Wellbeing And The Science Of Matter-Energy Continuum
The hypothyroids amongst us will perk up at this news, I am sure, if they haven't come across it already. Two researchers in Australia succeeded in reducing very high TSH levels in a couple of patients through Neuro Emotional Therapy (NET) - and brought back their hypothyroid condition to normal. The treatment involved making the patient sit comfortably, making them extend a pronated arm, "testing" a specific muscle in the arm, and while doing so, asking the patient to recall emotions of fatigue, stress and feelings of loss and vulnerability - similar to the feelings a hypothyroid experiences when not on any medication. And while the patient's mind was engrossed in experiencing these emotions, the researchers "contacted" specific skin points on the wrist of the extended arm (known as "triple heater points" (TH) / "Meridian Access Points" (MAP) in acupuncture parlance). That was all. This simple treatment was imparted for eight weeks, at a frequency of twice per week for one of the patients, and for just four occasions for the other patient. Each session must have lasted for less than an hour. The paper reports that not only did the patients' blood test show normal TSH/T4 levels post-treatment, they completely stopped taking any medication since, and this treatment was conducted eight years ago.
_*The treatment and its results are discussed in a paper in the May 2009 issue of "Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice". (Here is the online version.) In case you are yourself a hypothyroid case or know anybody who is, it might be a good idea to test whether this miracle works for you too, by undergoing this therapy with the local chiropractor. The best part of this technique is that it does not involve any pharmacological intervention, which anyway only masks the problem and produces an illusion to the brain that all is well when it is not, and which does not really eliminate the problem from its root. This also implies that NET does not introduce any side-effects while purporting to solve a problem, which it doesn't; and that NET eliminates the problem from its root, which it apparently does.
_*muscle test during the NET process - courtesy www.netmindbody.com.
The traditional pharmacological approach is to identify the chemical X in the body whose deficiency or over-production is causing the problem; and then introduce the chemical into the body or neutralize its abundance by introducing some other, appropriate chemical. (For example, this is how pharmacology views hypothyroidism.) The key point about the resolution of the two hypothyroid cases we saw earlier is the direct association - that complementary therapies such as NET seek to leverage - between our emotions and our body's illnesses.
It is a two-way street between the mind and the brain, including the brain's extensions of the spine and the neural network. The two-way street is often sought to be explained using the Biopsychosocial model, BPS for short. The model posits that it is not merely an interplay of chemicals, as the local medico would like us to believe, that determines wellbeing. Instead, it is a combination of biomedical, psychological, and social factors that together determine how well or how disease-ridden we are. People cite the instance of diabetes type 2 that is absent in certain cultures and lifestyles but very prevalent in other cultures and lifestyles to make their point about the impact of this combination on our wellbeing. Quite a mouthful, this term - "biopsychosociology". Let's make it even more mouthful, by adding the element of metaphysics to it - "biopsychosociom'physicology", BPSM for short, for the sake of this article.
_*We all know that we have stressful thoughts, and that these thoughts occur in a realm that we call the "mind". The mind is an intangible, non-material entity, and is distinct from the brain, which at the end of the day is just a lump of perishable organic material, howsoever intricate and complex and complicated its mechanism may be. [With full respect to the professionals who have made the study of this one organ a life-long calling. They thrust a long pole in the pyre to crack open the skull, so that the flames can lick the brain inside and burn it into ash too. Otherwise it becomes messy and a bit of a problem, when the time comes to dispose of the sack of ashes. The brain is indeed perishable, howsoever complex and complicated it may be.]
_*Further, it is also well known that stress in the mind somehow instigates specific centers in the brain to release stress-related hormones such as ACTH and cortisol; which are then measured by pharmacologists to establish the level of stress the individual is going through. How does a thought that originates in an intangible, immeasurable realm seep into the brain and order it to ooze these hormones? How does this communication between the intangible and the tangible happen?
_*The thought does not stop only at making the brain produce these hormones. When this specific thought keeps coming from the mind over and over, it gives the brain the hint that a new reality has to be created in the human being's world. And the way the brain has been coded, it reacts by altering or creating altogether new neural networks that reflect the new reality. The new networks function differently of course, they may for instance incidentally - and not deliberately - suppress the production of the specific hormone that motivates the thyroid gland to perform its work efficiently. And the result is that we have the hypothyroid condition that the two cases we discussed earlier, experienced. This line of logic is in line with the phenomenon of brain plasticity, but we still haven't answered the question about how an intangible thought can impact the tangible brain, and so precisely, too.
A hint of how the matter-energy continuum between the mind and the brain works comes from the contact the researchers made on specific skinpoints on the wrists of the two hypothyroid patients. Doing this somehow reversed the influence of the negative thoughts on the brain. The neural networks reverted to their original condition, where the brain began oozing the right juices that motivate the thyroid to function normally. NET literature says that "bodies" of certain emotions get "stored" in various locations of the body. A lot of NET research must revolve around identifying the exact locations in the body where these bodies get stored - such as the skin points on the wrist in the hypothyroid case - and establishing the connection between specific bodies and their corresponding physical illnesses. A logical extension of this inference is that the "mind" or "homunculus" or whatever we may wish to call it, is now not deemed to have as its abode some deeply entrenched seat in the brain, but is viewed as being present everywhere within the confines of the body whose outermost boundary is the visible skin that envelopes it. The matter-energy continuum is tightly bound throughout the DNA material present in the nuclei of the cells, and is all-pervasive, from head to toe and across all the organ systems.
Ergo, the "body" that you "see" reflected in the mirror or in the X-ray shots is just one part of the story. The other part is the matter-energy continuum rippling within the confines of the outer-skin, which no scientific instrument devised so far has been sensitive enough to detect. May be we have all along been devising instruments whose focus is to measure a small subset of knowledge? Like the six blind men groping the parts of the elephant?
_*Like an efficient manager, the continuum stores emotions of specific qualities - both in the "positive" and in the "negative" spectrum - at specific points in the body. Every emotion neatly broken down into and categorized into compartments of qualia. With a central database that systematically records and maintains the storage of qualia. The general manager that looks after this central database must be the entity we normally allude to as "consciousness". When negative emotions reach a critical mass or volume exceeding the positive emotions, we say that our wellbeing has been affected. Contacting the skinpoints where these emotions were "located", "released" them. The general manager updated his / her / its central database in order to reflect the new reality. And voila, the person was cured. All conjecture, all armchair imagination, this. Like the seventh monk who is scratching his head, trying to make sense of the reports that the six monks have individually brought to him about how the elephant looks.
Phew, what an intricate mechanism is built in order that we can experience - in our lifetime - the emotions of joy and sorrow, of ecstasy and pain!
Exactly how the emotions welling up in the non-material mind traverse the matter-energy continuum, and impinge upon Messieurs Amygdala, Hippocampus & Co. and get them to ooze those chemicals that the pharmacologists finally measure, is still an enigma wrapped in mystery. And wonder of all wonders, this matter-energy continuum exists right within us, but we do not know. This continuum exists within me, it exists within you, it exists amongst all the billions of living beings breathing on this planet Earth, but we do not know. The traversal across the matter-energy continuum of energy waves in the form of emotions happens very casually, instantaneously and "instinctively" for all 24X7X365, from the time of parturition till the time of the death rattle. This matter-energy continuum is influenced by the biomedical, social and psychological factors that the Biopsychosocial model alludes to. Working in tandem with with the B, P, and S, the M factor influences our wellbeing. And yet, the whys and wherefores of this most natural phenomenon continues to elude us, has been eluding us for the past so many millennia.
_*How does this hypothesis about the working of the mind-brain combine help us? Let us take this reasoning further. Recall how negative emotions traverse the invisible continuum and impinge on the brain and make it do their bidding? The mind may be a superpower that directs the brain, but it is the "I" behind the mind that is the power supreme. The manager above the general manager. It is the "I" - the "we" - who has the power to decide "consciously" the quality of thoughts that the mind should dwell upon. And when we decide to think the right thoughts, we send out the right quality of energy waves across the matter-energy continuum to the brain, who then follows the orders to ooze the right juices that are just right for our wellbeing. We have to ultimately store in the different locations of the body, positive emotions that are in excess of the negative emotions.
Our self-generated thoughts can take on such a rich diversity of hues. Remember the horror of having to face Anansi the spider day-in and day-out, Anansi the spider who has made the corner of the ceiling his residence and has begun weaving his web; Anansi the spider who whistles as he swings on the threads and dreams of the luscious prey that he will now be biting into, Anansi who is quite unaware of how his presence is agitating and scaring one particular human being who the room belongs to? Remember the jealousy at the sight of the family next door having such a good time, accompanied by the sense of dejection that the same good time is so woefully out of stock this side of the fence? Remember the fear of being the next in line to be pink-slipped and not knowing what will happen next to the family and how the loan installments will be paid? Remember the frustration at being passed over for promotion yet again, and the person who got the promotion this time is not one who does their job well, but is somebody who knows how to chummy up to the management? Remember the heartbreak and sense of loss and emptiness at the realization that the person you have been in love with so much will never be part of your life? Remember these, and remember all the other emotions and thoughts that come to us as we gain experience in life. Ironically, we take pleasure in indulging in the negative emotions, because, somehow, we find it very easy to indulge in them.
Being mindful of our self-generated emotions and thoughts takes care of the 'P' in the B, P and S. We also have to be aware of the impact of the biomedical and social factor to be completely protected. Biomedical factors can be very debilitating - those viruses and bacteria and their other brethren, as well as more deadly elements such as radioactive contamination can wreak havoc of the body's natural defense shields. During such times, holding onto one singular thought that we are entitled to happiness and a disease-free body, has been known to have cured the most threatening medical condition.
Social factors on the other hand are subtly devious, and we need to be extra vigilant about the reactions they cause in our mind. These factors threaten the very structure of self-image and values that we have so carefully constructed since the time we left the cradle. The boss who continuously barks? The colleague who takes perverse pleasure in bullying? The students of grade X-Y-or-Zee who are bent upon giving you a hell of a time while all you want is to conduct the class with dignity and decorum and complete the semester? The sound of heavy breathing, and nothing else, which comes when the phone is lifted? The tantrum-throwing of the spouse or intimate partner who doesn't let any occasion slip by without reminding you of where you would be without them and their generosity? The rejection suffered at the hands of the colleagues or friends or peers who are deliberately ignoring you at the party and do not want you to be part of their clique? These and all the other instances threaten to create a cloud of negative emotions in the mind; which we now know can traverse the matter-energy continuum and cause incalculable damage to our health. Then why should we give these social factors control over our wellbeing? Why should we give these honorable @#$%^ folks control over our mind?
And how do we ourselves gain control over our thoughts? How do we become aware of that "other" part of the story, of the matter-energy continuum? One very good technique that mankind knows of is: meditation. The silent observation of thoughts as they flit through the mindscape helps us in identifying the quality of thoughts that are welling up in the mind and reaching the brain. Initially, we come to know of the existence of the thoughts after they have impinged on the brain. Mystics say that after X number of meditation sessions, we begin to become aware of the existence of the thoughts before they traverse the continuum. It is a very interesting game, catching hold of the thoughts before they perform that jump. It is the "mother" of all games, they say, and once you get the knack of it, you will not want to waste time in playing any other.
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2 comments:
There is such diversity and depth in your blog, Sanjay! Hypothyroidism, NET, Astronomy, diabetes, yoga, relationships! And all these woven together with positive psychology and metaphysics. And it always inspires.
The material you have here is publication-grade content, for which authors bill $$$. Not a single article here is plagiarized, nor is the information just a regurgitation of content available elsewhere.
I must say that I have come to love the blog; it is my favorite. (Went ahead and purchased the research paper that discusses the NET application to hypothyroid; will show it to the chiropractor for my mother's treatment.) I always look forward to the next article from you.
God bless,
Perry K
I too always thought that McLaren was not criticizing BPS per se, but was objecting to its adoption by the psychiatry domain as one of its own. But websites blindly picked up his opinions out of context, and soon his words came to be used as criticism of the model.
Perspective helps!
Thanks,
Vanderpool
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