Nervous System Dictionary

bhramari: Yogic mode of breathing according to which one imitates the sound of the bumblebee. executing bhramari affects two important chakras in the meditator and soothes his or her nervous system. The Sanskrit word bhramara means bumblebee.

(See also: Bhramari , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Teeth

• An ordinary dream of teeth augurs an unpleasant contact with sickness, or disquieting people.
• If you dream that your teeth are loose, there will be failures and gloomy tidings.
• If the doctor pulls your tooth, you will have desperate illness, if not fatal; it will be lingering.
• To have them filled, you will recover lost valuables after much uneasiness.
• To clean or wash your teeth, foretells that some great struggle will be demanded of you in order to preserve your fortune.
• To dream that you are having a set of teeth made, denotes that severe crosses will fall upon you, and you will strive to throw them aside.
• If you lose your teeth, you will have burdens which will crush your pride and demolish your affairs.
• To dream that you have your teeth knocked out, denotes sudden misfortune. Either your business will suffer, or deaths or accidents will come close to you.
• To examine your teeth, warns you to be careful of your affairs, as enemies are lurking near you.
• If they appear decayed and snaggled, your business or health will suffer from intense strains.
• To dream of spitting out teeth, portends personal sickness, or sickness in your immediate family.
• Imperfect teeth is one of the worst dreams. It is full of mishaps for the dreamer. A loss of estates, failure of persons to carry out their plans and desires, bad health, depressed conditions of the nervous system for even healthy persons.
• For one tooth to fall out, foretells disagreeable news; if two, it denotes unhappy states that the dreamer will be plunged into from no carelessness on his part. If three fall out, sickness and accidents of a very serious nature will follow.
• Seeing all the teeth drop out, death and famine usually will prevail. If the teeth are decayed and you pull them out, the same, only yourself, is prominent in the case.
• To dream of tartar or any deposit falling off of the teeth and leaving them sound and white, is a sign of temporary indisposition, which will pass, leaving you wiser in regard to conduct, and you will find enjoyment in the discharge of duty.
• To admire your teeth for their whiteness and beauty, foretells that pleasant occupations and much happiness will be experienced through the fulfilment of wishes.
• To dream that you pull one of your teeth and lose it, and feeling within your mouth with your tongue for the cavity, and failing to find any, and have a doctor for the same, but to no effect, leaving the whole affair enveloped in mystery, denotes that you are about to enter into some engagement which does not exactly please you, and which you decide to ignore, but will later take it up and secretly prosecute it to your own disquieting satisfaction and under the suspicion of friends.
• To dream that a dentist cleans your teeth perfectly, and the next morning you find them rusty, foretells you will believe your interest secure concerning some person or position, but you will find that they have succumbed to the blandishments of an artful man or woman.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Teeth , Meaning of Dreams about Teeth , Dream Interpretation Teeth )

Tibetan Pulsing Healing (Tibetan Pulsing): Modern approach to an ancient Tibetan technique. It is a form of bodywork whose principle is that sound and the pulse are usable to dissolve blockages in the nervous system. Its theory posits (a) a 'cool' healing fire created by the heart, and (b) the hara,a controller of the immune system wherein sexual energy often is locked. Tibetan Pulsing includes a system of eye-reading whose design is to determine which organs need attention.

(See also: Tibetan Pulsing Healing , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Body Mind Dynamics: Form of bodywork advanced by the Somakinetics Research Institute and, in 1994, promoted by the Source of Life Center, in New York City. It is (or was) a way to release pain, stress, and negative emotions that interfere with the functioning of glands, internal organs, the nervous system, and meridians.

(See also: Body Mind Dynamics , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Gerson Therapy (Gerson dietary regime, GDR, Gerson method, Gerson treatment): A state of the art, contemporary, wholistic and natural treatment which assists the body's own healing mechanism, according to the Gerson Institute, in Bonita, California.

The Gerson Therapy involves sodium restriction, potassium supplementation, extreme fat restriction, periodic protein restriction, and coffee enemas. The institute promotes the Gerson Therapy as a preventative lifestyle and a virtual panacea. German-born Max B. Gerson, M.D. (1881-1959) originated the method in the 1920s. His book, A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases, first published shortly after his death, is the acknowledged bible of the Gerson Therapy. The fifth edition of the book includes the following statements.

(a)           In man, there are electrical potentials outstanding in the life of the cells. They are especially accumulated in the nervous system, which is ultimately our 'spiritual organ'.... (p. 12)

(b)          In the nutritional field, observations for centuries have shown that people who live according to natural methods in which plants, animals and human beings are only fragments of the eternal cycle of Nature do not get cancer. (p. 14)

(c)           ...[N]ot one factor alone or a combination of single factors is [therapeutically] decisive, but what is decisive is how they influence the whole body, mind and soul in their entirety. (p. 18)

(d)           Above all we must realize that there is nothing in heaven or on earth that does not exist in man himself. We can say, therefore, that the system which governs the human being itself is 'Great Nature.' (p. 49)

(e)           In order to deal with the harmful things which we have to use to our disadvantage, the Lord gave us an alchemist (stomach) not to absorb the poisons that we eat together with the good nourishing food, but to separate it from the favorable substances. (p. 49)

(f)             * For the things that one does for the prolongation of one's life are ordained by Great Nature. (p. 49)

(See also: Gerson Therapy , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Anthropology. The Science of man; it embraces among other things: - Physiology, or that branch of natural science which discloses the mysteries of the organs and their functions in men, animals and plants; and also, and especially, - Psychology or the great, and in our days, too much neglected science of the soul, both as an entity distinct from the spirit, and in its relation to the spirit and body.

In modern science, psychology deals only or principally with conditions of the nervous system, and almost absolutely ignores the psychical essence and nature. Physicians denominate the science of insanity psychology, and name the lunacy chair in medical colleges by that designation. (Isis Unveiled.)

(See also: Anthropology , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Dream Interpretation Eleven

Eleven is a master number which strengthens the effect of two. It is often the symbol of an illegal union of two people. Sometimes eleven is the symbol of your desire for good long-term relationship. It might also be the sign of a problem or changes in your vegetative nervous system.

Source: Dream-Land, http://www.dream-land.info

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Eleven , Meaning of Dreams about Eleven , Dream Interpretation Eleven )

Network Spinal Analysis (Network, Network Chiropractic, Network Chiropractic Spinal Analysis): Conspicuously vitalistic form of chiropractic founded in 1983 by Donald M. Epstein, D.C.

It embraces the following principles.

(a)           An innate or resident intelligence (inborn wisdom) governs all human biological processes through the nervous system and never harms the body.

(b)           This intelligence directs the life force (vital life energy or vital life force), which bestirs every cell. (c) Malposition of the spinal cord, nerves, and vertebrae can cause mechanical tension that may impede the vital life force.

(c)           Mental and chemical stress can cause such mechanical tension.

(d)           Removing mechanical impediments to the vital life force heightens the operation of innate intelligence naturally.

(e)           The universe and society are intrinsically good.

(See also: Network Spinal Analysis , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, noninvasive method of evaluating and enhancing the function of a physiological body arrangement called the craniosacral system. Developed by John E. Upledger, D.O., O.M.M., this manual therapy enhances the body’s natural healing processes and has proven effective in treating a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.

The craniosacral system consists of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. It extends from the bones of the skull, face, and mouth - which make up the cranium - down to the sacrum or tailbone. Since this system influences the development and function of the brain and spinal cord, any imbalance or dysfunction in the craniosacral system could cause sensory, motor, or neurological disabilities. These problems may include chronic pain, eye difficulties, scoliosis, motor-coordination impairments, learning disabilities, and other dysfunctions of the central nervous system.

Craniosacral therapy encourages the body’s natural healing mechanisms to improve the functioning of the central nervous system, dissipate the negative effects of stress, and enhance health and resistance to disease.

The craniosacral therapy practitioner uses a light touch to assist the natural movement of fluid within the craniosacral system. Therapists generally use only 5 grams of pressure, roughly the weight of a nickel, to test for restrictions in various parts of the craniosacral system. It’s often possible for the evaluation alone to remove the restriction and allow the system to correct itself.

(See also: CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY , Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

SHIATSU: A Japanese bodywork technique utilizing traditional acupuncture points, but employing manipulation and pressure from the thumbs, fingers and palms rather than needles or mechanical instruments.

Shiatsu reinforces joints and muscles, and focuses on the efficient flow of energy throughout the meridians and autonomic nervous system. Often referred to as a "one-point" pressure system, shiatsu has an advantage over acupuncture in that it can be self-administered--the subject simply has to know which of the 365 tsubos requires pressure in order to treat the specific complaint.

(See also: Shiatsu , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Chorea (from Greek choreia dancing)

A disorder of the nervous system, characterized by a peculiar convulsive and irregular action of the voluntary muscles, especially those of the face and extremities. It has been called insanity of the muscles, since their action is without harmony or purpose, and each seems to have a will of its own. It is most common in the impressionable years of childhood and adolescence, though appearing at different ages and associated with other diseases which, as a rule, are free from choreic movements.

All types have significant common features. First, that many cases are free from organic disease shows that this is a purely functional one; when it complicates other diseases, it retains the typical movements of essential chorea. Whether it develops after some infectious or exhausting condition or polluting experience, or after some mental or psychological strain or shock, like fright or fear, the choreiform reaction indicates the occurrence of an unstable balance between the physical and astral bodies and the inner and higher manasic in man. Persons who develop chorea share a common psychic susceptibility which marks those who are subject to disturbances like hysteria, mediumship, epilepsy, and other phases of obsession.

In addition, there are similar signs of a besieging influence at first, as when the child grows peevish, capricious, and restless, wants improper food, is listless at school, suffers with disturbed sleep and night-terrors; and later begin the convulsive movements in the muscles which are naturally under the control of the conscious will.

The individual will thus weakened and, in some cases, psychic changes like hallucinations and somnambulism, point to the characteristic action of some astral influence. Further evidence of this is seen in the danger of chorea developing into more serious nervous disorders; whereas, with proper mental, moral, and physical care, cure results when the spiritual will regains its rightful place in controlling the course of life.

(See also: Chorea , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

SHIAT-SURF

This is a hands-and-foot-on therapy system designed to create space and unblock restrictions in the body via gravity. Shiat-Surf works with the body’s breathing, pulses, and nervous system.

(See also: SHIAT-SURF , Alternative Health, Massage, Bodywork, Body Mind and Soul)

Viti Chorea Sancti (Latin) St. Vitus' Dance, one name for the dancing epidemics which prevailed in Germany and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. These epidemics in general have been called tarantism because they were believed to be started by a tarantula bite; the name St. Vitus' Dance was given to a particular outbreak in Germany for it was to his shrine that the patients repaired for a cure.

The name has passed into medicine, where it is often used for chorea, which applies to isolated cases. Pathology refers it to a disorder of the nervous system, but such disorder can be but a secondary cause or symptom, though doubtless certain pathological conditions render the patient susceptible to the disease. It is of the nature of a psychic obsession, as shown by its epidemic character, and is of the same character, but apparently on a lower psychic plane, and without the voluntary element in it, as is found among dancing manias among dervishes, shamans, Shakers, bacchanals, etc.

See also CHOREA

(See also: Viti Chorea Sancti , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Kriya:

A physical, mental, or emotional movement initiated by the awakened kundalini. Kriyas purify the body and nervous system, thus allowing a seeker to experience higher states of consciousness.

(See also: Kriya , Yoga, Yoga Dictionary, Siddha Yoga, Siddha Yoga Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

Orthopractic: Holistic healing approach promoted by Anthony Cimino, N.D., Ph.D., founder of the Long Island Biotherapy Center, in Syosset, New York.

It embraces acupressure, Dianetics, hypnotherapy, muscle testing (see above), nutritional counseling, reflexology, and Neuro-Communication (Neuro-Communication Systems). Neuro-Communication, according to a Biotherapy Center leaflet, is a process discovered by Cimino that asserts to better the nervous system through the use of special words and body movement.

(See also: Orthopractic , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Instinct The vegetative, passive, or automatic side of intuition, which expresses itself all through natural existences. The atoms move and sing by instinct, and by the instinctual faculty the animal guides its life. In human beings are the divine instincts of love, forgiveness, and pity.

"Instinct, as a divine spark, lurks in the unconscious nerve-centre of the ascidian mollusk, and manifests itself at the first stage of action of its nervous system as what the physiologist terms the reflex action. It exists in the lowest classes of the acephalous animals as well as in those that have distinct heads; it grows and develops according to the law of the double evolution, physically and spiritually; and entering upon its conscious stage of development and progress in the cephalous species already endowed with a sensorium and symmetrically-arranged ganglia, this reflex action, whether men of science term it automatic, as in the lowest species, or instinctive, as in the more complex organisms which act under the guidance of the sensorium and the stimulus originating in distinct sensation, is still one and the same thing. It is the divine instinct in its ceaseless progress of development.

This instinct of the animals, which act from the moment of their birth each in the confines prescribed to them by nature, and which know how, save in accident proceeding from a higher instinct than their own, to take care of themselves unerringly -- this instinct may, for the sake of exact definition, be termed automatic; but it must have either within the animal which possesses it or without, something's or some one's intelligence to guide it" (IU 1:425).

Instinct may be considered as the automatic or quasi-intelligent functioning of the infinitude of rays flowing forth from the kosmic mind -- these rays in their turn first passing through the divine intelligences, then through the spiritual intelligences, then through the hosts of beings of less degree, and finally reaching animate and inanimate entities. Instinct, thus, wherever functioning throughout nature is seen to be the action of kosmic mind. In proportion as intuitions are farther evolved along the ladder of life, instinct merges into intelligence, then into self-conscious intelligence, and finally into spiritual intelligence which is the veil of the kosmic divinity.

(See also: Instinct , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Ida-nadi:

Ida-nadi ("pale conduit"): the prana current or arc ascending on the left side of the central channel (sushumna nadi) associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and having a cooling or calming effect on the mind when activated; cf. pingala-nadi

(See also: Ida-nadi ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Acoustic stimulation , Auditory stimulation ,  :

Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system.

(See also: Acoustic stimulation , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

TAI CHI CHUAN: The objective of tai chi chuan is to achieve health and tranquility while developing the mind and body, through movement. It teaches an individual how to control her nervous system in order to put the entire body to rest, which is an effective way to stay healthy.

(See also: Tai chi chuan , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Pingala-nadi:

Pingala-nadi ("reddish conduit"): the prana current or arc ascending on the right side of the central channel (sushumna-nadi) and associated with the sympathetic nervous system and having an energizing effect on the mind when activated; cf. ida-nadi

(See also: Pingala-nadi ,Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Pituitary Gland or Hypophysis Cerebri A small, bi-lobed, ductless gland, resting on the bony floor of the brain just above the palate. Its familiar name came from the mistaken notion that it secreted pituita (phlem) which was discharged through the nose. The technical term describes it as the "growth underneath" the brain with which it is connected. It is also closely related to the optic and other sensory nerves, as well as to the general coordinating centers of mental and physical sense and sensation in the region of the third ventricle, including the pineal gland.

Modern physicians have called the pituitary the driver gland, because of its active influence upon the growth and function of different parts of the body. Theosophy holds that the pituitary body is the seat of the organ of will; likewise, as an organ that functions through the sympathetic nervous system upon various levels of the psychic plane, it is one of the links that connect the intermediate nature of man with both his spiritual mind and his instinctual, animal mind. Thus it serves as manifesting point where the cosmic force of will, flowing through the spiritual center of man's being, works as a physical energy. As the bodily organ of will, it acts as a vital transformer, stepping down the high power, electromagnetic currents of universal will and desire, thus providing a series of special currents of growth which are diffused through the thyroid and other ductless glands. These currents, acting as automatic or vegetative will power, first affect the linga-sarira (model-body), and through it stimulate the physical body.

The pituitary, as a transformer, may also step up these diffused currents of physical and animal will and desire, raising them into the aspiring mental-spiritual will and desire, as when the high adepts concentrates his whole consciousness upon attaining spiritual vision and knowledge. When the focused power of the active pituitary is directed to the higher psychic levels, its influence, through radiated wave-energy, reaches the pineal gland which responds with spiritual clairvoyance. If, however, the increased activity is upon the lower astral levels, the effects are distorted and misleading. The pituitary being closely connected with the optic and other sensory nerves, and with the important nerve centers, its enlargement or uncontrolled, abnormal activity often give rise to strange hallucinations of vision, hearing, etc. This explains the bizarre sights, sounds, odors, or what not, which are so real to the sufferers from brain fever, delirium tremens, insanity, epilepsy, and some other disorders.

However, no one of the organs of a human being can function alone and apart from coordinated activity with the other parts of the human constitution; thus it is that while the pituitary body can stimulate or arouse to increased activity the pineal gland, nevertheless the pineal gland in its turn can act strongly upon the pituitary body; and as the pineal gland is the physical seat of the spiritual and higher intellectual faculties of the human constitution descending to the physical brain through the linga-sarira, when the pineal gland thus influences by radiated wave-energy the pituitary, the latter is awakened and begins to vibrate, strongly influencing the physical brain with will-currents guided by the spiritual and higher intellectual inspiration from the pineal.

(See also: Pituitary Gland, Hypophysis Cerebri , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Plexus (Latin) A network, used anatomically for certain networks of nerves or blood vessels. The nerve plexuses forming part of the sympathetic nervous system are closely related functionally to the viscera, and serve as coordinating centers for the various nerve tissues which regulate their muscular and organic action. They are intimately related to mental and emotional states, to such an extent that the chief of them, the solar plexus, has been called the abdominal brain.

The word has been used in theosophy to translate the Sanskrit chakra (wheel, nerve ganglion), but these chakras are better defined as forming centers in the vital-astral constitution of the organism. They are centers or foci of pranic energy, having special qualities which may be correlated to other groupings, such as the seven principles, the seven rays, etc. The seven chakras are: sacral, prostatic, epigastric (solar), cardiac, laryngeal, frontal, and cavernous.

Any attempt by an untrained student, without a teacher, to try to develop these chakras is sure to cause disaster, since it can result only in the arousing of powerful forces which he has not yet acquired the means to control, and which will therefore control him. Once awakened, they cannot be put to sleep again, and the result will be disorganization, physical or mental or both, manifested in disease, insanity, depravity, or death; in the worst cases, the unfortunate dabbler may set his feet on a path of black magic ending in the final separation of his spiritual ego from its hapless psycho-vital-astral-physical vehicle.

The spiritual and higher intellectual powers and faculties must be cultivated first; and this cannot be done by any attempt at artificial stimulation based on fixing the attention on spots in the body or head. The only safe way to practice the chela life is to forget about the body and its mechanism, thus allowing evolution to proceed in its natural course, and dangerous forces to life quiescent until they come naturally and harmoniously into operation.

(See also: Plexus , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)