Sunday, October 14, 2007

Acupuncture - Organ Clock Theory


Organ Clock Theory

Energy(Qi) flow in the 12 major meridians of our body is not the same throughout the day. At a given time one meridian/organ is very active than others and the meridian/organ exactly opposite in the organ clock is least active. Each meridian is very active for two hours every day. Any problem in the internal organs will be noticed as disturbances during the two hour period of the corresponding meridian.

Organ clock
or biological clock is the graphical interpretation of period when energy flow is excessive in an organ or meridian during the day.

Flow of energy(Qi) is continuous in a definite path in our body. Qi flow is very active in Lungs during 3-5 am. From 3-4 am the flow increases in the Lung meridian and at 4 am it reaches the peak. From 4-5 am it decreases and reaches normal level at 5 am. Similarly energy flow in Lung meridian will be very less from 3-5 pm. Energy flow in Lungs is normal during the rest of the day.

The following organ clock shows the time when a particular organ or meridian is most active.


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Organ clock is used in acupuncture to diagnose the organ affected by knowing the time of the day when the problem arises and to treat the affected organs during their period of energy flow. For example Asthma attacks are more common during the early hours of the day viz. 3-5 am. Usually sedation of the affected meridian is done during the energy flow period while tonification is done after the energy flow.