Ep. 29: What is the Meridian Clock? Aligning with nature’s cycles

Chinese Medicine is a holistic framework that views all of space-time as one interconnected web: humans are woven into the fabric of the cosmos, and our health and vitality is influenced by the cycles of the heavens, the seasons, the sun and the moon. The Meridian Clock describes our daily cycles  – our circadian rhythms.

Recognising the importance of these cycles – and the benefits that aligning with these cycles can confer upon our health – the ancient sages and doctors observed Nature, and codified her many cycles and how they impact us. The result of this is a range of lenses that look at different expanses and magnifications of space-time. These lenses are fractal in nature, describing the ebb and flow of Yin and Yang – the contraction and expansion of the cosmic breath – at each degree. Like the many instruments of an orchestra that meld together to create music, these various cycles weave together to manifest the world we inhabit.

I could do an episode on each of these cycles, so in this episode, we will focus on the Meridian Clock! The Meridian Clock is a 24-hour cycle describing the circulation of Qi throughout the 12 meridians of the body, and highlights various points of our circadian rhythm that are optimal for specific functions. It’s not surprising to me that the ancients had this cycle figured out thousands of years ago. The details which they identified are now being described by contemporary science in the forms of chronobiology, chronopharmacology and chronopathology, and it’s curious to note how diseases affecting certain organs align with the timings of this ancient clock.

In this episode, we go on a journey around the Meridian Clock, learning what it can illuminate for us about our state of wellness and vitality – as well as simple, practical things we can do to align ourselves with the flow of life and health.