What are the Meridians?
Ki moves throughout the whole body but in certain defined pathways it flows in a more concentrated manner. These pathways are known as meridians. The meridians form a continuous circuit of lines that allows the flow of different aspects of Ki all over the body. Each meridian is named after a physical organ, for example, the Heart meridian, Lung meridian, and Bladder meridian. Very often, a Shiatsu practitioner will see that the energy along one or more meridians is blocked, such that there is an excess of energy at some points (manifested as tension, tightness or fullness) and a depletion at others (weakness or emptiness). They will work with the energy in these meridians to try to rebalance it. Most acupuncture points lie on meridians, and Shiatsu practitioners will sometimes work on specific points by pressing or holding them. However, Shiatsu differs from acupuncture (and acupressure) in that it is more usual to work on the meridian as a whole rather than isolated points.
