The Sanskrit word “Chakra” literally means the wheal. The Chakras are the vortexes of the vital energy, connected to the network of subtle channels (nadiyan), through which the life force (vital energy) flows. They cannot be found in the physical body (sthul sharira), yet, they are interconnected with its functioning, as well as with that of the human psyche. The Chakras are not visible for the physical eyes. Commonly, they are non-perceivable through the five senses, which define the way we orient ourselves in the outer (as well as the inner) world. What cannot be seen has to be believed, and that is the crucial problem the Science has with the Chakras. Therefore the Chakras are often sadly considered as an obscure part of a weird esoteric agenda, based on thousand years old teachings of the uncertain origin. But although they cannot be simply seen, thousands of people have their own authentic experiences of the body-mind-soul interconnection realized through Chakras. And strangely, those experiences often coincide.
THE SCIENTIFIC DILEMMA
Although the Yoga philosophy and the Quantum Theory use both different terminology they are quite resonant in the terms of the message they give. The scientific paradigm ordinarily deals with the energy that manifests or rests unmanifested in its potential. It bears on the concept that the matter is the condensed energy it develops the notion of the relation of matter and antimatter. Yet, it’s is still hardly tolerable for the Science, to deal seriously with the theory of the Chakras. There have been some efforts to prove their objective existence in the past decades. The most renowned may be those of Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama[i] from the 1970s, the inventor of the Chakra Instrument and those of Prof. Valerie Hunt, who has measured the human electromagnetic output under different conditions, both with the aim of reaching the repeatability and though the verifiability of the outcomes. I personally love the jokeful answer of the worldly known Swami Satyananda Saraswati from the Bihari School of Yoga to the doubts of the scientific approach in confrontation with the indemonstrability of the Chakras. To the question: “Why when we have witnessed many operations, we have never seen the Chakras?” he replies: “Can you show me the sound waves in a transistor radio? I have opened up many radios, but I have never found the BBC in there.”[ii]
CHAKRAS – THE HIDDEN DATABASE WITHIN
The notions of psycho-energetic centers, which do involve the relative homeostasis in-between our gross body, the mental and the spiritual layer (the expansion of the consciousness), are anchored in many cultural traditions all over the world, including the Ancient Egypt, the Incas, the Mayas, the old China, Tibet, the Cherokee Indians of etc.
The Chakras have always been the inseparable part of Yoga, within its inherent traditional physiology and anatomy. It’s well known fact, that the yogic perspective and approach is holistic in a principle, which in practice means, that it is based on the concept of the cohesion within all the layers of our existence (the Five bodies concept of Panchakosha). There are many different interpretations of the Chakra system within the yogic and tantric system, but the prevalent stream of yoga tradition operates with the seven main Chakras concept. The seven major Chakras are located at the subtle level along the pathway of the central energetic channel (Sushumna Nadi). They all vibrate at the different frequency. The lower Chakras rotate slowly. The higher centers do rotate at the higher speed accordingly various conditions – the physical and psychological state, the individual and collective experiences, the personal growth (the reached level of one owns consciousness) etc. The Chakras work as the switching stations of the energetic flow within the various layers of our gross (physical) and subtle (mental and spiritual) constitution, transmitting the information from one to another. Each Chakra has the connection with the concrete areas of the body, and its physiology. They also rely to the periods of the human ontogenesis which encompasses the specific life (bodily and mental) issues – from the self-preservation, self-definition, to self-acceptance and the transcending of the self. In the traditional notion, the Chakras reflect not only the individual experience, but they embrace the cumulative transpersonal experience of all the mankind as a unique kind of software which operates our behavior, the way of creating and understanding the life values and many other crucial points in life. Somebody would call it “the unconscious impulses”, somebody else “the subconscious input”, somebody may label it as a “collective mind”, while another one would disagree and define it as a sort of evolutionary programming. But how does this inner programming hidden somewhere within ourselves affect our physical body we can feel through the senses?
CHAKRAS AND THE GLANDS
As already mentioned above, from the yogic (as well as the scientific) perspective, everything around and inside us is, in a sense energy. It continuously transforms reacts and through that process it can influence the surroundings, as well as to get influenced itself. The vibrational level of each Chakra together with the throughout flow of the vital energy relates with the glands of the endocrine system in the body. The endocrine system secrets the hormones (the messengers of the physiological information) into the circulatory system, to be carried to the targeted organs. The word hormone comes from the Greek hormao which means “awakening”. The awakened awareness and concentrated energy in concrete Chakra brings the challenge for the incidental gland and its endocrine function. It doesn’t mean that in case when our consciousness get pathologically stuck at the Swadhisthana, the other endocrine glands won’t work. But what may happen is the hyper / hypofunction of the gland. The biochemical information the hormones bring is again an energetic impetus. The hormonal system has very strong impact on how do we feel, it makes us act in a specific way – very often unknowingly and automatically. Some of the hormonal messages we get, reflect the evolutionary adaptive schemes (especially from the lower Chakras). Though, some others bring brand new challenges for the interface of our mind and the life- through experience. We can see the concrete Chakra-gland interconnection below in the chart:
|
1st Chakra Mooladhar
|
Gland: Adrenals |
Secretion of : Corticosteroids (eg Cortisol) and Catecholamines (Adrenaline, Noradrenaline), Androgens |
Function: Basal stress response – flight/fight/freeze modus. Self-preservation
|
|
|
2nd Chakra Swadhisthana
|
Glands:
Ovaries/Testicles |
Secretion of:
Estrogen, Progesterone (F)
Testosterone, FHS (M) |
Function:
Procreation |
|
|
3rd Chakra Manipoora
|
Glands:Pancreas, Spleen | Secretion of: Insulin, Glucagon |
Function: Digestion, regulation of glucoses in the blood
|
|
|
4th Chakra Anahata
|
Gland:
Thymus |
Secretion of:
Thymosin, T-lymphocytes |
Function:
Growth, Immunity |
|
|
5th Chakra Visuddhi
|
Glands:
Thyroid, Parathyroid
|
Secretion of:
Thyroxin (T4), Triiodothyronin (T3) |
Function:
Metabolism, thermoregulation |
|
|
6th Chakra Agya
|
Gland:
Pituitary gland (anterior + posterior + intermediate ) |
Secretion of:
Anterior =
Somatothropins, Gonadothropins, Thyrothropins, Lactothropins, Corticothropins
Posterior =
Antidiuretic hormone (AHD) Oxytocin
Intermediate =
Melatonine
|
Function:
Homeostasis The endocrine system supervision. Day/night mode control. |
|
|
7th Chakra Sahasrara
|
Gland:
Pineal gland |
Melatonine, Serotonine, DMT |
Function:
Bio Rhytm Immersive states of the consciousness
|
|
CHAKRAS – THE EMOTIONAL TREASURY OR A TRASH BIN?
Each Chakra correlates with a concrete gland and its physiology, body area, level of consciousness and last but not least with specific life themes and emotions. The emotions are affective states of consciousness – the continuous movements of mind. But emotions are not just feelings. They usually provoke strong physiological reactions – those which are positive (joy, love), as well as those which are negative (fear, sorrow, hate, shame). Through our ontogenesis as well as through the personal / spiritual growth we do encounter the truly big scale of emotions to be encompassed. Through that process they naturally change, they come back – stronger or softer, bringing together the challenge as well as the chance to improve ourselves. The emotions have to be understood and lived, which is often not easy in the practice. Suppressed emotions create blockages – in the psyche as well as in the body as they are lively interconnected. Due to those blockages the life energy cannot flow freely, we get stuck in the specific life themes we fell unable to deal with. The traditional Yoga gives a kind of “Emotional Topography” through which we can orient ourselves through the inner and outer worlds and understand better where are the unpleasant emotions stored, or where can we find the source of cultivation of those which make us grow.
| 1st Chakra Mooladhara | Negative emotion: Fear
Positive emotion: Faith in life |
Location:
Base of the spine |
| 2nd Chakra Swadhisthana | Negative emotion: Guilt, Shame
Positive emotion: Satisfaction
|
Location:
Location: Sacrum, Lower abdomen |
| 3rd Chakra Manipoora | Negative emotion: Anger
Positive emotion: Self-reliance
|
Location:
Solar Plexus |
| 4th Chakra Anahata | Negative emotion: Grief, Sadness
Positive emotion: Unconditioned love |
Location:
Chest |
| 5th Chakra Visuddhi | Negative emotion: Frustration
Positive emotion: the sense of freedom |
Location:
Throat |
| 6th Chakra Agya | Negative emotion: Feeling of misunderstanding
Positive emotion: the sense of Insight, being at the right time at the right place |
Location:
Bhrumadya – between the eyebrows |
| 7th Chakra Sahasrara | None | Crown of the head |
[i] Motoyama H., Theories of the Chakras – Bridge to Higher Consciousness
[ii] Saraswati S., Kundalini Tantra, Yoga Publications Trust, Bihar India, p. 11
Written by Barbora Hu for Galaxy of Yoga (India), THE TEXT IS UNDER COPYRIGHT!