Meridians can be compared to channels which conduct “Qi”, a kind of energy, throughout the body. Our body has many different physical systems – immune, endocrine, lymphatic, cardiovascular, etc., and, in Chinese medicine, the meridians, an energetic system.
The Chinese discovered and identified twelve meridians along which energy travels in the human body. Like copper traces on an electronic circuit board, they run throughout the body delivering and moving “Qi”. Meridians affect every organ and every physiological system: immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular, and lymphatic. Similar to the way an artery carries blood, a meridian carries “Qi”.