paths all link and cross, the fibers don't run in a single direction - instead they run in multiple ones, densely packed together and interwoven. This battery is useful for doing all sorts of fun things from transmuting your sex hormones to Jon Chang style parlor tricks.

[sifusufi]

Further reading and science on the subject can be found at the Anatomy Trains website, for starters.

 

A search hereabouts for biophotons/piezoelectricity will also net you fun results, as well.

 

The meridians are the leaping off point for understanding why yoga and qigong are so effective, when done properly. Stretching them in such a fashion as to shear the fibers neatly, in the way they were designed to, creates a tiny charge on each one, signaling the osteoclasts who come along to clean up NOT to cannibalize them. They are repaired, fortified, and multiplied by the osteoblasts that follow. Done daily for a length of time, the collagen fibers grow thick and numerous, creating a dense electrical net not unlike a capacitor. In your abdomen, where these paths all link and cross, the fibers don't run in a single direction - instead they run in multiple ones, densely packed together and interwoven. This battery is useful for doing all sorts of fun things from transmuting your sex hormones to Jon Chang style parlor tricks.

 

Muito Obrigado!

 

I appreciate the coherence and sensibility of the post. School is back in session!

[unmike]

Sooo.. I guess no one wants to discuss energy and connective tissue? :(

 

I do! I do!

 

As far as the proper way to stretch and tear the fibers goes, a few tricks are required. Firstly, you MUST be adequately hydrated. This keeps the tissues properly lubricated and keeps them from breaking in the wrong places. Secondly, the warmer they are, the better, as the viscosity begins to resemble a gel or jelly more than stretchy fibers acting in concert. Hatha yoga takes massive advantage of this and derives similarly massive benefit. Thirdly, and very importantly, the proper stretching is very slow, very relaxed, mediated by deep and slow breathing before/throughout/after (to keep the body properly alkaline an environment so the tissues will break and heal properly and timely), and always in a direction of stretching along the meridial axis instead of oblique to it or even a compression of it. Compression breaks WILL NOT yield the piezoelectric charge that stymies the osteoclasts NOR encourages new fiber production, but will require your body to expend energy to deal with your broken bits in a lose-lose "what am I doing to myself microscopically?!" bad person shame necessitating kind of way.

 

To sum: LUBE, HEAT, and GENTLE/SLOW/PROPERLY EXPANSIVE STRETCHING = build your meridians like a champ

 

 

Spring Forest Qigong advocates a fun and simple warmup practice of feet flat on the floor, gentle, knees-bent bouncing for a few minutes that actually helps to subtly stretch your main front and back lines, followed by a few minutes of the same while slowly twisting your torso back and forth to stimulate the spiral lines. Super simple. Super quick (5 minutes will do you wonders, especially barefoot outdoors). Worth it and a half.

 

 

What begs more research is the relationship of stretching NOT enough to tear the fibers for building up, but simply to take these charged fibers and warp them during the movement (via stretching and even simply deep breathing). This, from my own admittedly elementary understanding, creates a dipole, generating an electrical/magnetic field made stronger with each fiber recruited in such a way. A thread to follow sometime later this weekend about unity (free energy) devices, will hopefully begin to demonstrate that the human body is the most readily available and easily utilized version thereof. As well, I am deeply interested in the functionality of dynamos and what they bode for these concepts.

 

tl;dr: electrical circuit created by the body's meridian system among other things = cheating at the universe

 

edited for typo D:

Edited February 12, 2011 by unmike

[sifusufi]

To sum: LUBE, HEAT, and GENTLE/SLOW/PROPERLY EXPANSIVE STRETCHING = build your meridians like a champ

 

 

Spring Forest Qigong advocates a fun and simple warmup practice of feet flat on the floor, gentle, knees-bent bouncing for a few minutes that actually helps to subtly stretch your main front and back lines, followed by a few minutes of the same while slowly twisting your torso back and forth to stimulate the spiral lines. Super simple. Super quick (5 minutes will do you wonders, especially barefoot outdoors). Worth it and a half.

 

What begs more research is the relationship of stretching NOT enough to tear the fibers for building up, but simply to take these charged fibers and warp them during the movement (via stretching and even simply deep breathing). This, from my own admittedly elementary understanding, creates a dipole, generating an electrical/magnetic field made stronger with each fiber recruited in such a way. A thread to follow sometime later this weekend about unity (free energy) devices, will hopefully begin to demonstrate that the human body is the most readily available and easily utilized version thereof. As well, I am deeply interested in the functionality of dynamos and what they bode for these concepts.

 

tl;dr: electrical circuit created by the body's meridian system among other things = cheating at the universe

 

 

Much appreciation for taking the time to share your knowledge.

 

This seems to be something I can grasp. It runs congruent with the Bob Cooley - Dara Torres school of muscular energetics I believe.

 

I have also read where guys like Robert Chuckrow will encourage standing with locked legs at times as to feel the tendons and ligaments relax during Zhan Zhuang.

 

Bikram Choudhury's mantra is "lock the damn knee!"

 

Looking forward to greater flexibility,

 

Robert

[torus693]

v

Edited February 13, 2011 by torus693

[torus693]

v

Edited February 13, 2011 by torus693

[devoid]

Hi Sifusufi,

 

Great thread topic and thanks for the articles! I agree with unmike that Anatomy trains is really great for looking at these things. A couple of other things spring to mind (a Frenchman researching in this field, some qigong forms and theory as well as a few thoughts of my own on this for what they're worth ), but I need to look up a couple of things before responding in a more coherent way - might be a few days...

[sifusufi]

Hi Sifusufi,

 

Great thread topic and thanks for the articles! I agree with unmike that Anatomy trains is really great for looking at these things. A couple of other things spring to mind (a Frenchman researching in this field, some qigong forms and theory as well as a few thoughts of my own on this for what they're worth ), but I need to look up a couple of things before responding in a more coherent way - might be a few days...

 

Thank you for the response.

 

When I was 16-17 is seems putting in the time to be flexible was no sweat.

 

Time and motivation were not an issue, (as an adult stretching gets boring honestly) as does practicing a musical instrument and such.

 

Obrigado,

 

Robert

[KCHooligan]

I read a Scientific Research randomized control study this week that suggested acupuncture, which utiizes the specific meridian lines, although appearing to have benefit, does not lose its qualities when performed in a fake way, by purposefully placing needles in areas that are not meridian line specific. This suggests to me that myofascia is possibly the reason, as it exists throughout a muscle, and is not specific to meridian lines as are traditionally placed on the body.

 

But, it also implies that placebo may be the case. Although it'd be hard to test this- perform a research study where you tell someone your performing acupuncture, yet don't actually stick them!

[sifusufi]

Thanks!

 

Will be digging in to the Anatomy Trains material for sure.

 

Bob Cooley's principles involve the paradox of contracting while lengthening! (a form of compression?)

 

http://www.thegeniusofflexibility.com/

 

My organs were being affected by stretching specific muscles.

At first glance, the connections seemed implausible and strange.

But they were hardly new!

These specific muscles corresponded to meridian pathways in TCM.

The muscles, meridians and organs matched up exactly.

Organ health or "fitness" improves with stretching.

 

http://www.thegenius...e-medicine.html

 

I identified that muscles need to contract when being stretched.

The greater the contraction, the greater the stretch.

The results were immediate, cumulative, and permanent.

I had discovered how muscles really stretch.

The world was going to change the way it would stretch forever.

 

hmm...

[devoid]

Thank you for the response.

 

When I was 16-17 is seems putting in the time to be flexible was no sweat.

 

Time and motivation were not an issue, (as an adult stretching gets boring honestly) as does practicing a musical instrument and such.

 

Obrigado,

 

Robert

 

Hi Robert,

 

Sorry it took a bit longer than expected.

 

In reading up on ostheopathy (which has also interested me for time) I came across Jean-Pierre Barrel and his system of visceral manipulation. I should say upfront haven't had priviledge to any of his books yet, but am considering it. His basic premise is that of an ostheopath, i.e. that the body basically knows how to repair itself, if one lets it: i.e. by removing any obstacles (tensions) that build up and prevent the natural flow. The principle of this reminds me very much of TCM, yet at the same time it is different because most osteopaths are more interested in tension / release and the use of trigger points and anatomy trains like the ones already discussed (on a side-note: a couple of other models exist than that of Myers, but this type of model). As such, my understanding is that Barrel advocates a very firm understanding of anatomy and looks at any chained / connected relationships between body parts, tensions and diseases, rather than the meridians of TCM. As part of the tension release strategy, he uses the breath of the patient (in / out) to help establish tension and release - very much like in most thought-through qigong exercises (I know many people on this site will disagree, but it is intereserting to remind ourselves that many Chinese people choose to translate qigong with 'breathing exercise').

 

As for the qigong set that sprang to mind I was thinking of the Muscle and Tendon Changing Qigong, i.e. the Yi Jin Jing. As such, I guess most complete sets will help out - some of my personal whole-body favorites include Ba Duan Jin: Eight-section / Brocade Qigong and Wu Qin Xi: Five Animals Qigong.

 

Finally, some of my own thoughts for what they're worth. I see the human body as a complex machine of many virtual layers on top of some very physical layers. Just like the computer has no browser or word processor on the hardware level, these can be programmed onto an operating system which runs on top of the hardware. Perhaps the meridians and their acupuncture / trigger points are really a result of various systems running on the bodily hardware, i.e. a kind of application programmers interface which can be used to make abstracted calls to the underlying hardware?

 

Sorry if this post got a bit long, but I wanted to follow up as promised.

[sifusufi]

 

 

Sorry if this post got a bit long, but I wanted to follow up as promised.

 

No no... I respect the depth.

 

Looking forward to the digging deep in to new material.

 

Obrigado,

 

Robert

[devoid]

FYI -- One of Ya Mu's teacher's was an osteopath who also was trained in a rare form of Taoist medicine...

 

(in case this might be of interest to you... )

 

Interesting Rainbow_Vein,

 

I wasn't aware of that.

 

Thanks for letting me know

[sifusufi]

FYI -- One of Ya Mu's teacher's was an osteopath who also was trained in a rare form of Taoist medicine...

 

(in case this might be of interest to you... )

 

Yeah, I've been wanting to attend for a while now.

 

The planets should align soon!