The gateway of the clouds — and the gateway of the breath. Yunmen (LU-2) sits just below the collarbone, right where the Lung channel rises to the surface, and it opens and frees the chest when tightness, cough or stagnant Qi have closed it in.
Name & story
云门 Yunmen means "Cloud Gate" or "Gate of Clouds". The image is poetic and precise: the Lungs govern breath and are associated with the sky, mist and clouds in Chinese medicine. The clouds passing through a gate — that is Qi moving freely in and out of the chest. When the gate is blocked, the clouds pile up: tightness, fullness, cough, laboured breathing. Needling Yunmen is, in a sense, opening the gate so the clouds can move again and the breath can flow.
Point family & character
Yunmen (LU-2) belongs to the Lung Meridian (LU). It sits at the very top of the channel on the chest, just one Cun above its neighbour Zhongfu LU-1. It is not classified as one of the five Shu points, but it is an important local and regional point of the upper chest, shoulder and Lung channel, and it serves as a useful landmark for locating LU-1.
Five-element dynamics
The Lungs belong to the Metal element. Metal in nature is associated with autumn, with letting go, with the descent and dispersal of things. The Lung Qi is meant to descend — to carry clean Qi downward through the body. When this descending and dispersing function fails, Qi rebels upward: cough, wheezing, chest fullness. Yunmen, placed at the very top of the chest where the channel begins its surface journey, is the point that reopens that downward passage — it restores the Lung's natural rhythm of dispersing and descending.
Location
Find the hollow just below the outer portion of the collarbone — the infraclavicular fossa. Yunmen (LU-2) sits in that depression, approximately 6 Cun lateral to the midline of the chest. It is about 1 Cun above LU-1 (Zhongfu). A simple way to locate it: have the patient sit upright, feel for the natural depression at the lateral edge of the clavicle — that hollow is Yunmen.
Anatomy & fascia
The point lies in the depression at the lower border of the lateral part of the clavicle, in the region of the infraclavicular fossa. The lung is not far below, which is why careful, angled needling is essential here.
Needling
The needle is inserted obliquely, directed toward the lateral side of the chest — never straight inward toward the lung. This lateral, outward angle is essential for safety.
The golden tip
To ease chest tightness or the lingering heaviness of a cough, find the natural hollow just below the outer collarbone — that soft depression is Yunmen (LU-2). Press gently with your fingertip and hold for a minute or two, breathing slowly and deeply as you do. You can do this on both sides. The breath itself is the best guide: if the chest softens and the breath deepens a little, the gate is opening.
For education only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified practitioner.