Kidney Meridian by Wellcome Collection

In this post, I will share several ancient-healing techniques for working with the Kidney meridian. They are very simple yet powerful, and you will be able to try them immediately. These techniques cause a shift of energy which might energise you, relieve you from physical pain or diminish fearful feelings.

Reservoir of Energy and Centre of Courage

Traditional Chinese medicine regards the Kidney meridian as a reservoir of energy, as well as the centre of courage and willpower. Conversely, a dysfunction in Kidney meridian can result in feeling extremely tired, being overcome by emotions of fear or paranoia, or symptoms and ailments such as asthma, chronic inflammation, or tinnitus.

The good news is that we have tools to keep the Kidney meridian in balance, and thus enjoy a healthy energy flow, vitality, willpower, and courage to move forward in life.

The Pathway of Kidney Meridian

The pathway of the Kidney meridian starts under your foot, on its first acupressure point where energy enters the body. The point is called Kidney 1 (or K1). In the old Chinese medical terminology, which is much more poetic than modern medicine, the point is known as ‘The Wellspring of Life’, ‘Bubbling Spring’, or ‘Gushing Spring’.

Pressing or massaging it can bring you ‘back to life’. In fact, the master practitioner of energy medicine, Donna Eden, has described a situation when an unconscious, dying person was brought back to life after this technique was applied. (Energy Medicine, by Donna Eden, pg 125) 

Kidney 1 Acupressure Point

The Kidney meridian pathway then circles around your ankle, goes up via the back of the legs, and reemerges at the front of the body.

Kidney meridian back view

The meridian then flows up your body all the way under your clavicle. It finishes on the last (and very important) set of acupressure points called K 27.

The K27 are very important points, because they are is a junction point for all the other meridians and you can influence how you feel by working with these points. The K 27 are considered the “energy switch” of the body: If you thump or deeply massage these points, it will stimulate the energies of all the other meridians and get your body’s energy moving.

You will find these points right under the collarbone, near the U-shaped notch. Massage these points vigorously to bring fresh energy to your body. Remember this next time you’re feeling tired! Thump or deeply massage these points and you will soon feel the difference.

Kidney meridian front view

Please note: Although this diagram shows the pathway on only one side of the body for clarity purposes, in reality it runs on both sides of the body, right and left, in a pair. So if you’re massaging the K27, you’ll be massaging a set of two points (as in the picture below). The path of the Kidney meridian is marked in red colour.

Ancient Prints Showing Meridians

I find it fascinating to compare modern acupuncture/acupressure diagrams with ancient Chinese prints and paintings. Nowadays, we have devices that can detect meridians and their acupoints, and they are almost exactly the same as depicted ion the thousands’ of years-old medical illustrations. There are also people who can see energies, such as Donna Eden, who was born with this ability. She had seen meridian pathways even before she learned about them!

Kidney Meridian by Wellcome Collection
Kidney Meridian by Wellcome Collection

If Kidney Meridian is Out of Balance

In the traditional Chinese medicine, the emotion associated with Kidney meridian is fear.

When we experience a strong emotion of fright, our kidneys will struggle to hold their energy and we can even end up experiencing involuntary urination. (You’ve surely heard the phrase ‘I nearly peed myself’!)

Dealing with long-term fear can often result in kidney issues.

The other challenges associated with imbalance in the Kidney meridian are fear, edema, eye problems, tinnitus, lung problems, dry tongue, lumbago, constipation, diarrhoea, lower back pain during period, shoulder pain, and pain along the course of the meridian and its associated muscles.

However, working with the Kidney meridian and its acupressure points can often help you relieve pain and improve your health condition, and emerge from loneliness, depression, and fear.

Techniques for Balancing Kidney Meridian

If you suffer from any of the symptoms mentioned above, try the following techniques: 

  • Trace Kidney meridian
  • Flush Kidney meridian
  • Work with the acupressure points of Kidney meridian

Tracing Kidney Meridian

Tracing Kidney meridian will help you get your energy going and remove toxins out of your body.

Donna Eden’s daughter Dondi shows you how to trace Kidney meridian.

Flushing Kidney Meridian

How to flush a meridian:

  • Trace it backward once
  • Trace it forward three times

 

Working with the Acupressure Points of Kidney Meridian

There are three ways we can work with the acupressure points:

  • Sedate
  • Strengthen
  • Use the Three-Point Technique

Below I am showing diagrams that will teach you how to sedate or strengthen the Kidney meridian, according to your needs. If you are in pain, it usually means that there is too much accumulated energy in your Kidney meridian, so holding the sedating points of the Kidney meridian would be your choice. It will also help release toxins from the meridian.

Sedating Kidney Meridian

I have successfully used this technique to help a friend with strong lower back pain during her period. If you suffer from back pain (whatever the cause), or shoulder pain, do try this technique.

Step 1 – Sedate the Kidney Meridian:

Sedate (relax) the Kidney meridian by sending its excess energy to the next meridian, which is Liver. You’ll see how the flow works on the wheel diagram (The Five Elements Wheel) further down.

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 1 and Liver 1) for 2 – 3 minutes. Use the tips of your fingers (preferably the index or the middle finger).

Do this one side of the body first, (e.g. on your right foot).

Repeat the same procedure on the other side of the body (your left foot), also for 2 – 3 minutes.

Kidney 1 Acupressure Point
Liver 1 Acupressure Point

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Water element (Kidney meridian) flows into Wood element (Liver meridian).

This means that Kidney meridian is freed from excess energy by sending it to Liver meridian.

Or you can view it the other way – the helpful friend Liver is ‘hoovering’ excess energy from the overcharged Kidney meridian, this helping the Kidney meridian to relax. (This often diminishes pain in our body, like in the case of my friend with the back pain.)

You can see this happening on the wheel (from blue to green, inside the circle):

kidney to liver flow

Step 2 – Stabilise the Energy Flow by Holding the Control Points:

Now we need to stop the flow of energy from the previous point. We need to stabilize the shift in energy, and we’ll do this by holding the so-called control points.

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 3 and Spleen 3) for 1,5 minutes.

As in the previous step, do this on both sides of the body; on the right foot first, then on the left foot. (Or vice versa.)

Spleen 3 and Kidney 3 Acupressure Point

What is happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Earth element (Spleen) controls Water element (Kidney).

This means that ‘good cop’ Spleen meridian will ‘stop’ the flow of energy from the previous step, thus preventing the Kidney meridian from having too much energy taken away. This wise intervention of the controlling element (Earth) will stabilise the energies.

You can see this happening on the wheel (from yellow to blue, inside the circle):

Spleen to kidney

Strengthening Kidney Meridian

Step 1 – Strengthen the Kidney Meridian 

Strengthen the Kidney meridian by borrowing some energy from the previous meridian (i.e. Lung meridian).

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 7 and Lung 8) for 2 – 3 minutes. Use the tips of your fingers (preferably the index or the middle finger).

Do this one side of the body first, (e.g. your right side) and then repeat the same procedure on the other side of the body, also for 2 – 3 minutes.

Kidney 7 Acupressure Point
Lung-8-Acupressure-Point

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Metal element (Lung) flows into Water element (Kidney).

This means that Lung meridian is strengthening the neighbouring Kidney meridian by sending its energy into it (flowing into it).

Or you can view it the other way – Kidney is ‘borrowing’ some energy from its neighbouring Lung meridian.

You can see this happening on the wheel (from light grey to blue, inside the circle):

Lung to Kidney

Step 2 – Stabilise the energy flow by holding the control points:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 3 and Spleen 3) for about 1,5 minutes.

As in the previous step, do this on both sides of the body.

Spleen 3 and Kidney 3 Acupressure Point

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Earth element (Spleen) controls Water element (Kidney).

You can see this happening on the wheel (from yellow to blue, inside the circle).

Spleen to kidney

You may have noticed that this is the same procedure as when we were holding the control points after the Sedating procedure in the first example. The control points are always the same after sedating and strengthening a meridian.

Three-Pointing Kidney Meridian

The Three Point Technique is a combination of sedating and strengthening a meridian in one session. Sometimes a meridian needs to be cleared of stale or toxic energies first in order to receive strengthening energies. This means that we sedate it first to move the old energies out, and then strengthen it. In the end, we use the control points to stabilise the shift.

We often use the Three-Point technique to treat hormonal imbalances, such as during PMS or menopause.

Step 1 – Sedate the Kidney Meridian:

Sedate (relax) the Kidney meridian by sending its excess energy to the next meridian, which is Liver. You’ll see how the flow works on the wheel diagram (The Five Elements Wheel) further down.

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 1 and Liver 1) for 2 minutes. Use the tips of your fingers (preferably the index or the middle finger).

Do this one side of the body first, (e.g. on your right foot).

Repeat the same procedure on the other side of the body (your left foot), also for 2 minutes.

Kidney 1 Acupressure Point
Liver 1 Acupressure Point

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Water element (Kidney meridian) flows into Wood element (Liver meridian).

This means that Kidney meridian is freed from excess energy by sending it to Liver meridian.

Or you can view it the other way – the helpful friend Liver is ‘hoovering’ excess energy from the overcharged Kidney meridian, this helping the Kidney meridian to relax. (This often diminishes pain in our body, like in the case of my friend with the back pain.)

You can see this happening on the wheel (from blue to green, inside the circle):

kidney to liver flow

Step 2 – Strengthen the Kidney Meridian 

Strengthen the Kidney meridian by borrowing some energy from the previous meridian (i.e. Lung meridian).

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 7 and Lung 8) for 2 minutes. Use the tips of your fingers (preferably the index or the middle finger).

Do this one side of the body first, (e.g. your right side) and then repeat the same procedure on the other side of the body, also for 2 minutes.

Kidney 7 Acupressure Point
Lung-8-Acupressure-Point

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Metal element (Lung) flows into Water element (Kidney).

This means that Lung meridian is strengthening the neighbouring Kidney meridian by sending its energy into it (flowing into it).

Or you can view it the other way – Kidney is ‘borrowing’ some energy from its neighbouring Lung meridian.

You can see this happening on the wheel (from light grey to blue, inside the circle):

Lung to Kidney

Step 3 – Stabilise the energy flow by holding the control points:

Now we need to stop the flow of energy from the previous two points. We need to stabilize the shift in energy, and we’ll do this by holding the control points.

The Procedure:

Gently hold the following two points (Kidney 3 and Spleen 3) for 1 minute.

As in the previous step, do this on both sides of the body; on the right foot first, then on the left foot. (Or vice versa.)

What Is Happening on The Five Elements Wheel:

Earth element (Spleen) controls Water element (Kidney).

You can see this happening on the wheel (from yellow to blue, inside the circle).

Spleen to kidney

Learn More About Meridians and Acupressure Points

I hope you enjoyed reading about ‘The Wellspring of Life’, the mighty Kidney meridian. If you’d like to learn about all the ancient Chinese poetic names of the acupressure points, I highly recommend getting the folding laminated chart pictured below.  It shows every single acupressure point on our body, so it’s a brilliant study guide. I found it incredibly useful during my Energy Medicine Foundation Course.

accupresure points and meridian chart 2
accupresure points and meridian chart 2

Share Your Thoughts

I would also love to hear about your experience – have you used the techniques mentioned here, and with what results? Or have you got any other questions or comments? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I look forward to getting back to you soon. To your amazing health!

BY LUCIE DUN

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