Lungs regulate the water passage: effect of qigong on lymph, and the possible restructuring into a supercondutive media for subtle energy

A number of the classics of Chinese medicine state that the lungs are primary participants in the body's functional management of internal water: 'The lungs move and adjust the water channels', 'The lungs regulate the water passages in the body', 'The lungs are the upper origin of water.'.In the physiological paradigm of the western world this mechanism makes no sense These types of statements are at the root of the rational for why traditional systems of medicine are often characterized as unscientific by the Western model of science.

Recent research from western physiology demonstrates that oxygen metabolism produces a major percentage of the body's internal water which becomes the lymph when lt. enters the lymphatic vessels. In addition, it has been found that several separate mechanisms contribute to the propulsion of the lymph (lymph heart). The most prominent of these is the action of the breath apparatus.

The Chinese were aware of both the circulation of blood and lymph at the time of the compilation of the Huang-ti Nei-Jing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor), 300-100 BCE. In western science Harvey, from England, clarified the circulation of the blood in 1616. Asselius, from Milan Italy, is credited for discovering the lymph in 1627, however, lymph circulation dynamics have only recently been delineated. It is a startling ethno-medical point to realize that the 'unscientific' Asian system of traditional Chinese medicine was aware of these circulatory systems literally thousands of years before Western science.

This paper will discuss the relationship between Qi Gong practice and lymph productivity and propulsion. The phenomena of structured water will be explored as a conductive media for the Qi of Chinese medicine.