What Meridians Are

You don’t need to know anything about Chinese Medicine to use EFT. This page is purely for those of you who like to know all the background of things.

Meridians are central to Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has been the primary form of medicine in China for more than 5000 years. They are pathways in the body, which energy flows along. Meridians are usually associated with an organ, so there are meridians for Stomach, Spleen, Gall Bladder, Liver and others.

Pictures of where each meridian runs in the body

Traditional Chinese Medicine is about achieving balance in what’s called the 5 element system, and between the yin & the yang.

Yin is :

yingbw

Yang is :
Feminine Masculine
Calming Stimulating
Cooling Heating
Negative Positive
Matter Energy
Night Day
Winter Summer
Moon Sun
Earth Sky
Water Fire
Inward Outward
Stillness Motion
Degenerative states Generative states
Deficient conditions Excess conditions
Hypo-functional conditions Hyper-functional conditions
Chronic diseases Acute diseases
Deep pulse Superficial pulse
Slow pulse Fast pulse
Weak pulse Strong pulse
Always working Works, then rests

The Five Elements each include two meridians, one Yin, one Yang (except Fire, which has two pairs) and are associated with certain emotions. There are also two extra meridians called Central and Governing, which like overseers of the whole system. If either of these is out of balance, the whole system will be.

Element Emotions Organ or Meridian Yin or Yang
Earth Empathy, Sympathy Stomach Yang
Spleen Yin
Metal Grief, Guilt, Regret Large Intestine Yang
Lung Yin
Water Fear, Anxiety Bladder Yang
Kidney Yin
Wood Anger, Resentment Gallbladder Yang
Liver Yin
Fire Joy, Love, Hate Small Intestine Yang
Heart Yin
Triple Warmer
(Thyroid, Adrenals, Thymus)
Yang
Circulation / Sex Yin

One of the ways that Chinese physicians diagnose is by feeling the different pulses in the body and seeing how deep, fast & strong they are. They will also look at your tongue, and ask lots of questions about how your body is functioning. Some of the questions may seem to have no relevance to the problem you’re consulting them about. Imbalances can be treated with acupuncture, herbs, food & Tai Chi like exercises.

The following chart shows the tapping points, and which meridians they are on.

Tapping Point Organ or Meridian Yin or Yang Comments
Eyebrow (EB) Bladder Yang ~
Side of the eye (SE) Gall Bladder Yang ~
Under the eye (UE) Stomach Yang ~
Under the nose (UN) Governing
Chin (Ch) Central
Collarbone (CB) Kidney Yin ^
Underarm (UA) Spleen Yin ^
Ribs Liver Yin ^
Thumb (Th) Lung Yin *
Index Finger (IF) Large Intestine Yang #
Middle finger (MF) Circulation / Sex Yin *
Little finger (LF) Heart Yin *
Gamut Triple warmer Yang #
Karate Chop (KC) Small Intestine Yang #
Extra points:
Top of the head All Yang meridians # or ~ Do not use with high blood pressure.
Back of the wrist Upper yang meridians # Between these two points, they cover all the finger and hand points,
and are sometimes added to the basic recipe instead.
Inside of the wrist Upper yin meridians *
Above outside ankle bone Lower yang meridians ~ Do not use the ankle points during pregnancy.
Above inside ankle bone Lower yin meridians ^

This does not necessarily mean that if your issue is anger, for example, the Wood elements will be most affected. We still use all points for all issues, as more than one meridian is usually involved in any situation.


While EFT has produced remarkable clinical results, it is still be considered to be in the experimental stage and each user must take complete responsibility for their own use of it.