The deeper I go into the study of the physiology of the science of the body the more I realize yoga is based on science, they are saying the same things in different languages, for example;
- The kundalini is the vagus nerve
- The chakras are our nerve plexuses
- The amrita bindhu, the nectar of life according to yoga, is just the hormones secreted by our pituitary gland
- Soma is melatonin.
- Prana is biophotons
- The kanda is given much attention in yogic philosophy as the place where all 72,000 nadis originate. The kanda is not ethereal or energetic or only in the subtle body. The kanda is the conus medullaris (bulb at the root of our spine) in our physical, real body. The yogic texts state all 72,000 nadis originate from the kanda because it is the junction where the peripheral nervous system meets the central nervous system.
The more I learn more through the alternative practices of yoga, Ayurveda, and TCM and the more I learn through Functional Medicine, Integrative Medicine and Aromatherapy I am seeing all kinds of cross overs. They are all designed to make a similar shift in the body.
Here are the 3 major points in the body all these therapies are trying to shift:
#1 Autonomic balance – The practices of yoga, aromatherapy, Ayurveda, and TCM first deal with resetting your autonomic balance to being parasympathetic dominant where healing and regeneration can happen.
- Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez who was an alternative cancer doctor who elaborated and progressed the treatments of Gershwin Therapy teaches the importance of this and it has been the back bone to his cancer treatments along with specific diets, supplements, and detoxes.
- Aromatherapy scents are about making this shift first
- Lavender helps GABA reach GABA receptors relaxing the stress response and making us feel good. The scent of lavender alone reduces pulse, blood pressure, and pain.
- Another study showed that the inhalation of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is capable of reducing sympathetic nervous activity and decrease blood pressure
- rose (Rosa damascena) and patchouli (Pogostemum patchouli) decreased sympathetic activity.
#2 Brain function – Shifting brain function from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex
- Functional Neurologists, Drs. David and Austin Perlmutter book “Brain Wash” is about this and foods that switch you to your amygdala such as sweets and processed flours making it harder to make good decisions about what you are eating.
#3 Hormone balance – Ways to get our body to release dopamine and serotonin instead of the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol.
- Mudras are about making this shift (and they are better for you than anti-depressants)
- Essential oils can increase serotonin while inhibiting cortisol
- Lemon (ingested) lowers the neurotransmitters adrenaline and noradrenaline (aka epinephrine and norepinephrine) while it increases dopamine and serotonin
- Clary sage increases dopamine and therefore is a very good anti-depressant.
- Black pepper actually increased adrenaline concentration while rose essential oil decreased adrenaline levels.
- Sweet orange demonstrates stress relieving activity by decreasing cortisol in saliva samples.
First get these 3 importing systems in your body in balance, then go after any diseases or imbalances — or just keep these things inline for preventative maintenance. This is how you treat the person instead of the disease. Modern medicine does not even look at how a person developed the imbalance, they just go after it with a pill while the causative factors still carry on in the person, making many medical treatments an ongoing event for the rest of the persons life.
Without this first step medical treatments have a lower efficacy.
Yoga is a tool box for this, we have been doing this long before we knew what we were even doing with all this yoga:
- Breathing and Asana are about autonomic balance
- Meditation and pranayama makes the brain shift from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex
- Combining breathing, meditation and posture are our Mudras which help to make the hormonal shift in our body from the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol to the feel good hormones of dopamine and serotonin