Medical Therapeutics: Science & Body-Mind, and Science & Heart, Mind, Body & Soul
The significant use of biofeedback as an important medical therapeutic in today’s world has evolved from, in part, the early work of Elmer Green, Ph.D. and Alyce Green, M.A., published in 1999: Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, http://www.consciousnessandbiofeedback.org/journal-articles/. That is to say, an attentive human can voluntarily and intentionally modify their own physiological activity, their own behavior and the processes of their own consciousness.
Thirty years ago when Dr. Candace Pert authored her first scientific papers and popular books on the themes of “BodyMind,” in particular, a theory of the emotions, mediated by receptor active peptides, such as the neuropeptides and immune system cytokines, as the agents that integrated communication between the brain and the body, her ideas were considered radical, even heretical. Candace realized the unified and integrated level at which physiology, mind, and consciousness access one another, to both enhance or diminish wellness. “Wellness practices such as somatic, behavioral, and contemplative practices [emphasis mine] thereby had a physiological basis and could be used to promote or enhance health and recovery from illness by integrating the body’s native repair and regenerative systems, providing a biochemistry and modern interpretation for the Wisdom of the Body.” http://candacepert.com/
An internationally recognized psychopharmacologist who, until recently, held a research professorship in the department of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Dr. Pert “believes that God is the summation of how the natural laws of the universe [emphasis mine] operate, with peace and harmony. We’re hard-wired for bliss, which is both physical and divine: our body makes its own natural opiates, the endorphins.” http://www.brainsync.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-to-feel-godgood/ That is, the connection between your own physiology, your innate desire to achieve a sense of well being, and the natural laws of the universe is being born out by modern research.
Belief is one thing, scientific evidence is another. Dr. Pert’s research has revealed what the ancients from the East have known for millenia: “It turns out that the [seven most familiar] chakra locations align with our body’s major peptide-manufacturing locations where nerves are clustered in interchanges.” (ibid.) The examples of the convergence of modern science and ancient knowledge are endless, as long as your discernment takes you to evidence with integrity. The point is this: the connection between you body, your mind, and your spirit is quantifiable. So, if you can learn to manage your body’s own capacity to create physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, you will literally change your world. Your beliefs will follow your direct experience. The evidence of the field of biofeedback is clear: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2939454/
Creating an intentional, palpable calm in the face of stress can change your world. Maintaining a connection to a deep, affective Silence in the face of chaos can change your world. Direct experience of inner peace in the face of personal, inter-personal or global conflict can change your world. Disengaging from the mind can help engage at the level of the heart and the level of the soul. Letting the mind be the wonderful servant it was
designed to be can change everything. Allowing the mind to be the master it believes it wants to be can be troubling, as it is not always willing to cooperate with the knowings of the heart. Noticing however your heart may feel, simply by putting your hand over your heart and putting your awareness there, can help you to do that, right here, right now. And importantly, learning to discern between the ability of the mind to literally mimic the knowings of the heart is a learning curve well worthy of mastering.
And there is another very real connection between the heart and the soul. The “Science of the Soul” is one body of knowledge from the ancient Vedic tradition of the East that reinforces that notion of connection of heart and soul by delivering to you your own direct experience. It is specific to the knowledge and practices revealed by Sri Kaleshwar. It is important to learn to navigate with discernment the information about the ancient knowledge of the east, insofar as that information, like so much information these days, can be subject to misguided application. Learning to rely more on the truths available from the knowings of your heart can help bypass the traps that the mind can be vulnerable to. The monkey in the mind wants to play tricks. It is designed that way. The compassionate wisdom of the heart can help get you past that monkey, and on to the amazing infinite truths your soul is waiting to reveal.
Larry Dossey, MD, notes: “The recently developing Era III goes even further by proposing that consciousness is not confined to one's individual body. Nonlocal mind -- mind that is boundless and unlimited - is the hallmark of Era III. An individual's mind may affect not just his or her body, but the body of another person at a distance, even when that distant individual is unaware of the effort. You can think of Era II as illustrating the personal effects of consciousness and Era III as illustrating the transpersonal effects of the mind.”
[“Era I, which can be called "mechanical medicine" and which began roughly in the 1860s…; Era II began to take shape in the period following World War II. Physicians began to realize, based on scientific evidence, that disease has a "psychosomatic" aspect…; The recently developing Era III goes even further by proposing that consciousness is not confined to one's individual body. Nonlocal mind -- mind that is boundless and unlimited - is the hallmark of Era III.]
Regardless of what you call it, or how you understand it, when you make more real the
connection between your heart, your mind, your body and your soul, then you will find that you can change your world in a whole new way. Discerning your next step can be a function of learning how to integrate all those intimate and important aspects of your consciousness. And, discerning the proper teacher to help you achieve that learning and integration will make all the difference in your direct experience.
