Why Zen Yoga Poses Can Improve Your Health

Zen yoga poses are part of an Oriental systema particular meridian being out of whack in some
that combines the practice of asanas withway, this definitely does not mean that our
Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicine.organs are! I emphasize this because a lot of
Postures are categorized according to the primarypeople tend to get alarmed by some of the
meridian they affect. A meridian can beterminology, and it just stems from a
understood as similar to a blood vessel, in that itmisunderstanding of the context in which it is
has an energetic structure that corresponds withbeing used.
the human body, but which is instead a channelBy understanding how important the energetic
for energy to circulate (instead of blood).aspect is in Oriental philosophy, it is easier to
The alignment of these exercises with specificunderstand how they look at the symptoms of
meridians is what makes zen yoga such adisease, illness, or any problems we feel in our
powerful healing modality. In fact, teachers of thisbodies. Instead of focusing on the symptom itself,
Oriental system emphasize its' capacity to helpOriental diagnosis looks at what is going on in the
treat the basic causes of illness.. This article willmeridians, and a healing approach is based on this,
explore what is meant by that, and provide someinstead of a rigidly defined solution for a set of
illustration on how zen yoga poses can be adaptedsymptoms. What this means in practical terms, is
to an individual's problems.that one person's ideal solution to a bad back, or
Meridian exercises work by facilitating the naturala stiff neck, may be very different to another's.
flow of energy in areas where we experienceThe good news is that you don't have to know a
blockages and stagnation. We may feel thoselot of theory to do zen yoga successful. And
areas of blockages as stiffness, aching, tension,neither do you need to understand the intricacies
pain, or simply a feeling of being uncomfortable.of Oriental diagnosis to apply zen yoga exercises
Zen poses open up their primary meridians, andfor your own specific problems. Masunaga offers
as a result, they dispel 'ill' energy, and allowthis useful guide: "first find the exercise which is
healthy energy to flow instead.hardest to do... and then look for another one
A little background on meridians may be helpful.which is the easiest... If doing the easiest exercise
There are 12 meridians, and they are namedcauses an improvement in the performance of
after different organs of the body. So, we havethe most difficult one, or relieves a ... symptom, it
the Lung meridian, large intestine meridian, Heartis effectively reinforcing the Ki [energy] in the
constrictor, triple heater, liver, gall bladder, spleen,Kyo [deficient] meridian".
stomach, heart, small intestine, kidney, andMasunaga was a leading shiatsu teacher in Japan
bladder.who organized meridian exercises into a system
It's important to note that although thesethat people could use themselves. He actually
meridians each have an energetic relationship withwrote that the best way to learn about zen yoga
the organ after which they are named, they areposes, was to practice them! Zen yoga seems
not just referring to the organ when we speakmore difficult in theory than it is in practice. It's
about them. Their primary meaning is an energeticactually a very fun, playful and gentle style of
reference, to a type of energy that runs along ayoga that can readily be adapted to any level of
specific channel, which just happens to befitness and health. Like tai chi, it has great health
associated with a physical organ as well. So, whenbenefits, which can be explored in more detail
Oriental practitioners and yoga teachers talk aboutthrough classes or publications.