As the Winter Solstice approaches and we are enveloped in more hours of darkness, let’s focus on the light.
Is intelligent light at the crux of a communication network, commonly known as meridians in Chinese medicine? Is science stepping into a terrain typically dominated by writers, poets, and mystics?
In Chinese Medicine, it is widely accepted that qi, humbly translated as ‘vital life force’, moves through the human body. There are energetic pathways called meridians and there are specific, alterable points strung along them. Unlike blood vessels, nerves, muscles, bones, organs, etc., these meridians are not evident upon dissection. What is this curious map that only appears to be evident in the living and breathing body?
“…Now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow – moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going…” ~ Lois Lowry
The latest physics research seems to point to biophotons. Biophotons are the centerpiece of a lightning fast communication network that can be harnessed to enhance a person’s health whether by touch, needles, movement, breath, or even states of consciousness achieved through meditation.
What are biophotons?
Photons are massless particles that can only move at one speed, the speed of light. Biophotons are particles of light that function in living organisms. Biophotons are ultra-weak light emissions produced by living cells, typically in the ultraviolet to near-infrared range. They are in the same spectrum of light as lightning. We absorb them from the sun and from the foods we eat. Some sources suggest they have self-organizing properties.
Biophotons arise from normal metabolic and oxidative processes and have been proposed as a means of rapid, low-energy cellular signaling, with DNA and mitochondria often discussed as key sources and receivers. This light emission is distinguished from the visible phosphorescence emitted by plankton or fireflies. This concept is being actively researched and remains debated in terms of biological function.
How might this relate to acupuncture meridians?
Some authors hypothesize that meridians could act as preferential conduits for biophotonic or electromagnetic signaling. This aligns with reports of structured light propagation along meridian pathways. This is intriguing, but not yet firmly established by the current research.
Below are some reflections of people who have a foot in the bioscience and Chinese medicine worlds.
Anna Cocliovo, researcher, shares the following with the editors of Acupuncture Today. Cocliovo suggests that light enters the body through the skin, and most readily through acupuncture points. We know that the acu-points are more electrically conductive, and are portals to the subtle energy system of the body. Scientifically, Cocliovo states that this is accomplished through the ‘photo-electric effect’. The photo-electric effect states that when light strikes any material substance, electrons are discharged, which creates a current. In other words, light interacts with matter as the energy of the light is transferred to electrons. The intensity of the light determines how many photons strike a given surface, and therefore, how many electrons are discharged. The color or frequency of the light determines the acceleration of the photon energy when it is transferred to the electron. So, different colors have different effects.
Patrizia Stefanini, PhD biophysicist and shiatsu practitioner, suggests that we have a fluid field and a light field and that light becomes part of the fluid/water structure of the body. She’s delighted to think that perhaps science is finally coming up with the research that sheds light on (pardon the pun) the familiar concepts of yin and yang, fire/light and water, and the essential dynamic interplay of these substances in the body.
Neil Theise, research pathologist and Qi Gong practitioner, talks about the interplay of fire and water in terms of matter and energy. He calls them space-time quantum fluctuations that yield a ‘seething, churning quantum foam of energy bubbling into entities with mass that explode back into energy’. He says some particles escape annihilation and are free to interact with other entities. This interplay creates more complex structures, which then ‘self-organize into the entire universe and everything it contains’.
Dr. Daniel Keown, physician and acupuncturist, writes in his book “The Spark in the Machine”, that humans emit light. It is so faint that it can only be measured by machines. Some research suggests that these faint emissions come most strongly out of the fingernails. Curiously, this is where the main meridians either begin or end. Fingernails are also considered to be where the channel polarity is most volatile. According to Keown, it may only be quantum physicists who are intrigued with the prospect of light having intelligence, (i.e., a self-organizing capacity), but we disagree. Even if biophotons are not a physical manifestation of qi, but the result of cellular reactions, current research shows that our bodies produce light and this light is altered in diseased states. Keown reports that the rate of biophotons increases when someone is old or sick, and that the same thing happens on the side of the body that has suffered a stroke. This may be a ‘constipation’ of energy, as Stefanini describes it. In Chinese medicine, we call it ‘stagnation of qi and blood’.
Stefanini suggests that in body work, as well as other interactions between organisms, there is communication between our light systems. A coherence, a resonance, or an intelligence of sorts emerges between living beings. This improves an organism’s capacity for self-organization and self-expression. Stefanini suggests that through qi cultivation and alignment practices, our senses can be heightened to increase the potential of what already occurs by design. There is a dance between light and fire in and around us. Stefanini refers to a kind of ‘energetic constipation’ that occurs in diminished states of health. Shiatsu treatments via the meridians may potentially be freeing the light from a bound state in the body. Then the light/energy/qi/vital life force can express its intelligence and move more easily. Thus, interactions with self, others, and the environment are more coherent, harmonious, and vital. Understanding the potential of biophotons may open possibilities beyond personal health.
How might this relate to meditation?
Meditation can alter metabolism, autonomic tone, redox balance, and brain activity. Since biophoton emission is linked to oxidative and metabolic states, some researchers suggest meditation might modulate these emissions indirectly. This remains a working hypothesis rather than a settled fact.
Conclusion
What is well supported by research to date is that cells emit ultra-weak light linked to metabolism and oxidative processes. What’s promising, but not unequivocally supported by current research, is that acupuncture, body work, and meditation likely influence systemic regulation via nervous, vascular, immune, and metabolic pathways. Biophotons may be part of that story, but they’re best presented as an emerging research frontier rather than a proven mechanism.
As it is hypothesized that light excessively bound to water in our bodies is present in diseased states, it’s important to move it. There are numerous practices that claim to optimize the movement of energy. Will a better understanding of biophotons help us understand qi? Will it help us understand and allow us to refine our methods of enhancing vitality? Will these methods include acupuncture, bodywork, movement, meditation, the foods we eat, or how we relate to each other? It certainly seems worth exploring, whether through poetry, bodywork, and/or science.
Sources
https://acupuncturetoday.com/article/30322-illuminating-the-mother-of-qi
Theise, Neil D. “Notes On Complexity.” A scientific Theory on Connection, Consciousness, and Being. 90-91. New York Spiegel & Grau 2023
Keown, Daniel. “The Spark in the Machine.” How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine. 29-30. London Singing Dragon 2014
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18399758
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16086532/
The significance of biophotons in relation to health and disease, or to mental states, or acupuncture.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15244265
Light channels in the body may regulate energy and information transfer between different parts.