Eight Extraordinary Meridians Part 1
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"Deep within you lies an ancient network of energy pathways - the Eight Extraordinary Meridians—designed to help you transcend the ordinary and embrace a life of vitality, balance, and inner power. Working with these meridians unlocks a deep, primordial energy that flows through you—the very essence of life itself. While this energy moves invisibly, like the wind through the trees, it animates every part of your being. Its presence is undeniable: the vitality in your movements, the spark in your emotions, the force that keeps you connected and alive." -Lee Holden
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Part 1
Overview
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians have to do with your power and potential within your body, mind and heart. They circulate primordial Qi or source energy. We must tend to it (breathing, eating, moving, hydration) with post-natal Qi or we risk losing our primordial Qi.
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The Eight Extraordinary Meridians are like reservoirs that hold a very potent healing and life-giving energy. They are: Du Mai, Ren Mai, Dai Mai, Yin Wei, Yang Wei, Yin Linking, Yang Linking, and Chong Mai.
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Activating these meridians creates wholeness and activates the Healer Within. When you create wholeness, you create a healing affect for your body beyond just ‘healing your knee', for instance. This healing power creates a cascade of healing throughout the entire self.
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The Eight Extraordinary Meridians are about Source Energy, Divine in nature - the same light that is in the universe is within you. The light of the stars is the same light that is within you! When we can feel the oneness of life from an energetic perspective, Qigong becomes more of a spiritual practice cultivating divine love and compassion.
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Our lower vibrational energy feels heavy in our body, emotions and mind – the alchemists call it lead, or weighted energy. We feel pain, achy, confused, and lethargic. We experience a lack of clarity, and more oppressive thoughts.
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The Eight Extraordinary Meridians provide higher vibrational energy, which feels light and inspired – it 'transforms lead into light'. We feel blissful vitality, and passionate energy, which shows up in all our Three Treasures (body, emotions, mind).
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Our bodies are organic, allowing us to compost the lower vibrational energy and transform it with a skillful approach (The 'gong' of Qigong!). These different energies are not separate; we simply transform them through Qigong. For instance, a negative thought (mind) affects our emotions (heart center), constricts our energy system and eventually creates some problem in our body.
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Dai Mai Meridian
The Dai Mai (dye-my) Meridian or Belt Channel (also called the Girdling Vessel) encircles the lower abdomen, thereby holding things in place, or synching things together. It helps with abdominal issues, menstrual pain, fertility issues, prostate, and pain in your low back and is the only meridian that runs horizontally. It helps you feel safe and secure.
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Even emotionally, it will help prevent you from making too big of a deal of something; it will help you hold your emotions in check.
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Dai Mai is about self-preservation, survival skills, providing stability and security emotionally. An out of balance Dai Mai or overly active mind creates irrational fear of “not enough” (money, love, support), which leads to chronic stress.
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How do we learn from the past and compost this energy into wisdom? We begin by recognizing that “My past doesn’t predict my future”. The Dai Mai Meridian helps us relax in knowledge that we are protected, and scans for things that will uplift us.
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Activating the Dai Mai helps us calm down and sink into peaceful awareness.
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Movements that activate the Dai Mai Meridian include:
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Wave Breathing
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Knocking on the Door of Life (Ring the bell
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Spiral twists
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Tapping
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Part 2
The Ren and Du Meridians form the pathway for the Microcosmic Orbit, which helps us cultivate our internal energy by driving our energy upward to connect to wisdom of universe, and then bringing it back down as practical energy into our lives. In the Microcosmic Orbit you move energy up your Du Meridian and down your Ren Meridian by Turning the Wheel.
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Du Meridian
The Du Meridian is called the Governing Vessel and is considered a yang channel that moves energy along the spine. It strengthens the back, nourishes the spine, brain and marrow; treats fever-related diseases, dizziness and mental disorders. It also helps us have the motivation to take action on our ideas, brings clarity of mind, passionate action, determination, resilency and inspiration to our lives There are 28 points on the Du Meridian
Ren Meridian
The Ren Meridian is called the Conception Vessel and flows down the front of body. It carries yin energy, which is softer, relaxing and more relational and nurturing. It treats disorders of the abdomen, chest, throat and face; and helps with urinary issues. It helps us bring our conceived IDEAS (the ‘formless’) into reality by bringing energy, ideas, and insights down into the body (‘form’). There are 24 points on Ren Meridian.
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Microcosmic Orbit
The purpose of the Microcosmic Orbit is to create peace in the mind. It is a meditation technique that focuses on energy, instead of a candle or breath; an active meditation where we connect to the energy and circulate it, keeping our mind in present moment which will naturally result in a peaceful mind - like a clear mountain lake.
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We also connect to the higher self, the unknown by bringing energy upward. When we balance our energy we can feel safe, and awaken the heart to cultivate compassion. Because energy is always changing, we can learn to be OK in and relax into the ‘’Field of the Unknown’, instead of tightening up the body and repeating the same thoughts over and over as we try to control everything. Contracting of body and mind depletes energy, so this helps us re-invest energy, storing it up instead of leaking it.
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In addition, the Microcosmic Orbit is an inner journey that helps us experience for ourselves a connection with the Divine. Helps us understand that our physical body is temporary and at end of life our light will merge with The Light.
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We can lean into Microcosmic Orbit for health and vitality, or as spiritual practice, or as a way to calm the mind – and all may be experienced!