Nourishing Yin at its Deepest Level
with the Extraordinary Vessels
by Suzanne Yates, AOBTA® Honorary Member
As we move deeper into the darkness, the Yin will soon reach its maximum expression.
It is the time of year to nourish the Yin: to hibernate and to support ourselves. We know
that this is linked with the Water element and the Kidneys. However, I want to explore
how we can nourish our Yin in an even deeper way: through working with the
Extraordinary Vessels, especially the Yin ones. They nourish our deep reservoir of our
energy: not only our Qi but also our Jing (Essence) and our Xue (Blood). This deep
nourishing quality is linked back to the nourishment we received in the womb. I will
explore how the EVs overlap with each other, while also having specific characteristics
and give some ideas of how to work several at a time. I explore in more depth the Yin
nourishing quality of the CV, PV, Yin Wei, Qiao and the Yin aspect of the Girdle Vessel.
Terms/Abbreviations:
Jing: Essence
Xue: Blood
EV’s: Extraordinary Vessels
CV: Ren or Conception
GV: Du or Governing
PV: Penetrating or Chong
GDV: Girdle or Dai
Wei: Linking
Qiao: Heel
Many people think of the EVs as being Extra Vessels — especially since, apart from CV
and GV, they share points with the 12 channels. However, they are far from extra: they
are the base of our energy. If they are weakened, then this will affect all other energies.
As we know, they are the first to arise: at conception and even before. From them
emerge all other energies. They are the reservoir of Jing and Qi and nourish us on a
deep level. I was first drawn to them through my work with pregnant women, back in the
1990s, when people were not really using them much apart from the CV and GV.
Fortunately for me, Maciocia’s book “Obstetrics and Gynecology” came out in 1998.
Later, I was introduced to Jeffrey Yuen’s work and I started to develop a map for what I
was feeling.
Over the years, I have developed my own approach to the EVs and my understanding
of them has grown through my studies in embryology and my work with clients trying to
conceive, as well as working with clients at all stages of their lives.
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I have a slightly different view from many acupuncturists. I think, working with shiatsu,
we are naturally as interested in the areas between the points as in the points
themselves. We also want to understand the quality of the whole of each Vessel and
their connections with each other.
I see them as much more interconnected than many acupuncturists do. Indeed, the
Chinese translation of their name is "the network of eight marvelous/extraordinary
channels." They share functions, points, and parts of their pathways. They also share
eight organs: the Kidneys, Heart, Brain, Reproductive Organs, Blood vessels, Gall
Bladder, Bone and Marrow. Some writers have suggested a one-to-one link between
one of the eight Extraordinary Vessels and one of the eight organs. This does not make
sense to me, as I feel them altogether as a network supporting different aspects of
these organs. It is true that certain Vessels have more direct relationships with some of
these organs. For example, the PV is known as the Sea of Blood and clearly has a
strong relationship with the Blood Vessels and the Heart. However, Blood is Yin and
also supported by the CV and the Yin Wei and Qiao. The Girdle Vessel is closely linked
with the movement of Blood in the pelvis. Clearly, the Girdle Vessel has a less direct
relationship with the Brain and a more direct relationship with the Gall Bladder, but it still
regulates the Brain through regulating the movement between the upper and lower
body.
I often make connections between what I call the Core Four organs: the Kidneys, the
Heart, the Brain, and the Reproductive Organs, to work with the network of the eight
Extraordinary Vessels. These are simple yet powerful ways to nourish the reservoir of
our energy. The energy of all the eight EVs is more Yin in nature than that of the 12
channels, because it is slower moving and deeper. All EVs together are connected to
the unfolding of our Jing, which begins at the moment of conception. By working with
them we tap into a deeper level of our being, why we are here, and what is our purpose
in this life. It is a deeply nourishing energy.
The Nourishing Qualities of the Extraordinary Vessels in the Womb
All eight EVs together are the main energies that nourish us in the womb, which is the
most Yin time of our lives. We are surrounded by water: first as cells bathed in fluid, and
later surrounded and protected by the amniotic sac. We are in a symbiotic relationship
with our mother, being nourished by her Xue, Qi, and Jing. The quality of the
nourishment we receive in the womb will affect the nature of how we are able to receive
all kinds of nourishment throughout our lives. The ancient Chinese always emphasized
the importance of our time in the womb, and now modern epigenetics is validating this.
If we were not adequately nourished in the womb, either physically or emotionally, then
this will affect our capacity to nourish ourselves throughout our lives. As the Chinese
wrote, although we cannot increase the quantity of our Jing, we can affect its quality. It
takes longer to do this, but by working with the EVs we enable people to connect with
their connection with the whole universe and not be limited by the quality of their time in
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the womb.
It is important to recognize that we always have the capacity to nourish ourselves
independently of the situation around us. This is a quality of all the EVs together, and
we see this expressed during the first week or so after conception. During this time we
are spiraling down the fallopian tubes (or perhaps these days in a laboratory) to arrive in
the womb of our mother. Our cells are dividing, but we do not grow in size and we
nourish ourselves from within. These dividing cells, until the eight-cell stage, are called
totipotent cells. They are almost identical to each other and each can become any part
of what will become our physical body and what will become our placenta and support
structures. This, for me, explains the interconnected quality of the 8 EVs. They regulate
everything in our physical bodies. They also regulate the defensive Qi (Wei Qi) which
for me is not only how we protect ourselves, but how we connect to the spaces around
us.
After the eight-cell stage the cells start to differentiate into those which can only become
our body and those which can only become our support structures. Those of the inner
body are called pluripotent cells, which means that they can become anything in our
physical body. It is not until two weeks after conception (i.e., about a week after
implantation) that the inner body develops a front and back and top and bottom
(bilaminar disc) and there is a specialization in the cells. We could see this as the
physical appearance of the CV and GV. At three weeks the PV emerges as the
mesoderm between the endoderm (CV) and ectoderm (GV). These are the three germ
cell layers (trilaminar disc) which give rise to all the different structures within the body.
These structures correspond closely to the functions of the CV, PV, and GV.
The physical appearance of the Girdle Vessel is less directly linked to one of the germ
cell layers, but I feel it arises along with the PV and is the connection around the
trilaminar disc which also, like the PV, helps connect the inner body with the outer body.
The Qiao and the Wei start to arise later on still, along with the development of the hand
and foot plates from the future shoulder and hip at around four weeks.
The outer body is closely related to the placenta, but the yolk sac and amniotic sac arise
more from the inner body. There is a complex interplay between the two as we fold into
the fetal position from four to eight weeks. Some of what was on the outside gets
absorbed inside and this gives rise to the complexity of the movement we can feel with
the EVs. It is not linear but more spirallic. It is both deep within the body and in the
spaces around the body. It nourishes and supports us from within and without,
connecting us both to the deepest aspects of ourselves, but also enabling us to access
support from outside.
Through working with any of the EV’s we can access a deep capacity for nourishment,
but I want to describe a little more the slightly different aspects of nourishment we can
access when working with the CV and the PV.
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Conception Vessel
The Chinese character for the CV is the image of a human and a bamboo pole with a
load hanging at each end (e.g., a bucket of water). This is about being able to endure
the burden of being human in the sense of how we are able to adapt to each different
stage of human life. It is how we nourish the essence of life itself.
The CV regulates the Yin and all the Yin channels. There is a lot of overlap between CV
and PV, like with all the EVs. This is why I often work several EVs together. However,
CV is the central aspect of Yin and Yin in its more ethereal form. The CV is more related
to Yin Qi and the PV more to Blood. Qi is less material than Blood. That the CV is only
in the Yin midline of the body and its regulating point is Lung 7 signifies more of a
connection to space and the Heaven. The CV connects us to the Yin of the Universe
and why we are here. If we can connect back to this initial resource, we can feel safe
and supported whatever is going on outside. Unlike the PV, the CV has no branches in
the legs, and so is less about the tangible aspects of bonding to earth. It needs the
anchoring quality of the PV to support it.
The yolk sac (vitellin sac) develops after implantation from the Yin midline of the body
and helps support our nourishment before the placenta is fully developed. The cells for
the yolk sac come from the fertilized egg, not from our mother. It is part of us, our
original connection to the universe. Eventually, the yolk sac disappears, part of it being
absorbed into our digestive system and part of it into the umbilical cord. The CV
regulates our digestive system and our midline, but it contains the memory of the yolk
sac. I feel that the CV is about how we are able to nourish ourselves, even when the
world outside us is hostile. If our mother is not able to nourish us, we can draw on the
resources of our CV. If later in life we are living in a hostile world, we can draw on this
capacity of the CV which comes from our inner resources. It is our capacity to be selfsufficient emotionally and not be dependent on our relationships with others, but able to
nourish ourselves through our relationship with ourselves.
Penetrating Vessel
Once we implant, we begin to take in nourishment through our outer body, making
connections to blood cells in our mother’s womb. We need nourishment in order to
grow. Eventually where we implant will form the placenta, which, as we saw, is linked
with all eight Extraordinary Vessels and shows their interconnectedness — and their
connection to structures that eventually disappear.
However, the PV is an important part of this connection, since it is closely related to
Blood and our connection with the outer world. This is reflected in its eventual pathway,
which moves away from the midline outwards through the legs and through the breasts.
A strong quality of the PV is a sense of settling and being able to draw energy from the
outer world and a strong connection to our mother. Sometimes when I work the PV, I
feel the energy of implantation which embryologists sometimes call “nidation”: making a
nest. It is therefore not by chance that its main regulating point is SP4, a point which is
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on the foot, linked to the earth and Yin. Many texts include ST points on the legs, which
also connect to Food and the earth.
The character for the PV illustrates this. The Chinese character for “Chong” has two
parts. The outer part (radical) is a symbol that is split into two parts to the left and right
side of the center. This outer part represents the left and right foot in a walking
movement. It also means to circulate. This expresses the importance of the leg branch
of the PV and its connection to the earth and the outer world. It also expresses its
important role in the circulation of Blood and Qi in the body.
The inner part of the Chong represents a person repeatedly trying to raise a heavy
weight up from the earth. This represents power. We could see this as representing our
potential to become stronger through our relationship with the outer world.
The whole character includes the idea of the PV being a meeting place: a route with lots
of crossings and tributaries where people can meet and continue walking. This shows
how we can be enriched in our life through our interactions with other people. The
character suggests that this route is powerful. In the Daoist texts, this indicates the
transformational nature of the Chong. By being able to draw nourishment from the outer
world and link many different energies together, we can transform ourselves.
The PV is, therefore, more dependent on and closely connected with the earth, the
outer world, than the CV. Our first outer world is our mother, both in the womb and the
early period after birth. After birth we are, hopefully, held Yin to Yin and both the PV and
the CV are being nourished. However, for me, unlike some other writers, the PV is the
Vessel which is the most closely connected with bonding with the mother. The PV has
important branches in the breast which start from the Kidney points in the chest and fan
out to connect with the Heart organ and the first point on the Heart channel. Connecting
with our mother’s breasts, through breastfeeding or being held against her body after
birth, is an important stage of finding a new way of being nourished emotionally and
physically.
How Yin energies overlap at the navel: the CV and the PV are supported by the
Yin Wei, Yin Qiao, and the Girdle Vessel (GDV).
You can see in reality how difficult it is to separate the PV from the CV, and we often
need to work them together. There are in fact many overlaps between the EVs, both in
their function and where they are in the body. Since I am discussing how to support
nourishment and the Yin, I want to consider a vital area where Yin energies overlap: the
navel and the abdominal/pelvic area. I want to give you some idea of how you could
also include the Yin Wei and the Girdle along with the PV and the CV so that you can
begin to understand the interconnections between the EVs. Another area where the
EVs intersect is the mouth — also vital for taking in nourishment.
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As we know, sometimes the navel is sensitive (often due to the way we separated from
our umbilical cord at birth). We may not always be able to work here directly. This is
when we can use the regulating points of the EVs, which are on the hands or feet, or
perhaps the organ connections, as I described above. As we know, CV8 is the center
point on the CV. Its name, “spirit gateway,” indicates its connection with the energies
not only of our mother but also of our ancestral line, and indeed why we have chosen to
incarnate in our particular body at this time and place in the history of the world. It is
also about how we separate from our mother at birth and start to find our unique path
through life and our own sense of nourishment. Although it is not given as a specific
point on the Dai it is contained within it. The Girdle needs to join at the front, along the
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CV line from CV16 (Central Courtyard) to CV2 (Curved bone: pubic bone).
I also include CV1 as part of the Girdle Vessel, since for it to fulfill all the functions
described of it, (e.g., supporting the organs of the pelvis, especially the reproductive
organs) it needs to link in with the perineum. CV1 is another point shared by all of the
EVs. Its name is the meeting of the Yin and it is the Yin aspect of the GV as well as the
GDV. Obviously, we do not work directly with it in shiatsu, but we can support our
clients to connect with it through breath. I sometimes do this while I am giving them
shiatsu. I hold CV2 and GV2 and get the client to draw up their perineum on the
outbreath. This is a powerful way to reach the energy here and support this most Yin
part of the CV, GDV, and GV. It is important to include because the perineum nourishes
and supports us on a deep level.
To each side of the navel are the two KD16 points which are also deep nourishing Yin
points. They are called the “Vital Membranes” and nourish the Jing, Gate of Vitality and
Source Qi, the Heart, Yin, and the lower burner. You may know that the Kidney channel
from KD11 at the level of the pubic bone, to KD27 under the clavicle, is part of the PV
pathway in the torso. In the abdomen, the KD/PV runs along the medial border of the
recti muscles. The Chinese called the recti muscles the ancestral muscle. They link with
the perineum and support the reproductive organs.
Further out to each side of the navel are the two SP 15 points: the Great Horizontal.
These are points on the Yin Wei and are on the lateral border of recti muscles. The Wei
and the Qiao, which physically arise later in the womb, are more connected to the
shoulders/arms and hips/feet and the day-to-day rhythms of the earth (as opposed to
our mother). The difference between the Wei/Qiao and the PV is that postnatally they
are more connected with drawing energy from the earth and outer world and bringing it
back to the center. The CV and PV are more about the movement from the center out
towards the earth. The Yin Wei supports the PV to develop its connection with the outer
world and brings the outer world back into PV to be modified in the core of the body. It is
not surprising that its regulating point (HP6) is the paired point of the PV. SP15 also
links with the Girdle Vessel by being within its pathways because GDV is main regulator
of horizontal energy in the body: being the only channel which runs horizontally.
The Yin Qiao also passes through the abdomen, bringing Yin and Yang energy from the
earth to the center, through the movement of stepping on the earth and its many
connections through points on the Kidney and Bladder (water and Yin).
Practical ideas to work with the Yin Vessels in the abdomen to deeply nourish our
body.
Since there are so many overlaps it can be helpful to link all these different Yin
nourishing energies together. I begin by placing my mother hand over GV4 (Ming Men:
from which all the eight EVs arise and to which they return) and make a broad
connection with my other hand over the whole abdominal area, from under the ribs to
the pubic bone. Then I work with the Yin Wei, the most outer border of the recti
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muscles, with my thumb on one side and my fingers on the other (if I can reach!). I
gather along the edge of the muscles towards the midline (CV). In this way, I am
gathering all the SP energies together, not only SP15. I then do the same for the medial
border of the recti muscle, drawing all the KD/PV energies together. Then I might finish
with a connection along the CV. I may have already integrated some work with the
regulating points of some of these Vessels before I do this, or I may finish with some of
the regulating points or connections with the Core Four Organs.
Of course, we have to be sensitive to the power of this work. If the person is ready it
may bring to the surface deep memories of the past. However, if they are not, then it
supports them to feel how they can resource themselves: come back to their center and
connect with their capacity to nourish themselves. This will then enable them to take the
nourishment they need in this moment. You may now be considering using the EVs with
clients who have issues with food, perhaps even anorexia or bulimia, or deep issues
with their relationships with their mother which you have not been able to support by
only working with the twelve channels.
How do we decide when to use the EVs as well as (or instead of) the twelve
channels?
It is always important to support flow within the twelve channels in order to support the
current moment's relationship with the outer world. The EVs should not be used as a
substitute for our daily interaction with the Qi. If we use them in this way, then we may
drain our deep reservoir. However, the reason we may have eating issues or issues
with our mother may go back to our time in the womb or our early life; and, unless at
some point we are able to access this level of our client’s being, the same patterns will
keep repeating. In any one session then, I usually include some work with the EVs and
the twelve channels, although, depending on the client and situation, the balance
between the two may vary.
Conclusion
I hope this begins to give you an idea of the flavor of how we can access the deep
nourishing qualities of the eight EVs. They are a whole other layer of working with the
body and it is important to understand the characteristics of each as well as the links
between them all. Enjoy exploring them more deeply, especially in this Yin time of
reflection. Begin by trying some of these connections with yourself, so that you
understand them in your own body before working with clients.
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References
The Eight Extraordinary Vessels, Elizabeth Rochat de la Valle and Claude Larre: for the
underlying meaning of the characters. Monkey Press 1997
Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine, Maciocia G: Churchill Livingstone 1998
Channels of Acupuncture, Maciocia G: Churchill Livingstone 2006
The Eight Extraordinary Vessels, Jeffrey Yuen
Lecture notes, New England School of Acupuncture 2005
Larsen’s Human Embryology, 5th edition 2012, Elsevier
Suzanne’s books which mention the Extraordinary Vessels are: Shiatsu for Midwives (2003),
and Pregnancy and Childbirth (2010)
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