Topic: Where Science overlaps with ancient thoughts
JaiGi's photo
Tue 03/29/16 01:24 AM
Edited by JaiGi on Tue 03/29/16 01:36 AM

recently i came across

1. a famous dream that led to an experiment proving our 'Nerves transmit signals chemically'

2. which i found overlaps slightly with ancient theme of 'chakras'

3. which leads me to hypothesize on the energy component of our 'consciousness'

Here goes:

1. Prior to 1921 it was not clear whether our motor nerves transmitted electrical impulses or chemical releases to keep the organs going. This changed after Otto Loewi’s dreamed up an experiment.

To get a 'handle on the experiment' we need to appreciate what & where these motor nerves called 'vagus' are, so a step backwards into the anatomy of our nervous system:



As one can see, we are all endowed with a sheath of vagus nerves
emanating from the spine & controlling heartbeat, etc..

According to Loewi, the idea for his key experiment came to him in his sleep. He dissected out of frogs two beating hearts: one with the vagus nerve which controls heart rate attached, the other heart on its own. Both hearts were bathed in a saline solution (i.e. Ringer's solution). By electrically stimulating the vagus nerve, Loewi made the first heart beat slower.






Then, Loewi took some of the liquid bathing the first heart and applied it to the second heart. The application of the liquid made the second heart also beat slower, proving that some soluble chemical released by the vagus nerve was controlling the heart rate. He called the unknown chemical Vagusstoff. It was later found that this chemical corresponded to Acetylcholine


That the experiment came to Loewi in a dream or that 'Acetylcholine'
is also an ingredient in our brain that facilitates dreams are 'by-the-way' observations.

2. Correspondences with the Chakra theory




Although the autonomic nervous system is considered to be involuntary, this is not entirely true. A certain amount of conscious control can be exerted over it as has long been demonstrated by practitioners of Yoga and Zen Buddhism. During their periods of meditation, these people are clearly able to alter a number of autonomic functions including heart rate and the rate of oxygen consumption.


3. Now for the hypothesis starting with Yoga practitioners:

On heart rate and the rate of oxygen consumption during meditation:
These changes are not simply a reflection of decreased physical activity because they exceed the amount of change occurring during sleep or hypnosis.


In other words, it is not that the energy rises from the bottom chakra to the top but, by meditation these practitioners 'shut down'
the vagus nerves systematically.

In the process, the energy flow required to run the body (through spine) is reduced (and may even be cut off momentarily).
--xx--

4. Part II of the Hypothesis would be:
So where is this energy 'pooled'(?) during meditation
or
is there no energy pooling at all as all mental chatter has ceased?
(meditators generally remain unaware of surroundings)

or
is the experience 'transcendental' & so beyond explanations?







SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Tue 03/29/16 03:01 AM
Edited by SparklingCrystal 💖💎 on Tue 03/29/16 03:01 AM
I don't know about the questions, I do think this is what osteopaths work with.
For instance, if your diaphragm is upset, you can get neck problems, uterus cramps (women of course), constipation. This because those areas are connected with one another via nerves (probably 'vagus' nerves?).

That also means that if your neck is upset, you can get constipation and uterus cramps. If an osteopath then works on the diaphragm only, they can heal the neck, uterus cramps and constipation by just touching the diaphragm area.

As for chakras, I've been working with those for some 11 years now I think. They are connected to organs, but also the psyche. And of course the way we feel (mental, psychy, mood) is also connected to the physical body.
For instance, many people get stomach pains when they worry. That's connected to the 3rd chakra, located at the solar plexus.
Working on the 3rd chakra alleviates both the mental stuff as well as the stomach aches.

I'm glad that maybe science is finally starting to catch up with these things. It is often a problem that they don't, as alternative therapy is only partially covered by health insurance because western science hasn't got proof yet that it works. Meaning I have to cough up money to pay for it, even though it is more effective and healthier (less meds) than western science.
I always feel it's rather daft that the standard of something being authentic depends on the need of "written proof", provided by people that haven't even learnt how to write yet.
It's crazy that so many people put so much value on science, while science is like a child that is learning, not the teacher with wisdom. You wouldn't give a toddler authority, yet we give it to them.
.
.
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JaiGi's photo
Tue 03/29/16 09:59 AM
Hello Crystal,

i recall your Chakra post some 6 months ago; tried to trace it, then gave up.

didn't know about vagus nerves till yesterday, so not quite clear on how it bundles together with the rest of the nerves. May be Sunshine
will correct / validate it.

It appears that brain science before MRI relied on patients with epilepsy for exploration and now they have come up with a 'vagus nerve stimulate-' for epilepsy treatment; an implant like the pace maker.



The image is from the VNS link where both the old surgical treatment & VNS are presented. https://www.med.nyu.edu/neurosurgery/physicians/a-z-technologies-guide/epilepsy-surgery

problem is battery life is 5 years.


For instance, many people get stomach pains when they worry. That's connected to the 3rd chakra, located at the solar plexus.
Working on the 3rd chakra alleviates both the mental stuff as well as the stomach aches.


know from experience that when somebody points a knife, it's the stomach that curls up - may be my 3rd chakra is chicken.laugh

Would be interesting if we could get a link to your old chakra post or any other on how to work with chakras; with lesser rituals.






SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Tue 03/29/16 10:32 AM
Edited by SparklingCrystal 💖💎 on Tue 03/29/16 10:37 AM
There's tons of info on the net on how to work with chakras. Lot of good books too.
I've been busy with energy work for 11 yrs approx now, I can write a lot about it, although I'm by no means an expert. And would take me a lot of time, while hardly anyone here is interested in that stuff.
So I usually post about such thing on my own (spiritual) forum and another, international spiri forum. YOu gotta choose your audience, right bigsmile

What helped me a lot when I first started, was to get rid of as much blockage and clutter on my chakras as possible, so they got properly activated and opened.
This is an ongoing process, as you experience new things that can cause 'clutter' and blockage, plus some issues may take years to work your way through.
When you do a lot of that 'work', you start to feel better physically, emotionally, mentally. You become more and more empowered.

But there's a gazillion way to work on them:
Binaural sounds/music
Chakra meditation
Colour therapy (breathing in colour through/in a chakra, VERY effective!)
Gently spray them with the shower head and visualize clutter being washed away and disappear down the drain
And so on

I also don't know when I posted that link. I believe it was a chakra test, to see whether or not your chakras were opened and how far (percentage).

I was either one of these two tests:
http://www.chakratest.org/index.php

https://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/chakratest.php

JaiGi's photo
Tue 03/29/16 01:13 PM

took the test, revealing.

the breathing / sound vibrations --> seems like pacemaker techniques

thanks!!

out here, the traffic sound can shred nerves. laugh