Science of Pranayam and Homeopathy

Pranayam means control of Pran or vital force. According to sage Patanjali it means controlled breathing which includes deep inhaling, exhaling and retention of breath. Pranayam occupies central position in the Indian Yogic system and it is said that liberation of soul is achieved through proper pranayam and meditation.

Modern medical science has shown unequivocally that Pranayam helps in toning the mind and body. However the exact mechanism of how Pranayam helps in toning the body and mind has still remained a mystery. Recent researches have shown that nano-particles (particle size of 10-30 nanometers which are almost 10-20 times smaller than those emitted in cigarette smoke), can directly reach the brain through nose breathing and bypass the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). This process may throw some light on how Pranayam affects the mind and body.

Medical researchers discovered for the first time in 1941 that small amounts of fine particles that were inhaled through nose could be lodged in the brain by breaching BBB. However this field of research remained dormant till 1990s when scientists, alarmed by rising environmental pollution, visited the early research and started discovering the harmful affects of toxin invasion of brain through breathing.

Today rapidly growing research shows that a small part of the air we breathe through our nostrils goes directly to the brain via the olfactory lobe and the rest (major portion) goes to the lungs supplying the necessary oxygen to the blood. Thus the inhaling breath affects both the mind and the body directly. Moreover the air we breathe has direct impact on our brain.

Scientists have also found out that breathing through one nostril affects the part of the brain on that side, and thus the practice of inhaling through one nostril during Pranayam is to stimulate that side of the brain and not for cleaning the nostril as  explained by experts in Pranayam. Similarly deep slow breathing allows enough time for the nanoparticles or Pran to pass through the BBB and into the brain.

This has alarming implications for modern living since the inhaled pollution from household and automobile smoke, dust and general industrial environment has the ability to directly go to the brain and affect the nervous system. Incidences of increased cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, etc., have been attributed partly to the toxin invasion of the brain caused by pollution. This could also be a possible reason why secondhand smoke is far more dangerous than smoking itself since the exhaled smoke particles go to the brain directly.

It has also been shown by the scientists that though the pollutants are most of the time flushed out of the lungs by the immune system, the toxic particles in the brain go on accumulating [5].

Nevertheless if Pranayam is practiced in clean and open-air environment daily then it can negate the problems of modern life. A possible mechanism is explained below.

It has also been known for quite some time now that antibiotics-resistant bacteria get neutralized with fresh air and plenty of sunlight [6]. Researchers are finding that the enclosed environment of hospitals and offices with air conditioning and artificial air breeds bacteria which create diseases in the people residing in these buildings. Exposing them to plenty of sunlight and fresh air has brought down the incidence of disease drastically. A possible mechanism for this is that UV radiation of sunlight interacts with nanoparticles in air and produces free radicals and these reactive free radicals when inhaled have tremendous therapeutic value.

Thus it is possible that the toxins in the brain can be detoxified by inhaling free radicals. Recently scientists have also found out that good deep sleep helps in flushing out the toxins from the brain [7]. Since deep sleep is like meditation hence detoxification through Pranayam, good sleep and meditation can be a basis of healthy brain.

In the mountains the proportion of UV rays in sunlight is higher than in the plains and with higher altitude and less pollution the creation of free radicals also increases. Thus mountain sojourn has always been recommended for improving health. Probably that could also be a reason why Rishis and Yogis went to mountains for meditation and practicing Yoga.

One of the most important part of breathing is smell. It is perhaps our most memoryevocating sense. The smell signals from the nose go directly to the limbic system-the seat of emotions. Thus smells evoke deep emotional responses and memories.

Studies have also shown that fragrance can change moods and influence judgment [8]. That could possibly be the reason why throughout the ages, humans have always had a love affair with flowers and their fragrance. Beautiful flowers are not only balm to our eyes but their fragrance is food for our soul. No wonder fragrance and perfume is 30-35 billion dollars strong industry today. Use of mood enhancing incense has been used in religious practices in almost all societies through immemorial times.

Thus the clean crisp mountain air with a whiff of pleasant smell from flowers literally evokes the abode of gods since Pranayam in such an environment provides the mechanism for detoxifying and cleaning the brain for better meditation and hence liberation. Even in our daily life, we can do Pranayam in open and clean air.

Scientists are also using Pranayam pathway for developing brain drug delivery systems through the nasal sprays so that it can breach the BBB and go directly to the brain. It is quite possible that this may explain how homeopathic systems of medicine works.

Generally homeopathic medicines are given in the form of small globules which a patient is supposed to suck. Through sucking of pills a small part of the before or after food consumption so that the food smells do not interfere with the aroma of medicine. Another interesting aspect of homeopathic medicines is that their potency increases with increasing dilution. There are conflicting reports on why this happens. I feel that increased dilution of medicine allows the BBB to be breached with relative ease resulting in its enhanced effect in the brain. Thus Pranayam acts like enhanced homeopathy where the free radicals from clean air help detoxify the brain and body for healthy living.

©Anil K Rajvanshi. January 2014

REFERENCES

1. B. K. S. Iyengar, “Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, Section II. 50, pg. 156. Harper Collins, 1993.

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation_meditation

3. Ben Harder, “Conduit to the brain : Particles enter the nervous system via the nose”, Science News, Vol. 165, No. 4, January 24, 2004, pg. 54. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/conduit-brain-particles-enter-nervoussystem-nose

4. Alison Elder, et.al., “Translocation of inhaled Ultrafine Manganese Oxide Particles to the Central Nervous System”, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 114, No. 8, August 2006, pg. 1172-1178. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1552007/

5. Cristina Buzea, et.al., “Nanomaterials and nanoparticles : Sources and toxicity”, Biointerphases, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2007, pg. MR17-172. http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0801/0801.3280.pdf

6. Frank Swain, “Breadth of Fresh Air”, New Scientist, Vol. 220, No. 2947, 14 December 2013, pg.34-37. http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201503/naturalantibiotics-alternatives/

7. Lulu Xie, et.al., “Sleep drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain”, Science, Vol. 342, 18 October 2013, pg. 373-377. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/373

8. Catherine de Lange, “The unsung sense : How smell rules your life”, New Scientist, Vol. 211, No. 2830, 19 September 2011. Anil K Rajvanshi. January 2014Ó 5 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128301.800-the-unsung-sensehow-smell-rules-your-life.html#.VVxMKbkrLVQ

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy

10. S. K. Sahu, et.al., “Particle size distribution of Mainstream and exhaled cigarette smoke and Predictive Deposition in Human Respiratory Tract”, Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 13, 2013, pg. 324-332.

How Earth’s Gravi-magnetic Field Effects Human Mind

There is an interesting story in Ramayana about Shravan Kumar who carried his aged and blind parents in two baskets hanging on his shoulders, taking them to various holy places in India for pilgrimage. This story is always told by parents and elders to young children as an example of how a son should be devoted to his aged parents and take care of them.

The story also says that when Shravan Kumar reached somewhere near the vicinity of Meerut or Hastinapur, suddenly negative thoughts came to his mind regarding his parents; for example why he was wasting his life ferrying his aged parents; he should abandon them since they are aged anyway, etc. etc. Only when he left the area then these thoughts vanished.

Changes in Earth’s gravitational and magnetic (Gravi-magnetic) field affect the mind. Brain produces low level electromagnetic (EM) field as a part of its thinking process. Our present age is an electric age and thus we cannot help being engulfed in EM fields. Whether they are from our cell phones, or overhead high voltage wires, or microwave ovens, or MRI scans, etc., we are continuously bombarded by them and cannot escape them. These man-made fields together with the fluctuations in earth’s magnetic fields created by solar storms provide a very large number of possibilities of affecting the human thought process. The exact mechanism of how this happens is not presently understood.

Nevertheless scientists have used magnetic fields (both static and dynamic) for treating brain disorders. Thus depression, some forms of fits and headaches have been treated by applying small amount of static and dynamic magnetic fields on human skull. Some have even suggested that such cranial treatments gives them better sleep and reduction in anxiety.

It has also been discovered that the functioning of the brain of astronauts who stay for long time in microgravity environment of outer space is adversely affected. Tests done on them after they return to earth show reduction in their response time and sharpness of mind. How the microgravity affects the functioning of the brain is still not understood.

Nevertheless there is enough data to show that changes in geomagnetism and gravitational fields affects the brain and hence thought.

Some speculation on how gravity affects thought can be seen in the interaction of alpha waves with earth. Alpha waves are produced in the brain when we are in meditation or relaxing mode. These waves are generally in the range of 8-12 Hz frequency. The earth’s diameter (~ 12,800 km) is such that it can have a standing half-wave of 11.7 Hz (very close to 12 Hz). Is it therefore possible that our brain evolved in such a manner that the earth’s geometry (and hence its gravity) influenced the alpha wave production? Incidentally scientists have also discovered that before major earthquakes an electromagnetic wave of 0.01-10 Hz comes from deep inside the earth. This wave is sometimes sensed by animals and could be the basis of reported earthquake prediction by them. In some other habitable planet the living beings may have different alpha waves depending on the geometric shape and size of that planet. Similarly life on other planets may evolve according to their gravity fields besides the effect of other environmental variables.

The relationship between alpha waves and earth’s gravity may have other implications. Practitioners of Bhakti Yoga (devotional yoga) and Buddhist traditions have always stressed the need to allow full flow of thought waves without any interference from ego or sense of identity ‘I’ for achieving Samadhi. Bhakti Yoga and Buddhist tradition says that one should completely sublimate the ego ‘I’ by abandoning oneself to God or Universal Consciousness. I feel both these practitioners are intuitively trying to allow the mind to get tuned to the gravitational field of the earth resulting in meditation and Samadhi.

Also both gravitational and magnetic fields of the earth, world over, vary slightly from their mean values. Since they can affect the working of the brain, it is possible that some places may be more conducive to creating deep thought and creativity. In ancient times this could have been one of the bases of site selection for setting up temples and holy places around the world.

There is a strong scientific evidence that the earth’s magnetic poles will flip over. That is the magnetic North will become South and vice versa. When that will happen is anybody’s guess but it is long overdue. Flipping of poles will allow increased bombardment of earth by solar wind and cosmic radiation since the protective shield provided by earth’s magnetic field will weaken. This may affect the communication and weather. But more than that I feel it may affect human thought in a substantial manner. In what way is open to question!

©Anil K Rajvanshi. April 2018