Tendinomuscular Meridians: Less is More

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Tendinomuscular Meridians: Less is More – Part 1

Authors Note:

I hope practitioners will find this article useful. I would like to hear about your experiences using it and other ways of approaching these fascinating channels. jsdeast@earthlink.net

By Deborah Valentine Smith, AOBTAr-CI, DIP. ABT (NCCAOM)

This is part One of this very interesting article from AOBTA Pulse magazine. Part Two will be in the next newsletter.

Along with the Cutaneous Channels that move through the skin, the Tendino-muscular meridians (TMMs) or ‘sinew channels’ are the most superficial of the energy flows in the body. As such, they carry Wei Qi or defensive energy, which protects against the invasion of the six excesses: cold, wind, damp, heat dryness and summer heat. They move through the tendons, ligaments and muscles that are superficial to the primary organ meridians. The hand/foot partners of the six divisions of Yin and Yang (Tai Yang: Small Intestine and Bladder, Shao Yang: Triple Warmer and Gall Bladder, Yang Ming: Large Intestine and Stomach, Tai Yin: Llung and Spleen, Shao Yin: Heart and Kidney and Jue Yin: Pericardium and Liver) function closely together at this level. The Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture says, ‘The functions of the channel sinews are similar to those described in Western medicine to the musculature. The channel sinews bind the bones and move the joints. For this reason the set of symptoms associated with them include muscle strains, cramps, spasms and atrophy’. In other words, they address the realm of the body worker.

The fundamentals also describe the TMMs as ‘channel-like sinews’. ‘Sinews’ was the old word for tendons and ligaments: the connective tissue cords and sheets that connect muscle to bone and bone to bone and that extend from the connective tissue that covers every organ and tissue throughout the body is continuous This is important to meridian theory. Researchers have been able to ‘map’ the flow of Qi in the body but they haven’t been able to identify ‘vessels’ analogous to the ones that carry blood, for instance. It may be that the energy pathways of Chinese Medicine flow through the folds and contours of connective tissue like water follows the contours of land. In the body these ‘channels’ move as muscles change shape and position and can be obstructed by twisted constrictions or adhesions of the connective tissue. Adhesions are related to armouring, which is chronic tension. When a muscle is held immobile over time, the fascia gets stuck and can’t move or slide, the lubrication can’t get through and it may need to be manually released. This can be exceptionally effective if the practitioner is familiar with both the direction of the fibres of the muscle and the path of the energy moving through it: that is, if s/he communicates with the body ‘where energy meets fascia’.

I also believe that fascia has memory. If you twist a piece of soft plastic that has been moulded into a toy, it will change, but when you let go it will return to the original shape. It takes the strength of our muscles- and Qi - to hold the distortions. Armouring saps energy in the same way. Over time the body compensates by ‘gluing’ the held pieces with fascial adhesion, like tying a cord around the plastic toy to replace our muscle action. Adhesions take less energy than active muscle tension, but the natural inclination is to return to the most efficient shape and alignment. As the adhesions and/or tension is ‘untied’ and the tissue releases into its natural shape, Qi and fluid flow through and, like a dry sponge soaking up water, it softens, gets more resilient and can move with suppleness and grace. This is not only important to movement, but to support of body structures and organs as well. Dean Juhan, author of Job’s Body, says that the real support of the body is in the connective tissue or fascia. The bones are the structure, but the body is actually held up by hydraulic pressure: that is, by water held in the fascia like a series of water balloons.

"This brings consciousness to the area because the practitioner is making the connection with their hands"

The TMM’s traditionally are said to affect only the superficial level of the body, but if the fascia is really one large, connected sheet, releasing at the surface will have an impact on the interior. Experience would support this. Many times as the TMM channel ‘unwinds’ the client feels movement internally. This ‘mysterious’ movement of Qi can be related to structure, as can the ‘coincidences’, in meridian theory. For instance, the Lung and Large Intestine as a pair are related to ‘holing on and letting go’ on the organ level. On the surface they pass through the thumb and index finger. It is no accident that these are the structures that we use to grasp or hold-on’. The Large Intestine also goes through the jaw which is not only related to digestion but also is part of emotional ‘holding on’. ‘ Holding on by the skin of my teeth’. These correspondences are structural as well as energetic.

When a muscle is held immobile over time, the fascia gets stuck and can’t move or slide, the lubrication can’t get through and it may need to be manually released.

The TMM’s are ideally suited for bodywork precisely because their functioning depends on the condition of the fascia which reveals itself readily to palpation. When I took the first craniosacral course we did an exercise with a tablecloth draped over a long table. The first person stands at the end of the table and closes their eyes as their partner puts a finger somewhere to hold the cloth down. The first person pulls on the cloth gently and identifies where the cloth is held without looking. We learned that we could hold the base of the skull and, by applying a small amount of traction as with the tablecloth, we could feel restrictions anywhere in the body. Some people are so good at this that they can identify restrictions around the organs. Further, by offering a very tiny little pull in the right direction we align the natural channels of flow. As we release the constrictions, fluid starts to flow through. It is similar to pouring out the fluid trapped in a piece of plastic wrap. The channels are like the ‘wrinkles’ in the wrap that we line up to control the direction of the flow. We can get help with opening the constrictions by applying a little resistance in the pathway, like temporarily pinching a siphon to get the fluid to build up. When we release the resistance the built-up fluid and Qi actually assists in pushing through obstructions. We can apply the same principles to the movement of Qi as we hold points or palm a meridian.

One can work this way without having to learn every point on the meridian and so it is excellent for beginners as well as experienced practitioners. When one makes good conscious contact with hands, it is easy to feel the restrictions in the tissue. Flesh is meant to be soft, resilient and pliable. Constrictions in the fascia are literally layers of tissue stuck together. Because they impede circulation of fluids and Qi they feel hard and inflexible. The principle of working with these stuck layers is to gently stretch the constriction in alignment with the tissue fibres and the flow of Qi. This can be done over an area an inch long or along the entire path of a tendinomuscular meridian. When working smaller areas, following the opening flow is really easy. One can feel the tissue softening and work at stretching the remaining constrictions at the border. Usually, with sufficient flow established, the fascia along an entire muscle will suddenly open to the building flow of Blood and Qi and release. Stretching along an entire meridian can cause the muscles all along the pathway to soften, ‘plump up’ and relax all at once. In the case of a Yang meridian of the leg, that can be from head to toe!

If the practitioner follows the opening of the restrictions in the fascia s/he can find the muscle meridian path. The Qi leads. Qi moves somewhat differently through the TMM’s than it does through the principal meridians. It tends to move in a broad ribbon or band rather than the linear track of the principal meridian flow. It spreads out over an area like the delta of a river.

The channels are said to ‘join’, ‘bind’ and ‘connect’ at certain points. The Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine says: (The sinew channels) do not connect to internal organs and they all begin at the extremities of the four limbs, (they) generally follow the path of the channel with which they are associated. As they proceed up the four limbs they bind to the joints – then disburse, spread out over the back or chest and terminate at the head or on the trunk. Some of the channel sinews enter the chest and abdominal cavities where they disburse at locations specific to their pathway.

The principle of working these stuck layers is to gently stretch the constriction in alignment with the tissue fibres and the flow of Qi.

For example the Shanghai text, in describing the Bladder meridian , says: ‘above the neck the channel joins at the occipital bone,’ i.e. the fascia joins the bone. It also joins with the dura of the brain there, so it can be a major cut-off point. To continue, the channel ‘proceeds over the head to the bridge of the nose. A branch crosses the top of the eye and connects at the side of the nose,’ which is the first point of the Bladder meridian. Several meridians have branches that go through this point. The Small Intestine, Stomach and Large Intestine all have branches that connect to BL1,A TMM ‘connects,’ or converges with different fascial tracts, especially of the hand/foot partners of the six divisions.

Many of these points are at the major joints like the ankles, knees, hips, spine, shoulders and neck where muscle groups involved in the same movement meet, either as synergist or antagonist, and therefore share the same energy flow. Qi easily gets trapped at the joints because of stagnation due to inactivity or muscle tension due to emotional armouring.

Looking at the Lung TMM we see that it disburses through the diaphragm, which is an internal muscle connected with its function. Practitioners working to release the diaphragm would be well advised to work this TMM.

Techniques: Assessment

‘Tablecloth Stretch’ and Ashi Points. First we just hold the Jing-well and very gently do the ‘tablecloth stretch,’ imagining the length of the channel. We ask the client to report any pulling or pain along the pathway. We then palpate the entire pathway and identify any areas where there is hardness or stiffness or pain. Now we go back and work with the areas of pain or tension in our Session Techniques.

Session Techniques: Point Work

Some sources say that the TMMs have no points, but this probably means that they have no points unique to them. The acupuncture protocol for working with the TMM’s includes the Jing-Well point of the principal meridian, the Earth point, the Tonification point, the TMM Reunion or Confluent point and the Ashi points, along the channel. One can use simple acupressure techniques with the muscle meridians by palpating muscle channels for Ashi points, holding them as locals and holding the other points in the protocol as distals. The ‘binding’ connecting’ and ‘joining’ points are also useful. Each of these points has a particular effect on the channel. If we start work from the feet and hands and move toward the torso the order of the distals will be different for each meridian, depending on where these points fall.

Ashi point: An Ashi point can be any place that is painful. Constrictons cause pain, especially with movement. Any area along the trajectory of the channel that is tight sore, or numb is a potential treatment point. These are the ‘locals’ in the treatment.

Jing-Well points: No matter which direction the principal meridian runs, the muscle meridian ‘wells’ up from the deeper principal meridian throuth the ‘well’ or Jingwell point at the finger or toe nail. Like water finding its level as it comes up out of the ground, the Qi then bubbles up through the ‘spring’ point, gathers momentum in the ‘stream’ point, gathers force in the ‘river’ point and enters the joints in the ‘sea’ point. This welling up of energy from the extremities, like energetic galoshes and gloves, prevents pathogenic factors from entering.

Earth point: Earth nourishes the flesh, or the muscles. On Yin meridians the Earth point is the third (starting from the toenail or fingernail) of the Five-element points, at the elbow or knee joint.

Tonification point: If the channel is penetrated by the ‘pernicious influence’: or an ‘evil climate’ it is assumed that the Qi of the principal meridian is deficient in relation to it. In Jin Shin Do we only use these points when we are sure that the ‘mother’ of the meridian has sufficient energy to share, as the function of the points is to draw energy from her into the son. The Tonification point is the Five-element point related to the element of the mother of given meridian. For example, the Kidney meridian is Water element. The mother of water is Metal, so the Tonification point of the Kidney meridian is its Metal point, K17.

The Qi leads. It tends to move in a broad ribbon or band rather than the linear track of the principal meridian flow. It spreads out over an area like the delta of a river.

Reunion point: Fundamentals says, ‘The four sets of channel sinew, grouped by Yin and Yang hand and foot, are said to unite at the four binding spots.’ These ‘binding spots’ or ‘Reunion points’ are places where the muscle meridians overlap. Blockage often extends through the different muscle layers, so if we’re working the inside of the leg, for example (Spleen, Liver or Kidney)_ we would want to include the reunion point, CV3, for those three Yin meridians of the leg. The reunion point for the three Yang meridians of the leg (GB, St and B1) is St 2 (not to be confused with JSD #2, which is St 3), right on the cheekbone, or some sources say S1 18, more lateral and under the cheekbone (JSD#2:S1). You can hold them both easily. The reunion point for the Yang meridians of the arm (TW, S1 and L1) is GB 13, just behind the hairline JSD#1 is GB14 so if you draw a line straight back to an inch behind the hairline from GB14, that’s GB15. A body-inch lateral from it is GB13. The reunion point for the Yin meridians of the arm is GB22, 3 tsun down from the middle of the armpit, posterior to P1 at the nipple level and 3 tsun superior to the grand luo. The meridians are P. h and Lu so it’s a major point for opening the entire chest.

One can also use the Source point and Accumulation (Xi-Cleft) point. The Qi and Blood of a channel accumulate at the Cleft points, especially in trauma, climate invasion or pain from injury.

Originally presented in AOBTA’S Pulse Newsletter, copyright Deborah Valentine Smith.

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