Meridian Stress Assessment
For thousands of years, the Chinese have understood the basic principles of maintaining health and natural healing within the body. Their approach is based on assessing the underlying causes of imbalances and patterns of disharmony in the body. They understand the rhythms of nature, the cycles of life and the human response to life and how it effects our body.
One of the essential indicators of health in Oriental Medicine is energy, or chi (qi), which relates to the abundance of life force flowing through the organs systems of the body. Each of the organs and systems of the body has a highway of energy, or meridian, which can be assessed for optimum health and balance. There are a total of 12 major meridians which can be likened to the flow of a river. This flow can be diminished by specific emotions, viruses, bacteria, parasites and environmental events such as the changing seasons and cycles of the moon. As well, there can be too much flow which relates to inflammatory processes, toxins, allergies, heavy metals, pesticides and other factors. The ideal is to keep the flow of energy in balance by keeping our response to life and events in balance as well as using exercises like tai chi and qi gong which can optimize our health and energy.
Acupuncturists have been assessing the flow of energy in meridians by natural ways of diagnosing through pulse diagnosis and specific observations. They use different methods of sound, healing, and instruments to help the person achieve balance. Oriental Medicine and acupuncture is being widely researched in the world and in America, especially at the National Institute of Health’s Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (www.nccam.nih.gov) and has gained great popularity in treating all conditions such as post stroke recovery, kidney issues, etc. (see links on www.maggiemck.com for local resources).
More recently, the use of computerized assessment has gained great popularity in assessing the flow of energy in the meridian and each system, a process called Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA). This is a form of modern bioenergetic science which was first discovered by Dr. Voll in Germany in 1926 (electroacupuncture according to Voll, EAV testing). Since then, MSA has evolved especially with the computer age into virtual library accessibility to help screen for imbalances and the science has grown into an international market.
The BEST system, Bio-Electro-Stress-Testing, is approved by the FDA and is a non-invasive, painless way to screen for imbalances in the body and with an experienced practitioner, recommendations can be made for a plan of care to support well being. After a thorough interview of client’s history, the client holds a ground wire and a circuit is completed between the client and the computer using an ohmmeter which measures the degree of flow through each system of the body including cellular level screening. With the findings, an experienced practitioner determines the causes of imbalances and helps create a step by step plan of care with the client. Client feedback is essential in helping to determine each step to be taken gently and consciously.