3/23/2014

The Endocrine & Saturday Outline

Chakra Systems:
The Science of Balance
Function of the Endocrine System

Component Glands and Hormones

Chakra Overlay and Balanced Systems

Imbalances and Yoga’s Impact

Subtle Body, Profound Impacts

Endocrine Overview Prime Goal

• If lymphatics was dysfunctional, endocrine • Maintenance of balance (homeostasis)
is only just a little more organized 
– Collection of hormone-producing glands • Body ALWAYS changing – endocrine
action always bringing it back
• Primary driver of all bodily processes
– Metabolism and energy
– Daily regulation
Keeping an essence of purusha amidst
– Development, growth, and aging
the natural sways of prakriti

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How it Works How it Works

• Recall: Nervous system is the “command • Nervous system
center” – Electrical impulses as messengers
– Messages relayed to muscles, organs, and – Rapid signals and responses, but short lived
glands – Prolonged message = continual activation

• Brain’s messages trigger action from the

glands
– Glandular actions trigger many other things
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/
farabee/biobk/biobooknerv.html

How it Works What Endocrine System Impacts

• Endocrine system Growth and Development
– Secreted biochemical (hormone) messengers Strength and Energy
– Slow secretion, distribution, and response but Mood and Emotions
persists for MUCH longer
Internal temperature
Hunger and Thirst
Sleep (or insomnia)
Sex drive

So, like literally everything!

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookendocr.html

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Hormonal Cycles
• Birth  Growth  Decay  Death

• Morning  Day  Evening  Night

• Ovulation  Migration 
Release/Fertilization  Renew/Pregnancy

• Etc…

Hormones
• Complex biochemicals that specifically
target and impact particular cells

• Hormonal interaction with their target

triggers biological change
– Turns things on, shuts things off, alters a
behavior or product, etc.

http://psalmpublishing.com/hindu.html

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Hormones
Hormones
• No direct plumbing: no ducts, secreted
directly into the blood stream
– As opposed to EXOcrine glands
– Can reach entire body via circulation, but
takes a little while

• Many effects trigger (internal, external)

• Regulated by feedback mechanisms
– Some more tightly than others
http://www.ekcsk12.org/faculty/jbuckley/leclass/practicemidterm5.htm

Flashback Homeostasis Review

• Recall: Body has a set range to thrive

– Deviation yields disease/death
– Environmental changes shift from balance

• Fine regulation needed to maintain control

– Sensitive feedback systems trigger resets

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookendocr.html

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FlashWAAAAYback Homeostasis Review

• Body “knows” where it wants to be, uses
many avenues to get it

• But our habits can get in the way!

– Homeostatic limits are “elastic” – body tends
to tolerate shifts towards an extreme
– Get out of our own way and the body will take
care of itself! (More on this later)

Tricksy Habitses

Primary Glands of
the Endocrine
System

http://iheartguts.com/about-your-guts/

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Gonads:
Main Suspects
Testes and Ovaries
Testes/Ovaries • Multi-faceted but mostly involved in growth
Pancreas and development of reproductive organs
Adrenals – Which essentially drives our entire
development…
Thymus
Thyroid
Pineal
Pituitary
Hypothalamus
http://www.hormone.org/endo101/

♀ Gonads ♂ • Hormones are peptide or steroid derived

– Diet is important!
• Time, amount, and localization of – Insufficient intake, insufficient production
hormonal secretions is paramount
– Both sexes have the same hormones

• Estrogen/progesterone and androgens

essential for both men and women
– When, where, how much

http://www.jonbarron.org/article/pharmaceutical-hormones-women

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• By the end of life, hormonally, both men

Sex Hormones and women are about the same!
• Testosterone: sharpens focus but
diminishes multi-tasking (vegetarianism
and yoga[?] decrease its levels)

http://www.leninimports.com/grant_wood.html
• Estrogen/progesterone: fluctuate
throughout female development
– Childhood to puberty, monthly reproductive
cycle, pregnancy/childbirth, post-reproductive

Pancreas Main Pancreatic Hormones

• Sugar and energy management • Glucagon
– Also secretes lots of digestive enzymes – Converts stored sugar in the liver to simple
blood sugars when needed

• Tucked within the upper large intestine

• Insulin
– Allows cellular uptake of blood sugars for fuel

• These two in constant balance…but easily

tipped with high processed sugar diets!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1100.png

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SUGAR!!!

• Simplest sugar = glucose

• Body can hold onto it or release it
– If it persists in the blood too long at high
concentrations, it’s toxic/lethal
– Glucagon/insulin balance is essential
– Insulin tolerance yields diabetes

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beta-D-glucose-from-xtal-3D-balls.png http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/scireport/pages/chapter7.aspx

Pancreatic Cell Types Pancreatic Cell Types

• Endocrine cells reside in the Islets of
Langerhans (region that is targeted in
autoimmune-driven diabetes)

Alpha  secretes glucagon

Beta  secretes insulin
Delta  regulates alpha and beta cells

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Adrenals
• Paired glands that rest near top of kidneys
• Two sections:
– Cortex and medulla – each produce different
hormones; essentially different glands!
– Produce over 30 different hormones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illu_adrenal_gland.jpg
Adrenals
• Medulla hormones relate to the “fight or
flight” response
– Epinephrine/adrenaline
• Boosts heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow (to
muscles and brain), oxygen intake, energy
available to cells
– Norepinephrine/noradrenaline
• In concert with epinephrine, boosts attention
– Small amounts of dopamine
• Feel good hormone
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Adrenals
• Cortex hormones impact metabolic
processes, energy storage, some gender-
related differences, and immediate
functions of the kidneys
• Cortisol
– How the body utilizes macronutrients, boosts
blood sugar, reduces inflammation – in the
short term
– Long term causes body-wide detriment
Thymus
• Lymphatic cell (T variety) “academy” atop
the heart (we just did this!)
– Early in life/development, lymphatic cells are
selected for self/non-self recognition
– Cells that recognize self are eliminated
http://www.argosymedical.com/Other/index.html
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Thymus Thyroid
• Hormones produced assist in developing • Small gland wrapping around the front of
and propagating T cells the throat (part of the laryngeal structure)
– Below the “Adam’s apple”
• Thymus atrophies with age
– As sex hormones increase (through puberty)
the thymus diminishes in size • Hormones all deal with metabolism

• Function and hormonal output later in life

is questionable
– New evidence suggesting it continues its
support in other ways later in life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illu08_thyroid.jpg

Thyroid
• Metabolic hormones take part in:
– Maintaining body weight
– Energy usage rates
– Heart rate

• BIG target for autoimmunity (Grave’s)

– Huge havoc on the system

• Get your iodine! But not too much!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thyroid_system.png

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Parathyroid Frame of Reference

• Four tiny glands within the thyroid
– Thyroid’s bling!

• Calcium sufficiency
– Too little: hormones drive release from bones
(not a good plan long term!); small intestines
to absorb more; kidneys to make Vitamin D

http://www.symposier.com/document_detail/1015/Graphics-Illustration-Brain-Tumor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illu_thyroid_parathyroid.jpg

Pineal Pituitary
• Tiny gland situated at the • “Master gland” at the heart of the brain
center of the brain behind and
between the eyes • Hormones impact all body functions

• Controller of biological clocks related to

light exposure • Hormones trigger the action/inaction of
– Mainly day/night; sleep
ALL other glands
– Produces melatonin (sleep-aid,
antidepressant) in the dark or under psychic
stimulation (meditation)

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• Divided into two lobes (front and back) ♫ Obey your master ♪
– Each secretes entirely different hormones
– Front (anterior): bone and muscle growth
hormones, sex hormones, and some
hormones in the stress response cycle
– Back (posterior): hormones of balance (fluids,
electrolytes, excretion, etc)

http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php/Hormones
http://www.cghm.org/wow/2008/ill-stand-on-your-windpipe

Hypothalamus Hypothalamus
• Master of the “master gland” • In addition, it also controls many other
– Controls the controller processes on its own
– Temperature (heat release and retention)
• Hypothalamus is the direct link between – Hunger, thirst, and satiety
the nervous system and the endocrine – Anger
system – Oxytocin (the love hormone)
– Electrical impulses from the brain trigger the
hypothalamus to direct the pituitary how to
respond (more or less hormones)

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Endocrine-Like Organs Intro (or Refresher) to Chakras!

• Some formal organs also produce small

amounts of hormones
– Stomach and intestines: control digestive
enzyme release
– Kidneys: red blood cell production
– Heart: blood volume reduction

The Chakra System

• Idea of interdependent energy system
known since the Kundalini Upanishad
– Chakra system

• Spoke of balance among all aspects of the

system – practices to encourage
– “Energy” or hormones?
– Practices have same effect!

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Chakras
• ONE paradigm of looking at body systems
– One among many, and many variations exist
in Chakra theory
• Key tenets:
– Prana – life-force, bio-energy, vitality
– Nadis – energy channels (for Prana)
– Chakras – “vortexes” at nadi intersections
Chakra Characteristics
• Each has its own properties, resonances,
qualities, etc
– You’ve done this to death 
• Due to close association with the body,
energetic blockages can manifest as
physical imbalances
– “Words caught in your throat”, “Butterflies in
your stomach”, “Anal retentive”
3/23/2014
Chakra Theory
• Main seven “vortexes” lie along the spine
– Essentially any nadi intersection, joint, and
organ has smaller Chakras
• When energy flows, the wheel/vortex
turns, nourishing the associated body area
– Energy impacts our physical/mental wellness
– Two-way street: what we think, feel, believe
alters our energy and directly impacts every
cell in our bodies
And a little physics…
• Energy is neither created nor destroyed, it
merely changes form
• Key principle of the Chakra theory!
– Our energy is circulated among the Chakra
centers – if one is depleted and we don’t
nourish it, it will rob Peter to pay Paul
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So…
How does that relate to the
Endocrine System???
The Interface
• Ancients had knowledge of subtle systems
LOOOOOONG before science did
– Kundalini Upanishad
• Eastern eye looks at holism
• Western knife discerns and dissects
– BUT the two can live in harmony
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Let’s spin it like this…
• Nadis – energy channels
– Or…NERVES
• Chakras – energy vortexes
– Or…NERVE PLEXI (bundles of nerves)
• Prana – life force
– Or…NERVE IMPULSES (electrical signals)
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Crown
Third
Eye CHAKRA GLAND

Root Testes/Ovaries

Throat Sacral/Water Pancreas

Solar Plexus/Fire Adrenals

Heart

Heart Thymus

Sacral Throat Thyroid & Parathyroid

Fire
Third Eye Pineal

Root Crown Pituitary

http://amanecerespiritual.tripod.com/capitulo1_en.htm

• Each nerve plexi overlays almost perfectly Example

over a Chakra center
– When this Chakra is blocked, energy (nerve
impulses) are not properly received and the
function of that region of the body suffers
– If hormones are meant to keep the body in
balance, but they aren’t getting proper
energy/signals…
– It makes perfect sense that imbalance follows!
– ALL Chakras are linked to each other just as
ALL glands are interconnected
Insomnia due to poor bedtime habits:
• Pineal gland overworked trying to adapt
• Can’t keep up, so adrenals kick in a bit to
give you some edge; Dr. suggests
sleeping pills
– But you don’t change your underlying habit
• Adrenals fatigue and can’t do their other
jobs, so they steal from the sex glands
– Robs your libido and vitality, perpetuating the
downward spiral…

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Put another way… Beliefs

Third Eye imbalance: • Endocrine system encompasses whole
• Hazy, lack of clarity, and mental energy body, but very much a Crown
sluggishness; not sleeping well Chakra system
• Practice stimulating Solar Plexus asanas – Beliefs are the bane of Crown Chakra
and vigorous activity to enliven the body!
– But ignoring late night routines • How do our beliefs inhibit our body’s
• Fatigue, loss of physical groundedness, no inherent wisdom?
sex drive • How do we impede balance?
– STILL can’t sleep…

• Stress impacts (disrupts) all subtle

systems of the body
Stress
– We’ve seen this every single month!
• What is the root cause?
– Belief system vs. reality
• Stress can shunt energy/vitality/balance – Does what you believe align with the way
from one or more systems, tipping the rest reality actually is?
– With regard to endocrine balance, stress can: – Or is reality at ends with your beliefs, causing
• Over/under-produce certain hormones you internal dissonance?
• Cross intended signals – Are we so rigid we refuse to discount our
• Over/under-sensitize target cell types beliefs amidst reality’s certainties?
– Or can we alter our perspectives to loosen our
beliefs to be better in tune with what IS?
http://www.etsu.edu/tips/education/stressmanagement.aspx

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Stress Chakra Shadows...

• If perceptions (beliefs) about situations Chakra Archetype Shadow Somatic Ailments
stay rigid we can deny or repress the Root “The Victim” Fear Arthritis, osteoporosis, autoimmunity

stress that it causes us Sacral “The Martyr” Guilt Sterility, sexual dysfunction, sciatica

– Behaviors won’t change and we impede Solar Plexus “The Dishonored” Shame Indigestion, ulcers, diabetes

balance Heart “The Loner” Grief Arteriosclerosis, arrhythmia, pneumonia

– One model of dis-ease is repeating patterns; Throat “The Charlatan” Lies Laryngitis, deafness, periodontal disease
thoughts and actions perpetuate the blockage Migraine, blindness, strokes
Third Eye “The Sophist” Illusion
– Realignment does NOT guarantee perfect Epilepsy, alcoholism, neurosis
Crown “The Egoist” Belief
health, just best chance at natural healing
Adapted from “The Book of Chakras”, Ambika Wauters 2002
and “Eastern Body Western Mind (Revised)”, Anodea Judith 2004

Impacts of Yoga Impacts of Yoga

• Poses and breathing increase circulation –
hormones carried in the blood
– CANNOT squeeze glands in postures!
• Meditation and breathing clarify the mind
to look deeply at habits and shadows
• Working with the energetic area or the
mental concept gives a physical outlet
– We can’t feel our glands
– BUT getting circulation and awareness to
them can bring balancing

• All aspects of yoga dampen excessive • Chakra blockages yield physical tension –
nervous activity (which spurs hormones) “body armor” that strangles that area
– Silences noise so system isn’t drowned – Yoga therapy gets us to the root for release

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