An attempt at possible reconciliation with biomedical science
According to ancient eastern wisdom, energy flows through the human body, and chakras serve as important energetic centres. Through certain practices, it’s said, one should be able to regulate their activity. By careful observation, it’s possible to sense their manifestation. Unfortunately, the chakra system is described only in esoteric and alternative medicine literature. An attempt at biomedical characterisation is profoundly missing. This is what we would like to change.
We‘ve formulated a number of research questions and hypotheses. Would it be possible to find anatomical and physiological correlates of chakras together with their biophysical characteristics? What kind of measurement technique is necessary in order to collect potential evidence? What information can we gain from subjective observation?
Unlike recent research proposals by Sadi [1], according to our 20+ years of experience in biomedical research on the one hand, and spiritual experiences on the other hand, the main shift in the research of the “chakras” should occur from oriental and New age beliefs in non-material or purely spiritual nature of the “chakras” separated from the physical body towards experimentation focused on biomedical correlates based on real quantities measured in domain of physics.
Here is our main hypothesis:
Sensations located in body areas where chakras are supposed to be located might come from the activity of glands with inner secretion (Fig. 1) as well as nerve structures in adjacent regions.
Hypothetical mechanisms:
Just with the purposeful concentration on a given part of the body, it is possible to stimulate it through the nervous system. This may lead to a local increase in blood flow. Consequently, it may create various subjective sensations together with objective physiological changes, namely in the activity of glands with inner secretion.
How to voluntarily regulate these structures?
Following is an example of practice and first-hand experience of sensations from different “chakras”. Let’s take the practice of loving-kindness/heartfulness (Mettá meditation). Occasionally, some kind of „vibrations“ in the middle of the chest may appear. Just where the 4th “chakra” is supposed to be located. I’ve been empirically observing them and estimating their onset, latency, cessation, frequency, amplitude, and evoking emotions.
Application challenge:
The practice of Mettá meditation can rapidly change our emotional state and general well-being. But how and why? Our guess is that an increased level of hormones of happiness should be involved.
Why aren’t such self-promoting practices taught at schools? It has such tremendous potential for switching the inner state into a positive and pleasant one, with many beneficial consequences for society. E.g., positive impact on the functioning of the immune system and overall health. A natural explanation is that these processes are not well described and hence acknowledged. Thus, the first step for the promotion and implementation of such activities is their proper evidence-based description.
The thymus gland is located in the chest, between the lungs and behind the breastbone, in the same location from which the sensations are coming. In fact, the thymus produces several hormones. My observed time scale of latency (delay with onset) seems to coincide with a speed of hormonal effects (order of minutes).
However, after a closer look, the location of the glands and the assumed “chakras” don’t fit quite well. Moreover, our bodies are not able to sense glands, but can perceive sensations only from neural endings. Also, latency sometimes appears to be quite low – the first sensations (if not purely a placebo effect) may occur in a matter of seconds. Thus, the hypothesis might be formed as follows: Intended concentration of certain qualities/emotions excites neuronal activity in the vicinity of the glands, which, in turn, may be triggered to secrete particular hormones with respective time lag. This would just be a domain of neuroendocrinology, that studies an interaction between the nervous and the endocrine systems.
Our goal is to develop innovative techniques for noninvasive monitoring of such localised activity. In the case of the heart chakra originating from the thymus. Possible techniques include measurement of blood perfusion, temperature, electromyography, mechanical vibrations, or biomedical imaging.
Modern description should consider abandoning the oriental term “chakra”. In the same way as modern medical acupuncture can operate without Chi energy. Such a transition may require a certain time (decades,?), as it was in the case of the development and acceptance of the modern mindfulness meditation approach, which began in the 1970s and is still ongoing.
How might the successful outcome of the research on the “chakras” look?
1) demystifying the “chakras” (if they ever exist) by replacing the esoteric term with modern biomedical expressions
2) identifying them with well-established endocrine glands and neural structures,
3) biomedical characterisation of their anatomy and physiology,
4) extending knowledge on their functioning by selected characteristics from the oriental approach,
5) providing practical applications for everyday life: regulation at will serving for health and well-being.
Typically, for CAHUST, while dealing with advanced human studies, we also apply the following approach. We start from direct experience obtained from self-observation. However, how to combine subjective experience with scientific objectivity? Especially when a majority of our subjective information may be distorted or misleading. That’s the reason, why mainstream science doesn’t enter this realm much often, or when it does, it stays within soft sciences (e.g. psychology), without bridging to natural sciences. Thus, while bearing in mind all these biases, we ask: Isn’t there a space left for scientific discoveries? How to use the subjective observation smartly?
Temporal verdict: Potential paradigm change in physiology/neuroendocrinology with subsequent expansion into biomedical applications and well-being.
Donors willing to support our research endeavours are highly appreciated.
References
[1] Sadi J.: Experimental Design to Assess the Existence of Chakras, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 36:4, 2023.