Pericardium

Visualizing Your Muscle Groups

There are a large number of muscles in your body. Is there a way to think about them or visualize them in a way that makes them easy to understand? Of course. Here’s how.

Think of your body as eight cylindrical tubes, four stacked on top of each other, or sixteen half tubes. In your lower and upper body, there are tubes on the front, back, outside, inside and on the four angles in between. Each of those eight cylindrical tubes contain muscles in groups that go from your feet into your trunk and head, or from your arms into your face or trunk. Each of these major muscle group is concomitant with one meridian in TCM.

Balancing Muscle Group

Balancing muscles are located directly through the bone across from each other and have opposite directions of action. In Western anatomy, these same muscles are called agonist and antagonist of one another. Because the sixteen meridian muscle groups balance as eight pairs of muscle groups, they are called Balancing Meridian Muscle Groups. The balancing muscles are dependent on each other to make possible maximum shortening and lengthening movements, because as one side of the body shortens the other lengthens. But because both the strengthening and stretching of any muscle depends on the flexibility of its balancing muscle, the balancing muscle group is always the determining factor in developing the strength and flexibility of the muscle (assuming there is no unusual damage to the muscle group you are trying to strengthen or stretch).

The Pericardium MMG is a yin meridian in the upper body, traversing the anterior medial aspect of the arms.

Pericardium is balanced by Skin, a yang MMG that traverses the posterior lateral aspect of the arms.

The stretch length of the Pericardium MMG is limited by its balancing muscle group's ability to shorten (Skin). Stretching the balancing muscle group increases its ability to both shorten and lengthen.

The target muscle group (Pericardium) will stretch more successfully after the balancing muscle group has been stretched. If you still are not making optimal flexibility gains in the Pericardium MMG, you will need to stretch and strengthen the superficial opposing muscle group (Large Intestine).

Opposing Muscle Group

The muscles that are perpendicular to one another are called opposing muscle groups (to be distinguished from balancing muscle groups that are located directly through the bone across from each other and have opposite directions of action). The action of opposing muscle groups is surprising. Their level of strength and flexibility govern the proper rotation of the muscle group that you are stretching. If your target muscle being stretched (Pericardium) does not increase in flexibility by stretching its balancing muscle group (Skin), then you'll need to stretch the opposing muscle groups.

Pericardium is a yin MMG on the front/inside of the arms. Therefore, the opposing muscle groups are yang MMGs on the back/outside of the body.

Stretch the superficial opposing MMG (Large Intestine) to troubleshoot the target muscle group (Pericardium). Stretch the true opposing MMG (Stomach) to develop the high personality traits necessary for optimal Pericardium functioning and development.

Completing Muscle Group

Completing muscle groups are the 'top' for lower body muscle groups and the 'bottom' for upper body muscle groups. The Pericardium MMG traverses the anterior medial aspect of the arms and its completing MMG, Kidney, traverses the anterior medial aspect of the legs.

Energy Flow Trellis

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), energy flows from one meridian muscle pathway to the next in a very specific order. In TCM this order is called the 'energy cycle'. This order is determined by the depth of the muscles in the body and begins with the muscles associated with the gall bladder, with the next always being its balancing muscle group, in this case liver, and then on through all the rest. The cycle always includes two lower body, then two upper body meridian muscle groups (MMG), and then repeats two more of each. Ultimately all 16 have been completed.

In the energy trellis diagram, the horizontal pairs are balancing organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and they are also balancing muscle groups. The diagram also houses other secrets about the interrelationships of muscles, organs, and personalities. The MMGs directly above and below each other are completing meridian muscle groups, the same muscle groups above and below in your body. The MMGs diagonal from each other are superficial opposing meridian muscle groups. The superficial opposing muscle group's completing muscle group is the true opposing muscle group.

Reference Material from The Genius of Flexibility

• The Energy Flow Cycle — page 51
• The Interrelationships Among Meridians and Muscles — page 55
• Balancing Asymmetries: Keeping Yourself in Line — page 239
• Keep Both Sides Satisfied — page 242
• Troubleshooting Principles — page 252