Brain, The Controller

The brain gets a continuous flow of stimulus from the sense, organs, through the nervous
impulses to the specific region of the cerebral cortex, as well as the consciousness. Partly,
the message is also conveyed to a unique system within the spinal cord and the brain. This
is designed to interpret the stimulus as a danger signal or one of pleasure and enjoyment,
by exciting the nervous system. The reticular formation develops to gather messages from
the sense organs, and coordinates them to get a complete picture of the threat. This takes
place on a continuous basis.

The messages are exaggerated or suppressed depending upon the importance of the threat.
The interpretation as to when a particular threat is important and needs to be exaggerated
or when it is of less importance in comparison to another message and needs to be
suppressed, is also the task performed by the brain. The ordering of priorities depends on a
number of factors which the brain takes into consideration. The stimulus to the sense organ
can also get suppressed at the source, even before the brain is able to receive it. A blinding
flash-light of the photographer shuts out all other subsequent stimulus to the eye. A jet
plane overhead cuts off all conversation. So momentarily or for a period of time, depending
upon the intensity and the duration of the 'suppression', the brain becomes 'blind' or 'deaf'.

Involuntary suppression of the sense stimulus when a particular sense organ is under
severe stress, is quite different from the practice of pratyahara in yoga. In pratyahara, the
individual is conscious of what is happening around him but at the same time, consciously
cuts out or filters the stimulus to the brain.

Arousal in the face of threat or stress triggers five separate areas of the brain which sends
message to the endocrine glands to secret hormones, such as adrenaline, 17-OCHS and
testosterone.

The psychic centre in the frontal lobe and the limbic cortex are the parts of the cerebral
cortex involved in stress adaptation. In the limbic cortex are many nuclei which are
scattered around the hypothalamus, and connected to it through a nervous network.
Initially, any stress like fear, etc. is experienced in these two areas of the brain- the frontal
lobe and the limbic cortex. Increased activity in these regions stimulates the hypothalamus,
triggering off the automatic nervous system and the endocrine system, leading on to
several physiological changes which are needed to provide pro lection to the organism.

The nervous system

The central nervous system (CNS) is the 'communications' network in the body. Through
the CNS, stimuli from the sense organs are conveyed to the appropriate regions of the
brain. In the reverse function, messages from the brain are conveyed, through the CNS, to
the various parts of the body and the glands, and other individual and collective body-mind
mechanisms. The CNS is a two-way communications network. Part of the CNS controls all
the involuntary functions of the body. This is known as the autonomous nervous system
(ANS). The ANS is subdivided into the sympathetic nervous system or the pingala nadi; and
the parasympathetic nervous system or the ida nadi.
Right inside the brain, covered by large folds of cerebral cortex, is the hypothalamus.
Located almost in the centre of the brain, the hypothalamus is the highest centre of the
sympathetic nervous system. Nerve fibres from the sympathetic nervous system spread on
either side of the spinal cord and connect to the various plexuses or yogic chakras; the
laryngeal plexus or vishuddhi chakra; the cardiac plexus or anahata chakra; the solar plexus
or manipura chakra; the lumbar plexus or swadhisthana chakra; and the sacral plexus or
mooladhara chakra.

In the face of a threat, the hypothalamus is able to send electrical impulses throughout the
sympathetic nerves, thus activating the eyes, the salivary glands, the heart, the lungs, the
stomach, the kidney and the intestine.

The parasympathetic nerve is a large nerve called the vagus. It descends from the brain
stem down the neck, chest, abdomen and is connected from organ to organ. During stress
adaptation, the parasympathetic nervous system aids the sympathetic nervous system,
though the two work at variance to each other.

The sympathetic nervous system, as its name suggests, is sympathetic to the needs of the
body. At the first impulse received from the hypothalamus, the sympathetic nerve initiates
action: increases the pulse rate, the blood pressure, sweating, the blood glucose, and the
muscle tone; opens the air passages and the eyelids, and dilates the pupils.

The para sympathetic nervous system, at the same time, decreases pulse rate, blood
pressure and sweating; it makes the blood glucose and the muscle tone normal; it constricts
the air passages; it makes the eyelids relax and droop, and it makes the pupils actually
constrict.

The seemingly anti-sympathetic role of the parasympathetic nervous system, has the
finesse of nature's intelligence about it. By virtually countering the actions of the
sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system acts as a moderator and
prevents the sympathetic nervous system from getting itself carried away. Besides, it is the
counter action of the parasympathetic nervous system which 'pulls' the body system back to
its state of normality.

However, stress problems do not always originate from over-arousal of the functioning of
the sympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system too, sometimes,
responds to 'stress', leaving the individual more and more withdrawn within himself, failing
to respond to the environment around him.

Yoga attaches great importance to the balancing of the ida and pingala nadis or the
parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. The two nervous systems are linked to
the left and the right brain hemispheres respectively, and to the breath. Yogis understood
that by controlling or modifying the function of the breath, the nervous system, and in turn,
the brain hemispheres can be controlled - the breath in the left nostril influencing the
activities attributed to the right hemisphere, and the breath in the right nostril influencing
the activities of the left hemisphere.

The yogis of yore also understood the strong bond between the eyes and the brain, and
realised that if the eyes are 'stilled', then the thought waves of the brain could also be
stilled. Thus, most meditative and some yogic techniques are practised with the eyes
closed. At the same time, they also developed trataka, a technique to still the brain waves
even while the eyes are open. Trataka involves the concentration on an object or a symbol,
and the one-pointed concentration achieved through trataka has a similar effect on the
brain.

The pineal gland

There is a small, pea-sized gland above the top of the spine called the pineal gland. It is
located between the two cerebral hemispheres and above the cerebellum. Modern medical
science does not recognize any specific physiological function of this small body. Yoga on
the other hand, says that this gland is the link, the antenna for higher vibrations. When it is
stimulated or awakened, then one can start to tune in with less stressful and more subtle
patterns of existence.

The pineal gland is stimulated through trataka, as the eyes are connected directly with the
pineal gland, via the sympathetic nervous system. The centre of the sympathetic (as well as
the parasympathetic) nervous system is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is also the
centre of wakefulness and pleasure, together with sleep and pain. Thus, the eyes, the pineal
gland, the sympathetic nervous system, the hypothalamus and the wakefulness of an
individual are all intimately connected with each other, directly or indirectly. Mental
concentration of any type will tend to bring these systems into a high level of sensitivity. In
trataka, the whole system is stimulated and awakened by concentration through the eyes.
This induces higher sensitivity of the pineal gland, and directly via the sympathetic nervous
system, greater wakefulness in the individual. All other disturbing or stressful thoughts are
blocked out, at least for a temporary period.

The endocrine system

The endocrinal glands supplement the nervous system, in particular the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nerves. Together, they make up a single neuro-endocrine system that
integrates and coordinates the metabolic activities of the body, and controls the ability of
the body to face changes in the internal and external conditions. The two systems work
hand in hand, but with one major difference. The nervous reactions are quick and short
lived, whereas the endocrinal responses are slow and protracted to give permanent changes
to the body. The nervous system produces speedy changes in the body, while the endocrinal
system gives continuity to these changes.

The glands are distributed throughout the body and the hormones secreted by them into the
bloodstream are thus distributed to all parts of the body. The glands trigger definite organs
that react to specific hormones, and in this manner, changes are induced within the body
according to the dictates of the brain, which is also the master controller of the endocrinal
system.

The glands do not work independently - each gland reacts with and modifies the influence of
the other glands. Thus, any disorder of the endocrinal system in general, or in one of the
glands alone, can have negative repercussions on the health of the whole body.
Some of the important glands which secrete hormones at times of stress in the endocrine
system are the two adrenal glands and the thyroid gland. The central portion of the adrenal
glands, the adrenal medulla, secretes adrenalin and noradrenalin, while the outer layer or
adrenal cortex secretes corticosteroid hormones. These hormones bring about changes
similar to the sympathetic stimulation. Besides, the thyroid gland secretes thyroxin and the
pituitary gland in the skull secretes growth hormones. A rise in the level of these hormones
in the blood assists in stress adaptation, and therefore, these hormones are known as stress
hormones.

The pituitary gland, which controls the secretion by the sex glands- ovary and testis - also
controls the secretion of corticosteroids by the adrenal cortex by releasing adreno-
corticotrophic hormone. The pituitary gland also controls the secretion of thyroxin by the
thyroid gland, through the release of thyroid stimulating hormone. Thus, without the
impulse from the pituitary gland, neither the adrenal nor the thyroid gland would secrete
the stress hormones. However, the secretion of both the adreno-corticotrophic hormone and
the thyroid stimulating hormone by the pituitary gland, is in turn, controlled by the
secretion of a hormone by the hypothalamus.

In this bureaucratic setup, the hypothalamus is right at the apex, and is in control of several
functions of the body associated during adaptation to stress. One of the major aims of yoga
in stress management is to harmonize the working of the entire endocrine system. While
some of the yogic practices render the individual glands efficient, the practice of surya
namaskara influences the entire endocrine system, as it combines asanas, pranayama and
awareness of the chakras or the psychic centres in the body.