Wants vs Needs: Corruption of Esteem Needs: Introduction

In 32nd episode of Skeletal Leap, I embark on a profound exploration of moral values and their origins. I pose a thought-provoking question: Why did humanity feel the need to create moral values if they were not inherently part of our psychobiological structure?

This episode explores the intricate relationship between our instinctual drives and the moral codes that govern our lives. From the outset, I highlight how moral values were established as a means to navigate the complexities of human existence.

These values, often perceived as necessary for social order, were born out of fear. It was the fear of our instinctual drives that, when left unchecked, could lead to chaos.

As humanity transitioned into a more structured society, particularly under a plutocratic male-dominated system, the need for moral guidelines became apparent. However, these guidelines also served to suppress individual spirit and autonomy, particularly in the context of charitable organizations.

One of the most striking revelations in this episode is the idea that while we are born with instinctual drives—such as the need for interaction, love, and adventure—we are not born with moral values. These values must be taught and indoctrinated, often leading to confusion and internal conflict as individuals navigate their desires against societal expectations.

I argue that this suppression has resulted in a spiritual scarcity, where material abundance does not equate to emotional or spiritual fulfillment. The episode also critiques the role of charitable organizations, which, while appearing altruistic, can perpetuate the very systems of oppression they claim to combat. By placing charity on a pedestal, society may overlook the deeper issues of inequality and moral corruption that these organizations can embody.

I emphasize that the true essence of human interaction should be rooted in love and connection, not in the rigid structures of moral obligation. You are encouraged to reflect on your own understanding of moral values and how these have been shaped by cultural and societal influences. As we navigate through our lives, it is essential to recognize the distinction between our natural instincts and the moral codes imposed upon us.

The episode concludes with a promise of further exploration in upcoming episodes, including discussions on the corruption within the education system and organized religion.

Join me on this enlightening journey as I peel back the layers of moral values and their impact on our lives. Tune in to this episode of Skeletal Leap and engage in a conversation that challenges the status quo and encourages personal growth and understanding.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

(00:00:01) – What are Moral Values in our Socio-cultural Evolution?

(00:09:18) – Human Morals

(00:14:59) – Sense of Duty and Respect

(00:19:48) – Loyalty is a highly respected moral value supposing commitment

(00:26:55) – How established value systems resulted in charitable organizations

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Wants vs Needs: Corruption of Esteem Needs: Transcript

“Why did humanity feel the need to create moral values at all if they were not naturally built in our psychobiological structure?”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode titled “Wants vs Needs: Corruption of Esteem Needs!”, I will tell you about corruption in charitable organizations.

Value systems fall under sociocultural throat chakra to fulfill the needs of self-esteem. The currency here is ‘morals’. ‘Morals’, the sociocultural currency of the next deficiency need, i.e., self-esteem, turned more important than need itself. The cultural extension of morals, i.e., value systems, started as ethical codes for social esteem but soon turned into moral codes for suppressing the individual spirit. Charitable and non-profit organizations became the face of this suppression and resulted in the sociocultural throat chakra getting closed.

Value Systems

In our journey of sociocultural evolution, our value systems have also been disintegrating and are confusing us at each and every step we, the Homo sapiens, take today.

Moral Values & Instinctual Drives:

We are born with a set of instinctual drives which are inherent in our psychobiological structure. We don’t have to go anywhere in order to learn about them. On the other hand we are not born with any set of moral values in our psychobiological structure. Hence, they are not inherent to the human being and need to be taught anew to every new child born

Is there any relationship between the two?

Certainly yes! But before investigating into this relationship, we need to ask another more important question.

Why did humanity feel the need to create moral values at all if they were not naturally built in our psychobiological structure?

Moral values became necessary because a few of those purely instinctual drives scared humans who then perceived them as threats. This happened when humans set out to create a new social order for the first time in our distant past.

Which social order were they scheming to establish?

It was a plutocratic (the rule or power of wealth) male dominated social system, operating from an already closed sociocultural root chakra, that these moral values were plotting to uphold. And the plutocrats could simply go ahead and push these so-called values using their wealth. They could apply that wealth to either bribe or starve their subjects to buy their opinion.

Wealth in the form of personal ownership of resources had very recently made its entry into human life. The ones who were either strong or cunning or both, for that matter, were able to amass these resources more than the rest, like we discussed in Episode 30.

And why were these initiators predominantly males?

It was so because males were stronger (even if not more cunning) than females. Also they had more time at their disposal to accumulate more wealth than their female counterparts. It was simply because females lost time in delivering and rearing up their kids.

The kids decidedly belonged to their mothers and not fathers since no one could establish fatherhood beyond doubt. And as they grew, they would support their mothers in the pursuit of amassing wealth. In a way, it could be seen as the wealth regained that their mothers had lost access to while delivering and rearing them up.

So, males needed a way to know, beyond doubt, who the father of any given kid was. With their sociocultural throat chakras closed, the males felt ignored as compared to the females, thus hurting their esteem. But this would only be possible if the females agreed to it as well. For this, they needed to stop following their instinctual drive to have sex with any males of their choice at any time.

Why would they agree?

Powerful males in those early societies designed a new faculty of thought which would uphold newly envisioned ‘moral values’ as essentially opposite alternatives to certain instinctual drives predominantly including sex. They did so because, by this time, their collective sociocultural throat chakras were already closed.

They were supported by so-called supernatural practitioners who enjoyed a high status among ignorantly naive early human dwellings. These supernatural practitioners, initially looking forward to transcendence, had already fallen prey to its currency named ‘faith’, thus closing the sociocultural crown chakra of the society. More on that in Episode 33.

The first of such newly established moral values declared sex as the basic sin to be avoided as much as possible. But since curbing such a powerful instinct en masse wasn’t feasible practically, a new rule was framed that one female having sex with multiple males was ‘immoral’. If she did, she would be severely punished by another new entity created by the supernatural practitioners, named ‘God’.

An Unfortunate Consequence:

In order for this rule to look unbiased between genders, it was framed as such for both of them.

But as an unfortunate consequence, it was never implemented for males as strictly as it was done for females. This was because human biology went against females. Any female engaging in stealthy sex would sooner or later conceive children and be caught for her transgressions. On the other hand, males could easily evade detection of their own transgressions without any telltale signs.

Monogamy – Marriage Comes Into Existence:

To put an official stamp on this rule, a new social institution named marriage was designed. It limited the choice of sex partners to just one over an entire lifetime as against many for as much time as desired. In some societies a male could marry several females simultaneously. But females were rarely, if at all, provided this luxury!

Monogamy, initiated under the domination of morals effecting sociocultural throat chakra, changed its shape to a new social institution, namely marriage. Marriage, designed under the domination of the currency we are calling ‘personal ownership of resources’ further extended adherence to monogamy, thereby effecting the sociocultural root chakra.

This enhanced adherence ensured that the males could be surer about being the biological fathers of their spouse’s children. It turned them all into a close-knit family, another sociocultural institution that came into existence.

Hence, before they died, the males could hand over their personal ownership of resources to their children without any doubt, like their mothers had always done. Thus marriage, further strengthening sociocultural root chakra, facilitated males to weave a close-knit safety network in their immediate familial vicinity, too.

Human Mind

Now, a new moral science was envisaged comprising a set of morals.

These were the morals that humans ought to follow even if they were directly against the calls of their own instinctual drives.

Eventually, all such social morals that were implemented went against those allegedly dangerous natural instinctual drives in one way or the other.

We as humans are born with instinctual drives alone in our mind-body system. We don’t have any sort of human emotions or morals in our mind that we start our life with.

Later, in our journey from childhood to adulthood, we learn the history of human development. We learn it in each and every subject and store it in the knowledge base of our mind. Then, as we grow, we add to that knowledge base from our own personal experiences to enhance it further.

This is what the ideal development of human mind is supposed to be like. It is a set of instinctual drives along with a knowledge base of human achievements in various subjects.

However, in practice, that is not all that our mind is subjected to during the formative years of our development. It is also indoctrinated with a value system which is not limited to morals alone. Consequently, it tries to turn them into our aesthetic values as well.

Presently, our culture very eagerly nails down several moral values onto our minds.

Sex As A Necessary Evil

We are taught by our religious culture that sex is a necessary evil. This is done at a stage in our lives when we have not even experienced it as a fully developed instinctual drive in our mind-body system. Our minds get conditioned against sex even before our body grows to incorporate it into our system. And the time it does, our conditioning starts making us feel guilty about it.

Truthfulness

We are taught that truth is a desirable parameter of integrity even when we don’t know what a lie is. Hence, the very inception of truth as a desirable moral value sows the seeds of learning how to tell lies.

Prior to sociocultural evolution, our instinctual drives may not have felt a need to tell a lie. But we may not have said we were speaking the truth either. We may have simply said we were speaking. We may not have needed either of the two concepts. Plainly speaking about what we saw and what we did may have been enough.

But the same social system that established monogamy and plutocracy realized it was suppressing extremely strong instinctual drives. It also realized people WOULD tend to satiate these drives stealthily and then claim they did not.

So, a new concept of truth was envisaged as opposite to a more basic concept of a lie. If a lie were never needed, there wouldn’t have been any need for a concept of truth to exist too. But lies entered the domain of human action owing to the establishment of a cunningly unjustified as well as an unhealthy society.

Hence, truth was designed as a moral value to stop people from lying. People, however, lied innocently only to satiate their instinctual drives and hide it from those in authority.

That is why speaking the truth should be brought down from its high pedestal. We need to peel off the facade of reverence that our moral values have assigned to it.

Honesty

Same is the story of honesty. The very inception of honesty as a desirable moral value sows the seeds of learning how to be dishonest.

Prior to sociocultural evolution, there may not have been anything like dishonesty in our instinctual drives that we needed to act on.

But the newly established and unjustified social system feared that people could plot secret schemes to rebel against its inherent suppression. The said moral termed any such possibility as dishonesty and coined a desirable behavior named honesty as its antithesis.

It is interesting to note that most so-called anti-moral values are named to be the antithesis of moral values; dishonesty vs honesty, for example. But in fact, conceptually speaking, these were morals that were actually conceived as the antitheses of the so-called anti-moral acts.

Sense of Duty

Sense of duty is a set of actions we ought to do whether we feel like doing them or not. Why do we need a stipulation like this if we already feel like doing those? And why do we need the ones being stipulated if our mind does not feel like doing those?

Our culture seems to have decided the validity of ‘duty’ even if it goes against the natural composition of the human mind. What good can we expect to come out of those dutiful actions if they don’t have the energy of our natural willfulness behind them? They will simply get reduced to a level of being artificially performed as forced rituals. We will undertake and then perform them only to keep away the guilt of not having done them at all.

Prior to sociocultural evolution, we may have lived with our instinctual drives guiding our actions and behavior. And we may not have needed a concept like a sense of duty. We may have simply acted out what our spontaneous feeling guided us to do.

It is plausible that any such spontaneous feeling may primarily have been of concern and sympathy for one another. So we may not have needed a sense of duty in order to act in the most desirable way.

But with the suppression of our instinctual drives, we wouldn’t feel such concern and sympathy for those who have themselves also suppressed those same drives.

Once again, as yet another anti-thesis to instinctual drives, the sense of duty was formulated as one more moral value. Morals were supposed to be upheld under any circumstances. Otherwise, the sin that we committed would not let us live without a feeling of guilt.

Respect

We are taught to respect our elders and seniors. We are not taught to respect our juniors. Why this one-sided approach to something that our culture considers such an important value? Therefore, respect as a value immediately strikes us as feudal in its very inception.

The human mind is not designed to respect. It is designed to interact. It is designed to share. And it is designed to love. Respect is a very formal concept that requires a distance between the two individuals involved. The respected one stands on a higher pedestal than the one who respects.

The more we respect like we do our fathers, especially in the developing countries, the less we love them. That is because respect necessitates kind of separation. And the more we love like we do our mothers, the less we need to respect them. That is because love eliminates any such separation.

It is still customary in the Eastern societies (and used to be in all societies until a few centuries ago) for fathers to act like an authoritarian judge in the family court passing sentences on kids that are generally corporal. Mothers can, at best, play the role of kids’ advocates pleading mercy for their ‘crimes’.

Same, till very recently, had been true in case of teachers in schools as well. Teachers have been preoccupied with enforcing respect as a means to extracting their desired behavior from students. This has created an authoritative chasm between the teacher and the student, thereby eliminating any possibility of a healthy kinship.

Such kinship may have resulted in the desired behaviors more organically in the first place. Laws have been made in some of these countries prohibiting teachers assigning corporal punishments to the students though they are often broken.

Obedience

Obedience, as a value, is a sub-set of respect. As a younger person, we are not supposed to question or raise doubts against the orders of our elders. This again is a very feudal value.

Here again, in the Eastern countries, kids are supposed to be more obedient to their fathers than to their mothers who they can argue with at times, though in the absence of their fathers.

Similarly they are culturally supposed to be obedient to their teachers as well. As a result, they seldom question their teachers even if they have genuine queries in their minds. Questioning teachers is not culturally encouraged as learning is supposed to be a one way communication from the teacher to the student. The students are supposed to learn by rote what instructions their teachers have passed on to them.

The human mind is not naturally designed for feudalism. And if we force it to conform, we are simply suppressing the instinctual drives we are naturally born with.

Good Manners

Good manners are all protocols in their essence. We are supposed to behave a certain way in a certain scenario. And we do so whether we are feeling like behaving that way or not.

The more we follow these dictats, the less authentic we become.

We must say, “Very pleased to see you,” on meeting someone even if we are not so. Aren’t we telling a lie which violates another moral value named truthfulness?

Faith

If we have faith, we don’t question. But our minds are wired to question. And faith as a moral value tries its best to suppress curiosity that we are born with as an instinct. Unfortunately, it doesn’t limit itself to being a moral value alone, it also plays its role as a currency for transcendence needs. As the currency becomes more important than fulfilling the genuine need as such, the sociocultural crown chakra falls prey and gets closed as well. We are going to look into it in Episode 33.

Loyalty

We have already talked about loyalty clouding real love and belonging needs as their currency through a closed sociocultural heart chakra in Episode 31. But it goes a step further from there as it assumes the status of ‘morals’ as well, closing sociocultural throat chakra along.

Loyalty is a highly respected moral value which supposes us to be committed. It is a commitment to a certain person, institution or an idea. In addition, loyalty is uniquely characterized by its blind and unconditional support for the same.

Our minds, however, are not so indiscriminate in their natural structure.

Loyalty simply stands against our judicious sense of discernment between one action and another.

Now, we can go into further details of each one of these values. We can easily show that they all stand against instinctual drives either overtly or else in a covert way.

Instinctual Drives

Eating | Drinking | Excreting | Curiosity | Movement | Play | Adventure | Interaction | Love | Grouping | Sex | Reproduction | Parenting

The moral values are nailed very hard and deep into the structure of the mind and away from the structure of the brain. They play their role very well in suppressing the energy of our death instincts and keep it so.

But, like water, energy can never be kept suppressed for long. And like water finds new channels for its flow, energy also invents new channels for its expression.

Human Emotions

The channels that the energy of these suppressed instinctual drives invents for its expression are named human emotions. Of these, the main ones are:

Desire | Greed | Hope | Happiness | Surprise | Anger | Envy | Jealousy | Disappointment | Guilt | Sadness | Fear | Anxiety | Depression

These human emotions are channelled to express the energy of the blocked instinctual drives. But they are never as innocent and as straightforward as the instinctual drives themselves are. They are rather the distorted forms of expressing the suppressed energy. And they do so in bursts rather than a smooth flow, unlike instincts.

Will vs. Will Power

Human emotions generate a new faculty of will in the structure of our mind. Will is nothing but an urge to compensate for the loss of sensitivity, joy and creativity suffered by instinctual drives.

Moral faculty is very much able to see through the real purpose behind the generation of this new faculty. And in its attempt to keep it suppressed as it was before its inception, it comes up with a newer faculty that we call will power.

Contrary to what we believe it to be, will power, in reality, is the power acting against the execution of will, not for it. Will power is armed with the appeal of being morally judicious to work against the execution of will. It does so by projecting will as irresponsible even if it cannot brand it as immoral.

Will is not a very healthy faculty in our mind but will power is even less so! Will, comprising both positive and negative human emotions, creates sharp edges in our personality. It is because will expresses energy in hot aggressive bursts and not in a cool smooth flow like instinctual drives do.

And as far as will power is concerned, its sole purpose is to block the flow of life energy. It doesn’t bother if this energy belongs to instinctual drives or to human emotions.

How Established Value Systems Resulted In Charitable Organizations

We saw how moral value systems always worked to suppress and even repress the passion and joy of the free instinctual drives of sex, curiosity, adventure and interaction.

They turned life mechanical and the masses into cogs of the incessant wheel of consumerist production. Consequently, despite the abundant material progress that humanity made, the individual cogs of the wheel always felt a sense of spiritual scarcity. The fruits of this abundant growth were never distributed liberally. Hence the masses always felt material scarcity as well.

As cogs of the wheel, the individuals also seriously limited their potential for insight. Insight could have turned humanity into a real abundant society for all and not for only a chosen few sitting at the helm of those wheels of production. However, we took the less valuable path of mere innovation, arising from a sharp mind as opposed to a truly intelligent brain. Thus, moral value systems ruined it once again.

The more materially abundant humanity grew, the more impoverished its individuals felt.

Moral value systems worked very well to keep its individuals alive enough to keep working as those cogs in its giant wheel of perennial growth. It very cunningly created charitable organizations, putting charity at a high pedestal as a liberal moral value.

Do you see the pattern yet? When esteem needs got corrupted by the currency of morality, we ended up, yet again, with an institutional manifestation of another sociocultural chakra, this time the throat chakra.

Charitable organizations gradually gained credence to such a degree that, today, a significant portion of the population is surviving on the government charity in some parts of the developing world today.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about corruption in education system, self-improvement industry and organized religion.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Wants vs Needs: Corruption of Love and Belonging Needs: Introduction

In 31st episode of Skeletal Leap, I take you on a profound journey exploring the corruption rampant in the sociocultural institutions of marriage, organized sports, and nation states.

I begin by addressing the spiritual essence of love, emphasizing that it is not merely an emotion but a deep-seated sensation experienced through energy flow during interactions.

This fundamental understanding of love sets the stage for a critical examination of the institutions that shape our social fabric.

I further argue that the institution of marriage is teetering on the brink of extinction, with divorce rates soaring and families suffering the consequences.

I highlight that the traditional values of love and belonging have been overshadowed by the currencies of identity and loyalty, leading to a fragmented society.

This fragmentation not only affects personal relationships but also extends to organized sports, which have transformed from a celebration of skill and camaraderie into a battlefield of egos, where winning takes precedence over enjoyment.

The discussion continues further into the concept of patriotism, questioning its true meaning and the motives behind it.

I point out that patriotism, often glorified as love for one’s motherland, can lead to an adversarial mindset that fosters hatred toward others.

By examining historical examples, I illustrate how loyalty to political interests can distort our understanding of love for our homeland, suggesting that true love should extend beyond borders.

Throughout the episode, I invite you to reflect on your own relationships and societal structures, urging you to consider how your interactions are shaped by these broader socio-cultural forces.

I also emphasize the importance of deep, meaningful connections, asserting that true love can only flourish in an environment of openness and sensitivity.

As the episode concludes, I leave you with thought-provoking questions about the future of marriage, the role of fatherhood, and the necessity of compassion in our interactions.

I encourage you all including myself to engage in deeper conversations about love and belonging, reminding us that our understanding of these concepts is crucial for fostering a healthier society.

Tune in to this enlightening episode of Skeletal Leap and explore the profound connections between love, identity, and the institutions that govern our lives.

Don’t miss the opportunity to gain insight into the human experience and the complexities that define our love and belonging needs today.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• (00:00:01) - Corruption in Marriage, Sports and Nation State

• (00:03:20) - What is Love and Its Definition?

• (00:10:33) - The disintegration of traditional marriage

• (00:11:55) - What is patriotism in sports?

• (00:22:06) - Why is Patriotism celebrated in India?

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Wants vs Needs: Corruption of Love and Belonging Needs: Transcript

“Love is actually sensed through a flow of energy in the body while interacting. That is what makes one spiritually healthy as well.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about corruption in marriage, organized sport, and nation state.

The institutions of marriage, organized sport and nation state make up the sociocultural heart chakra that aims to fulfill the needs of love and belongingness in society. The currencies it uses are ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’. Identification and attachment turned more important than fulfilling the needs of compassionate love and belonging in society. Corrupted by the currencies of ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’, these needs gave rise to social institutions such as marriage, organized sport and nation state.

Today, the institution of marriage has come down to the verge of extinction, thanks to the ever-increasing rate of divorces.

Sporting spirit took a big hit the moment it got redesigned on the lines of mini warfare, thereby corrupting its whole foundation.

Loyalty and patriotism promoted love and belonging in society but in an extremely fragmented way, leading to nation states. It also promoted the “othering” and hatred against the so-called enemy societies. It never had a compassionate concern for the undivided humanity despite the numerous slogans it raised along the way. This gave rise to disparate ideologies that often ended up in arms against one another. That was what happened during the Cold War that lasted almost half a century.

Result – sociocultural heart chakra shut!

Marriage

In the wake of the present human awareness, the institution of marriage seems to be moving toward disintegration. Divorces are at an all-time high creating a traumatic hell for the children whose lives are irreparably disrupted as and when a marriage breaks down.

It is too late to go back to the old community pattern of hunter-gatherers where fatherhood was inclusive. The reason is that, today, a father can very easily know who his offshoot is with a simple DNA test. Even an offshoot can do it later in life. All this can lead to many kinds of complexities in relationship patterns.

Let’s investigate Maslow’s deficiency need for love and belonging a little deeper. If we objectively look at it, neither psychology nor literature has yet been able to provide an authentic definition of the phenomenon called love. And the hard fact is that love occupies the most central stage in the human psyche as a drive. All our literature including poetry, drama, cinema and fiction thrives on love the most. Even religion vouches by it.

At times, philosophers did try to define the phenomenon, but there has not been any consensus among them yet. Humanity still understands love only in an intuitive sense. But this intuitive sense about love is the strongest among all other mental phenomena whether emotional, instinctual or moral. I think majority of humanity would vouch for it. And at least in the modern society, people marry only when they have fallen in love with someone.

So, how do we define love? It certainly has something to do with a sense of belonging. But that does not take us any closer to an objective definition of love. At best, it simply acts as a synonym.

Is love an emotion?

No. Love cannot be an emotion. Emotions have their abode in mind alone, not in the mind-body system as an organic part of it. Love is actually a mind-body state.

Is love a moral value?

Not even that! Morals are all foreign concepts nailed into mind alone while we grow up. They, too, are not there in the mind-body system as an organic part of it.

Is love an instinct?

Exactly! We are born with it in our body even when our mind has not yet started developing. The newborn immediately starts feeling a sense of belonging to their mother. Later in life, we sense it via interacting with anyone or anything through our senses. The deeper the interaction, the stronger is the sensation of love!

Thus love is a sensation. The more we have it through our interactions in-depth, the more it makes us sensitive. The deeper we sense, the stronger we love. This deep sensitivity enables us to feel the other inside out.

Why don’t we feel this sensation, then, while interacting with others all day, everyday?

Simply because we lose our sensitivity considerably as we grow up in an unhealthy environment. Here comes the debilitating role of the heart chakra sticking the chest ‘in’ instead of protruding it ‘out’ via abducting shoulder joints posturing them away from the torso as the first nature of the body.

They rather drop down via adducting shoulder joints posturing them stuck to the torso as an unhealthy habit. This unhealthy habit is responsible for closing heart chakra as it generates a defensive muscular armor (by habitually keeping the muscles named pectoralis major and pectoralis minor rigidly contracted) seriously limiting the openness of chest and arms ready to embrace anyone and everyone around.

It mentally results in keeping our ‘self’ protected from an imaginary threat of an attack on it. On the other hand, the openness of chest and arms ready to embrace anyone and everyone around plays a key role in dissolving one’s ‘self’ with an open heart chakra in combination with rest of the 6 chakras opened. This results in feeling the sensation of love while interacting with others through the day everyday. A healthy mind-body system is an acutely sensitive system. The more it is sensitive physically as well as mentally, the deeper it interacts and the more it loves.

Love is actually sensed through a flow of energy in the body while interacting. That is what makes one spiritually healthy as well.

And when a healthy mind-body system interacts in-depth with another mind-body system of opposite gender in adulthood, the two interacting personalities not only sense love but may also feel like making love between the two of them. That is how two personalities may get attracted to and fall in love with each other.

How do sociocultural systems for love and belonging needs get affected when their currencies, namely ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’, become more important than the real need itself? They close the sociocultural heart chakra of our society en bulk. It is just like ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’ work in closing the biological heart chakra via keeping our ‘self’ protected from an imaginary threat of an attack on it. These two limiting currencies become the central theme of the need for love and belonging. Once it happens, these currencies make boundaries around the ‘self’. This keeps people isolated and alienated from other people around them in the name of an imaginary safety and security to keep their ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’ intact.

How much do we interact with our neighbors in the modern apartment buildings we live in these days? And how readily do we unconditionally interact with people across the boundaries of our ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’, be those the boundaries of nationality, religion, caste, class, faith, belief-system, ideology, gender, possessive attachment, emotional attachment, moral attachment, generation, and orthodox political affiliation?

These are the tags of ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’ that keep us away from loving people through unconditionally interacting with them in-depth.

True love never happens without deep interaction. Also, love never happens without an acute sensitivity to feel the other while interacting.

No doubt, then, that in the wake of the present human awareness, the institution of marriage seems to be moving toward disintegration. Divorces are at an all-time high creating a traumatic hell for the children whose lives are irreparably disrupted as and when a marriage breaks down.

How important is a father for a child? And how important is fatherhood for a sensitive father in today’s life?

If we look at it from this angle, traditional marriage seems to be the best solution. Even a divorce has no place in it since it traumatizes children’s life irreparably.

But divorces cannot be stopped from taking place. In fact, they are well on their way to becoming the rule rather than exception.

Even if divorces didn’t exist, marriages turn from fond to dull relationships between spouses within no time. When this happens, sex turns from a romantic and passionate affair into a mechanical rut sooner than later.

It is a catch-22 situation.

Organized Sport

Sports Vs Sportsman Spirit:

Sports and sportsman spirit have come to be in conflict with each other in today’s society. It is simply owing to the way sports have been designed and organized all over the world.

Why do we play sport?

I think a rational answer should be ‘to enjoy skilled physical activity’.

We enjoy the sporting skill that is required in order to make strong and specific moves demanded by any given sport. We also enjoy corresponding moves by opponent players or teams. This makes it an awe-inspiring scene not only for the players but for the spectators as well.

Win Or Lose:

It would be good enough if it were celebrated like a festival to inspire awe in the players and spectators. But their designers went a step ahead and tagged the same moves and counter-moves with victory and defeat. This introduced the element of ego in their fabric.

Who wants to get defeated? No one!

Who wants to win? Everyone!

Thus, winning turned out to be the prime motto of playing sport. The beauty of the skilled moves got pushed to the margin. The result became more important than the enjoyment springing out of the aesthetic of the awe-inspiring moves themselves.

We humans have a very crude habit of quantizing quality which tends to kill its subtleness.

Being an instinct, love as a need for belonging is always a subtle one. But when it gets replaced with its currencies named ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’, we start assessing it in these terms. Our intention behind this is always to strengthen our own limited ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’. Assessment is only possible between quantities or numbers that we start assigning to this quality.

No wonder, then, that we invent ways to assign those quantities to the quality displayed in a sporting event ending up with victory for one and defeat for another. It is again a very clear case of our sociocultural system of sport getting afflicted with a closed sociocultural heart chakra. Combined with the rest of other closed sociocultural chakras, it ultimately ends up getting afflicted with practices like match-fixing, betting, violence in sports and many more ills.

Brute Force to Win:

Then brute force becomes the rule of the game.

Let’s ask the same question again…

Why do we play sport?

This time the answer is going to be ‘in order to win’!

Where is the existence of sportsman spirit lost?

It is only left in the sloganeering aimed at glamorizing sports for the very thing they are no longer about!

Can you see how the motive to play changed diametrically opposite to the spirit of the sports this time?

And this is what inspires us to play sports in the present day scenario to win them at any cost.

Sports have been designed on the model of war.

Nation State

Patriotism

Patriotism is a highly revered value all over the world. It means love for one’s motherland.

Ironically the word patriotism has originated from the Greek word patēr, which means father. Yet, it has been used to express the love for a land that has been associated not with father but with mother.

Logically, it should have been ‘matriotism’ if it was to express our love for our motherland.

It simply shows our male gender bias. ‘Father’ crept in even in the formulation of a word that is touted as the embodiment of something related to ‘mother’.

But it is not simply a slip of gender that crept into the naming of something wrong. It is much more than that.

The Male-oriented Mindset:

The two mindsets were different…

The mindset that formulated the concept of patriotism.

The mindset that perceived the land of one’s birth as the land belonging to one’s mother.

Our So-called Motherlands:

Our political bosses condition us to be adversarial in nature. They make our soldiers kill and get killed without knowing the real reasons why.

They brainwash us into believing that they are doing so to defend their motherland from ‘our’ enemies, simply because they love it. The same is expected from soldiers as far as their emotional and moral obligations go.

How do we define our motherland?

It may be the village I was born in or the city or the district or the state or else the country! Why can’t it be the planet we were born on?

It all depends on how narrow or wide our field of vision and extent of sensitivity are.

Why are our sensitivities limited to a political expanse of land and its people? Why not beyond it as well?

An Example from Nazi Germany:

By that token, if a German spoke against Hitler in the late 1930s or early 1940s, s/he would be tagged as a traitor or a seditionist.

But there were many Germans who did exactly that. Today, they are not at all tagged as traitors, only because Hitler lost the war. Had Hitler come out victorious in World War II (WWII), they would certainly have been dragged out on the streets and hanged publicly.

Did these Germans not love their land then? Did they not love their country while Hitler ruled?

They certainly did! But they were simply not patriots in the narrow sense of its meaning. That aggressive patriotism would have asked for their loyalty to any official stand their country took against the world.

Power Rules The World:

So were they villains?

As said earlier, they would certainly have been tagged as villains if Hitler had been victorious in WWII.

Were they traitors or seditionists?

Again, they would certainly have been tagged as traitors and seditionists if Hitler had been victorious.

So, patriotism has to do nothing with the love for one’s motherland.

It simply deals with the loyalty to the interests of those who control one’s motherland. It is irrelevant how unjustified or immoral those interests may be.

It all depends on who is ruling one’s motherland at present.

The interests are not in favor of the motherland but of those who are ruling it at any given point in time.

Sedition means conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.

A Political Conspiracy:

Isn’t it simply because our political bosses have an unwritten, secret conspiracy hatched between themselves? A conspiracy that propagandizes the love for one’s so-called motherland as one of the most sacred forms of love on earth?

Doesn’t this fanatic love for one’s so-called motherland automatically create a fertile ground for hatred toward other lands and their peoples? Especially whenever they get conveniently tagged as enemy lands by the respective political bosses of these chunks of land as and when it suits their narrative?

Rules Are Made by Rulers, Not by Ethics:

Patriotism and sedition are concepts that are defined and held up only by the rulers of the land. They have their vested interests in people being patriots and never seditionists.

Patriotism can very easily and effectively be exploited to sow the seeds of hatred for the people of other lands. It especially applies to the rulers of those lands that are in conflict with the interests of rulers of their own land. All these rules are defined and decided by the rulers of the land.

Why should an Israeli hate a Palestinian or vice versa if the two countries are at war with each other?

But man, the concept of patriotism does make them do so!

Another Example from An Epic:

In the Hindu epic Ramayana, the character of Vibhishana has been portrayed as fleeing his motherland. He requests Rama, a staunch enemy at war with his country, to give him shelter. He even reveals the most classified secrets of his own country to Rama in return.

But no one including the author ever criticizes him for what he has been portrayed as doing.

Why? Isn’t his character, the way it is portrayed, that of a seditionist or a traitor?

Vibhishana’s character is not looked down upon for what he did. It is simply because the epic was written by the author who sided with the character of Rama, the eventual victor in the story!

History is definitely written by the victors. As it turns out, so also is mythology!

Patriotism as a concept originated not out of love for our land. It rather came out of our loyalty to the interests of those who controlled our land, come what may.

It happens through falling prey to the narratives that are generated using ambiguous words and phrases acting as emotional slogans addressing the fallible psyche of the common masses. These narratives hold their superficial interests high on a pedestal arising from the already unfortunate cognitive assessment of their love and belonging needs. In the process, their mere currencies, namely ‘identity’ and ‘loyalty’, take over. Another case of sociocultural heart chakra getting closed!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about corruption in charitable organizations.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Introduction:

In a world increasingly driven by the pursuit of wealth and resources, this 30th episode of Skeletal Leap poses critical questions about our societal structures and their impact on our lives.

I invite you to engage in a thought experiment inspired by the great Albert Einstein, challenging our perceptions of needs versus wants.

The episode deals with the concept of the socio-cultural root chakra, which I argue has been corrupted by the relentless pursuit of personal ownership and material wealth

I highlight the alarming reality that 80% of the world’s wealth is controlled by just 20% of the population, raising concerns about the ethical implications of such inequality.

I suggest that our collective focus on money and ownership has led to a fragmented society, where genuine physiological and safety needs are often overlooked.

Throughout the discussion, I draw parallels between various societal institutions, including the military industrial complex, big pharma, and the politics-business nexus.

I argue that these entities prioritize profit over people, perpetuating a cycle of corruption that hinders true progress and well-being.

The episode emphasizes the importance of holistic healing and the need to address root causes rather than merely treating symptoms, a concept that resonates deeply in today’s fast-paced, outcome-driven world.

You are encouraged to reflect on your own lives and consider whether you are living as slaves to your minds, driven by fear and greed, or if you can embrace a more aesthetic approach to existence.

I conclude by asserting that true freedom comes from within, urging you to empty your mind and reconnect with your innate sense of purpose and passion.

This episode is not just a critique of modern society; it’s a call to action for you to reclaim your lives from the grips of corruption and rediscover what it means to live authentically.

Join me on this enlightening journey and explore the profound implications of our socio-cultural structures.

Tune in to Skeletal Leap and take the first step toward a more liberated existence.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• (00:00:01) - What is the Corruption in our Social Systems?

• (00:09:39) - Living A Comfortable Life

• (00:14:13) - Power of Business-Politics Nexus

• (00:18:37) - Socio-cultural Root Chakra

• (00:20:31) - What makes us prone to falling in the trap of an unhealthy life?

• (00:25:03) - Health of Modern People vs Holistic Healing

• (00:31:47) - Healthcare and the Military

• (00:42:05) - Art and Entertainment: Aesthetic Needs

• (00:44:14) - Skeletal Leap: Corruption in Marriage

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“Let us do a thought experiment (one of the most favorite tools of one Dr. Albert Einstein). Think of yourself as an idealist for a moment.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about corruption in industrial complex, big pharma & insurance, military-industrial complex and politics-business nexus.

The first casualty, as was the case with our biology, was the sociocultural root chakra.

As it stands today, closed sociocultural chakras have blocked the human energy right at the lowest level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, namely physiological and safety needs.

As explained above, the root of the problem lies in faulty cognition of reality whereby societal wants function as proxies for social needs.

Personal ownership of resources became more important than the physiological or aesthetic needs it fulfilled. Thus, money, as a means to personal ownership of resources, became a currency for the exchange of the goods and services that fulfilled these needs. Sociocultural institutions belonging to the sociocultural root chakra include the most sought after core of society at present. Physiological needs comprise the biological component of human survival guaranteeing homeostasis to the human body.

These are provided by the social systems such as industrial complexes for jobs and financial complexes to enable and manage transactions using ‘personal ownership’ of resources as its main currency.

However, this currency turned into a source of widespread corruption.

Pursuit of Genuine Physiological Needs Instead of Its Corrupted Currency, Personal Ownership of Resources (Money)

Let us do a thought experiment (one of the most favorite tools of one Dr. Albert Einstein). Think of yourself as an idealist for a moment.

What if you tell me that I will get whatever I need whenever I need as much I need unconditionally?

Imagine what would my reaction be.

If I am fearful, controlled by my mind, I could easily turn greedy. I may say, “Just change the word need with the word want and I am okay.”

Needs are physical phenomena whereas wants are psychological in their basic etymology.

What decides what I need and what decides what I want?

Aren’t these two entities the calls given by the brain and the mind respectively?

Back to the thought experiment…had I not been corrupted by my mind, I would have been the happiest man on earth to have been offered this proposal by you! I would have immediately accepted your proposal and asked you what I need to do for that.

However, let’s continue with the version of me that IS being driven by fear.

You say, “Throw the yoke of all your possessions off your shoulders and just be a free man.”

I may not believe you for a moment and retort, “Why? Do YOU want to take away all my possessions?”

“I don’t need to…,” you smile. “I don’t need to want,” you repeat.

“Won’t you like ruling the world? Don’t you want that?” I sound stupid to my own self as I ask.

“Why would I?” you give a carefree look, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown!”

“But what would I do if I get what I need without doing anything for getting it?” I am intrigued.

“Decide it for yourself if you really feel like doing something,” you are still smiling.

“It would turn me crazy,” I retort.

“That you already are,” you show me the mirror, “A slave to your mind!”

“By the same token, aren’t you a slave to your brain too?” I challenge.

“My brain is my friend. Your mind is your boss. It keeps you scared with a threat of starving in case you don’t earn the right to live,” you sound cool.

“And your brain?” I ask again.

“It doesn’t think of future. It lets me do what I feel like doing right now,” you reveal.

“YOU do what you feel like doing. What would I do, I don’t know,” I nervously say.

“Enable me to enable my guarantee that I just gave you!” you start laughing.

I get taken aback for a moment. Then I start laughing along.

That ends our thought experiment. It tells us idealism is not as impossible as it is presented to be.

The entire question swings between two different approaches to life, ‘to have’ or ‘to be’.

Do we have a gene within us that would answer this question? If it says the fittest survives, doesn’t our thought experiment hint toward that possibility even when threatened by human-induced climate change?

Cavemen never felt they ever required any private property.

If it were in our genes, we would have started going along that track right then and there. If we did it later, something new must have conspired to do so.

I hypothesize, it was simply our mind gone greedy, trying to save itself from starving to death in future.

We had evolved to grow our own food on the fertile land.

But we hadn’t evolved to own the land primarily and go on expanding its perimeter to the last days of our lives.

Doing so through putting the yoke of all its stressful burdens on our shoulders took its toll on our health. No other species in the entire animal world ever does that. And if we got a brain, did we get it for wasting it on such petty concerns?

We certainly went wrong somewhere when we shifted from hunting-gathering to agriculture and personal ownership of resources. We thought it would give us freedom but what it gave us was slavery and disease alone. The more personal resource ownership we amassed, the more it impoverished us in other ways.

Have we ever thought how much energy we waste just in the petty pursuit of staying alive and comfortable? In fact, to secure our comfortable living in the future, we ‘want’ to amass resources that are many times more than we would ever really need. Doesn’t this amount to stealing from others who could have used those resources to live a comfortable life? But unluckily 80% of the human wealth lies under the control of 20% of the human population. The rest 80% live a life of have nots. And majority of these 20% people has acquired the 80% of the human wealth through unethical if not illegal means.

Here are two quotes of this Pareto’s principle of 20-80 distribution…

“Pareto’s observation was in connection with population and wealth. Pareto noticed that approximately 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.”

Courtesy Wikipedia 2022

“A chart that gave the effect a very visible and comprehensible form, the so-called “champagne glass” effect, was contained in the 1992 United Nations Development Program Report, which showed that distribution of global income is very uneven, with the richest 20% of the world’s population receiving 82.7% of the world’s income.”

Courtesy Wikipedia 2022

If we don’t have sufficient ownership of resources in order to live a comfortable life, we will keep dreaming of it all the time. If we have way more resources than needed, it keeps us too busy not to lose them and, therefore, to grow them further.

Why?

It is because nothing is sufficient for human greed which is driven by the human fear of losing everything one has. In both cases, we are not living a life full of freedom. We are doomed to remain slaves to the same wicked design that we ourselves created as our sociocultural structure.

It not only robs us personally of our joy of living a free life but also socially of the countless geniuses hidden in broad daylight amidst us. This is because they never become free to exhibit their talents while they are busy dreaming of and toiling for the ownership of a bigger chunk of resources.

Slaves never enjoy. They don’t enjoy because they are not free. Slave holders never enjoy either. They don’t enjoy because they are busy keeping slaves as slaves forever. Hence their slaves don’t let them be free.

They become the slaves of their slaves. I still remember a couplet that I had read in my early childhood:

Leave your birthplace

And roam around the world,

Refusing either to be a slave

Or a slave holder.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you are asking as you read this, “Who decides what is comfortable?”. Well, it is my contention that ‘Skeletally Leapt” humans, operating primarily from their brains, would answer that question organically and would arrive at similar, if not the same, answers as a society.

Therefore, we don’t really need to take any direct corrective action in order to resolve this dilemma. We just need to empty our mind via Skeletal Leap to regain our health. And leave it to our brain to take the right spontaneous decisions.

What constitutes a comfortable life would be as obvious to them the same way that existence of matter is self-evident to science and that of life is self-evident to each one of us.

Sociocultural Root Chakra: Industrial Complex

The first 6000 years after the transition from the mode of hunting-gathering to that of agriculture and cattle-rearing resulted in two strong social institutions: business and the state. Business was in the rudimentary form of loosely organized crafts, trades and services while the state gradually evolved into aggressive empires that constantly fought with one another and extended their control over further chunks of lands and populations.

Everything remained in flux for a very long period of around the next 6,000 years. Empires kept changing hands by new power centers forcing businesses to keep changing their currencies.

Much later, after the Industrial Revolution in Europe took place in the eighteenth century, businesses were able to revolutionize their speed of production. Their sizes started getting bigger and bigger needing bigger markets for their products and more raw materials for their production.

This started an era of certain European nations colonizing far-flung countries in Asia, Africa and South America mainly for the resources that lay untapped therein. The ones that missed the bus then tried to compensate later by waging the two World Wars that they eventually lost. Still, these two wars left the imperial powers’ control on their colonies severely depleted. They were forced to move out, limiting them back to their own homelands.

Since the world came out of the trend of nations attacking others to extend their boundaries and control, political control has given way to business control all over the world. The power of big business has assumed the size of financial empires, bestowing them with real powers to manipulate governments.

Business morphed into a profit generating machine more than a responsible facilitator of comforts and innovations. Politics-business nexus began centralizing unprecedented powers to control almost every single aspect of people’s lives.

As of today, business as an entity has started controlling every single aspect of our life on earth.

Sociocultural Root Chakra: Politics-Business Nexus

Power got concentrated in the hands of the cunning and the corrupt. And they took extra care to ensure that it never slipped off their hands.

All the instruments of the state that existed in the name of serving the masses actually started being co-opted by secret agenda. These agenda took care that the cunning and the corrupt were able to maintain their control over people’s lives and prosperity.

Countries were never a part of the package that we received as we evolved into a thinking species on earth.

What was offered to us was an unnamed vast expanse of land to live and move around on.

This nexus between the state and the business threatens the very welfare of humanity.

Business, as an entity, has grown so powerful that it can even make or break political structures anywhere. Both of them have their respective vested interests which generally don’t align with the genuine interests of the very populace that they each claim to ‘serve’.

Human-induced climate change is a direct outcome of this misalignment.

• During the COP26¹, the yearly UN climate summit held in Glasgow in 2021, the well-known climate activist Greta Thunberg² protested in Glasgow, saying COP26 wasn’t leading us anywhere. Only pledges and commitments aren’t going to stop temperature from rising beyond 1.5C. We do need to implement them under a strict regimen holding all parties accountable to their commitments.

• COP27 was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 November until 20 November 2022. Its credibility was dealt a serious blow by the absence of big powers, Russia and China.

• COP28, held from 30 November to 13 December 2023 at Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates received widespread criticism as it lacked a clear-cut time-based commitment to either fossil fuel phase-out or phase-down. China and India did not even sign the pledge to triple their output of renewable energy by the year 2030 and committed to coal power instead.

• COP29 held from 11 November to 22 November 2024 in Baku, Ajerbaijan couldn’t break any new ground too, limiting itself to lip service alone.

Who will ensure that the targets of these summits are met before it is too late?

Unluckily, here again, the national ambitions of the politics-business nexus are coming in the way of its success. The point of no return is very close and, when it arrives, it will be no less than Nero playing the fiddle while Rome was burning!

This, though, is only half the story of the sociocultural root chakra.

The other half of the sociocultural root chakra got closed by the corruption of our safety needs through the ‘currency’ we know as ‘public welfare’. Safety needs comprise healthcare along with security. These are provided by healthcare facilities, judiciary for providing justice, army and warfare for defense and governments for making policies.

Sociocultural Root Chakra: Big Pharma & Health Insurance

Healthcare has, of course, helped the masses in a great way but only to manage ailing conditions, not curing them permanently. It definitely did its bit in surgical interventions excellently but then fell short of energizing society cyclically.

As far as judicial systems are concerned, they do their job only up to the point where the political system at the helm of power doesn’t get challenged.

After that point is reached, politics-judiciary nexus immediately gets created by those in political power at the moment in a covert dictatorial way. We have seen it happening in more than one countries in the recent past.

Similarly, public welfare got diminished by sloganeering that takes center stage rather than fulfilling safety needs in reality. Armies have always remained an instrument of offense rather than genuine defense for safety. Warfare has been a way of life along the passage of history.

What essentially is it that makes us prone to falling in the trap of an unhealthy life?

An Unhealthy Fragmented Mind:

As already described in Episode 26 in detail, a fragmented mind is an unhealthy mind.

Okay, but what exactly do we mean by the fragmentation of mind?

Well, fragmentation simply means divided in two or more parts rather than being one single entity as a whole.

When it comes to an undivided mind, it means a mind focused at one single thing at one given time. It happens when the mind is emptied of all its motivations and left alone with its passion.

From Interest to Involvement to Focus:

When the mind is focused at one single thing like this, it works at its best. All its energies get aligned, producing a laser-like effect in order to deal with the concern in question.

Such focus comes with absolute involvement in the process that the mind is busy with.

But generally, the mind lacks that level of involvement in almost anything it lays its hands on.

Why?

Simply because it is not REALLY interested in it!

It is interested in what it is going to get out of it.

Herein lies the biggest lacuna of human health, i.e., the way humanity lives an unhealthy life.

Passion Vs Motivation:

We do an action not because that action is our passion. We rather do it based on the motivation for what it is going to reward us with.

We act out of motivation, not out of passion.

If motivation is the driving force behind our mental action, it has already fragmented our mind. Mind is doing one thing in the present and thinking about another in the future or the past, for that matter.

It is not really involved in the action, simply because it is not really interested in the action.

Motivation Is A Mirage:

It is interested in something other than acting in the present. It is rather the action of dreaming about the future when it hopefully will have rewarded us with its outcome.

Motivation and passion don’t ever go hand in hand with each other.

Motivation comes from outside. It is needed only when we are not passionate about what we are doing from within.

In that sense, we can think of punishment as its opposite. If we are not passionate, we are shown a carrot to do a thing to the best of our efficiency. If that fails, a rod as punishment is the next option that is applied.

If we are passionate from within, we neither need a carrot as motivation nor a rod as punishment.

The greed for a carrot or the fear of a rod can only make cosmetic enhancements in efficiency. Neither can ever match the efficiency that comes from passion for the action at hand. This is simply because the reward-punishment approach doesn’t enjoy the process, it is rather preoccupied with outcome alone.

But humanity performs almost all its actions out of motivation for the outcome, not out of passion for the action.

The results are always much less than optimal.

It further fragments our mind, looking for an even stronger motivation the next time. Our petty vision keeps us limited but still satisfied in just doing the job a little better each time.

But it is never going to happen!

We may come up with various acceptable outcomes that our society has become accustomed to. But we will never be able to come up with an optimally excellent outcome generating an exhilarating experience in life.

Mind Affecting Body:

This was all about the dynamics of an unhealthy mind in action.

What about its effects on the body? The body is responsible for healthy physiological processes, after all.

Well, it turns out that an unhealthy mind makes the body unhealthy too.

When two opposite driving forces pull the mind in two opposite directions, the body mirrors the same.

This results largely due to the nerves carrying two or more opposing signals from the brain. These conflicting signals confound the muscles to move in two or more opposite directions.

In such a situation, it becomes physically impossible for the muscles to follow such opposing signals from the brain.

Fragmentation Generates Stress:

An unhealthy fragmented mind makes the brain go haywire.

When the muscles are not able to follow the conflicting signals from the brain, what do they do?

They just get set in a state of limbo, which turns them rigid.

Rigidified involuntary muscles inside the body as well as the voluntary ones outside it turn the body rigid.

This rigidity manifests itself in the body’s internal physiological processes as well as its external actions.

This is how mental stress, which is nothing but a state of fragmented mind, turns into physical stress. It debilitates the body and renders it prone to all kinds of lifestyle diseases.

Holistic Healing Vs Modern Pharmaceutical Medicine:

Holistic healing is a philosophical approach to healing. It stands 180 degree opposite to the approach of modern pharmaceutical medicine. This is as far as taking care of human health is concerned.

Pharmaceutical medicine, also known as ‘Big Pharma’, is a big business with its size being over one trillion U.S. dollars per year. It is very natural that business will do its best never to let its grip loosen on such a large market. Especially when an alternative approach such as holistic healing starts growing roots in the mindset of the masses.

I would like to point out here that it is not a mere coincidence that, whenever a social institution such as pharmaceutical medicine attempts to fulfill a real safety need (health, in this case), the already corrupted institution of business takes over. It is much the same way that an individual human body in which the root chakra is closed is prone to the higher chakras getting closed as well. No wonder then, that we are dealing with “too big to fail” monsters such as politics-business nexus, politics-judiciary nexus, ‘big pharma’ and many other harmful nexuses that we will talk further about.

Scientific Validity:

The way big business thwarts an alternative approach to healing is by challenging its scientific validity. Its main assertion is that any such procedures need to undergo strict laboratory testing. Health authorities always look for convincing statistical data to establish the efficacy of any new approach to address human health.

But in doing so, the field of pharmaceutical medicine ignores the most basic philosophy of healing which is to do away with the root cause of any health problem. It is not sufficient to do away with the symptoms of the problem alone.

If the symptoms alone are done away with, the problem tends to relapse. Almost everyone has experienced this. That is, perhaps, why the modern medical approach calls their procedures ‘treatments’ and not ‘cures’.

Treatment Vs Cure:

Healing, on the other hand, concerns itself with curing an illness permanently as opposed to treating it temporarily by focusing on its symptoms alone.

Treating symptoms temporarily can be a much swifter process than curing the root cause permanently. This is the reason why modern pharmaceutical medicine has gained acceptance among the masses. In the age of fast food, people look for fast medicine as well. It doesn’t matter if it damages their health in the long run.

Treating Symptoms Alone Spoils Health:

How does treating only symptoms damage health in the long run?

It does so in two main ways:

• First, as the symptoms temporarily disappear, the patients psychologically feel that the problem has been eliminated. Hence they revert to their old lifestyles that had caused the problem in the very first place. As a result, the problem relapses after some time turning them weaker and weaker every time it does.

• Second, the symptoms cannot be naturally eliminated without addressing the causative factors. What pharmaceutical medicine actually does is that it suppresses the symptoms artificially by sending an army of antibodies from outside. It doesn’t strengthen the antibodies that the innate immune system generates within. The immune system is just not given enough time or chance to fight the illness with its own natural antibodies.

As a result, in the long run, it gets conditioned not to be able to generate these antibodies efficiently anymore. It leads to incrementally reduced immunity in the mind-body system after taking every course of modern pharmaceutical medicine.

Every new relapse of the same condition proves to be more serious than the former, complicating the treatment more complex each time.

Health deteriorates further!

Lifestyle Diseases:

Apart from normal acute diseases, there are more permanent lifestyle diseases too.

migraines | diabetes | hypothyroid | hyperthyroid | hypertension | heart conditions | acidity | constipation | obesity | liver cirrhosis | kidney failure | asthma | anxiety | depression | and many more.

Unfortunately, modern pharmaceutical medicine doesn’t have any permanent cure for them. It only has a few options to merely manage the above-listed conditions somehow.

Role of Money:

Significant resources are required in carrying out such monitored tests on sample sets of patients. ‘Big Pharma’ is the entity that funds this research and then has to make it all back by lobbying for, marketing and force-feeding medicines that only cure symptoms to a populace that, at best, gets habituated and, at worst, gets addicted to them. It is something like pop music and popular movies selling way more than classical ones or fast food more than nutritious diet.

Both time and resources go against holistic healing procedures. They aren’t effectively able to carry out monitored tests on large enough sample sizes of patients for a long enough time. Hence they are at a loss to show better statistical results in a scientifically convincing manner.

It is very much like the rich becoming richer even if inefficient, and the poor becoming poorer even if more virtuous.

Healthcare also brings in another big business as a huge commercial activity called health insurance. It benefits from people’s fear of falling ill or else dying prematurely, both of which have scary consequences to deal with. There is also a much costlier fear of losing what one has, including one’s business and costly belongings.

In a healthy society supported by strong pillars of closely-knit communities, such fears wouldn’t have rooted themselves deep enough. But since that is not what it is, an individual feels alienated, scared of being left alone in any such emergency. The only available option one finds to feel reasonably safe and secure is a legally binding insurance to take care in case any such casualty happens.

And ironically, the agency that provides this feeling of safety is one of the biggest businesses on earth. Although it does provide the feeling of a legal safety, the socio-psychological security network is awfully missing. On top of it, recurring payments for various kinds of insurance add up fast to a considerable sum to part with, every month.

The insurance companies have the last laugh with a heavy bank balance at their disposal. Even after the legal safety is purchased, the lonely individual mind never sits relaxed! It is always the mind that fears. Brain simply acts in a passionately focused manner if needed.

Sociocultural Root Chakra: Military-Industrial Complex

Army - A Social Institution Licensed to Kill:

Army is one of the most weird social institutions that Homo sapiens ever built on earth!

Is it possible for a sensitive soldier to kill an enemy soldier without feeling bad about it?

Killing a man is not like killing an animal. Had it been so, consuming human flesh could have been a norm like eating animal flesh is.

But we don’t eat our own species simply because we sense a common link among us. Even the thought of doing so invokes a strong revulsion not only in our mind but in our body too.

Won’t a real killing of a real man invoke a similar reaction in someone with a normal level of sensitivity?

It should! It ought to!

Sensitivity Vs Insensitivity:

If it doesn’t, it simply shows that the person concerned is not sensitive enough to feel bad about it.

But then, throughout the history of mankind there have been armies invading other armies to kill soldiers in wars.

Who are these people who do so and don’t ever feel a tinge about it?

One can only infer that the human mind can certainly be trained to become insensitive enough not to feel bad about killing other humans.

But is that a healthy state to achieve?

What implications will such insensitivity have on the mental health of the person concerned?

The real act of love depends on sensitivity in order for its subtleties to be felt! Will a killer ever be able to love another human being with all the soft and tender feelings?

Certainly not!

His/her act of love would also be something like an act of winning a war.

An Army Against Another Army:

That was from the perspective of an individual soldier who is trained to kill.

Let’s ponder upon it from a totally different perspective now.

How can the collective humanity justify raising armies aimed at killing other humans?

What turns certain armies enemy to one another?

Soldiers in the two enemy armies don’t even know one another, let alone being each other’s enemies!

The same enemies might have been the best of friends, had they met one another in different circumstances elsewhere in life.

Why all this enmity?

And who can guarantee it will continue like this in the future? On retirement, they may settle down in some foreign land and end up being next door neighbors. They may even turn out to be passionately fond of each other!

Anything is possible! We just investigated one such hypothetical situation.

Even if some lands are spared being tagged as adversaries by the political bosses, our sensitivities may never be with them. We may turn insensitive to the people residing in those lands.

We inherited this beautiful earth and we divided it into countries and nationalities making it look so ugly!

In today’s world, this enmity is further strengthened by mainly two kinds of narratives. The first one is the border disputes that generally afflict neighboring nations. The second narrative has to do with the ideological differences. Nations tend to resist worldviews that affect the kind of society they have designed for themselves, even if such resistance comes from thousands of miles away.

Any suspicious move by one is interpreted as a conspiracy on their behalf intending to devour the very existence of the other. In such a scenario, every nation is always in a constant state of paranoia.

Politicians very well know how to create narratives benefiting them in strengthening their control on the internal politics of their own states. They can easily turn them as a dangerous threat to their very existence as a nation. A sprawling wave of fear spreads all over in the minds of its inhabitants who, then, are ready to unconditionally support their rulers. The armies are alerted, recruiting more soldiers and purchasing new lethal arms for them. Everyone shuns their brains, panicking and acting emotionally in a haphazard manner. We have seen it happening all around the world for various political motives.

Fast Forward to The Present Day:

Let us fast forward to the present day scenario of the state.

The state changed its form in almost all countries and nationalities from feudal kingdoms to the so-called democratic republics. They should actually have been called plutocratic republics instead.

The dominance of resources in the present form of money still persists as far as formation of the governments in all countries and nationalities is concerned. It was only the form of the state that changed, not its essential character.

The cunning and the corrupt are still in power in every state of the world. Thanks to the power of money that gets them elected to represent millions of people under the mask of patriotism. This is now an irrefutable fact.

Aesthetic Needs

Arts and entertainment networks are social institutions that fall under sociocultural sacral chakra arising from the suppression/ repression of sexual gratification. The currencies it uses are ‘fame’ and ‘celebrity’. The growth needs that these institutions aim to fulfill are aesthetic needs. However, these aesthetic needs got corrupted by the currency of ‘fame’ and ‘celebrity’ into phenomena such as the ‘star system’ in the film industry.

And since the suppression/ repression of sexual gratification was an intensive as well as an extensive phenomenon, almost everyone looked forward to aesthetic experiences either in the form of a creator or else a consumer. Consuming was way easier than creating aesthetic experiences offering day-dreams to them.

Naturally, consumers of such aesthetic experiences found an element of entertainment in them. As a result, such experiences started pulling in huge crowds to their performances. Their creators and performers started acquiring fame and celebrity resulting in a special status for them in society.

This helped them to not only become rich but also objects of desire for their consumers. This also helped them in coming out of suppression/ repression of their sexual gratification. Soon, they started acquiring a larger than life stature in society, epitomizing its most sought after desires.

Thus, art, the purpose of which was to fulfill aesthetic needs got waylaid by the artist and, consequently, the sociocultural sacral chakra got closed.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about corruption in marriage, organized sport, and nation state.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

______________________________________________________

References

1. Campbell, P., Hook, L., & Pickard, J. (2021, November 9). COP26: Deal to end car emissions by 2040 idles as motor giants refuse to sign. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/8c4a1809-902f-4582-a29e-1c83a97b9dff

2. Goodman, A., & Thunberg, G. (2019, January 4). You Are Stealing Our Future: Greta Thunberg, 15, Condemns the World’s Inaction on Climate Change. Democracy Now! other.

Introduction:

In 29th episode of my podcast, I take you on a fascinating journey through the intricate web of sociocultural evolution.

Drawing parallels between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the chakra system, I unveil how our societal structures can hinder genuine human connection and fulfillment.

The episode opens with an exploration of historical perspectives on sociocultural evolution. I discuss the shift from unilineal to multilineal approaches, highlighting how societies adapt to their unique environments.

I emphasize that modern anthropologists are now questioning the very concept of cultural evolution, suggesting a need for new frameworks to understand the relationship between culture and environment.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this episode is my introduction of the concept of “multi-unilineal” sociocultural evolution. I argue that while some cultural patterns may have evolved similarly across the globe, others have developed uniquely based on local contexts. This nuanced view challenges the binary thinking that often dominates discussions about cultural progress.

As the episode progresses, I dive deep into the analogy between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the sociocultural chakra system. I posit that our basic physiological and safety needs correspond to the sociocultural root chakra, while love and belonging align with the sociocultural heart chakra

This connection prompts you to reflect on how societal pressures can corrupt genuine needs, transforming them into mere wants. My insights on the sociocultural chakras reveal a profound truth: our collective mind often distorts our understanding of needs.

I argue that this distortion leads to social diseases, such as consumerism and the rat race, where personal ownership of resources overshadows communal needs.

You are encouraged to consider how these sociocultural dynamics affect your lives.

My call for a collective awakening has the potential to resonate deeply, as I suggest that opening our sociocultural chakras could lead to a more harmonious existence.

It all concludes with a thought-provoking invitation to reflect on our individual and collective roles in shaping a more fulfilling society. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in personal growth, cultural evolution, and the intricate dance between our needs and wants.

Join me on this enlightening journey and discover the potential for transforming your life into a personal heaven.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• (00:00:01) - Skeletal Leap

• (00:00:48) - Sociological and anthropological perspectives on sociocultural evolution

• (00:05:49) - Sociological cultural chakras

• (00:09:20) - Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“As I was building up my case against our sociocultural structures getting erected by the mind, an analogy dawned upon me.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about sociocultural chakras on the lines of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs turning to wants and thus affecting sociocultural evolution negatively

Before we get to the social approach of Skeletal Leap, let us first look at how societies and cultures evolved, from a sociological and anthropological standpoint.

There have been a number of historical attempts by anthropologists and sociologists to understand how sociocultural evolution takes place. These attempts study how sociocultural institutions change over time, thus weaving together different evolutionary theories.

Most of the nineteenth century approaches based themselves along unilineal evolution¹. They believed that all of humanity socioculturally evolved along the same process worldwide. It was only that some of them were ahead of the rest who would, nevertheless, follow them along the same path in times to come.

On the other hand, most of the twentieth century approaches based themselves along multilineal evolution². They believed that different societies evolved along their specific historical contexts. They rejected the theory that every society would be evolving along the same cultural progress sooner or later. They argued that different societies adapted to their own uniquely different environments, technological breakthroughs and outside cultural influences. Multilineal approach also rejected any similarity between cultural and biological evolutions. It argued that cultural patterns in far-off lands were genetically unrelated.

But in the latter part of the twentieth century, several multilineal anthropologists shifted their approach. Through numerous incremental shifts in sociocultural hypotheses, they arrived at Marxism. Marxism made a speedy entry into the world of politics adopted by almost half the population worldwide. The lens that it used to look at sociocultural development was dialectical and historical materialism. But toward the end of the twentieth century, it started crumbling down under its own weight. You may know it better as the fall of the Soviet Union or the falling of the Berlin Wall.

The most modern twenty-first century anthropologists have taken another step to reject the very concept of cultural evolution outright. They are rather exploring new approaches to the relationship between culture and its environment. One of them is a general systems approach exploring emergent systems including political, economic and social interactions among cultures.

As a special mention here, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins came up with his book The Selfish Gene³ in 1976. Dawkins’ book was voted as the most influential science book of all time in July 2017 on the 30th anniversary of the Royal Society. He proposed a gene-centered hypothesis of sociocultural evolution stating that genetically related individuals cooperate the best between them. And genes replicate themselves better when they themselves get benefitted, at times even at the cost of the entire organism. ‘Selfish’ replication may model culture successfully via memes that are self-replicating units of human cultural transmission analogous to genes. 

This is where we are, at this moment, as far as understanding sociocultural evolution is concerned. And, in my opinion, this is not sufficient.

‘Multi-unilineal’ Approach

I think we have missed something very basic. We either look at sociocultural evolution as being entirely unilineal or else entirely mutilineal. Reality looks to be somewhere in between. It very obviously has always been a combination of both, in my opinion. Some parts of it have always been unilineal, not necessarily through intercultural interaction but independently evolving on their own. Some other parts have certainly been mutilineal, varying from culture to culture depending on their specific genetic histories and environments. I would like to address them all with a new inclusive name ‘multi-unilineal’.

Let us look a little deeper into these multi-unilineal patterns of sociocultural evolution all around the world

These are the patterns that essentially evolved almost the same way, yet slightly differently, in their local hues throughout the world.

Surprisingly enough, all our sociocultural institutions have majorly been erected by the mind and not through the dictates of the brain alone. The brain had worked independently when it devised wearing leather and burning fire to ward off cold and cook food. The same was true of inhabiting caves and inventing languages. And these were four supremely intelligent inventions that all tribes and races arrived at in differently similar ways globally.

But the sociocultural structures erected by the mind were unfortunately not so intelligent. They were flawed at best and harmful at worst in their design. And why it happened so was because the mind subjectively attached itself to its faulty apprehensions of threat to life, in other words to its self-preservative instincts. Hence, it cunningly took control of the brain’s activity in its fearful stupidity, thereby turning human needs into wants. All these structures were multi-unilenial in their evolutionary process.

Sociocultural Chakras

As I was building up my case against our sociocultural structures getting erected by the mind, an analogy dawned upon me

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs⁴

Before I come to the analogy, let us take a little detour. Abraham Maslow came up with ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’ in the year 1943. Later, he refined it in ‘Motivation and Personality’ in 1954 introducing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs comprises physiological needs, safety, love and belonging and esteem as deficiency needs, and cognition as a growth need. Growth needs further include aesthetic, self-actualization and transcendence needs.

And now, let’s come back to my analogy. I find that the lowest two deficiency needs, namely “physiological needs” and “safety needs”, are parallel to the concerns of the root chakra within the chakra system. The third need from the bottom, “love and belonging”, parallels the heart chakra. The fourth deficiency need, “esteem”, is akin to the throat chakra. Moving to Maslow’s growth needs, “cognitive needs” parallel solar plexus chakra while “aesthetic”, “self-actualization” and “transcendence” needs find their chakra equivalents in sacral, third-eye and crown chakras, respectively.

Now that we have established that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is analogous to the chakra system, I would like to bring our attention to a second analogy.

We know that an individual autonomous mind generates closed biological chakras in the human body by corrupting skeletal anatomy. I asked myself if a collective autonomous mind could have generated similarly closed sociocultural chakras in human society. The modus operandi could have been the corruption of social needs into societal wants

Things started getting distorted since the very beginning of our evolution into Homo sapiens. It all started with pursuing cognitive needs. We, as a society, cognized reality within what was a suffocating environment dotted with threats and challenges.

And that perceived reality continues till date.

Humanity is yet to take a sigh of relief, thereby seriously corrupting its breathing pattern.

It was this corruption that gave birth to a blocked sociocultural solar plexus chakra. Acting out of the mind’s fearful perception of so-called threats and challenges, humanity has always been in a hurry to control the environment which is a mirage in itself.

Just like the solar plexus charka leads to asthma and other diseases in the body, this sociocultural solar plexus chakra, i.e., hurry to control the environment, gives rise to social ‘diseases’ such as the ‘rat race’. And thus, humanity handed over the reins of cognition to its collective autonomous mind instead of a spontaneous collective brain.

We know that an open solar plexus chakra means renewing the brain continuously and thus energizing it cyclically. Unfortunately for us, since our sociocultural solar plexus chakra got closed, it left the collective autonomous mind stuck at its aggressive cognitive wants rather than needs. 

These wants individualized personal ownership of resources used to fulfill genuine social needs before.

As this personal ownership of resources assumes a bigger-than-necessary stature, social needs start turning into personal wants. Needs are the realm of the brain while the mind is the abode of wants. Thus, they get corrupted and end up in sociocultural chakras in the hands of a collective autonomous mind. After all, human society is just a collective extension of multiple human bodies. And these sociocultural chakras would tend to block collective human energy flow exactly like biological chakras block individual energy flow.

Let us now combine the above two analogies, i.e. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs vis-a-vis chakra system + sociocultural chakras mirroring individual chakras

When individual energy flow gets blocked at the base of the chakra system, it results in a closed root chakra. Similarly, when the collective human energy flow gets blocked at the base of the chakra equivalent in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it does so at the lowest two levels of social needs, i.e., physiological and safety needs. Same would be true about the deficiency needs of love and belonging and esteem needs as well.

It is my contention that we, Homo sapiens, find ourselves today struggling with an imbalance in the mind-brain equilibrium as we go along Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from the lowest (physiological) deficiency needs to the highest (transcendence) growth needs. Individuals and societies that are stuck in making ends meet, i.e., meeting their physiological needs, tend to operate primarily from the brain.

As they ‘climb’ up the Hierarchy and their deficiency needs are met, a major shift seems to occur. This is where the mind starts taking over and the brain’s functionality starts getting stunted inflicting the lower chakras as well, along with the higher ones.

In other words, needs start yielding to wants. It is no surprise, then, that most of the growth needs are governed by the concerns of the mind way more than those of the brain.

Real Needs Overshadowed by Greedy Wants

This had its debilitating effect on the sociocultural equivalent of sacral chakra, namely aesthetic needs, as well. And it did so by negatively affecting the quality of sex that humanity was meant to enjoy. When sex gets frustrated, it tends to take refuge in its sublimation through arts in creative and aesthetic pursuits. This sublimation is the handiwork of none other than the mind!

In the process of sublimation, however, the mind does lose a little bit of its control as emotions give way to passion and sexual frustration yields to a broader creative perception. This works, but only partially, as a therapeutic process that addresses the aesthetic needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at an individual level. In society, this partial therapy addresses this sociocultural sacral chakra in the form of cinema, poetry and other artistic expressions. However, the unaddressed part of this chakra results in the social disease that we know as ‘consumerism’. And we have even given it a rather ironic name, ‘retail therapy’. No wonder slogans like “the more, the better” appear to provide solace to our frustrations

Moving higher along the Hierarchy, the growth need of self actualization aims at discovering one’s inherent talents and developing them further. It results in achieving one’s full potential as far as socially productive soft skills are concerned. This is synonymous with the concerns of the third eye chakra. However, once corrupted by the mind at a social level, it leads to an analogous collective third eye charka resulting in social ‘diseases’ such as ‘professional qualifications’ as a want that is detached from the original need.

Transcendence needs are the ultimate that an individual in a society can cultivate, giving oneself to something beyond oneself. It enables one to create one’s personal heaven for oneself. At a social level, it parallels the sociocultural crown chakra which, when closed, leads to the social malaise of ‘acute insensitivity’. Consequently, opening this chakra sets the highest levels of collective human consciousness. Simultaneously, it sets all the lower chakras open as well, automatically addressing their related sociocultural ailments.

This has the potential to turn human life on earth into a collective heaven. 

However, in reality, the collective mind fragments itself exactly like the individual biological mind and, thus, belittles every single real need in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and, by extension, its analogous sociocultural chakra.

When it comes to our collective needs, human societies use various ‘currencies’ to enable exchange of these needs between their individuals or groups. It is these currencies that we used to fulfill real needs which later started assuming bigger stature in an individual mind, shifting the focus from needs to wants. As a result, those currencies got corrupted away from their original purpose and became ends in themselves as opposed to serving as mere means toward the ends which have always remained as those underlying needs

These corrupted currencies have led to several institutions in our societies that, I contend, are the physical manifestations of the underlying sociocultural chakras.

Within the construct that I have presented above, we can now look at sociocultural evolution in light of genuine needs getting usurped by the mere wants for their corrupted currencies.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about corruption in industrial complex, big pharma & insurance, military-industrial complex and politics-business nexus.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

______________________________________________________

References

1. Morgan, L. H. (1907). Ancient society, or researches in the lines of human progress from savagery, through barbarism, to civilization, by Lewis H. Morgan .. H. Holt.

2. White, L. A. (1959). The evolution of culture. Mcgraw-Hill.

3. Dawkins, R. (1976). In The selfish gene (pp. 15–15). essay, Oxford University Press. “At some point a particularly remarkable molecule was formed by accident. We will call it the Replicator. It may not necessarily have been the biggest or the most complex molecule around, but it had the extraordinary property of being able to create copies of itself.”

4. Maslow, A. H. (1973). The farther reaches of human nature. Penguin Books.

Introduction:

In this 28th episode of my podcast, I take you on a thought-provoking journey through the evolution of Homo sapiens and the pressing issues of our time, particularly climate change.

The episode, titled “Homo Sapiens: Ultimate Gains and Losses to Date!”, talks about the duality of human achievements and losses, revealing how our advanced cognitive abilities have allowed us to dominate the planet while simultaneously leading us to the brink of ecological disaster.

I begin by reflecting on the unique advantages that Homo sapiens possess, such as our ability to communicate complex ideas through language and our capacity for abstract thought. These traits have enabled us to form large groups and cooperate effectively, allowing for unprecedented advancements in technology, science, and culture.

However, this success has come at a cost. The very myths and stories that helped unite us have also contributed to fragmentation and conflict, leading to wars and social strife. As we stand at a critical juncture in history, I emphasize the urgent need for a shift in our mindset.

We must recognize that our relentless pursuit of growth, driven by fear and greed, is unsustainable. The consequences of climate change are already evident, with melting ice sheets and extreme weather patterns threatening the planet’s biodiversity.

I quote renowned naturalist David Attenborough, stating, “What we do in the next 20 years will determine the future of all life on Earth.”

A central theme of the episode is the distinction between the mind and the brain. I argue that while the brain is an intelligent organ capable of spontaneous perception and subsequent action, the mind often distorts reality through emotional attachments and preconceived beliefs.

To navigate the challenges ahead, we must “empty our minds” of outdated narratives and prejudices, allowing our innate instincts to guide us toward collective action for the greater good.

You are invited to consider the implications of this paradigm shift and the potential for a unified human experience. I call for a worldwide cooperation that transcends competition, likening it to the immune system of the body that can turn against itself.

If we fail to unite, we risk our own extinction as a species.

In conclusion, this episode is a wake-up call for all of us. It challenges us to confront our past mistakes and take immediate action to protect our planet. By fostering a mindset of cooperation and understanding, we can pave the way for a sustainable future.

Don’t miss this enlightening episode of Skeletal Leap, where we explore the intersection of human evolution, societal beliefs, and the urgent need for change.

Tune in now and join the conversation about our collective responsibility to the Earth and to each other.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• (00:00:01) - Human Gains vs Losses

• (00:11:32) - What to Do Now?

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“What to Do Now?

Today, if we are humble enough to learn our lesson, we need to take immediate action.

How do we do that?”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about human achievements vs losses through homo sapiens bipedal evolution.

We humans have been extremely successful in achieving an unchallenged control over the planet we live on, something none of the other 8.7 million living species could even dream of. Homo sapiens are ruling the planet at present like dinosaurs once did.

As a species, we have made immense progress in creating tools that gave us the power to establish the said control. The tools kept getting more and more sophisticated as did our brain’s ability to think in abstraction. We, the sapiens, had another exclusive advantage at our behest. We could communicate much better with one another through the use of our language that was way superior to that of other Homo species.

Hence we were better able to cooperate in groups while fighting with our competitors for the purpose of dominance over them. Neanderthals who were physically stronger and other Homo species could not do it so effectively among themselves and slowly went out of existence. 

It was then that the Homo sapiens discovered the power of the mind in creating mythological stories, thanks to their superior language. And then, they soon started believing in them! As this happened, it acted as a double-edged sword. It started imparting an autonomous status to the mind as separate from a reviewer of the brain’s perception and action. It helped the Homo sapiens, driven by their fictitious beliefs, to start cooperating in bigger and bigger groups to achieve dominance over the planet as a species.

But then, humanity didn’t stop over there. It allowed these fictitious beliefs to turn into a unique kind of auto-immune disease, not of the individual but of society. A disease that we have been dealing with the repercussions of, ever since.

Wars became the order of the day.

Marked by the dominance of massive groups cooperating among themselves in an effort to annihilate other massive groups, these wars paved the path for the competitive growth of Homo sapiens’ civilization.

Since then, the story of the growth of human civilization has remained much the same to date. That is why and how these mythological stories acted as double-edged swords. Though they created vast cooperating groups furthering tremendous growth and development, the said growth always remained fragmented. The groups remained disparate, miserably failing to operate as one single cooperating group of a species called Homo sapiens. 

This was the power of our fragmented minds following our fragmented beliefs via our fragmented stories that took dominance over the marvels of the spontaneous brains of a unique species that we, the Homo sapiens, were. 

Nevertheless, the power to think in abstraction was a great leap in the evolution of the human brain. It gave birth to new disciplines in science, arts, technology and commerce. Human culture started prospering with inventions of digits and letters resulting in mathematics to calculate on one hand and language to communicate on the other.

Today, we marvel at our own achievements within such a short span of time, evolutionarily speaking. Once we, the Homo sapiens, started galloping along the track of new discoveries and inventions, we never stopped. It has been too fast an evolution of the brain in too short a span of time.

Overall, our brain size has increased 2-3 times within the last 3 million years, starting with the species named Australopithecus¹. This was a group of hominins from which humans are supposed to have descended. These 3 million years is quite a small fraction of time when compared to the 3 billion years of life on earth. And surprisingly, that process of evolution is still on! And at the same break-neck speed!

The Tipping Point of Crisis

We have almost reached the edge of the point of no return from the harmful effects² of human-induced climate change.

As of today, the two major ice sheets at Greenland and Antarctica are melting speedily. If the greenhouse gases are not stopped from emitting further, the rise of the global sea level is going to cause havoc.

If the global temperature ultimately increases by 1.5-2.0 degree C, the melting of these ice sheets may become irreversible. Higher rainfall and higher flooding events would engulf the northern hemisphere. It would end up in the extinction of quite a few species of plants, insects and vertebrates. Under extreme weather conditions, there are going to be way more spontaneous forest fires. And we have already started seeing all these effects in just the past few years!

As David Attenborough said,

“What we do in the next twenty years will determine the future of all life on earth.”

Who is to be blamed for it?

Our mind, our society and our culture! Who else?

Our mind is greedy. It is greedy because it is fearful. We, as a species, wanted to progress as much as we could, as fast as we could.

We over-exploited our planet’s resources, without giving it back what we took from it. Earth wants to take everything back now.

Isn’t it a lesson for our mind? Isn’t it a lesson for the way we have structured our society? Isn’t it an indictment of the value system that we have erected human culture on?

Where did we go wrong? What was our earliest mistake?

Remember I had said that the mind gets subjectively attached to its faulty apprehensions of threat to life, in Episode 20? It overrates the instincts of self-preservation. On the other hand, it suppresses and even represses death instincts. That is how it distorts reality and corrupts human action. It is because all death instincts including curiosity, interaction, adventure, love and sex turn us passionate, insightful and people-centric.

On the other hand, self-preservative instincts turn us stupidly emotional, greedy and self-centric more than people-centric.  They want growth as much and as fast as possible whereas death instincts are way saner in their approach. In its greed, humanity sided with the fastest possible rather than sustainable growth that is in tune with all of nature and, therefore, would have given rise to a different paradigm of ‘quality’ of life.

That is why and how the brain is way more intelligent than the mind. In fact, the mind can very easily go stupid. Brain never does.

That was our very first mistake. In fact, that was our Original Sin, if any. We gave the entire reigns of comprehending psychedelic (in-cognizable) reality in a cognizable way to the mind. Reality is right, only its cognition is not. We shouldn’t have made the mind an autonomous entity having the power to comprehend reality anyway it likes. It should have been kept subservient to the brain, the real master of perception and action.

Had we managed to do that, psychology as an autonomous science would have been redundant. It would rather have been a subordinate discipline under physiology or neurology.

Even with our bloated, fragmented minds, we can still get rid of our old prejudices for/ against fragmented groups that are busy cooperating within themselves in order to compete with or even annihilate others within our own species. Today, we can give credit to our expanded awareness of undivided humanity and stop believing in the fragmenting stories created by our fragmented minds all those thousands of years ago!

I know I am asking for a big, huge lot. I am asking for a paradigm shift in our comprehension of reality. For this to be possible, the mind needs to comprehend reality as per the neural dictates of the nervous system. It needs to follow commands of the brain and its entire nervous system without trying to affect them at all. As it right now is, the mind limits the efficiency of the brain by corrupting its perception and consequent spontaneous action.

That is how, in its greed, it gave a signal to the best of the human brains to make so-called progress as fast as possible. And look where that has brought us today!

What to Do Now?

Today, if we are humble enough to learn our lesson, we need to take immediate action.

How do we do that?

We simply need to empty our mind of all the garbage it has collected in the past thousands of years. All its beliefs, all its attachments, all its prejudices, its morals and emotions! It needs to be left alone with what it is there for, i.e., the subjective cognition of instinctual awareness. It should be left alone as the sense of ‘I’ with just the set of instincts human nature has already provided us with.

We can afford to do it today although we could never have done so till date without risking our very existence on the planet. Right now, no other species is left to claim its dominance on the planet. We don’t need to compete with our siblings any more.

Competition has already played its commendable role in safeguarding us up to this point of time. But if it continues, it will turn against our own self, as a species. Where else does this happen? In our own bodies. Exactly like the immunity in our bodies that competes against foreign entities to protect us sometimes turns on itself leading to autoimmune diseases, our intra-species competition is threatening to wipe us out.

What we need today is a world-wide cooperation or else, we will run our species out of existence. It will be nothing less than a suicidal act on our collective part.

Cooperation over competition! Brain over mind!! Even better, an empty mind!!!

Okay, what does the mind do when it is left emptied?

It gives a cognizable meaning to the psychedelic perceptions and spontaneous actions of the brain without generating beliefs around them.

We need to go agnostic in the truest sense of the word. When that happens, we stop living in our past and/ or future with emotional attachments to them. Passion replaces emotions. We are able to centrally fixate our passionate attention on the perception and action of the very present moment. Central fixation makes it possible for the brain to spontaneously think the best without being distorted by emotional thoughts of the mind. When this happens, action is the next spontaneous step taken by the brain instantaneously. Even artificial intelligence (AI) will never be able to match the human brain since, even at its best, it can only achieve speed but never spontaneity.

In my first language named Hindi, past is named ‘bhoot’ meaning ’ghost’. I find that hilarious. It seems to me to be the best description of the past. Past is dead and we keep emotionally clinging to its ghost or to its cousin, i.e., its own projection as the future. These ghosts masquerading as thoughts possess our brain and limit or distort its capability to spontaneously think without any deterrents. 

Thinking is the handiwork of the brain. Chewing the cud of thoughts is the handiwork of the mind. Thinking and chewing the cud of thoughts are two diametrically opposite actions. Let us start thinking as real intelligent organisms. Let us stop chewing the cud of thoughts as stupid dead ghosts.

Let us tackle these impending emergencies of human-induced climate change in an absolutely intelligent way…while we still can! And that absolute intelligence can only arise from an empty mind.

But what’s the modus operandi of emptying the mind?

We have already discussed this in all its conceptual details as Skeletal Leap in Episode 26 and Episode 27. However, that is at the level of an individual. It is my contention that a similar approach can be extended to society, as a whole.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about sociocultural chakras on the lines of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs turning to wants and thus affecting sociocultural evolution negatively.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

______________________________________________________

References

1. Brami, M. N. (2019). The invention of prehistory and the rediscovery of Europe: Exploring the intellectual roots of Gordon Childe’s ‘neolithic revolution’ (1936). Journal of World Prehistory, 32(4), 311–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-019-09135-y

2. Lynas, M., Houlton, B. Z., & Perry, S. (2021). Greater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Environmental Research Letters, 16(11), 114005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2966

Introduction:

In a fast-paced world, the concept of meditation has evolved from a spiritual practice to a wellness trend embraced by many.

In the 27th episode of Skeletal Leap, I invite you to explore the transformative power of skeletal meditation. The episode dives deep into how we can turn our daily actions into meditative experiences, emphasizing the importance of being present and engaged in every moment.

I highlight that traditional meditation often involves sitting quiet with eyes closed, focusing on specific thoughts or mantras.

However, I challenge this notion, suggesting that true meditation goes beyond these time-limited practices. Instead of merely sitting for an hour each day, I advocate for a lifestyle of continuous mindfulness—a state where every action, whether sipping wine or enjoying a meal, is approached with total awareness.

One of the key takeaways from the episode is the idea of “emptying the mind.” Here I explain that the mind is often cluttered with past experiences and emotional attachments, which can hinder our ability to fully engage in the present.

By learning to empty the mind, we can experience life more vividly, free from the distractions of our conditioned responses. This practice not only enhances our enjoyment of life but also promotes better health and wellness.

You are encouraged to experiment with your daily routines, such as eating your favorite dish slowly and mindfully. By doing so, you can rediscover the joy of each bite, experiencing it as if for the first time in life.

I emphasize that this practice can lead to a deeper connection with our actions, allowing us to live more passionately and joyfully.

As the episode progresses, I introduce the concept of skeletal re-posturing and breath control as methods to open our chakras and enhance our meditative experience.

By focusing on our breath and allowing it to flow naturally, we can infuse our lives with a sense of joy and spontaneity. This approach not only rejuvenates our nervous system but also helps maintain an empty mind, free from the burdens of past conditioning.

Ultimately, the message of this episode is clear: meditation is not just a practice to be done in isolation; it is a way of living here and now. By adopting a meditative mindset throughout our daily lives, we can achieve a state of joy and awareness that enriches our experiences.

Join me in this enlightening episode of Skeletal Leap and discover how to transform your life into a personal heaven through the art of being meditative 24 by 7.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Why People Meditate: 76.2% of common people use meditation for general wellness or disease prevention.

• How People Meditate: What exactly do we do when we sit in meditation with our eyes closed?

• Meditating Vs Being Meditative: Once a truly meditative state is reached, we no more need to keep sitting for meditation everyday.

• Turning Every Action into Meditation: How can we turn whatever we do into a meditation?

• Emptying Mind And Then Keeping It Empty: through opening all the chakras via skeletal re-posturing and then addressing the extended exhalation of breath.

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“How can we turn whatever we do into a meditation?

It is possible when we keep enjoying what we are doing every single moment of it.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about skeletal meditation emptying the mind and then keeping it empty for kundalini awakening.

“Breathing is the highest form of meditation.” That is not me talking but a quote often attributed to different eminent authors or philosophers. In fact, meditation has been revered as a highly esteemed practice in human culture ever since human society took shape with sociocultural evolution. Lately, though, it has almost become a fashionable trend among the elite for their wellness concerns. On the other hand, people with a deep faith in religion follow it as a religious or spiritual practice. Thirdly, people with different kinds of lifestyle diseases are also advised to sit in meditation by none less than their own healthcare specialists.

The modus operandi of such meditations has mostly been to sit in an erect posture with eyes closed for a certain duration of time. During this period, the meditators are supposed to do something specific with their mind. What that something is widely varies depending on what they want it to achieve for them.

It looks like people have such great faith in meditation that they feel it can provide them with all kinds of things they seek.

Why People Meditate

A survey¹ published by the National Institutes of Health in America on their National Library of Medicine practicing revealed that 76.2% of common people use meditation for general wellness or disease prevention, 60% to improve their energy and 50% to improve their memory or concentration. 

Hence people’s priorities for what they expect out of meditation the most seem to be:

1. Health and wellness | 2. Energy | 3. Memory or concentration

How do we think meditation would be able to do what we want it to do for us? And, that too, just by doing it for an hour a day? For the remaining twenty-three hours, we are again going back to our unhealthy state of mind-body disposition.

Sitting for meditation for an hour or so has just become a fashion to satisfy ourselves of doing something good. It rather strengthens our ego further.

How People Meditate

Also, what exactly do we do when we sit in meditation with our eyes closed? Here are a few things that people are guided to do in the name of meditation:

Chanting mantras or affirmations | Counting beads | Counting breaths | Concentrating on a thought | Imagining a sequence

The above kinds of practices just numb the mind, sending it to a kind of stupor. It makes one feel as if one has become relaxed. But that is not what relaxation means. A lethargic mind is not a relaxed mind.

Mindfulness meditation, at least at face value, seems to be a better alternative for relaxing the mind. Mindfulness means focusing the mind on being an aware witness to whatever comes to it from moment to moment. People sit down in a cross-legged posture and start making all kinds of efforts to become aware of their minds’ dynamic content.

But mind, as such, is a fidgety child! It doesn’t pay much heed to our efforts. In fact, it loves to keep jumping from one casual thought, thing or action to another, like a monkey.

We try to witness it in its movement with our total awareness. It doesn’t say no. But then, it stealthily slips away from under our attentive control to some of its other unaware, casual concerns. We always need to keep bringing our awareness back on track.

But the problem is it gets bored over there in its pursuit of awareness. The very nature of the mind is to keep jumping from one concern to another, unaware. And the reason is that it is full of concerns, not only consciously but unconsciously as well. It tends to keep scanning everything within its consciousness and even underneath it, unconsciously.

It is this point alone that mindfulness, at its best, can take us to. We need to continuously keep exerting the pressure of our determination on the mind to tame it into being aware the way we want it to.

But then, who is this ‘we’ who is making all this Herculean effort to tame our mind? Isn’t it a part of our mind alone?

Anyway, even if we are able to relax the mind for an hour or so, it is not of much use. We are again going to fall back into the same unhealthy disposition. How do we expect it to do permanent good to us?

On top of it, the very idea of relaxing the mind is contradictory in itself. Mind in itself is the name of an entity full of contradictions, thereby fragmenting itself, and hence, fragmenting our ‘self’. As we already saw in Episode 20, those fragmented parts keep fighting with one another, making a noise. That is what is called a chattering mind. The techniques listed above try to merely calm it down by turning it numb or exerting pressure on it.

But the only rational way to stop its chattering is emptying its content. That is what we call emptying the mind. We have already discussed it in its operative details in the Episode 26. And that is what meditation must do if it is to do any real good to us.

At the same time, any such ‘real good’ should preferably not be limited to any specific duration of time. It should happen twenty-four hours a day, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year.

That simply means we should try to replace sitting for meditation with being meditative all day long. And that can only be done by making it our first nature.

Meditating Vs Being Meditative

Once a truly meditative state is reached, we no more need to keep sitting for meditation everyday. We simply need to live in a meditative state all day long. Once we have learnt how to do this, we need to say goodbye to the idea of ‘sitting in meditation’.

We need to empty our mind with every single breath exhaled while our chakras are open. This will mean that we can be meditative even while talking to someone, smoking a cigarette, sipping our wine or while making love, for that matter.

Turning Every Action into Meditation

How can we turn whatever we do into a meditation?

It is possible when we keep enjoying what we are doing every single moment of it. It makes us fully involved into the action with total awareness as opposed to getting indulged into it habitually.

Let us suppose that we are doing something that we like doing a lot. There is every risk of getting indulged into its action by emotionally getting attached to it. Let’s take an example of eating our most favorite dish. Even before we start tasting it, we have already conditioned our taste glands to taste something familiar that we like. And when we taste it, we don’t really taste it right now, we just taste our past perception of it. We live our mental past while chronologically being in the present. That is how the mind affects the brain’s perception by falsely limiting it to a perception of the past.

Now let us play a game. In the same scenario, let us pretend we have lost our memory. We no more remember that it is our favorite dish nor its taste. It depends on how good an actor we are, being our own audience at the same time. Let us start eating it now. We would effectively be tasting it for the first time in our life.

If we are unable to feign loss of memory, let us take our first bite very slowly, tasting it in its totality. This, too, will effectively result in the feeling that we are tasting it for the first time in our life.

Do you see a parallel between the two actions, i.e, pretending to have lost one’s memory and performing an action slowly in its totality? The result is the same in both scenarios. When we do something slow enough to do it in its totality, we have already kept our emotional mind aside which is akin to keeping our emotional memory aside.

And we taste the dish like we are tasting it for the first time in our life. This amounts to tasting it in the present moment. Liking or not liking it is no more relevant. What matters is tasting it afresh with all its passion and joy or even pain (if so ever).

Let’s repeat the same experiment, this time with a dish that we dislike the most. As we slowly taste it afresh in its totality, disliking it is not relevant anymore. What matters is tasting it afresh with all its passion and pain or even joy (if so ever).

When we perform an action slowly enough to be able to do it in its totality, we are no more governed by our mind. It is our nervous system that takes over. And our nervous system is way more intelligent than our mind. It does things with passion and joy or even pain. All emotional strings attached to the past experiences of liking or disliking simply vanish into thin air. And the nervous system then performs actions without ever emotionally liking or disliking them at all.

I don’t mean to say that slowness of an action is the only thing that leads to its totality. At times, it is just the opposite that works. For example, running to save a child from being overrun by a speeding car works in its totality only when done miraculously fast.

However, these same types of slow or fast actions, when non-meditative, are either lethargic or impulsive, performing those actions either extra-slow or extra-fast. That is when we call them mental lethargy or mental hurry. The key difference is that when the brain is in charge in an independent capacity, which is what I’m calling the truly meditative state, the speed of the action turns optimum; it is neither extra-slow nor extra-fast. The same happens to the quality of the action as well.

Mental lethargy and mental hurry as anti-meditative symptoms were never as serious as they have become today. The two are solely responsible for human actions being non-meditative.

It doesn’t have to be that way because, as we just saw above, being meditative all through the day, in whatever we do, is no rocket science.

And when we enter that meditative state, we no longer need to ‘sit’ in time-limited meditation. The very things we do become meditative. The mind no longer controls the brain and is restricted to play the role that it has been designed to perform. When the brain performs an action in its totality, it does register it in its memory cells.

But that memory is not accessible to the mind.

That is how the mind gets trained to remain empty and keep doing its job of comprehending reality quietly.

A meditative action full of joy performed in its totality with passion leaves no desire for recreating it in the future. Similarly, a meditative action, even if loaded with pain, performed in its totality with passion leaves no anxiety of avoiding it in the future, regardless of whether that need to avoid pain is based on the brain’s objective memory rather than the mind’s emotional memory.

When similar situations ever arise in the future, they become entirely new actions performed afresh right then. In both cases, no conditioning of the mind occurs, thus always keeping it empty. We are only left with an objective memory of the joy or the pain which our brain remembers along with all the other details of the said actions spontaneously.

But old habits die hard.

Our already conditioned minds pose a tough challenge to being emptied out in the beginning. For example, when we go out in the scorching sun in a hot climate, our mind contracts our facial muscles. That is how it may turn into an attack of tension headache for a certain duration of time. The same happens in a snowy blizzard in a cold climate. All these are conditioned reactions of a conditioned mind.

Let’s take another example to address this problem. Suppose we got an attack of tension headache. When it occurs, we generally tend to avoid it. But it keeps forcing its pain not only in our head but also on our psyche.    

That is how trying to avoid it doubles its uneasiness on our system.

The meditative way to deal with it is to stop trying to avoid it. Let us rather accept it by sensing it in its totality. That is what people never do in general.

What happens next?

As soon as the mind is sidelined by such emotional acceptance, the brain takes the charge. We are left with sensing the said action in its totality with passion and pain.

The nervous system swiftly assesses something wrong in the system. It also recognizes the source of the pain in the muscles of the head being pulled down and tucked in. As soon as the neural signals direct the contracted muscles to relax, pain vanishes leaving our senses with passion and joy instead of passion and pain.

The mind remains empty until it gets afflicted by another habitual pattern of its conditionings.

This way, through being meditative all along, we can go on emptying our mind of its conditionings one by one.

Emptying Mind And Then Keeping It Empty

But as we have seen earlier, there is a much better way out. That way is through opening all the chakras via skeletal re-posturing and then addressing the extended exhalation of breath. The said impeccable procedure infuses every single moment with passion and joy, with action or without it. That is because breathing becomes an effortless action turning all other actions meditative as well, as and when they take place.

The procedure of Skeletal Leap rewards us with a surge of inexplicable joy with every single breath.

Every single extended exhalation rejuvenates the entire nervous system by keeping the mind emptied for its duration.

Skeletal Leap has the power to enable us, the Homo sapiens, for our next evolutionary leap.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about human achievements vs losses through homo sapiens bipedal evolution.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

______________________________________________________

Reference

1. Cramer, H., Hall, H., Leach, M., Frawley, J., Zhang, Y., Leung, B., Adams, J., & Lauche, R. (2016, November 10). Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of meditation use among us adults: A nationally representative survey. Scientific reports. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5103185/

Introduction:

In the 26th episode of my podcast, I explore the transformative power of breathing and its intimate connection with Kundalini awakening.

Imagine a life where every breath you take connects you to a wellspring of joy and insight.

This episode, titled “Empty Your Mind with This Simple Diaphragmatic Breathing Technique!” invites you to explore how conscious breathing can lead to personal transformation and a heightened state of awareness.

I first introduce the concept of Kundalini, described as life energy that can be awakened through specific breathing techniques.

I then explain that as we breathe, we can dissolve our chakras, clearing obstacles that may have been holding us back.

The journey from the coccyx to the crown of the head becomes a pathway for insightful energy to flow, enriching our lives with joy and passion.

One of the key takeaways from the episode is the importance of diaphragmatic breathing. I emphasize that this method of breathing not only improves physical well-being but also plays a crucial role in emptying the mind of its clutter.

By focusing on our breath, we can shift our attention away from past memories and future worries, anchoring ourselves in the present moment.

This practice is essential for maintaining an open channel for Kundalini energy to rise. I encourage you to embrace the joy of involvement in your actions rather than becoming mechanical in your focus.

I also share an inspiring personal story from my life that illustrates how the mind can be emptied in the moments of extreme adventure and ultimate challenge.

I further highlight that while emergencies can temporarily clear our thoughts, the real goal is to cultivate a state of mind that remains open and aware through this regular breathing procedure.

The episode also touches on the science behind breathing and its effects on our nervous system. I explain how breathing is more than just a biological necessity; it is a vital force that connects our physical and spiritual selves.

Then I introduce the five types of Prana, each playing a unique role in our overall health and well-being.

As the conversation unfolds, you are invited to consider how you can incorporate these breathing techniques into your daily lives. I provide practical tips for achieving this, emphasizing that it’s not about counting breaths but about feeling the joy and energy that comes with each extended exhalation.

In conclusion, this episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to transform their life through the power of breathing. By learning to empty the mind and awaken Kundalini energy, we can experience a life filled with passion, joy, and a deeper connection with ourselves.

Don’t miss this enlightening discussion—tune in and discover the art of breathing for a richer, more vibrant life!

You will learn about…

• (00:00:01) - How Kundalini Activates in the Body

• (00:07:46) - Breathing as Prana

• (00:12:59) - How diaphragmatic breathing empties the mind

• (00:21:10) - How to Empty the Mind permanently

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Introduction: Introduction to breathing energy and insight

• Breathing and Kundalini Activation: How breathing activates Kundalini

• The Power of Diaphragmatic Breathing: How diaphragmatic breathing empties the mind with its extended exhalations

• Empty Your Mind: Personal story of an adventure and mind emptying

• How to Keep Your Mind Empty Forever: Techniques to maintain an empty mind through breath

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“What else do we want on earth? It is like finding a perpetual goldmine (if gold is really as important as this)!”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about emptying the mind via breathing energy and breathing insight with every single breath for kundalini awakening.

Breathing becomes the perception of energy with every single exhalation as chakras are opened, removing all obstacles in its way. The way from the coccyx (at the pelvis) to the crown (at the top of the head) gets fully cleared.

How Breathing Activates Kundalini

Kundalini rises from the gut to the brain as it works through the nervous system. It does so through the spinal cord provided all the chakras are open. And this is not a one-time event. It rises every single time the breath gets almost fully exhaled in an absolutely quiet manner. There is no force that needs to be exerted at all while exhaling. This way, it keeps the flow of kundalini, aka insightful intelligence, intact incessantly through the passage of time, every time. Therefore, another way to think of kundalini is life energy that is personalized as insightful intelligence.

The first time kundalini rises through a person’s spine via the vagus nerve or Sushumna, it may (or may not) manifest as tantrums. These tantrums can take the form of one of several different reactions depending on the person’s psychological and neurological disposition. Some feel this first rise as an electrifying shock from the left-over impediments along its way. Some others feel it as a sense of extreme joy never experienced before. There is a full spectrum of reactions as varied as there are persons who feel and express those reactions. Once the initial honeymoon (or nightmare) is over, it settles down as a conscious creative potential in the coccyx again.

One cannot take it for granted that this process will occur automatically over and over again, thereby falling back in their mechanical ways of life from before. Getting this life energy of insightful intelligence transferred to the brain with every single breath still lies firmly within the conscious domain of awareness. Therefore, one needs to keep one’s chakras open as one’s first nature. Once this is successfully achieved, one needs to become conscious of every single breath, no matter what one is doing.

You might now wonder, “Won’t focusing on every single breath divide our attention whenever we need to focus on something else of importance?”

Not at all! The focus is not on the breath but, instead, on the joy of one’s involvement into the action.

This will ensure that our attention is focused on that very moment. In fact, it stops us from drifting into the domain of the mind whose emotional emphasis is on past memories and future imaginations. This type of focus keeps us centrally fixated in the process of thinking rather than getting swayed by thoughts which is what unconsciously disturbs our attention.

For this to happen seamlessly, we don’t even need to count our breaths.

That will only make it as mechanical as any other meaningless rituals people employ to increase concentration like counting beads.

Concentration and attention aka focus are two different things altogether!

Here is something really beautiful. Once the insight of energy has gotten awakened as a potential, every single extended exhalation of breath performs a miracle. It fills the head and the pelvic region simultaneously with an extreme sense of joy and passion. This joy always remains as fresh, passionate and spontaneous as it was when we felt it the very first time.

Imagine having a passionate joy of cosmic orgasm at the crown chakra and a sexual orgasm at the pelvis simultaneously with every single exhalation of breath forever! It quite likely occurs due to an optimum release of serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins in the nervous system.

What else do we want on earth? It is like finding a perpetual goldmine (if gold is really as important as this)!

What actually happens is that we train ourselves to adopt ‘lightness’ as a personality style. And we do this while equipping ourselves with its traits, namely, interest, insight and adventure. Not even the acutest stress can pull us off-track any more. It is like utilizing the ‘smart vagus’ of Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory. That is what strengthens us in the face of an otherwise sympathetic nervous system response of ‘fight or flight’.

In fact, we have done something even bigger than this. We have emptied our mind along the way. And in doing so, we have become invincible.

And we keep renewing the entire procedure with every single breath! We no more fear even the most imminent of threats - death. We have discovered the most artistic way to live life, live it here and live it now. And we have learnt how to do it, here and now and, best of all, using clear, physical and measurable techniques.

Consciously extending exhalations a little longer than inhalations after opening all the seven chakras does it all. And it does it well too. It is simple. It is no rocket science.

As this combination of keeping chakras open while extending exhalations a little longer than inhalations becomes our first nature, the miracle happens. We no more need to keep an account of both these processes separately in a list of ‘things to do’. We just perceive its effect as a sense of non-stop passionate joy. If ever a break is perceived in that joy, we immediately need to set it right then and there.

Breathing As Prana¹

Breathing is not just a simple exchange of gases within the lungs. It is way more than that. That is why in the ancient chakra scriptures, it has been named as ‘Prana’ meaning the basic core of life energy. It is conceived as having the following five types of winds in the human system:

• Prana - located at head, lungs and heart with an inward and downward movement, empties the mind

• Apana - located at lower abdomen with an outward and downward movement, activates healthy digestive and reproductive systems

• Udana - located at thoracic diaphragm and throat with an upward movement activates healthy respiratory and communication systems

• Samana - located at navel with a spirally churning movement over there activates healthy metabolism

• Vyana - located along circulatory system with outward movement activates healthy circulatory and nervous systems

There is also a mention of ‘Nadis’ meaning channels in the body like nerves, arteries, veins, capillaries, bronchioles, and lymph canals. The main three among them are:

• Ida - controls mental processes

• Pingala - controls vital processes

• Sushumna - connects the root chakra to the crown chakra

Breathing is a biological process of moving air out from and into the lungs thus replacing carbon dioxide with oxygen. The exchange takes place in the alveoli through diffusion as the gases are transported to and from the cells by the circulatory system. This makes cellular respiration possible where cells extract energy from digested food through its oxidation. Carbon dioxide is generated as a waste product which then needs to be expelled out of the body through external respiration called breathing.

Breathing also controls speaking, laughing, creating facial expressions and reflexes like yawning, coughing and sneezing. The respiratory tract has the following different parts in it to perform all these activities:

• Upper airways – nasal cavities comprising nostrils, pharynx and larynx

• Lower airways – comprising trachea, mainstem bronchus, lobar bronchus, segmental bronchus, bronchiole and alveolar duct named alveolus

Three Different Breathing Styles²

There are three different breathing styles that people adopt as a lifelong habit.

Diaphragmatic breathing (Deep breathing) is done by contracting thoracic diaphragm for inhaling air inside the lungs. It is a muscle located between the thoracic and the abdominal cavities.

It comprises slow and deep inhalation through the nose followed by slow and complete exhalation. Diaphragmatic breathing improves the blood flow while reducing pulse rate and blood pressure. It also relaxes the vagal nerve and optimizes the sympathetic mode of the nervous system which is the source of a ‘fight or flight’ response.

It is also one of the best cures for belly fat in particular and weight loss in general.

Shallow breathing, also called thoracic breathing or chest breathing uses intercostal muscles drawing much less air into the lungs.

Clavicular breathing raises the shoulders and the collarbones (clavicles) while simultaneously contracting the abdomen for inhalation. Its process is a very tiring one and cannot be held for long durations of maximum air intake.

One must opt for diaphragmatic breathing alone, because it takes the maximum air in. It’s also because diaphragmatic breathing alone can awaken Kundalini pushing it up after all the chakras go open.

During exhalation, the lungs are left with the functional residual capacity of air which occupies a volume of 2.5-3 liters. An extended exhalation can reduce it further to 1 liter, not more than that.

In other words, one may extend their exhalation such that the leftover air in the lungs is anywhere between this range of 1 to 2.5-3 liters.

How Diaphragmatic Breathing Empties The Mind

How can breathing empty the mind?

Emptying the mind means getting rid of all its beliefs, habits, fears and desires. If we try to do this through conscious mental effort using our will power, we fail miserably. This is because we are trying to kill the mind by the mind itself. Why would the mind ever commit suicide? It is happy being in control not only of our psychology but also our biology. It does so by turning our perceptions and urges mechanical.

It is only possible to empty the mind using itself when it is posed with an impending emergency that it has no solution for. It stops working in such an impending scenario. Consequently, it gets forced to surrender its reign over any action that could get rid of the said scenario. Ultimately, in such a situation, the brain takes charge and performs the appropriate action to come out of that scenario.

The Story of My Mind Emptying Itself And Handing Over The Charge to My Brain in An Emergency

I remember a story from my life when my spirit of adventure posed a similar challenge to my mind. And my mind just resigned. But my spirit still went ahead with my brain alone and faced the challenge. My mind was absolutely emptied in the process and, thus, held back.

It was in the year 1992 that I visited a beautiful, high altitude valley in the Himalayas named Manali. I had already booked a cottage for a month-long stay over there. We were three in our family; my wife, my six-year-old daughter and I. We were enjoying our stay, doing something new each day.

After around ten days, we thought of going on an unconventional trek in the valley - a trek along the untrodden side of the River Beas that flowed through the valley. There was no road on that side of the river. Any roads that existed would be on the other side of the river from our trek.

Regardless, we started our trek and kept moving along the river, upstream. After around half an hour of our trek, the river got us stuck. It was taking a sharp turn there after hitting a high rock on our side of the trek. So, there was no way to go further. We were a little disappointed. I looked around the hill to the side of the river. I was looking for a bridle path, hoping to climb up a little and then come down to move further along the river. That way, we could have circumvented the sharp turn and climbed down to the river ahead of the sharp turn.

As I was investigating the visible bridle paths, I spotted a man standing at the hilltop looking curiously toward us. I shouted, aiming my voice in his direction, “Hey!”

“Hey!” the man shouted back from the hilltop.

I explained to him in my sign language what we were up to.

Seemingly a local, he immediately understood what we wanted. He threw a fleeting look along the bridle paths up the hill. Then he looked down around the river bend, and then waved at us to climb up.

As we started climbing up, I spotted him coming down toward us as well. That surprised me a bit. But as we climbed up a little further, I realized why he had made his way down. As we reached a nearly horizontal patch lined up with a nearly vertical rock, we found him standing up there.

What a helping spirit combined with a curious involvement! He smiled, sitting atop the approximately 7 feet high rock tilted at around 105 degrees from the patch.

“I had seen this rock from above and I knew you would need my help to climb it,” he said, smiling. “Thanks a lot!” I felt grateful. As I looked down once from where we were standing, I found us to be exactly over the river-bend which meant that, by then, we had climbed a few hundred feet.

The man lied down on his stomach on the horizontal patch atop the rock. From there, he hung his arms down along the slope of the rock.

First, my wife held his hands and I pushed her from behind as he pulled her up to the top.

As the patch above the top was comparatively narrow, he made her sit a little away on a gentle slope. Then he came back to the rock-top and lied down on his stomach hanging his arms down, again. This time, I lifted my daughter and pushed her up from behind as he pulled her up easily. He made her sit along with my wife and came back to the rock-top again. As he lied down on his stomach a third time hanging his arms down to pull me up now, he realized it wouldn’t work.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, disappointed.

By then I, too, had realized that we had not accounted for this scenario. With my wife and my daughter, I was there below to push them up. But now, I was alone with no one to do the same for me.

The man and I looked into each other’s eyes and then down at the river below flowing with roaring ferocity.

“We forgot this,” I said.

“Now?” he asked me.

“It’s risky,” I said with a sigh.

“Disappointing,” he sighed back dropping his head on the top of the rock.

“Hey! Is it really impossible?” I looked at the height and the slope of the rock.

“Not exactly, but yes, almost!” he opined.

“Why don’t we do it! I can push myself up with all my might,” my adventure bug bit me further.

“I don’t bother about myself. But you have a family along. If you aren’t able to make it the very first time, we both will be down there in the river. We will be flown away by its gushing waters…not to be found even as dead bodies, ever! A drowning man catches at a straw. So, you’ll end up pulling me down as well!” he explained what all it could entail.

“Oh, then send them back and we will go down the way we came up from,” I felt concerned about a stranger’s life not to be jeopardized.

“But I won’t feel good!” he exclaimed as he looked into my eyes intently.

I kept looking back into his.

“Okay, let’s do it. Just take care to sync your push with my pull exactly at the same moment,” he finally gave his verdict.

“Think twice before you say yes,” I said.

“You too!” came his reply.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Ready?” he asked.

We both started counting aloud, “ One, two, three!”

As we counted three, I found myself lying along him up on the patch at the top of the rock.

Two sighs of relief from the two of us and we smiled calmly looking at each other’s faces!

I did it. In fact, my body did it. I didn’t know how I had done it. It was exactly like what that middle-aged mechanic in my story in Episode 19 had done. He, too, didn’t have any clue to how he had done what he had.

My wife and daughter were oblivious to what we both had come up through.

My mind was just empty and it remained so for a long while after.       

But habits die hard. The entire pattern comes back to the same square one once the emergency gets over.

Hence, though imminent emergencies can empty our mind in a flash of a second, they aren’t a permanent modus operandi. But yes, they can give us an instant glimpse of what an empty mind feels and works like. They can certainly demonstrate the superiority of any action done on our part without any doubt about it. That was what had happened in the above-mentioned story as well as in the mechanic’s story mentioned in Episode 19.

How to Empty The Mind Permanently

But then, how can the mind be permanently emptied?

Remember the firsthand account of a first timer in skydiving quoted before in Episode 20?

I repeat it here for your convenience:

I was OUT… everything mentally ended… over… started… me… perhaps more dead than alive… perhaps more alive than I will ever be… breathing just as I had been taught… wind… wind and breath… until wind and breath became indiscernible, became as one… and yes, almost weightless… it was true! … weightless and so surreal… there was the earth, neither coming at me, nor me at it, … no up… no down… no me, in the ego sense of me, just some thoughtless consciousness… and yes, it was awesome simply to be… or not. The sky was in my lungs and it never once occurred to me would the parachute open.

It is a perfect example of a mind having gone empty. And what a tremendous experience this was!

But unfortunately, this, too, stays only for a maximum duration of 6-7 minutes. That is while the skydiver is falling free before the parachute opens. We could extend this time with the help of a virtual reality simulator without even having a real skydiving session. But how long for?

We could even consider improving the quality of virtual free-fall simulator as compared to a real skydiving session. That could even entail removing the decelerating effect of air with a better control on experiencing acceleration due to gravity.

We could hypothesize that such a perfect simulation for a certain minimum time might empty the mind permanently as well.

In fact, I am already working on a project that proposes to testify this hypothesis under strict laboratory conditions.

But we cannot wait for this hypothesis to get proved correct. We do have a surer method though a little slower than the proposed hypothesis, at least for the time being.

And that is what I have already mentioned in this episode. We can easily keep emptying our mind continuously with every single extended exhalation when all our chakras are open. From a vitalistic angle, it amounts to sending periodical surges of kundalini from an open root chakra to an open crown chakra. From a materialistic angle, it amounts to sending periodical surges of neural communication from the gut to the brain.

Whatever it might be, but it does fill the crown of the head with inexplicable joy through every single extended exhalation. Along with joy, it also embellishes the brain with newer energy and newer insights.

And every surge of this inexplicable joy keeps the mind emptied for its duration, in fact a little longer. Before it starts waning, the next surge appears with the next extended exhalation, reinforcing the mind’s emptiness again.

In case we ever miss the sequence, the sky is not going to fall loose on earth. We can pick the thread of breath up from wherever it right now is and restart the sequence once again.

That is what Skeletal Leap rewards us with!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about skeletal meditation emptying the mind and then keeping it empty for kundalini awakening.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

_____________________________________________________

References

1. Satyananda Saraswati, S. (1981, September). Prana: The universal life force. Yoga Magazine.

2. Hobert, Ingfried (1999). “Healthy Breathing — The Right Breathing”. Guide to Holistic Healing in the New Millennium. Harald Tietze. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-876173-14-2.

Introduction:

In this eye-opening (pun intended 🙂) episode of Skeletal Leap, I strengthen the fascinating connection between central fixation of the eyes and the skeletal chakra hypothesis.

Titled “Eye Training for Crystal Clear Eye Vision NOW!”, the episode explores how achieving central fixation not only enhances vision but also transforms our physiological systems and personal well-being.

I share a personal story involving my cataract surgery and a groundbreaking realization about visual accommodation, challenging conventional ophthalmological beliefs.

I discuss the significance of the oblique and recti muscles in the eye’s ability to focus and how their habitual constriction leads to common vision problems like myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism as well as presbyopia after the age of 40.

Discover the historical context of Dr. W.H. Bates’ work and how it paved the way for understanding the relationship between the mind, body, and vision.

I introduce the concept of central fixation through chakra meditation, revealing how this practice can lead to profound changes in both vision and overall health.

Join me on this journey of self-discovery, as I uncover the tangible effects of opening chakras on our anatomy and physiology, and emphasize the importance of achieving a harmonious mind-body connection.

You will learn about:

(00:00:00) - Central fixation through the opening of chakras improves our vision and changes our physiological systems

(00:10:25) - Dr. W.H. Bates challenged mainstream ophthalmology 100 years ago

(00:16:01) - Modern ophthalmology is a gigantic multi billion dollar industry

(00:26:27) - Third eye and crown chakra meditation not only clarifies eyesight

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Central Fixation: The relationship between central fixation and vision improvement.

• Muscle Constriction: How habitual muscle constriction affects eyesight.

• Dr. W.H. Bates: The historical significance of Dr. W.H. Bates’ findings.

• Chakra Meditation: Practical steps to achieve central fixation through chakra meditation.

• Personal Transformation: The broader implications of achieving central fixation for personal transformation.

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“Central fixation, through the opening of chakras, not only improves our vision and changes our physiological systems, it also changes us as a person.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about an unintended evidence strengthening the skeletal chakra hypothesis via achieving central fixation of the eyes.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the biological miracle that I have long been working with is the skeletal codes of instant central fixation of the eyes, the body and the mind.

Let me tell you another story, a recent one that reinforces my above statement.

The Story of Activating A So-called Impossible Visual Accommodation

“I seem to have cracked its code.”

This was what I said to my ophthalmological surgeon who was preparing to start a surgery for my cataract removal. I got my cataract removed in 2022.

I said to my surgeon again as he had not yet replied, “I think I have cracked the code of central fixation of the eyes.”

It was a few seconds before lying down on the operation table that I spoke these words.

This time, he looked at me and replied, “Right now, I am not listening to you.”

He added, “I am in my pre-surgery trance. We will discuss it once the surgery is successfully completed.”

It was a Tuesday. A few days prior, I had met him in his clinic. I had asked him to replace my clouded natural crystalline lens with an intraocular lens of the same diopter power.

The normal procedure of cataract surgery simply removes the clouded natural lenses in the eyes and replaces them with artificial clear lenses. These natural lenses which get clouded owing to protein coagulation with age are called natural crystalline lenses. The artificial clear lenses that replace them are called intraocular lenses.

It is a very simple, 10-minute surgical procedure though it does demand impeccable precision from the surgeon. And, as per modern ophthalmology, since these intraocular lenses cannot fatten like natural crystalline lenses, they cannot help in reading at close proximity when they are optimized for distant vision. Hence they require reading glasses employing presbyopic convex lenses.

“Why?” he asked while replying to my request to replace my clouded natural crystalline lens with an intraocular lens of the same diopter power, “Why wouldn’t we optimize it for your distant vision, if so needed?”

“It’s because I am doing some experiments with the errors of refraction in my eyes. I don’t want those to get disturbed at all. I believe I have already cured my lifelong myopia with central fixation. But even if your optometric machines find there are some traces left, I would prefer to be left with them. I just don’t want my research to get disturbed by you optimizing my eyes for distant vision,” I said.

“But I find it unethical. We normally optimize it for distant vision with intraocular lenses. And then we provide you with outside lenses for near vision,” he retorted

“How does it become unethical? Especially if I am ready to use outside lenses for distant vision as well, if need be?” I said.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression as no one else had ever asked this to him before.

I added, “Moreover, you may optimize my distant vision by changing the diopter power of the intraocular lenses. But, then, I will no more be able to read near as clearly as I do right now. I read at close proximity perfectly well without using any presbyopic lenses.”

He immediately interrupted me, “Don’t be under the impression that you will be able to do that with intraocular lenses. Right now, you are somehow still doing it as you have natural crystalline lenses in your eyes. But intraocular lenses are just inanimate matter and not animate like your natural crystalline lenses. They will simply not let you see near clear as you cannot manipulate them at all. You will need a pair of near vision glasses after the surgery in any case.”

“I will still like to use a pair of outside glasses for correcting my distant vision. That is, in case I still have traces of myopia left in my eyes. But I would never like my distant vision to be optimized within my eyes. It will disturb the research that I am doing through experiments with central fixation to eradicate all errors of refraction. And it’s not unethical if I prefer outside lenses to inside ones. Am I not right?” I asked him challenging his notion of ophthalmological ethics.

My logic convinced him that what I was asking for was not unethical. I just wanted my natural crystalline lenses replaced with intraocular lenses of exactly the same diopter power as before.

He agreed. And I took a sigh of relief as it was a question of my entire research getting wasted otherwise.

All my preliminary tests including ophthalmological and physiological status got checked. A day before the surgery, the surgeon informed me that everything was alright. He said my natural crystalline lenses would be replaced with intraocular lenses of diopter power +18.5. It was exactly the same diopter power that my natural crystalline lenses had.

On Tuesday, 15 February 2022, my right eye got operated on. As soon as the surgery got completed, the surgeon asked me to open my eyes. As I complied, I immediately saw everything much brighter as well as crystal clear in the field of my vision. It had gotten brighter owing to the surgery done on my eye. And as far as clarity of vision was concerned, replacing my natural crystalline lens with the intraocular lens of the same diopter power had left no negative effect on it.

It was a moment of extreme elation for me. Not optimizing my vision for distance had shown its favorable result.

The next day, on Wednesday, 16 February 2022, my left eye got operated with similar results.

As soon as both my eyes got intraocular lenses inserted in them, I went impatient. I could not stop my temptation of trying to read near with them. And lo! To the utter astonishment of my surgeon as well as of mine, I was able to read everything close clearly too.

The next day, on Thursday, 17 February 2022, my vision was officially tested for distance and for near reading.

Each eye was individually tested separately. Both of them recorded 20/20 vision for distance and N6 for near reading.

I asked my surgeon how he would explain this in light of the accommodation process theorized by German ophthalmology. According to this theory, it should have been impossible for me to read near, especially with N6 acuity.

He simply raised his hands in utter astonishment, saying, “I just don’t know how you are reading near so clear.”

It was a miracle, so to say.

I asked him if I was his first patient not requiring near vision glasses from him after cataract removal surgery. He said I was, indeed, the only one to do so through his entire career.

The Real Scientific Process of Visual Accommodation

The question was how on earth I was able to see near so clear with inanimate lenses in my eyes.

There was only one way in which it could be explained scientifically.

It was that I was able to elongate my eyeball in order to see clear while reading near. And then, I was able to turn it back to near spherical while seeing at a distance.

According to this explanation, the lens has no role to play in the process of accommodation. It is the eyeball that effects and controls accommodation.

It was about a hundred years ago that Dr. W. H. Bates had propounded the same. Here is a quote from him:

“During more than thirty years of clinical experience, I have not observed a single fact that was not in harmony with the belief that the lens and the ciliary muscle have nothing to do with accommodation and that the changes in the shape of the eyeball upon which errors of refraction depend are not permanent. My clinical observations have of themselves been sufficient to demonstrate this fact. They have also been sufficient to show how errors of refraction can be produced at will, and how they may be cured, temporarily in a few minutes, and permanently by continued treatment.”

- Courtesy: W. H. BATES, M.D. (1920)

Eyes are constructed¹ of eyeballs having two sets of six muscles on each one of them. Two of them are ‘oblique’ muscles and the other four are ‘recti’. The two oblique muscles are there in the shape of a belt around the middle of the eyeball. The muscle above is called ‘superior’ and the one below, ‘inferior’.

The four recti muscles pass along the depth of the eyeball at the top, bottom, left and right sides. They are attached to the sclerotic coat at one end and the bone surrounding the optic nerve at the other. These four muscles at the top, bottom, left and right sides of the eyeball are ‘superior’, ‘inferior’, ‘internal’ and “external” recti.

When we contract the oblique muscles, the eyes can easily read near.

But when this constriction becomes unconsciously habitual, the eyes cannot see clear at a distance. This condition is called myopia and is generally combined with astigmatism which means different levels of constriction in various circular degrees.

Also, when recti muscles are kept constricted habitually, the eyes are not able to read at close proximity clearly. Letters go blurred as in hyperopia and presbyopia, and distorted as in astigmatism.

When the crown chakra and the third eye chakra are blocked, these are the muscles that get affected first. Thereafter, the rest of them, including those in the jaws, on the eyebrows, and around temporomandibular joints get affected.

Surprisingly, there is a direct physiological connection between the muscles on the eyeballs and the rest of muscles in the skull! The major ones among them are the muscles named frontalis, temporalis and occipitalis. By relaxing these three muscles via maneuvering the mandible, we can relax the muscles on the eyeballs as well.

Once that is done, we can achieve full voluntary control on the entire process of accommodation. This is how we can achieve central fixation of the eyes and get rid of all the errors of refraction.

The Role That Dr. Bates Played A Hundred Years Ago

Around a hundred years ago in the year 1920, Dr. W. H. Bates, an ophthalmologist published a book. It was titled “The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment without Glasses”. The book was an account of his case studies which involved curing the vision of people and enabling them to get rid of their glasses. It was also a logical analysis of how vision goes bad in the first place and how to cure it. With his analysis, he happened to challenge mainstream ophthalmology on its theoretical premises.

Mainstream ophthalmology had always maintained that vision, once gone bad, could never be cured. It still maintains the same premise to date. Hence it considers wearing glasses as the primary solution. It has also come up with its surgical derivative named LASIK. In LASIK, they sculpt the cornea in the shape of a lens as per the vision prescription. It simply turns the cornea into an additional lens in front of the eye’s main lens without wearing glasses. Not a big deal! It is rather ineffective in certain cases, especially in the long run. I know many such people whose errors of refraction returned a few years after getting LASIK done.

But mainstream ophthalmology chose not to respond to Dr. Bates’ challenge. It rather chose to ignore him in an attempt to isolate and ridicule him.

The question that arises is why, after all, mainstream ophthalmology chose to ignore its own comrade. Was it just because it thought he was doing something nonsensical? Far from it, his questions were not illogical. Quite to the contrary, he was getting positive results! Why, then, did his own parent organization ignore him like a step child?

The answer, as often is the case, was a conflict of interests between the two. And mainstream ophthalmology continues that same antagonistic approach toward his research and findings at the time of delivering this podcast…even almost a century later!

What would mainstream ophthalmology gain from this antagonism?

The answer seems to lie in a covert conspiracy as such. It is possibly scared of losing a luxurious business that it is the sole beneficiary of. Modern ophthalmology is a gigantic, multi-billion-dollar industry.

Here are two quotes to underline it:

“Global Eyewear Market to reach USD 196.47 billion by 2025. Global Eyewear Market valued approximately USD 110 billion in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 7.52% over the forecast period 2018-2025.”

Courtesy: Market Research Reports, 1 January 2019

“Global personalized LASIK surgery market is expected to reach USD 3.69 billion by 2022.”

Courtesy: Grand View Research April 2016

Perhaps, none of this industry’s gatekeepers want to kill the proverbial golden-egg-laying duck?

Dr. W. H. Bates ignored his isolation by mainstream ophthalmology. He went on treating his patients. And, by the time he died in 1931, he had already cured thousands of them. They had gotten rid of their glasses as they didn’t need them anymore.

After his death, many volunteers took up his work and continued treating patients. It has now become an institution in itself that promotes alternative ophthalmology, defying the mainstream authority. These volunteers have kept Bates’ legacy alive through almost a century after his death. The Bates Method, as it is famous now, has sculpted a strong niche for itself.

But there is a problem here. The Bates Method, in general, is very slow in improving vision. Very few people afflicted with errors of refraction in their faulty eyes have that kind of patience. They find wearing glasses a ready-made solution and surrender to it.

They don’t know that, by wearing glasses, they are forcing their eyes to keep seeing through them for life. An eye must keep seeing inherently wrong in order to see clear from behind the lens fitted on it. Therefore, they kill any probability of vision improvement for good.

How I Was Able to Change Bates Method of Central Fixation from A Mental Procedure to A Physical One

As far back as my early childhood, I was diagnosed with myopia. My left eye required a lens of minus 5 diopter to see clear. Luckily, my right eye was 20/20. So my optometrist gave me a pair of glasses which I never liked wearing. I could see things with my right eye without any problem. Hence I put my glasses in the drawer of my table and never took them out.

A few years passed. I finished my engineering studies and got appointed to a government job. I was instructed to get my physical examination done in a specified government hospital before I would begin on the job. So, I went for it, aware of the fact that one of my eyes needed a minus 5 diopter lens.

But I was in for both a pleasant and an unpleasant shock at the same time! The doctor told me that both my eyes had myopia requiring minus 2.25 diopter lenses.

The world went upside down as well as downside up for me. My normal 20/20 vision in my right eye had deteriorated to require minus 2.25 diopter lens to see clear. But my faulty eye had spontaneously improved itself from requiring minus 5 diopter lens to just minus 2.25 diopter now.

How did my eyes manage to do so on their own without my conscious awareness of it? It was against the very basic premise upon which all of mainstream ophthalmology had structured its existence.

According to Jessica Lewis, optometrist from Illinois College of Optometry:

“Not wearing glasses, also, cannot change the shape of your eye, so if you stop wearing glasses, you will not make it so that you don‘t need glasses and you will not make it so that your vision returns to normal.”

How can, then, mainstream ophthalmology explain the reversal of my eyesight from minus 5 diopter to minus 2.25 diopter?

It can’t.

Anyway, I lived up to the age of 53 with both of my eyes requiring correction by minus 2.25 diopter lenses. That was before I accidentally stumbled upon a spontaneous and instantaneous clarity of vision one day. Later, I researched the phenomenon to understand it in depth and how to achieve it at will and sustainably.

Earlier, I had mentioned that the Bates Method was slow to provide even the first flashes of clear vision. At times, it was instantaneous but, in general, it took a long time to do so. I was looking for something in the procedure that would make it instantaneous as well as measurable. Here, by instantaneous, I mean a single session of a few hours. Even if it is not full clarity, the amount of clarity gained should be measurable. Measurability would enable such a procedure to get verified under the test conditions that mainstream ophthalmology would, no doubt, insist on.

And this is what the Bates Method, despite being a brilliant procedure, is lacking. It can’t generate measurable improvements in a single session. Hence, it could never decisively pass the challenge of strict scrutiny done under laboratory conditions.

It was because Bates had positioned his method around relaxation of the mind in order to relax the eyes. In relaxing the mind and the eyes, his basic purpose was to attain the central fixation of the mind. The central fixation of the mind led to the central fixation of the eyes. It meant focusing at a single point in the field of vision so that it made its image exactly at the fovea.

Bates contended that central fixation of the eyes was not achievable without achieving central fixation of the mind.

As I have mentioned earlier, the mind is a very vague entity. It has processes inside it that are intangible, meaning you can’t measure them. And, if you can’t measure a thing, you can’t be sure of its objective existence, nor of its strength. You cannot say with 100% surety that you are going the right way. You can’t even be sure of how much of it you need to achieve the desired results.

At times they may click but rarely so. So, you need to keep making trials and errors until you can hit the target. It takes time, and at times, a lot of it. Not to mention, you can’t even create them instantly and at will with 100% surety.

This is what makes the Bates Method unreliable.

But, if we approach this from the perspective of physical effects, it all becomes solid and tangible. And they are not always the effects. At times, they may be the cause to begin with. We can pinpoint them. We can even measure them. Hence, we are more in control of them. That is why we can activate them instantly and to their fullest.

This was what I did with the Bates Method when it came to achieving central fixation of the eyes. I just changed its direction. Bates had directed it from central fixation of the mind to the central fixation of the eyes. I changed it from central fixation of the eyes to the central fixation of the mind.

I did a lot of research on how chakras affected the anatomy and the physiology of our body. As you might know already, the description and approach to chakras in ancient scriptures is deeply embedded in the spiritual arena. Their shallow, modern-day interpretations follow suit without even understanding what spirituality really means. With their mysterious-sounding descriptions, these misplaced interpretations have tended to turn chakras into an esoteric discipline.

I aimed at understanding the physical effect of chakras at different parts of our body, i.e., on its nerves and musculature. Spirituality, like the mind, is not a concrete entity; it is rather even vaguer than the mind. It is esoteric.

Central Fixation Is Instantly Achievable through Skeletal Chakra Meditation

Consequently, what I did with chakras was exactly what I had done with the mind. I addressed the issues associated with chakras from the perspective of their effects on the body. For all we know, these so-called effects might actually be the culprits causing those issues in the first place!

Since body and spirit, like body and mind, are two sides of the same coin, the former affects the latter as well. It is exactly the way in which the latter had affected the former before, if at all so.

This approach enabled me to discover that central fixation of the eyes was exactly what third eye and crown chakra meditation achieved.

Opening the third eye and the crown chakras meant achieving central fixation of the eyes along with central fixation of the mind.

I could now pinpoint it and activate it instantly to its fullest by measuring it properly. And the best thing was I could do it at will!

Of course, it does require some time to open the third eye and the crown chakras through third eye and crown chakra meditation. It is because the muscles in its vicinity need time to loosen up their age-old rigidity. Once they have done that, the eyes start seeing perfectly without any artificial aid worn upon them.

Achieving central fixation through opening all 7 chakras is not only about vision correction. Vision correction is merely an indication that we are on the right track in our journey toward Homo sapiens evolution as a whole. It leads us to a perfect state of biological, mental and spiritual health, replete with the flow of cosmic (or biological) energy through us. It enables us to be in peace with ourselves individually, paving the way toward creating a peaceful world around us. It fills us with intelligent insights to mend our deteriorating sociocultural institutions and, then, to create a colorful world around us. In short, it paves the way to heaven on earth!

My central fixation boosted my immunity to an extent that enabled me to live together with my Covid-19-infected family without ever contracting the virus myself. Though unvaccinated, my innate immunity saved me from catching it even from such close vicinity.

Third eye and crown chakra meditation, or central fixation, not only clarifies eyesight but also benefits the body, the mind and the spirit in the following additional ways:

Immunity Boost | Headache Eradication | Depression Alleviation | Anxiety Eradication | Enhanced Focus | Deeper & Slower Breathing | Improved Circulation | Stronger Heart | Faster Assimilation | Improved Digestion | Smoother Excretion | Hormonal Balance | Autoimmune Diseases Eradication

I would even venture to say that third eye and crown chakra meditation or central fixation is not, as Aldous Huxley would say, ‘The Art of Seeing’ alone. It is actually ‘The Art of Healing’ the body, the mind and the spirit.

Whenever the mind is not in a meditative state, it does something detrimental to the body. As a result, the body constricts some specific muscles that are meant to be relaxed and loosens some others that are meant to be kept contracted. With the continuation of such a mental state, the body keeps those muscles constricted or loosened for long.

With the passage of time, these muscles habituate themselves in those same erroneously constricted or loosened states. And, with the further passage of time, the said constriction or loosening turns unconscious. The affected muscles lose their range of flexibility. They start giving a message to the mind that they are not making any effort.

And the fact is that they really start perceiving their constricted or loosened disposition as relaxation. They don’t even realize that this is a serious reduction in their own innate range of flexibility. They start assuming as if the range was always limited.

We can decide to bring the affected muscles back to their relaxed state, but they resist doing so. So, we need to pull them out of this unconscious habitual constriction or loosening by stretching or contracting them out and up. The constricted or loosened muscles perceive it as an effort and hence feel pseudo-tired in the process.

However, if we show perseverance and continue to stretch or contract the affected muscles out of their constriction or loosening, they listen. And they listen because their unconscious memory - what is often referred to as “muscle memory” - gives them a feeling of doing something right. With the passage of time, they start regaining their lost flexibility and range.

Muscles do take their time to get rid of their constricted rigidity or loosened lethargy. Once they have done it, the entire body-mind system comes back to its natural, spontaneous state. With that, the purpose of said meditation is achieved. Thereon, we only need to ensure that we don’t repeat the old habits in the body or the mind again.

So, which muscles go rigid and which ones go lethargic when vision gets compromised, be it for distance or near reading?

These are the muscles in the vicinity of the third eye and the crown chakras. In fact, the crown chakra is a widening of a narrow third eye chakra by 270 degrees.

Central fixation, through the opening of chakras, not only improves our vision and changes our physiological systems, it also changes us as a person.

At that point, we will already have taken an important step toward Skeletal Leap into the next major Homo sapiens evolution. What is left is to activate the rising of energy from the gut to the brain. And this is where we enter the realm of breath.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about emptying the mind via breathing energy and breathing insight with every single breath.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Reference

1. Shumway, C. L., Motlagh, M., & Wade, M. (2022, October 13). Anatomy, Head and Neck, Eye Extraocular Muscles. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30137849/

Introduction:

In the 24th episode of my podcast, I will take you along to a bio-historical journey through the biological evolution of our skeletal system, driven by the unique adaptation of bipedalism.

As Homo sapiens, our ability to walk upright has not only transformed our mode of movement but has also significantly influenced the structure of our skeleton.

This episode explores how our anatomy has evolved over millions of years, highlighting the changes in foot structure, knee joints, and pelvic orientation.

I dive deep into how these evolutionary changes have led to specific trade-offs that modern humans must navigate. For instance, while bipedalism has made walking more energy-efficient, it has also introduced various postural challenges.

I share my observations from training individuals in skeletal reposturing, revealing that many people distribute their body weight incorrectly on their feet due to years of poor posture. This misalignment can lead to a range of biological and psychological ailments.

A significant aspect of the episode is the connection between skeletal posture and chakras. I present a compelling thesis that unhealthy postures can block chakras, which in turn disrupt our physical and emotional well-being.

I outline how each part of the skeleton corresponds to specific chakras and discuss the actions required to open these energy blocking centers. You will learn about the ideal positions for various skeletal parts, the importance of maintaining proper pelvic tilt, and how these factors relate to common lifestyle diseases.

The episode also addresses the psychological implications of these physical issues, emphasizing the interconnection between the mind and the body. As I explain, opening the root chakra is essential for addressing pelvic tilt issues, which can lead to a cascade of health benefits.

I continue to explore higher chakras, such as the sacral and the solar plexus chakras, and their roles in our overall health. Each chakra’s function is discussed in detail, providing you a comprehensive understanding of how physical posture affects our emotional and spiritual states.

This episode is not just about anatomy; it’s a call to action for you to reassess your posture and consider how it impacts your life. By the end of the episode, you’ll be inspired to take steps toward achieving a healthier skeletal posture and, in turn, a more balanced life.

Join me for this helpful discussion and discover how the skeletal leap can transform your life into a personal heaven. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn a revolutionary procedure and embark on your journey toward optimal health and well-being. Tune in now!

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Bipedalism: Introduction to bipedalism and its impact on human evolution.

• Skeletal Structure: Discussing the evolution of skeletal structure for bipedalism.

• Foot Structure: The significance of foot structure in energy-efficient walking.

• Knee Joint: Knee joint adaptations and their role in balance.

• Limbs: The evolution of limbs and their function in bipedalism.

• Pelvic Tilt: Understanding pelvic tilt and unhealthy postures.

• Chakra Health: The relationship between pelvic tilt and root chakra health.

• Vertebral Column: Exploring the vertebral column’s curves and their implications.

• Overall Health: The role of all 7 chakras in overall health.

• Skeletal Evolution: Closing thoughts on skeletal evolution and chakra alignment.

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“Evolution, driven by bipedalism, meant that Homo sapiens were the only species to function with an upright gait. This changed the lengths of their legs.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about how skeletal re-posturing opens chakras through completing our bipedal skeletal evolution.

Human bipedalism started around 4-7 million years ago when our ancestors named hominins stood on their twos. As it happened, their skeleton started evolving to suit itself to bipedalism as much as it could. It changed in its arrangement of bones with respect to one another as well as in their shapes and sizes. The changes involved were…

New arrangement and size of foot bones | Hip size and shape | Knee size | Leg length | Shape and orientation of vertebral column | Skull orientation

Bipedalism made walking more energy-efficient and human movement much easier. Though running became less energy-efficient, walking was much more important. Hence the trade-off worked. It increased their locomotion tremendously.

Bipedalism Driven Skeletal Evolution Details

There were other trade-offs as well, all through the skeletal system, that Homo sapiens have been dealing with the adverse effects of, ever since. In the rest of this episode, I will endeavor to describe various parts of our skeleton while pointing out those particular trade-offs that apply to each of those parts. I will, then, go on to describe the ideal position/ posture of those parts while bringing our attention to how we have gotten used to their ‘unhealthy’ versions. This will be followed by descriptions of the corresponding biological/ psychological ailments arising from those ‘unhealthy’ positions/ postures. Finally, I will arrive at my most significant discovery and thesis which is to ascribe the appropriate chakras to these ‘unhealthy’ positions/ postures and their resultant ailments. Needless to say, this will be accompanied with the necessary actions required to dissolve those chakras.

Foot:

With the help of newly evolved larger heels, the foot increased in size. This enabled it to work like a platform on which the body weight could easily rest. It also turned the toes smaller than before as they were no more used to grasp things like tree trunks.

The foot, as a platform, didn’t evolve as a flat surface but did so as an arched one. This arching distributed the body weight along the feet from their heels to their balls behind the big toes. This weight distribution conserved a lot of energy while walking.

Here, I feel the need to share my observations from training people in re-posturing through Skeletal Leap. The energy conservation in walking resulting from body weight distribution is the ideal state. What I have noticed in the majority of my trainees is something different. Owing to posturing their body in a wrong way over years and years, they distribute their body weight on the outsides of their feet. Most of them do so toward the outer sides of their heels whereas the rest do toward their little toes. The first thing I always check in my trainees is the soles of their shoes. More specifically, where those soles have worn the most. My data suggest that most of the modern Homo sapiens distribute their body weight on their feet the wrong way.

Today, the human foot is a complex structure of 26 bones, 33 joints and hundreds of muscles, tendons and ligaments. The main joints of the foot are:

Ankle joint | Subtalar joint | Interphalangeal foot articulations

A foot has three parts to it:

The hindfoot comprises the ankle bone (talus) and heel bone (calcaneus). The ankle bone connects to tibia and fibula in the lower leg and forms the ankle joint. At its other end, it connects to the heel bone and forms the subtalar joint.

The midfoot has five bones: the cuboid, navicular and three cuneiform bones from its arches, serving as a shock absorber. It is connected to the hindfoot and the forefoot with muscles and plantar fascia. 

The forefoot comprises five toes and five proximal long bones forming metatarsus. Toe bones are called phalanges. The joints among these phalanges are named interphalangeal joints while joints of phalanges with metatarsus are named metatarsophalangeal joints.

The human foot has two longitudinal and one transverse arches. They make walking and running more energy-efficient.

Knee:

Human knee joints have also evolved to support the increased body weight between just the two of them, as opposed to among the four before bipedalism.

The degree of knee extension, meaning the angle between the thigh and the shank in the walking cycle, has decreased. This change called double knee action reduces energy lost by vertical displacement of the center of gravity. It enables Homo sapiens to keep their knees straight right under the body, improving its balance.

The knee joins the thigh and the leg with two joints, tibiofemoral joint connecting femur with tibia and patellofemoral joint connecting femur and patella.

This modified hinge joint is the largest joint in the body. It very efficiently permits flexion and extension along with a limited internal and external rotation.

Limbs:

Evolution, driven by bipedalism, meant that Homo sapiens were the only species to function with an upright gait. This changed the lengths of their legs. Today, leg muscles are the ones that give a push, through their ankles, to the action of walking. Longer legs also give an effortless swing to the steps without using the muscles every time. Since forelimbs, or hands as we now call them, don’t play any role in the action of walking, they have been freed to be used for other activities.

Bipedal evolution provided Homo sapiens with upper limbs for visually guided manipulation and lower limbs for mechanically guided bipedal gait. It also optimized the location of the body’s center of gravity. It further reorganized the internal organs and the biomechanism of the trunk through a double S shaped vertebral column. Today, the double S shape of the vertebral column is an efficient shock absorber. The entire skeletal system thus efficiently shifts the weight of the upper body to the sole of the feet. Long, load bearing legs are also very nicely optimized for bipedalism.

All the large joints of the lower limb are aligned in a vertically oriented straight line.

Hip and Pelvis:

Bipedalism also resulted in larger hip joints than before to better support the entire body weight. It made the hip shorter and broader, bringing the vertebral column closer to itself. This re-arrangement provided a more stable base for the support of the trunk while walking upright. The ilium broadened, thereby adjusting the walls of the pelvis to face laterally.

The size of the gluteus muscles increased as well, enabling Homo sapiens to assume a balanced stance even on just one leg. The sacrum turned broader, thus increasing the opening of the birth canal in the females of the species.

Three pelvic bones fused into one as the hip bone. Today, the hip joins the head of the femur to the acetabulum of the pelvis. This joint supports the weight of the body in its static as well as dynamic state. Thus, the hip joint retains balance and maintains the pelvic inclination angle.

Pelvic Tilt:

Pelvic tilt is a movable postural orientation of the pelvis. It is an orientation relative to the thigh bones, knee joints and the soles of the feet below. It also changes the orientation of the hip joint. When postured right, it subtly supports the weight of the vertebral column above it while keeping its double S shape intact.

But that is just a description of the ideal pelvic orientation. A major chunk of the human population habitually keeps this pelvic tilt wrongly postured.

There are two reasons for this unhealthy habit formation.

The first one is the downward pull by gravity on its orientation. People give in to this constant downward pull when they lack enough life energy to keep its orientation up. They just let the front of their pelvis drop in relation to its back. The newly acquired orientation called anterior pelvic tilt also disrupts the orientation of the hip joint. This further disrupts the double S shape of the vertebral column above. Below, it disrupts the load bearing distribution at the knee joints and at the soles of the feet, thus rendering the entire skeletal posture ‘unhealthy’.

The second reason is an emotionally driven, ‘pulled-in’ psychological state that results in same aforementioned ‘unhealthy’ skeletal posture.

The aforementioned anterior pelvic tilt is just one, albeit the most prevalent, of its many abnormal orientations.

The second most prevalent of the abnormal orientations of the pelvic joint is the posterior pelvic tilt.

Here is a complete list of pelvic tilt abnormalities as and when its orientation gets wrongly postured:

• Anterior pelvic tilt drops the front of the pelvis relative to the back of the pelvis. It shortens the hip flexors and lengthens the hip extensors.

• Posterior pelvic tilt raises the front of the pelvic relative to the back of the pelvis. It lengthens the hip flexors and shortens the hip extensors.

• Lateral pelvic tilt happens when one keeps pelvis tilted to left or right habitually, resulting in scoliosis.

• Left pelvic tilt keeps the right side of the pelvis raised more than the left side.

• Right pelvic tilt keeps the left side of the pelvis raised more than the right side.

Tailbone vis-à-vis Root Chakra:

Pelvic tilt is the sole cause of a closed root chakra appearing at the lowest point, coccyx (aka tailbone), of the vertebral column. Coccyx lies very near the pelvic belt. And the pelvic tilt drops it down and pushes it forward in the case of a posterior pelvic tilt. When the pelvic tilt is anterior, it still drops the coccyx down but pushes it backward this time. Both these maneuvers sow the seed of closed chakras eventually distorting the double S curve of the vertebral column.

A closed root chakra also disrupts the anatomy and hence the physiology of the pelvis, hip and the lower limb. It disrupts the pelvic, hip, knee, ankle and subtalar joints with interphalangeal articulations of the feet and the associated muscles, nerves and blood vessels.

As a result, the tailbone (coccyx) drops down as well as moves forward or backward at the pelvis. The body weight distribution on the hip, knees and soles of the feet gets distorted centering its thrust on the wrong points. With the passage of time, one develops knee pain, sciatica, varicose veins and constipation in case of posterior pelvic tilt. When it is due to anterior pelvic tilt, constipation gets replaced with chronic diarrhea.

Symptoms of root chakra blockage are indicators of lifestyle diseases related to the root chakra.

It makes us feel ungrounded biologically as well as psychologically. Hence it keeps us perennially concerned with survival and material security in life.

More specifically, a posterior pelvic tilt turns us into misers who fear losing whatever little we have. Biologically, this manifests as constipation, belly fat and/ or hemorrhoids.

On the other hand, an anterior pelvic tilt turns us into spendthrifts. Contrary to common perception, this comes from a place of greed. Here, I’d like to bring our attention back to a point I made earlier, i.e., the opposite of fear is not courage but greed. Therefore, it makes us believe that our wealth would never deplete even when a lot of it gets lost. Biologically, this leads to chronic diarrhea.

Both types of pelvic tilts are accompanied by other symptoms such as acidity and loss of appetite.

Opening the root chakra reverses the wrong done to the pelvic tilt and makes the ideal pelvic posture one’s first nature. Doing away with our pelvic tilt tends to start the first step toward a ‘healthy’ skeletal re-posturing.

Vertebral Column:

The vertebral column of Homo sapiens, in its natural posture, has a forward bend in its lumbar region.

Above this, it has a backward bend in its thoracic region. Together, these two bends give rise to the double S shape of the vertebral column. Without its forward bend in its lumbar region, the body would have kept leaning forward. In that case it would have needed a huge effort to stand upright.

The forward bend in the lumbar region and the backward bend in the thoracic region keep the body straight. These two bends do so by keeping the body’s center of gravity vertically in line with its feet.

The vertebral column is what makes Homo sapiens a vertebrate that has a long chain of vertebrae separated by intervertebral discs. Their nomenclature is done by their region – denoted by a letter – within the vertebral column and their position – denoted by a number – within that region. The vertebral column also has a spinal canal for housing the spinal cord.

Nomenclature of the vertebrae: Cervical spine 7 vertebrae (C1 - C7) | Thoracic spine 12 vertebrae (T1 - T12) | Lumbar spine 5 vertebrae (L1 -L5) | Sacrum 5 fused vertebrae (S1 -S5) | Coccyx 4 fused vertebrae (Tailbone)

There are 33 vertebrae in the vertebral column. The upper 24 of them are of the articulating type and separated from one another by intervertebral discs. The lower 9 of them are of the fused type in human adults, 5 in the sacrum and 4 in the coccyx. Ligaments at the front, back and in between the vertebrae help lengthen the vertebral column. These ligaments join the spinous processes, the transverse processes and the vertebral laminae.

Atlas and axis are the topmost vertebrae in the cervical region and they support the head.

Vertebral body and vertebral arch are the two parts of a vertebra placed anteriorly and posteriorly respectively. These two parts that are in contact with each other enclose the vertebral foramen through which the spinal cord passes.

The vertebral arch comprises two pedicles and two laminae. The arch performs seven processes out of which 4 are articular, 2 are transverse and one is spinous (aka neural spine). The spinous process comes out the back and the two transverse processes come out left and right respectively. Vertebrae are joined by a thin portion of the neural arch called the pars interarticularis with facet joints that allow a restricted movement. Each pair of two vertebrae contains two small holes between them. These holes are named intervertebral foramina. Spinal nerves go out of the spinal cord to the organs through these holes.

As a result of bipedal evolution, the vertebral column got curved at numerous places to stabilize the body in an upright position.

Here is a list of curves in the vertebral column comprising their vertebrae:

C2 - T2: convex forward (lordotic curve) | T2 - T12: concave forward (kyphotic curve) | T12 - S1: convex forward (lordotic curve) | S1 - Tailbone: concave forward (kyphotic curve)

Curvature abnormalities are of four types:

Kyphosis - excessive kyphotic curve | Lordosis - excessive lordotic curve | Scoliosis - lateral curvature | Kyphoscoliosis - combination of kyphosis and lordosis

Sacral Plexus vis-à-vis Sacral Chakra:

Sacral plexus is a nerve plexus comprising sensory and motor nerves for the pelvis (partly), posterior thigh, lower leg and foot.

It originates at the lumbar and sacral vertebrae namely L4 - S4.

It is a formation that comprises:

The lumbosacral trunk | The anterior division of the first sacral nerve | Parts of the anterior divisions of the 2nd and 3rd sacral nerves

The nerves of the sacral plexus meet at the greater sciatic foramen making a flattened band there. From here, new branches turn into the sciatic nerve, ultimately splitting into the tibial and fibular nerves in the posterior thigh.

Sacral plexus is positioned at the back of the pelvis and is fed by the superior and inferior gluteal arteries and veins.

A closed sacral chakra happens when the nerves in the sacral plexus are subjected to long-term compression.

It takes place through the dropping of the sacral vertebrae and the resulting distortion of the lower S of the double S shaped vertebral column.

Constant compression of the sacral plexus results in the suppression of the aesthetic of our instinctual structure. The roles of the root chakra and the sacral chakra are just the opposite of each other. The root chakra takes care of the basic survival and material safety or security. Conversely, the sacral chakra is concerned with whatever is beautiful in life and gives it meaning. Its concerns, including curiosity, creativity, sexual drive and potency, fill the pursuit of life with joy and passion.

Symptoms that point to the existence of the sacral chakra, including all kinds of sexual problems like premature ejaculation, impotence, ejaculatory incompetence, orgasmic dysfunction, vaginismus, frigidity and a poor sex performance owing to the lack of a mature orgasm in men and women are all lifestyle diseases that stem from a closed sacral chakra.

A constantly compressed sacral plexus afflicts the sexual process with various types of sexual dysfunctions. But once the compression is released through raising the sacral vertebrae up in the vertebral column, they start getting relieved. Then, it is just a question of keeping the vertebral column raised at its sacral region by making it one’s first nature.

There is a caveat here. The sacral chakra cannot be effectively opened until and unless the root chakra below it is already opened.

Solar Plexus vis-à-vis Solar Plexus Chakra:

The solar plexus aka celiac plexus is located in the vicinity of the thoracic diaphragm near the first lumbar vertebra in the vertebral column. It comprises:

Splanchnic nerves - paired visceral nerves with fibers from autonomic nervous system and organs innervating visceral organs | Anterior vagal trunk - a branch of the vagus nerve with fibers from the left vagus primarily | Posterior vagal trunk - a branch of vagus nerve with fibers from the right vagus primarily

Solar plexus also comprises smaller plexuses within, namely:

Hepatic plexus - receiving filaments from left vagus and right phrenic nerves | Splenic plexus - formed by the left celiac ganglion and the right vagus nerve | Gastric plexus - joining branches from the left vagus nerve | Pancreatic plexus - another solar plexus division | Suprarenal plexus - receiving branches from the celiac ganglion and splanchnic nerves

Solar plexus chakra arises from the L1 vertebra being dropped and tucked in, thereby compressing the thoracic diaphragm along its length.

A closed solar plexus chakra acutely disturbs the breathing pattern, turning it shallow and speedier. It makes one prone to breathing-related illnesses. As a result, diffidence creeps into one’s persona causing one to lose their spirit of interaction, adventure and initiative.

Belly fat leading to obesity, lower back pain, and breathing problems, including asthmatic symptoms, are the lifestyle diseases that stem from the solar plexus chakra.

The way to open the solar plexus chakra is simply to remove its compression by raising the L1 up and out. It further pronounces the lower S of the double S shape in the vertebral column. Once we have learnt how to effectively do this, we just need to make it our first nature.

There is a caveat here. Solar plexus chakra cannot be effectively opened unless the root chakra and the sacral chakra below it are already opened.

Pectoral Muscles vis-à-vis Heart Chakra:

Innervated by the lateral pectoral nerve (C5 - C7) and the medial pectoral nerve (C8 - T1), pectoral muscles have two parts:

Pectoralis major - flexes, extends and rotates humerus | Pectoralis minor - stabilizes the scapula

The pectoralis major is a thick, fan-shaped convergent muscle located in the chest. Its functions are flexion, extension and rotation of the humerus.

It performs four movements for the shoulder joint:

Flexion of the humerus like in heavy weight lifting while doing biceps curls | Adduction of the humerus like in arm-flapping | Rotating the humerus medially like in arm-wrestling | Keeping arms attached to torso like in military “attention” posture

Out of the above four actions, only the second one keeps its associated vertebral upper S shape intact at the C8 - T1 vertebrae. The same holds good for the C5 - C7 vertebrae. The remaining three tend to turn it into an inverted C shape. Also, when we stretch our body for relaxation, it performs the second action alone.

Hence, it is logical to deduce that the second action is the most relaxed state of the muscle. When we make it our first nature, it keeps the heart chakra open.

But when we keep it postured like in any of the other three actions, it closes the heart chakra. It does so by turning the upper S shape of the C8 - T1 vertebrae into an inverted C shape.

The pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular muscle located in the upper chest under the pectoralis major muscle, which is innervated by the medial pectoral nerve (C8 - T1) alone. Same is true about the pectoralis minor which is also able to stabilize scapulae when postured like in the aforementioned second action of the shoulder joint.

This second action is also the one that we adopt for hugging someone.

And that is how we know that an open heart chakra is concerned most with love, kindness and compassion. If it is closed, it leads to narrowness of the heart, keeping us emotionally/ passionately isolated from our fellow beings on earth.

Symptoms that point to the existence of a closed heart chakra, like high blood pressure or hypertension, heart attack and heart failure, are all lifestyle diseases that stem from the heart chakra.

There is again a caveat here. Do you see a pattern repeating? The heart chakra cannot be effectively opened unless the root, sacral and solar plexus chakras below it are already opened.

Deltoid Muscle vis-à-vis Throat Chakra:

Innervated by the auxiliary nerve from the anterior rami of the cervical nerves at C5 and C6, the deltoid is located on the shoulder. It comprises three sets of muscle fibers:

Anterior (clavicular) - fibers assist pectoralis major to flex the shoulder | Posterior (scapular) - fibers assist latissimus dorsi to extend the shoulder like in rowing movements | Intermediate (acromial) - fibers perform shoulder abduction

Out of these three, only the posterior or scapular fibers keep their associated vertebral upper S shape intact at the C5 and C6 vertebrae. The other two tend to turn it into an inverted C shape. Also, when we stretch our body for relaxation, the posterior fibers perform alone.

Hence it is logical to deduce that the action by the posterior fibers is the most relaxed state of the muscle.

When we make it our first nature, it keeps the throat chakra open.

But when we keep it postured in any other way, it closes the throat chakra. It does so by turning the upper S shape of the C5 - C6 vertebrae into an inverted C shape.

The action by the posterior fibers is also the one that brings the top ends of the scapulae closest to each other. It also aligns the collarbones along the neck giving it a 180 degree mobility to move freely. And this freedom that the head experiences on the neck facilitates the opening of the throat chakra, which then becomes ready to open the next chakras (i.e. the ones in the skull). It opens our pathways to intelligence and logical communication. But if it is closed, it corrupts our communication and logical comprehension.

Symptoms of the throat chakra include diabetes, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.

As usual, there is the same caveat here as well. You guessed it right! The throat chakra cannot be effectively opened unless the root, sacral, solar plexus and heart chakras below it are already opened.

Skull vis-à-vis Third Eye and Crown Chakras:

The skull of the Homo sapiens is freely balanced on the vertebral column at its first vertebra named Atlas, denoted together by the letter C (for cervical) and the number 1 (for first) as C1. Occipital condyles maintain the balance of the vertebral column dynamically. This is the main reason a human head can be postured erect even without the prominent supraorbital ridges and strong muscular attachments that are necessary in apes. As a result, the occipitofrontalis (frontalis and occipitalis) muscles are only used for facial expressions and central fixation of the eyes. The spinal cord, as an extension of the medulla oblongata, enters the vertebral column through foramen magnum, an occipital bone opening.

The size of the human brain has also played a very big role in bipedal evolution. It is 3-4 times larger for its body size than that of its nearest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee.

The skull acts as a protective cavity for the brain. It houses the majority of the sense organs including eyes, ears, nose and tongue. It has two parts to it, the neurocranium and membraneous viscerocranium with the mandible as the latter’s largest bone. Numerous flat bones are fused together as sutures to give the human skull its shape. The mandible is the only major movable bone that engages with the neurocranium via the temporomandibular joints.

In all, the skull has 22 bones in it. Out of these, eight are the cranial bones:

Occipital bone | Temporal bones (2) | Parietal bones (2) | Sphenoid bone | Ethmoid bone | Frontal bone

There are 14 more bones in the facial skeleton:

Vomer | Inferior nasal conchae (2) | Nasal bones (2) | Maxilla (2) | Mandible | Palatine bones (2) | Zygomatic bones (2) | Lacrimal bones (2)

Also, there are paranasal sinuses (air-filled cavities lined with respiratory epithelium) and numerous foramina (openings in the skull).

In episode 21, I had written about the third eye chakra and the crown chakra coming into existence due to bipedal evolution. I had also explained how to open them by maneuvering the temporomandibular joints. You will also find a full account of the only movable temporomandibular joints in the skull there. I had described it there in the context of how the mind got structured and could be emptied. You can go back and check these if you need to refresh their description in context of this episode again.

Symptoms that point to the existence of the third eye and crown chakras mainly include problems in one’s vision, chronic headaches and signs of stress.

An open third eye chakra is characterized by a sharp perception. Similarly an open crown chakra is characterized by a deep insight into life.

The two of them are very similar to each other with only one difference between them. An open crown chakra can see the macro view of what an open third eye chakra can see only the micro version. In other words, what an open third eye chakra can see in one single degree, the crown chakra does in 270 degrees.

In fact, as I discovered, there are two types of visual central fixation possible.

One is associated with an open third eye chakra alone, providing a crystal clear, bright and sharp tunnel vision aka perception. It is achieved by relaxing the frontalis muscle while accommodating with the help of occipitalis. Everything outside of this tunnel is blurred and dull.

The other one is associated with both, an open crown chakra and an open third eye chakra. This central fixation provides a crystal clear, bright, sharp and wide vision including peripheral vision, perception as well as empathy. It is achieved by relaxing both, the frontalis and the temporalis muscles while accommodating with the help of occipitalis. In my personal opinion, this has been my biggest discovery in the chakra discipline.

In the second type of central fixation, the eyes turn extraordinarily bright and empathetically shiny. I call this shine the real ‘smize’.

Also, the sharpness of the eyesight is closely linked with an insight into life. The brain’s perception needs to be aided by the recording tool that is a sharp eye. In other words, a clear vision in the eye leads to a clear worldview as well. Therefore, we must really say that our eyes are the real windows to the brain and not to the mind!

That is why the third eye chakra has been assigned two iconic petals whereas the crown chakra has been assigned full one thousand! And that is why the crown chakra is called the king of all chakras.

Let’s not forget that same caveat here! The crown chakra cannot be effectively opened unless third eye chakra is already opened. Also, the third eye chakra cannot be effectively opened unless the throat chakra is opened.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about an unintended evidence strengthening the skeletal chakra hypothesis via achieving central fixation of the eyes.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Introduction:

In today’s episode, I explain the intricate world of stress, exploring both its biological and psychological dimensions in detail.

Stress is a universal experience, yet its effects can vary significantly depending on how we perceive and internalize it.

I break down the concept of stress, categorizing it into biological stress, which is managed by our nervous system, and psychological stress, which is rooted in our emotional responses.

Our biological response to stress involves complex systems like the autonomic nervous system and the HPA axis, which trigger a fight or flight response. This response is essential for survival, but chronic activation can lead to a host of health issues, including immune dysfunction and chronic diseases.

I emphasize that even positive stressors can contribute to our overall stress levels, highlighting the complexity of our interactions with the world around us.

The psychological aspect of stress is equally compelling. Drawing from the work of Hans Selye, who introduced the concepts of eustress and distress, I explain how our emotional pain can be both manageable and debilitating.

I also discuss the concept of hardiness – the ability to endure stress while maintaining health – and suggest a new perspective: lightness. Instead of viewing stress as a heavy burden, I encourage you to adopt traits of interest, insight, and adventure, which can help lighten the load.

One of the most fascinating parts of the episode is the discussion on how skeletal reposturing and chakra opening can transform our relationship with stress.

I share my insights into how guided skeletal meditation and energy ascension can facilitate this transformation, leading to a state of perpetual joy and lightness. This approach not only addresses stress but also promotes overall well-being.

You are invited to join the Skeletal Leap Community and learn more about how to achieve this state of lightness.

If you’re looking for practical strategies to manage stress and enhance your quality of life, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in and discover how to turn your stress into a source of strength and vitality.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• What is Stress? (Human Stress): Stress is a situation perceived by an organism as a threat or a challenge

• Understanding the Causes of Stress in Life: Stress is a feeling of emotional pain that can be internal or external

• How to Open Chakras: Skeletal Leap has a well researched and documented system of opening chakras

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“The source of psychological stress can either be external or internal, but in both cases one internalizes the resultant pain.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about what stress really means in terms of chakras and skeletal postures.

Stress is a situation perceived by an organism either as a threat or a challenge that needs to be coped with.

In case of Homo sapiens, this type of situation has two layers to it. The first one is biological stress and the second, psychological.

In the case of biological stress, it is the nervous system that perceives it as a threat or challenge. But in the case of psychological stress, it is the mind that comprehends the brain’s perception as either a threat or as a challenge.

Biological Stress

In Homo sapiens, the following biological systems respond to stress:

• Autonomic nervous system

• Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis

Sympathoadrenal medullary (SAM) axis is capable, via the sympathetic nervous system, of switching a ‘fight or flight’ response on. It directs a major portion of the body’s energy resources to cope with the perceived stress before returning to homeostasis via the parasympathetic nervous system.

On the other hand, the HPA axis releases cortisol to take care of metabolic and immunological functions in the meantime. The SAM and HPA axes are regulated by the following brain regions:

Limbic system | Prefrontal cortex | Amygdala | Hypothalamus | Stria terminalis

These coping mechanisms perceive stressors as one among the five possible categories:

• Acute time-limited stressors posing a short term challenge

• Brief naturalistic stressors - normal yet challenging

• Stressful event sequences - sudden onset continuing in immediate future

• Chronic stressors continuing for long terms in future

• Distant stressors - set to affect in distant future

Physiological stress disturbs the organism’s homeostasis which responds by stimulating the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. This activates physical changes showing their short or long term effects on the body.

Homeostasis is an ideal state of biochemical equilibrium. It often keeps getting disrupted by internal and external stimuli, thereby keeping it in a state of continual flux. But if and when this disruption goes beyond a certain range, we experience it as stress.

In the presence of acute stress, the sympathetic nervous system takes over with a ‘fight or flight’ response involving:

Mydriasis | Increased heart beats | Vasoconstriction | Glycogenolysis | Bronchodilation | Gluconeogenesis | Sweating | Lipolysis | Decreased motility of digestive system | Apinephrine and cortisol secretion from adrenal medulla | Relaxation of bladder wall

After having coped with stress, the parasympathetic nervous system reestablishes ‘rest and digest’ aka homeostasis response involving:

Miosis | Bronchoconstriction | Increased motility of digestive system | Contraction of bladder walls

The HPA axis is a neuroendocrine system for stress response which stimulates the steroid hormones.

Stress also affects the immune system negatively.

In fact, chronic long-term stress affects our quality of life by creating:

Immune system dysfunction | Chronic diseases | Impaired growth in children | Fibromyalgia | Chronic fatigue syndrome | Depression | Functional somatic syndromes | Heart disease | Asthma | Diabetes | Headaches | Alzheimer’s disease | Accelerated aging | Premature death | Insomnia | Eating disorders | Anxiety and panic attacks | Colds and viruses | Circulatory problems | Cancer

It is not only negative stressors that add to the stress level, even the positive stressors do the same. Here is a list of some categories that some common stressors belong to:

• Sensory inputs like pain, bright lights, noise, temperatures, etc.

• Environmental issues like lack of food, water, housing, health, freedom, mobility, etc.

• Social issues like struggles, defeats, relationship conflicts, deception, break ups, births, deaths, marriages, divorces, etc.

• Life experiences like poverty, sudden wealth acquisition, unemployment, depression, OCD, lack of sleep, performance pressures, exams, deadlines, etc.

• Accidental experiences like sexual abuse, traumas, etc.

Psychological Stress

Psychological stress is a feeling of emotional pain. Small amounts of them are manageable as well as motivating at times but their excess is debilitating.

The source of psychological stress can either be external or internal, but in both cases one internalizes the resultant pain.

Hans Selye came up with quite a few experiments on stress and its theories in the 1930s. He conceived the theory of universal, non-specific stress response and initiated extensive research programs in academic physiology.

Despite wide acceptance of his theories, experimental physiologists soon started opposing what they considered ‘vague’ approaches in his research. Hence, in the 1950s, he turned away from experimental physiology and started promoting his theories via popular books and public speeches.

His book titled ‘Stress of Life’ addressed to the general public turned out to be an international bestseller.

His was a biopsychosocial concept of stress and dynamic adaptation to changing global challenges. It promised health and happiness to anyone that successfully employed this approach.

He coined the terms ‘eustress’ for positive stress and ‘distress’ for negative stress. He also coined the term ‘stressor’ to mean the cause of stress as separate from the state of stress. On top of it, he redefined tobacco smoking as a ‘diversion’ or a ‘deviation’ from environmental stress.

Starting from the latter part of the 1960s, psychologists increasingly adopted Selye’s approach. They undertook extensive research to establish connections between stress and stress-related diseases.

By the latter part of the 1970s, stress had entered the common parlance globally. New research was conducted into the neuroendocrine, molecular and immunological aspects of stress. This new research is no longer directly tied to Selye’s hypotheses though it doesn’t negate it either. In the wake of the Vietnam War, a lot of research went into the newly coined ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD).

By the onset of the 1990s, stress had become one of the biggest buzzwords while referring to the modern-day health and its complications.

The discourse on stress spanned the entire spectrum from mild irritation to ultimate nervous breakdown.

As recently as 2015, it was established through surveys that people’s greatest stressors were ‘money’, ‘family responsibility’ and ‘work’.

A New Personality Style: Hardiness

In the year 1979, Suzanne C. Kobasa had discovered a new personality style, which he named ‘hardiness’. It referred to the ability of a person to be chronically stressed yet healthy at the same time. This meant that the harmful effects of stress were not the same for all. They were as much due to stressors as they were due to the fallible personality styles. And if we were able to train people to adopt ‘hardiness’ as their personality style, the problem of stress would be gone.

In 1984, Salvadore Maddi with Kobasa and their graduate students in the University of Chicago came up with another book. The book was titled “The hardy executive: Health under stress” and it further elaborated the analysis of hardiness. It carried along a series of research reports done with executives in it.

Since then, a lot of further research has been done on military groups, teachers, firefighters and students along with executives.

In addition, several efforts have been made to train people to adopt hardy personalities with mixed results.

Research is still going on as newer training modules are being tried to achieve definitive results.

Hardiness suggests a personality structure dispositioned along the traits of commitment, control and challenge:

• Commitment was defined as a trait to get involved in what one was doing.

• Control was defined as a trait that made one believe one would be able to effect a change.

• Challenge was defined as a trait that took everything including life in flux rather than stability.  

In my opinion, the best example of a hardy personality was the co-founder of Apple Inc. named Steve Jobs. But the most charismatic man that he was, he too could not keep himself healthy. This exceptionally hardy man died of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor resulting in respiratory arrest at a young age of 55.

What does that show? Is the entire hypothesis of Suzanne C. Kobasa a faulty one?

I don’t think so. I have my own example in front of me having similar (though not the same) traits in my personality. And I cannot write off hardiness that easily. I’m quite healthy in my 70s while I am speaking these lines. As you already know, although I was born with myopia and contracted viral arthritis which then turned into rheumatoid arthritis in six months, I was able to cure both with central fixation.

I see a huge potential in Kobasa’s hypothesis of hardiness.

A Newer Personality Style: Lightness

I would like to change a few things in Kobasa’s hypothesis. First of all, I would change its name from ‘Hardiness’ to ‘Lightness’. Next, I would change its traits from ‘commitment, control and challenge’ to ‘interest, insight and adventure’.

Hardiness, in general, can be heavy but we need it to be light rather than heavy. Doesn’t matter if it is hard or soft. If it is light, it’ll be able to fight; like traveling light is always way more manageable than traveling with a lot of heavy stuff.

Commitment, as a structure of the mind, requires us to believe in it. And belief turns the mind heavy. On the other hand, interest is an instinct generated out of curiosity. We don’t need to believe in it. Thus, curiosity keeps our mind light. At the same time, it is much hardier and lighter than commitment.

Control evokes conflict. It makes our mind even heavier. Insight, on the other hand, keeps it light because it arises directly out of the lightness of curiosity and interest. Therefore, it is more effective in creating change.

Challenge, again, evokes conflict rather than passion or joy. It fills us with pride which, in turn, makes our mind heavy. Adventure, as an instinct, is the better alternative. It has very deep roots in our psyche and it keeps us light and agile.

These three traits - interest, insight and adventure - do a splendid job of keeping us healthy. They are effective even under the toughest of biological stresses born out of an ever-changing environment.

Psychological stress doesn’t even stand a chance because it vanishes the moment we become carefree and ‘light’ by emptying our mind. We don’t need to be heavy like dinosaurs. We just need to be light like birds. That is perhaps why the next phase of evolution after dinosaurs gave rise to birds. This brings us to the question, “How can people be trained to adopt lightness as a personality style?”

That is easy. Skeletal Leap already has a well researched and documented system of opening chakras through skeletal re-posturing. Once the re-postured skeleton becomes one’s first nature, the opened chakras allow energy to rise through the body. Then comes guided meditation. It pulls the Kundalini upward relieving the body of stress. This ascension of energy along Sushumna from the coccyx to the crown chakra is the same as the neural communication along the vagus nerve from the gut to the brain. The entire process results in a state of perennial joy and unbound passion, turning the mind empty and hence light. In our following episodes, we will see how this process unfolds, step by step.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about how skeletal re-posturing opens chakras through completing our bipedal skeletal evolution.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Introduction:

In this episode of Skeletal Leap, I decided to embark upon an enlightening journey through the intricate relationship between genomic research and lifestyle diseases.

As I dive deep into the complexities of human health, you should be able to learn that the evolution of our species has not only shaped our physical forms but also our susceptibility to various diseases.

The episode emphasizes that lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular issues, are not merely products of our modern sedentary lifestyles but are deeply rooted in our genetic makeup.

I also explain how ancestral alleles, which were once advantageous in ancient environments, can become detrimental in today’s rapidly changing world.

This genetic predisposition, coupled with environmental factors, has led to an alarming rise in lifestyle diseases globally.

One of the key takeaways from this episode is the concept of “body intelligence.” I explain that our bodies possess an innate ability to heal themselves, often more effectively than medical interventions.

This philosophy forms the foundation of Skeletal Leap’s approach, which incorporates skeletal meditations aimed at restoring balance and health through chakra healing.

By focusing on specific chakras, you can enhance your body’s natural healing processes and address the root causes of their ailments.

I also encourage you to consider your unique genetic histories and how these may influence your health.

I underline the importance of personalized medicine, and suggest that understanding our genetic backgrounds can empower us to take proactive steps in managing our health.

The episode also touches on the role of stress in exacerbating lifestyle diseases, setting the stage for future discussions on how to combat stress through skeletal practices.

As you navigate through the complexities of modern health challenges, this episode serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of our genetic heritage, lifestyle choices, and overall well-being.

By embracing holistic approaches like those offered in Skeletal Leap, you can strive towards a healthier future, harnessing both ancient wisdom and contemporary scientific advancements.

Tune in to this thought-provoking episode to gain insights that could transform your understanding of health and healing.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• (00:00:01) - Skeletal Leap: Skeletal Leap explores how lifestyle diseases affect human health.

• (00:01:11) - Human disease history and genetics: Evolution of human disease - as life evolved, so did disease.

• (00:09:51) - Alzheimer’s Disease: An open crown chakra tends to keep Alzheimer’s away.

• (00:13:51) - Arthritis: Arthritis means disorders affecting joints, turning them stiff and painful.

• (00:19:59) - What is atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis narrows arteries due to plaque buildup.

• (00:22:06) - Chronic Liver Disease: Asthma is a psychosomatic disease caused by a combination of genetic factors.

• (00:35:46) - Hypertension: Skeletal leap addresses the entire body’s anatomy through skeletal meditations to alleviate hypertension.

• (00:47:49) - Obesity: Obesity as a debilitating condition of excess fat on the body disrupts health.

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“Latest developments in genomic research and technology have made it possible to sequence genomes of any species from the tree of life.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about how lifestyle diseases and immune system dysfunction take a toll on human health.

Summoning energy and healing lifestyle diseases are the two outcomes Skeletal Leap strives to achieve while filling the leftover holes in the bipedal evolution of Homo sapiens along the way.

Let’s learn a bit more about the etiology and prognosis of various lifestyle diseases. Knowing their ins and outs will equip us to eradicate them through Skeletal Leap more easily.

Evolution of Human Disease

As life evolved, so did disease.

Life took shape via DNA replication as well as the process of adaptation. It is against this ancient code that its young genetic variants interact with modern environments. This interaction ends up generating human disease phenotypes.

Latest developments in genomic research and technology have made it possible to sequence genomes of any species from the tree of life. Disease came into existence as soon as unicellular life came into existence. These unicellular organisms divided themselves symmetrically and, therefore, never died. As asymmetric cell division evolved, it resulted in multicellular organisms. These new organisms experienced reduced cellular damage. However they paid a huge price for it in the form of aging and, eventually, death.

Multicellularity further evolved many more times enabling complex body structures with intricate communications between them. But each step in this evolutionary saga was accompanied by newer disease patterns. That was how cancer, for example, came to existence. It was a direct result of increased DNA repairs and mutations in the caretaker genes. Later, gatekeeper genes appeared to regulate cell growth, communication and death, thus generating immune systems for the organism. Further evolution of immune systems generated new diseases just like multicellularity had done. Like when the human immune system co-evolved with parasites, the parasite infection generated another immune response in humans.

New anatomical structures like eyes, limbs, pregnancy, et cetera evolved through adaptation and integration of already existing genes with regulatory circuits. The resulting genes simultaneously affect many different traits and shape substrates on which new diseases appear as trade offs for evolution.

Diseases have their own evolutionary histories. These histories get archived in our genomes. Genomic advances have enabled us to read those histories in great details.

Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) first came to exist in Africa around 200,000 years ago. Around 100,000 years ago, they started moving out of Africa and quickly spread across Eurasia. From there, groups of these early AMHs expanded into Americas around 35,000 to 15,000 years ago.

Once they migrated, they came into contact with other archaic hominin groups like Neanderthals and Denisovans. They got admixed with them carrying around 2% of their ancestry from Neanderthals which they still do. However, even in the modern African population, traces of admixture with other unknown archaic hominins have been found.

Exponential Evolutionary Growth within The Past 10,000 Years

After their expansion throughout the globe, humans went through an exponential growth within the past 10,000 years. Population explosion modified their genetic architecture of traits. This, in turn, increased their chances of genetic selection for different variants. That is how we find considerable differences in allele frequency among different populations with different disease risks.

Alleles denote the variants of a certain gene; like ABO blood group is controlled by ABO gene with six variants. Allele frequency is the relative frequency of an allele at a specific locus in a population expressed as a percentage.

Evolution has never been a perfect jump or adaptation from one stage to another. Also, genetic changes have never been able to ensure the best evolutionary progress. Genes have existed as varied yet co-existing alleles at the same location on a chromosome.

Exposures of different human groups to different new environments forced them to adapt. But these rapid changes and adaptations also generated complex patterns of new diseases. Hence diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other hormonal dysfunctions came to existence as lifestyle diseases as a result of sedentary lifestyles.

Ancestral alleles adapted for ancient environments increased the risk of disease in modern environments. That is how both ancient and newly derived alleles increase the risk of disease. And that is why ancestral risk alleles are more prevalent in African populations whereas newly derived alleles risk Eurasian populations more.

What makes us vulnerable to a specific disease today is a recent genetic variation in our ancient gene systems. Every single person may have unique genomes depending on their genetic histories. These genetic histories change with their geographical journeys through evolution and adaptations to different environments. Latest genomic advances have enabled us to unearth every single individual’s historical tendencies to various illnesses in greater detail. It enables us to treat their illnesses in the most individualized manner, thereby making it the most effective.

Environmental Changes Vs Genetic Disposition

But the most recent environmental changes and socio-psychological factors are much bigger causes of disease than genetic disposition. How do we deal with them?

Ancestral susceptibility model proposes that the ancestral alleles were adapted as per the ancient environments. However, these alleles were not flexible enough to cope with environments that changed rapidly over the past 10,000 years. They can then generate risks of evolutionary mismatch in those changed environments leading to disease.

Here arises a very important question that needs to be answered in a very clear way. Forming of alleles is understandable as natural selection is always a trial and error process. But what makes this process so rigid as to be inept at coping with rapidly changing environments?

Here is a quote from an article from New York University. It says…

“A new analysis concludes that the ability of early humans to adjust to changing conditions ultimately enabled the earliest species of Homo to vary, survive, and begin spreading from Africa to Eurasia, marking a reconsideration of the evolutionary factors that drove these changes.”

- NYU 3 July 2014, Early Humans’ Adaptability to Changing Environment Offers New Insights into Evolution

If it is so, why aren’t we able to live a healthy life anywhere on Earth today?

Let’s look into various diseases separately to try answering this more general question regarding health and disease.

Alzheimer’s disease:

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease, i.e., a disease of brain cells leading to gradual memory loss. It first starts with forgetting the most recent events. Later it moves on to affect language, orientation, emotions, motivation and behavior. In the advanced stages, even involuntary memory begins to wane. That is when the patient starts moving toward death. It takes a few (3-9) years, from its onset to eventual demise.

Genetic factors and environment, both play their role in the progression of this disease, like any other. The strongest of the genetic factors is an allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) metabolizing fats in the body. Clinical depression and hypertension are also the possible risk factors.

Only 1 - 2% of the cases are inherited. Most cases are sporadic with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) afflicting after the age of 65.

I come from a family that had three of its members succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease. But then, there were others in the family who never contracted it. I hope I am one among those who never do, especially when I have my central fixation intact! An open crown chakra tends to keep Alzheimer’s away.

Why do I say so? It is an insight that I got from opening my crown chakra, thus curing my lifelong myopia. Though when it happened, I never knew what my body had done to cure me. It is my contention that body intelligence is way bigger than the intelligence of our conscious mind. It does its healing silently. And body intelligence works the best when its anatomy is not compromised, paving the way to its physiology working impeccably. And to a certain extent, this intelligence works most efficiently in the vicinity of its actual physical location. Hence, almost all the irregularities taking place in the skull region are most affected by the skull anatomy getting compromised.

This forms the foundation on which Skeletal Leap’s case for healing lifestyle diseases is built. This would then coincide with the healthiest phase of bipedal evolution, devoid of all those leftover holes. This was what had cured my myopia in the first place when my skull entered its healthiest phase as part of my own personal bipedal evolution.

A healthy anatomy lies at the root of a healthy physiology. And when the skeletal meditations facilitated by Skeletal Leap open the related chakra, it is the anatomy of that local area which turns healthier. It turns their related physiology healthier too.

The best part is that the body does all this healing on its own regardless of whether we are able to rationalize it through logical analysis or not. This silent healing process of the body is very potent.

And this is the healing philosophy that Skeletal Leap bases all its skeletal meditations on. They tend to heal the anatomy of the body which, in turn, tends to heal the associated diseases based on its own superior intelligence. This superior intelligence works way better and way faster than any analytical procedures invented by medical science to date.

Arthritis:

Arthritis means disorders affecting joints, turning them stiff and painful while limiting their movement.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that affects fingers, knees and hips. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects hands and feet. Other joint conditions like gout, lupus, fibromyalgia and septic arthritis are all different types of rheumatic diseases.

Arthritis, in general, can be any among the following types characterized by joints alone:

Osteoarthritis | Rheumatoid Arthritis | Gout and Pseudo-gout | Septic Arthritis | Ankylosing Spondylitis | Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis | Still’s Disease | Psoriatic Arthritis

Joint pains can also exist as a secondary symptom of some other main disease, like:

Psoriasis | Reactive Arthritis | Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome | Iron Overload | Hepatitis | Lyme Disease | Sjogren’s Disease | Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis | Celiac Disease | Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity | Inflammatory Bowel Disease | Henoch-Schonlein Purpura | Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D with Recurrent Fever | Sarcoidosis | Whipple’s Disease

The Story of My Encounter with Arthritis

In 2019, while I was in a traumatized state due to long-suppressed anger, I fell prey to viral arthritis. The virus was there in the air in my city that year. It caught my wrists, hands and fingers with an acute pain in their joints. All my neighbors caught the virus too.

As I generally do in response to any infection, I didn’t consult any physician but decided to wait and watch. Five months passed without any improvement in the situation. Ultimately I consulted a specialist who gave me a strong course of medication for one week. He assured me I would be okay within a week.

A week later, I was not only back at his clinic but my condition was worse too. I saw clear signs of panic on my physician’s face. He had already done the best he could have. He took a stance that mine was not a case of viral arthritis as such. He said it was most probably the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Hence he referred me to the most popular rheumatoid specialist in the city.

This scared me because rheumatoid arthritis, unlike viral arthritis, was an autoimmune disease. And I was aware that medical science hadn’t yet been able to invent a total cure for any autoimmune irregularity.

The new doctor tested my blood to assess if it was, indeed, the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. When he came to the conclusion that it was most probably so, he started me on a course of what I call “medicinal management”. It meant that I was doomed to live with this condition for the rest of my life, managing the disease perennially.

I told him I wasn’t interested in disease management alone. What I was interested in was a complete cure. I asked him if it was possible or not. If it was, I would prefer living a free life without any precautionary conditions attached to it. If it wasn’t, I would rather say bye to the world. He could not say yes but tried his best to change my mind and gave me a month-long course of medication.

I told him I had done my own personal research on central fixation and its connection to lifestyle diseases. I added that, while giving his medication a shot, I would start my central fixation procedure simultaneously. If, at the end of the month, I was able to live without his next monthly dose, I’d continue living.

In the end, to make things lighter, I said, “If I do, I will invite rheumatoid patients the world over to come to me for a permanent cure!”

He was ready, smiling with his funnily crisp reply, “Hey! I need to put food on the table for my family too!”

I immediately started focusing on central fixation of my body; something I had ignored due to my trauma.

The chakras that helped me the most in healing my condition through dissolving (or opening) themselves were solar plexus chakra, throat chakra and crown chakra. I can understand if, now, you are wondering to yourself, “If existence of chakras is the problem, how can they ‘help’?” Let me explain. Solar plexus chakra opened up to keep my thoracic diaphragm relaxed making my exhalations longer than my inhalations while breathing. Opening the throat chakra brought my arms and hands back to their natural posture for good. And an open crown chakra took care of my autoimmune tendency.

I lived! Not only lived, I thrived. And I have never needed arthritis medication since.

Atherosclerosis:

Atherosclerosis narrows the walls of the arteries due to atheromatous plaque buildup causing lesions in the artery walls. The narrowing of arteries reduces the flow of oxygenated blood to the associated body parts. With the passage of time, it may lead to coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease or complications in the kidney.

The process of atheromatous plaque buildup is not well understood. It retains low density lipoprotein in the walls of these arteries. Whether this retention is the cause or an effect of the entire inflammatory process remains a mystery.

The plaque deposited in the muscle cells of the artery walls makes them stretch to accommodate its bulk. This makes the artery wall stiff and unable to stretch further with every heartbeat.

The condition ends up in hypertension and heart condition in the due course of time. As of now, its medical prognoses are largely guesswork.

I propose that opening the solar plexus and heart chakras tends to both, prevent and cure atherosclerosis.

As I have pointed earlier, Skeletal Leap with the help of its skeletal meditations can heal the body anatomy in the region of the lungs and heart, especially in the main arteries nearby. This healed anatomy automatically heals the compromised physiology of the associated organs through innate body intelligence.

This is what Hippocrates, Father of Medicine, meant when he said, “Disease [is] not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patient’s body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self-healing tendency of the body.”

Asthma:

Asthma inflames the air passages to and from the lungs resulting in obstruction of the breathing process. It causes wheezing, coughing, a tightened chest and a very short breathing pattern. Episodes of asthmatic fits can occur at a frequency ranging from a few times a day to a few times a week.

Asthma is considered to be a psychosomatic disease, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The disease doesn’t have any permanent cure but is manageable with the use of inhalers comprising beta-2 agonists like salbutamol and corticosteroids.

It is a widespread disease throughout the world affecting 262 million people that killed 461,000 of them in 2019 alone.

It is my contention that the chakra attached to this psychosomatic disease is the solar plexus chakra which tends to set asthma right when opened.

Asthma is a psychosomatic disease in which the trachea gets compromised, both in its anatomy and physiology. Skeletal Leap uses skeletal meditations to heal its anatomy which, in turn, can then heal itself.

Cancer:

Cancer signifies uncontrolled cell growth that may spread to the neighboring parts of the body. More than 90% cases are caused by mutations owing to environmental and lifestyle factors. The rest of them are caused by inherited genetics.

How does a normal cell turn into a cancerous cell? In order to change its regulation, its genes must get altered in one way or another. These altered genes comprise oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Oncogenes promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes inhibit cell division and survival.

Mutations cause a gain or loss of a portion of a chromosome.

So, the process develops as follows:

• A mutation takes place in the error correcting system in a cell.

• A further mutation takes place in an oncogene causing the cell to grow and reproduce more speedily.

• A further mutation takes place in a tumor suppressor gene causing the cell to disrupt its tumor suppressing system.

• A further mutation takes place in the signaling system of the cell causing it to send erroneous signals to its neighboring cells.

As a result, the cell in question turns into a cancerous cell.

In 2019, 18 million cancer cases were reported. Annually, 8.8 million deaths are caused by cancer. It remains one of the biggest challenges facing medical science today.

My study suggests that opening the crown chakra is the most instrumental in tending to keep cancer away.

Cancer is a disease of the immune system going hay wire. Skeletal Leap contends that it can heal the overall anatomy of a body afflicted with cancer including its most important part in the skull that houses the brain in it.

Chronic Liver Disease or Liver Cirrhosis:

Chronic liver disease is the process of disruption of the entire liver structure and function resulting in liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. Liver fibrosis means accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins including collagen. That is what happens in most kinds of chronic liver disease. Advanced liver fibrosis ends up in liver cirrhosis ultimately requiring liver transplantation.

Signs of liver disease are associated with two different parameters - decompensation and cause.

Signs and Symptoms: Nail clubbing | Palmar erythema | Spider nevi (angiomata) | Gynaecomastia | Feminizing hair distribution | Testicular atrophy | Small irregular shrunken liver | Anaemia | Caput medusae

Signs associated with the Decompensation: Drowsiness (encephalopathy) | Hyperventilation (encephalopathy) | Metabolic flap/asterixis (encephalopathy) | Jaundice (excretory dysfunction) | Ascites (portal hypertension and hypoalbuminemi) | Leukonychia (hypoalbuminaemia) | Peripheral oedema (hypoalbuminaemia) | Bruising (coagulopathy) | Acid-base imbalance, most commonly respiratory alkalosis

Signs associated with the Cause: Dupuytren’s contracture (alcohol) | Parotid enlargement (alcohol) | Peripheral neuropathy (alcohol and some drugs) | Cerebellar signs (alcohol and Wilson’s disease) | Liver enlargement (alcohol, NAFLD, haemochromatosis) | Kayser-Fleischer rings (Wilson’s disease) | Increased pigmentation of the skin (haemochromatosis) | Signs of right heart failure

Cirrhosis is the final stage of chronic liver disease. Between 1990 and 2017, the number of cases of decompensated cirrhosis around the world rose from 5.2 million to 10.6 million. By 2019, cirrhosis caused 1.47 million deaths worldwide. The major causes were alcoholism, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Opening the root chakra, the sacral chakra and the solar plexus chakra, in my analysis, plays the most important role in keeping the liver intact.

Liver is a part of the gut and, hence, Skeletal Leap addresses it through skeletal meditation aimed at healing the anatomy of the gut. The healed anatomy tends to heal its physiology depending on which stage it has already proceeded to.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease caused by chronic respiratory issues. The condition is characterized either by emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Emphysema breaks down the walls of enlarged airspaces resulting in irreversible lung damage.

In 2019, the condition took a toll of 3.23 million lives. An astonishing 391.9 million cases were estimated in 2019, making it almost 10% of the global population aged between 30 and 79 years.

An open solar plexus chakra tends to keep chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at bay. Healing depends on which stage the disease has already progressed to. In case irreversible lung damage has not yet happened, Skeletal Leap can successfully facilitate skeletal meditations to heal the anatomy of the chest region. Once the anatomy has healed, the physiology follows suit.

Colitis:

Colitis is a chronic condition of an inflamed colon, with or without ulcers.

There are quite a few different types of colitis ranging from autoimmune to infectious colitis, namely:

Autoimmune Colitis: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, comprising ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease | Microscopic Colitis: comprising lymphocytic colitis and collagenous colitis | Diversion Colitis | Chemical Colitis | Chemotherapy-induced Colitis | Radiation Colitis | Checkpoint-Inhibitor-Induced Colitis | Ischemic Colitis | Infectious Colitis

I have learnt that opening the root chakra, the sacral chakra and the solar plexus chakra is most instrumental in treating colitis.

The healing depends on which type of colitis it is. Hence the safest bet is to heal the entire body’s anatomy through skeletal meditations with a special emphasis on the gut.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) comprises abdominal pain with inconsistent bowel movements.

There are four types of this condition:

IBS-D - characterized by persisting diarrhea | IBS-C - characterized by persisting constipation | BS-M/IBS-A - characterized by persisting diarrhea and persisting constipation | IBS-U - characterized by neither persisting diarrhea nor persisting constipation

The condition is often accompanied by anxiety, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome all of which affect the overall quality of life negatively.

Irritable bowel syndrome affects 1 in 10 people of the entire world population.

Again, opening the root chakra, the sacral chakra and the solar plexus chakra is the most instrumental in treating IBS.

When it comes to healing IBS, Skeletal Leap tends to work at two different levels of healing the body anatomy through skeletal meditations. The first one works at the level of gut and the second works at the level of skull. The two together address the digestive system with the accompanying anxiety, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Type 2 Diabetes:

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar caused by a reduction in insulin produced by the pancreas. 90% of diabetic cases are of this type. The remaining 10% (8.4 million estimated in 2021 worldwide) constitute type 1 diabetes which is autoimmune along with gestational diabetes.

The classic symptoms of type 2 diabetes are:

Frequent urination (polyuria) | Increased thirst (polydipsia) | Increased hunger (polyphagia) | Weight loss

Other symptoms include:

Blurred vision | Itchiness | Peripheral neuropathy | Vaginal infections | Fatigue | Loss of taste

The causative factors are a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors.

In 2021, 537 million people were afflicted with diabetes the world over. It shortens life-expectancy by as much as around 10 years.

Once again, opening the root chakra, the sacral chakra and the solar plexus chakra is the most instrumental in treating diabetes.

The healing process needs to focus on healing the anatomy of the pancreas. Its widespread prevalence the world over makes this disease very serious. Skeletal meditations that heal the entire body’s anatomy with special emphasis on the gut seem to work the best to eradicate the condition.

Cardiovascular Disease:

Cardiovascular disease is a category of various diseases associated with the circulatory system such as:

Coronary artery diseases including angina and myocardial infarction | Stroke | Heart failure | Hypertensive heart disease | Rheumatic heart disease | Cardiomyopathy | Abnormal heart rhythms | Congenital heart disease | Valvular heart disease | Carditis | Aortic aneurysms | Peripheral artery disease | Thromboembolic disease | Venous thrombosis

Genetics is an important factor since it could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 300%.

Cardiovascular diseases are the biggest cause of death throughout the world, the only exception being Africa. It was estimated that 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke.

The solar plexus chakra and the heart chakra play the main role in dealing with cardiovascular diseases.

These are, again, very widespread diseases. Skeletal Leap’s answer is to heal the entire body’s anatomy through skeletal meditations with a special emphasis on the chest region.

Hypertension:

Hypertension, aka high blood pressure, is characterized by a persistent rise in blood pressure. It primarily harms a person by increasing the risk of:

Stroke | Coronary artery disease | Heart failure | Atrial fibrillation | Peripheral arterial disease | Vision loss | Chronic kidney disease | Dementia

Hypertension may be a primary condition, caused by lifestyle aberrations or genetic factors, or secondary, as a side-effect of other causes. Blood pressure is measured as systolic and diastolic pressures that correspond to its maximum and minimum pressures.

The condition affects 1.28 billion adults aged 30-79 years which is about 16% of the global population.

It was also a factor in 13.5% of all deaths counting to 7.6 million in the year 2011.

Opening the solar plexus, heart and crown chakras tends to do the needful to keep hypertension away.

Skeletal Leap achieves this through skeletal meditations focused on healing the body’s anatomy in two parts - the chest and the skull.

Metabolic Syndrome:

Metabolic syndrome is a condition characterized by the presence of any three of the following conditions in the body:

Abdominal obesity | Hypertension | High blood sugar | High serum triglycerides | Low serum high density lipoprotein

Left untreated, this condition, affecting around 20-25% of global population, may result in cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.

Opening the root, sacral, solar plexus and heart chakras tend to address metabolic syndrome effectively.

Healing the body’s anatomy in the gut and the chest seems to work best in relieving the syndrome. That is exactly what Skeletal Leap focuses on through skeletal meditations.

Chronic Kidney Disease:

Chronic kidney disease is characterized by a loss in kidney functions. The causative factors of the disease are:

Diabetes | Hypertension | Glomerulonephritis | Polycystic kidney disease

In the year 2022, more than 800 million people are estimated to be affected by chronic kidney disease globally, causing 1.3 million deaths.

Opening the root, sacral and solar plexus chakras is the most instrumental in treating chronic kidney disease.

Changing the body’s anatomy in the gut through skeletal meditations seems to work provided the disease has not progressed to an advanced stage.

Osteoporosis:

Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by the deterioration of bone tissue resulting in lower bone mass. It tends to make bones more fragile and prone to fractures.

Homo sapiens have a greater tendency to suffer this disease as their bones are more porous than other primates. This is, at once, an expected outcome as well as cause of bipedalism.

Porous bones in Homo sapiens absorb the stress on two surfaces as compared to four in their primate cousins. At the same time, porosity means a lighter and more flexible skeleton that is of much benefit to Homo sapiens.

The disease is more common in females than in males. It affects 18.3% of the global population, which breaks down to 11.7% of males and 23.1% females. It can be prevented to a great extent if we ensure necessary calcium in our diet.

Osteoporosis responds to opening all 7 chakras in one associated sequential order.

Skeletal Leap addresses the entire body’s anatomy through skeletal meditations to alleviate osteoporosis.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome:

Polycystic ovary syndrome is an endocrine disorder in females of reproductive age, that causes cysts in their ovaries.

The effects and characteristics of the disease include:

Irregular menstrual periods | Heavy periods | Excess hair | Acne | Pelvic pain | Difficulty in conceiving | Patches of thick, dark and velvety skin | Hyperandrogenism | Anovulation | Insulin resistance | Neuroendocrine disruption

The condition affects an estimated 8-13% of the female population globally while another 70% of the affected women are estimated to be undiagnosed.

There are no known causes of or cure for this disease.

Opening the sacral chakra is crucial in curing PCOS.

PCOS responds the best to healing the gut’s anatomy and physiology through skeletal meditations.

Stroke:

Stroke is a condition characterized by a lack of blood flow to parts of the brain. It causes brain cells to die in those affected parts. The condition is of two types, ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. In the former type, a reduced supply of blood is the causative factor. In the latter, it is bleeding.

The major risk factors causing a stroke are:

Hypertension | High blood cholesterol | Obesity | Diabetes mellitus | End-stage kidney disease | Atrial fibrillation

In the year 2019, ischemic stroke befell 101.5 million people globally of which 3.3 million were left dead whereas 2.9 million died of a hemorrhagic stroke among 20.7 million that were affected by it. In 2015, stroke was the second biggest killer next to coronary artery disease.

Opening the solar plexus, heart and crown chakras is the most important maneuver to keep any probability of a stroke away.

Skeletal Leap focuses on healing the anatomy of the chest and skull through skeletal meditations to relieve this condition.

Major Depressive Disorder:

Major depressive disorder aka depression is a dysfunction of the mind that also affects the thinking capacity of the brain.

The condition is characterized by:

Low mood | Low self esteem at every level | Loss of interest in routine as well as in fun activities | Delusions | Hallucinations

The condition, once contracted, stays for a few months to the entire lifetime. Psychiatry treats the victims with antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. In case of emergencies like acute suicidal tendencies, the patient needs to be hospitalized for safety.

The causes are believed to be genetic, environmental as well as psychological. But nothing has yet proved to be of much help in curing the disease once and forever.

In the year 2023, major depressive disorder afflicted 280 million people globally. That amounts to almost 4% of the entire world population. In general, depression has already started assuming widespread proportions the world over.

Two Interesting Stories of Internalizing Anger

In my personal experience, depression internalizes the patient’s aggressive emotions against themselves. For example, it had wrapped its claws around one of my friends some 40-odd years ago. He could never come out of it in the true sense of the word.

Once, even in his acutely depressed mode, he got angry with me about something we had been discussing. And he unleashed that anger. As he did so, he instantaneously seemed to have come out of his depression. He sounded exactly like he used to sound before he had fallen victim to it. Once his aggressive expression ended, he slid back into his depression. He returned to internalizing his anger - a characteristic symptom of depression.

I don’t mean to say that aggression or anger is a healthy stance of mind. I have already told you under the topic of ‘Arthritis’ how my suppressed anger had afflicted me with succumbing to viral arthritis. What I mean to say is that aggression can bring one out of one’s depression. It can bring one to a state of so-called ‘normal’.

I witnessed another case of internalized anger, this time in a terminal schizophrenic on street. He was a recluse who kept roaming aimlessly on streets, talking gibberish to no one in particular. One day, I stood street-side with a group of my trainees. It was then that he passed us by. One of my very aggressive trainees mocked him with a derogatory remark. And what we witnessed next was eye-opening.

The terminal schizophrenic stopped for a moment, turned back and addressed this aggressive trainee of mine loudly. He yelled, “One should at least possess a sense of etiquette, if nothing else.”

Immediately thereafter, he went back to being his gibberish old self.

We were all taken aback by what we had just seen and heard. A terminal schizophrenic had momentarily come out of his illness and then voluntarily slid back into it!

Do people take a secure refuge in their mental disorders unconsciously? Maybe they take this secure refuge through internalizing their emotions against themselves to avoid facing the harsh realities of life unconsciously.

It is something we really need to research!

As far as chakras are concerned, the chakra that is key to fighting depression is an open crown chakra.

Thankfully, today’s world understands the seriousness of mental illnesses quite well. That is why Skeletal Leap focuses on healing the entire body anatomy, which, in turn, tends to heal the neurology and the psychology of the entire mind-body system.

Obesity:

Obesity as a debilitating condition of excess fat on the body disrupts health, fitness and wellness.

Obesity is quantitatively defined as body mass index (BMI) crossing 30 kilogram of body weight per meter square of height. The range between 25-30 kilogram per meter square is defined as overweight.

The condition is considered to be a breeding ground for:

Cardiovascular diseases | Type 2 diabetes | Obstructive sleep apnea | Some specific cancers | Osteoarthritis | Depression (in a dialectical relationship with obesity)

Obesity has a long list of causative factors including:

Dietary imbalance | Physical inactivity | Automotive devices | Urban lifestyle | Genetics | Excess medicinal intake | Mental dysfunctions | Endocrine disorders

Right now, more than 42% of all Americans are obese. Also, the number of obese people globally has more than doubled in the last 30 years resulting in 2.8 million annual deaths by 2021. By the year 2015, the US and China topped the list of obese populations. By the same year, China and India topped the list of countries with the largest numbers of obese children.

Obesity throughout the world has assumed a debilitating stature making its scale even larger than any other disease. That is why and how the weight loss business has become one of the most lucrative businesses the world over!

Skeletal Leap addresses the challenge of obesity through skeletal meditations healing the entire body’s anatomy.

Here is an interesting corollary:

The best way to lose belly fat is opening the solar plexus chakra. Doing so relaxes the thoracic diaphragm which, in turn, makes exhalations more emphatic than inhalations while breathing. And, as breathing is a 24 hour process, it tends to lose belly fat much faster than any other weight loss method.

Vascular Dementia:

Vascular dementia is a type of dementia caused by aberrations in blood supply to the brain. Such aberrations result in minor strokes accompanied by degenerative cognition. With the passage of time, the brain structure experiences an irreversible cognitive regression.

Vascular dementia is the second biggest cause of dementia-related deaths, the first being Alzheimer’s disease. The condition afflicts 1.5% of the population in Western countries and an even larger section in the rest of the world.

Opening the crown chakra tends to heal vascular dementia the most effective way.

Skeletal Leap addresses dementia through skeletal meditations healing the entire body’s anatomy. As anatomy heals, neurology and physiology follow suit.

Immune System Dysfunction:

Our immune system is a defensive network of biological processes aimed at protection against diseases. It first detects a pathogen, animate or inanimate, and then responds to it appropriately.

It has two major subsystems:

Innate immune system: protects against any pathogen

Adaptive immune system: protects against those pathogens for which antibodies have already been formed (which is how vaccines work)

Immune system dysfunction may cause:

Autoimmune diseases | Inflammatory diseases | Cancer

Immunodeficiency may stem from:

Genetic disease like severe combined immunodeficiency | HIV/AIDS | Use of immunosuppressive medication

Autoimmunity indicates a hyperactive immune system attacking its own healthy tissues mistaking them to be foreign invaders. It may result in diseases like:

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis | Rheumatoid arthritis | Diabetes mellitus type 1 | Systemic lupus erythematosus | Inflammatory bowel disease | Multiple sclerosis | Guillain-Barre syndrome | Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy | Psoriasis | Grave’s disease | Myasthenia gravis | Vasculitis | Celiac disease | Addison’s disease | Pernicious anemia

Innate immune system is the ultimate savior as it works in a generic manner against pathogens through pattern recognition receptors. Adaptive immune system may work in a stronger manner but only against limited pathogens. These few pathogens are the ones that the innate immune system has already built antibodies against.

Hence everything essentially falls back on the protective support system created by the innate immune system in the first place.

The Story of How My Innate Immune System Protected Me against the Coronavirus

In the year 2021, I had a family of relatives over. We would soon realize that all three of them had already contracted the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus on their flight to my city. As was expected, they passed on the extremely contagious virus to my entire family as well. Even the vaccinated ones weren’t being spared from it.

First of all, my daughter and a vaccinated friend of hers who had accompanied her to our house went down. Then another friend of mine who had visited me in their presence fell prey to it. Next, it was my wife to contract Omicron.

Logically, I should have been the next to catch the virus as there was none else left uninfected. Everyone including me kept waiting for the virus to afflict me but it just didn’t happen. All of us were astonished. I was not even vaccinated. It occurred to me that my practice of central fixation might have been my savior.

Central fixation empties the mind and sets it free not only turning the mind-body system spontaneously intelligent but also strengthening its innate immune system. It opens chakras via skeletal re-posturing of the body. It is this skeletal re-posturing that works wonders and is at the heart of Skeletal Leap.

The Omicron variant later entered the phase of widespread contagion. In contrast, I was spared despite close proximity to its source right inside my own house.

This experience does say something, perhaps a lot, about the extraordinary efficacy of central fixation of the eyes, the body and the mind!

I always felt that we, the Homo sapiens all over the world, overreacted to Covid-19 and rushed in a host of vaccines without even doing their human trials. That is why even the vaccinated ones aren’t really safe against the virus and its variants.

Skeletal Leap addresses all immune system dysfunctions through skeletal meditations, healing the entire body’s anatomy. Once the anatomy heals, the physiology follows in its footsteps.

The other day, I received a text meme forwarded to my mobile that made me laugh out loud (which I generally don’t). It’s hilarious! Must enjoy reading it in my PDF version.

We are going to look at the role of stress in generating lifestyle diseases in the next episode.

We will also look at the role of Skeletal Leap in dealing with stress.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about what stress really means in terms of chakras and skeletal postures.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

_____________________________________________________________

As I just told you in the Transcript above, the other day I received a text meme forwarded to my mobile that made me laugh out loud (which I generally don’t).

Let me give you a chance to do the same too…

The Covid Paradox : “Why Can’t I Step Inside, Unvaccinated?”

Helen: You can’t come in here!

Ivan: Why not?

Helen: Well because you’re unvaccinated.

Ivan: But I’m not sick.

Helen: It doesn’t matter.

Ivan: Well, why does that guy get to go in?

Helen: Because he’s vaccinated.

Ivan: But he’s sick!

Helen: It’s alright. Everyone in here is vaccinated.

Ivan: Wait a minute. Are you saying everyone in there is vaccinated?

Helen: Yes.

Ivan: So then why can’t I go in there if everyone is vaccinated?

Helen: Because you’ll make them sick.

Ivan: How will I make them sick if I’m NOT sick and they’re vaccinated?

Helen: Because you’re unvaccinated.

Ivan: But they’re vaccinated.

Helen: But they can still get sick.

Ivan: So what the heck does the vaccine do?

Helen: It protects them.

Ivan: So vaccinated people can’t spread COVID?

Helen: Oh no. They can spread COVID just as easily as an unvaccinated person.

Ivan: I don’t even know what I’m hearing anymore. Look. I’m not sick.

Helen: Ok.

Ivan: And the guy you let in IS sick.

Helen: That’s right.

Ivan: And everybody in there can still get sick even though they’re vaccinated.

Helen: Certainly.

Ivan: So why can’t I go in again?

Helen: Because you’re unvaccinated.

Ivan: I’m not asking who’s vaccinated or not!

Helen: I’m just telling you how it is.

Ivan: Never mind. I’ll just put on my mask.

Helen: That’s fine.

Ivan: Now I can go in?

Helen: Absolutely not!

Ivan: But I have a mask on!

Helen: Doesn’t matter.

Ivan: I was able to come in here yesterday with a mask on.

Helen: I know.

Ivan: So why can’t I come in here today with a mask on? ….If you say ‘because I’m unvaccinated’ again, I’ll break your arm.

Helen: Take it easy, buddy.

Ivan: So the mask is no good anymore.

Helen: No, it’s still good.

Ivan: But I can’t come in?

Helen: Correct.

Ivan: Why not?

Helen: Because you’re unvaccinated.

Ivan: But the mask prevents the germs from getting out.

Helen: Yes, but people can still catch your germs.

Ivan: But they’re all vaccinated.

Helen: Yes, but they can still get sick.

Ivan: But I’m not sick!!

Helen: But you can get sick. You need to be protected, that’s why you can’t come in.

Ivan: But if I pay money for an ART test and prove that I’m not sick, I can come in and you don’t have to protect me anymore?

Helen: Yea, coz it proves that you are not sick and they can’t get sick from you

Ivan: I thought you said you want to protect me from getting sick? But now you say if I’m proven to be healthy, then I can enter cos I can’t get the vaccinated people sick. So how in the heck does that work?

Helen: Because you are unvaccinated and vaccinated people can catch your germs and get sick

Ivan: So isn’t really to protect me from getting sick, is it?

Helen: I’m just doing my job, I don’t know anything

How was that? 😀

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

You may also like…

Introduction:

Let me take you on a fascinating journey into the world of skeletal postures and their profound impact on our vision and overall well-being.

As I introduce the concept of ‘Skeletal Leap,’ I emphasize the importance of understanding how our human skeleton is not merely a static framework but a dynamic system capable of miraculous maneuvers.

The present episode begins with an in-depth exploration of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), which connect the jawbone to the skull.

I will explain that these joints are crucial for various jaw movements, and surprisingly, our resting jaw position should not be with our teeth clenched but rather with a slight gap. This revelation will prompt you to reconsider your everyday habits, as the majority of Homo sapiens has been living with postural faults since the dawn of bipedalism.

I will further explore the relationship between jaw posture and vision, suggesting that blurred vision is often a lifestyle disease that many of us overlook.

I put across my point that this common issue is not just an inconvenience but a symptom of a corrupted mind-body system.

The episode challenges the conventional reliance on corrective eyewear, proposing instead that the key to clearer vision lies in skeletal meditation and proper jaw alignment.

You will appreciate my personal anecdotes, revealing my own struggles with vision clarity and how they led me to discover the importance of skeletal postures.

I also introduce the concept of ‘central fixation,’ a technique that can enhance vision clarity for individuals of all ages, regardless of their current eyesight quality.

The episode also touches on the interconnection of the body’s systems, highlighting that opening one chakra can amplify the effects on others.

I specially emphasizes the significance of a holistic approach to health, advocating for guided meditation as a means to achieve this balance.

As the episode concludes, I would encourage you to engage with your bodies, explore the effects of skeletal postures, and consider the transformative potential of skeletal leap.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in improving their vision, understanding the mind-body connection, or exploring the realms of holistic health.

Tune in now to embark on your own journey toward clarity and well-being!

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Human Skeleton

• Temporomandibular Joints

• The Muscles Associated with Temporomandibular Joints

• How Posturing Temporomandibular Joints Affects Eyesight

• Systems And Subsystems Like The Visual Subsystem

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“I mastered the chakra discipline to understand how opening chakras via re-posturing the skeleton may correct vision.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about how skeletal postures affect mind through distorting skeletal joints.

Human skeleton is not just a static chassis on which the rest of the body, with its various organs, stays erect. It is a highly complex moving machine that is capable of making miraculous maneuvers as and when required. It does so with the help of different kinds of skeletal joints.

Let’s first look at the temporomandibular joints in greater detail. This joint comprises the only movable bone mandible in the skull. 

Temporomandibular Joints

Temporomandibular joints connect the jawbone to the skull at two points. It is a bilateral synovial (freely mobile with synovial fluid) joint between the temporal bone above and the mandible below. Since it is bilateral, the left and right parts always work together.

The joint comprises:

• The joint capsule is an envelope attached to the mandibular fossa and the articular tubercle above. It is also attached to the neck of the condyle of the mandible below.

• The articular disc is a dense fibrocartilagenous tissue between condyle of the mandible and mandibular fossa.

• Temporomandibular ligament is the thickened lateral portion of the stylomandibular ligament capsule.

• Sphenomandibular ligament becomes accentuated and taut when the mandible is protruded.

When are the temporomandibular joints and their related muscles in a state of rest?

Surprisingly, it is not with the teeth biting together but with a 2mm to 4mm of space between them with both, the upper and the lower dentures, being in the same plane. It is done via protruding the lower jaw forward to bring the two of them in the same plane across their entire width. But almost no one ever postures them that way. That is one of the postural faults humanity has been living with, since bipedalism.

A fully open jaw measures 40 to 50mm between the upper and lower front teeth. When the jaw moves, it is only the mandible that moves.

Mandible movements are called excursions. There are two lateral excursions, left and right. And there is a forward excursion called protrusion that everyone does everyday while brushing the teeth. It is because protrusion brings the upper and the lower dentures in one single plane enabling easy brushing. The excursion opposite to protrusion is called retrusion.

Now that we have got a basic understanding of the temporomandibular joints, let us investigate how and why our vision - far or near - gets blurred. You may be wondering what the jaw has to do with vision!

Well, that is exactly why this is one of the best ways to investigate how skeletal postures affect the mind. Alright…so, now we have gone from the jaw to eyesight, all the way to the brain. We are on the path to understanding how a corrupted skeletal posture corrupts the mind by corrupting the brain’s neurophysiology.

Let me explain further.

How Posturing of Temporomandibular Joints Affects Eyesight

Blurred vision is certainly a lifestyle disease.

It has been present throughout the world since the beginning of bipedalism. Almost everyone falls prey to it, some of them early in life and the rest after the age of 40.

We don’t really bother much about it since the use of eyeglasses has been accepted as part of the modern lifestyle!

But what we are missing is that this lifestyle disease doesn’t end with just a blurred vision. It is just the beginning of a massive problem. It is an indication and warning that the neurophysiology of our entire body, including our face, is not working right. It has already been afflicted with a corrupted mind in our mind-body system. It renders us vulnerable to various other lifestyle diseases in time to come.

Going for a surgical option like LASIK doesn’t address this vulnerability either. And that is because LASIK just creates proxy eyeglasses within the corneas of our eyes and nothing else.

Another reason to investigate blurred vision as an example is that its correction through skeletal meditation shows instant results. That way, we can be sure about being on the right track with our investigations into a corrupted mind.

Surprisingly, the human skull is partially separate in its anatomy and physiology from the human torso and limbs. Hence, we can immediately empty the mind partially of its visual corruption, in the skull alone, through its skeletal re-posturing. Thus we can check its effect on the eyesight then and there. This eliminates guesswork and time in proving the hypothesis. That is what a laboratory procedure of deciding a hypothesis right or wrong is.

As mentioned in Episode 18, my life has been a seesaw between blurred and crystal-clear vision. Only until I solved the puzzle by discovering a concrete physical procedure, though!

In retrospect, I feel I was lucky to have experienced blurred vision.

Why?

Because that was exactly what made me jump into this entire discipline of Skeletal Leap. At the same time, it also provided me with an instantaneous testing ground for my skeletal hypotheses in an absolutely tangible manner.

But what about those between 0 - 40 years of age who don’t have any problem with their eyesight at present? How can they investigate the effect of central fixation on the clarity of their vision, far and near?

Luckily, they can also witness a marked enhancement in the clarity of their vision when they see with central fixation of the eyes. If their distant vision is 20/20, central fixation can enhance it to be something like 30/20. Same with the near vision! If the near sight measures N6, they can easily enhance it to N3 or even more. Hence everyone can investigate central fixation of the eyes successfully, regardless of the quality of their vision.

I mastered the chakra discipline to understand how opening chakras via re-posturing the skeleton may correct vision. It all amounted to emptying the mind through rectifying the neurophysiology of the visual system to be able to see crystal clear.

It took place via maneuvering the mandible which is the only movable bone in the skull. The mandible is the jawbone forming the lower jaw and keeping the lower denture in place. It is the biggest and the strongest bone in the facial skeleton. The mandible is connected to the temporal bones through temporomandibular joints. Hence when the mandible is maneuvered, temporomandibular joints get maneuvered along.

The said postural maneuver aligns the upper and the lower dentures in one single plane along their entire lengths.

It results in opening the third eye chakra and crown chakra, in one single go, by maneuvering the muscles named frontalis, occipitalis and temporalis in the skull.

The Muscles Associated with Temporomandibular Joints

Now, what are those muscles associated with temporomandibular joints? I said associated, not necessarily attached to the joint! The muscles directly attached are the agonist or the prime movers. But there are many more in the vicinity that are synergistically associated with the same action. They assist the prime movers by imparting an extra punch to the primary action with their own associated actions. The said actions may either be contracting a muscle or relaxing an already habitually contracted muscle.

The prime movers are:

Temporalis Muscle: elevates and retracts mandible

Masseter Muscle: elevates and retracts mandible

Lateral Pterigoid Muscle: depresses mandible

Medial Pterigoid Muscle: elevates mandible and helps lateral pterygoid in moving jaw from side to side

Every chakra is a complex of a corrupted joint and huge numbers of associated muscles, nerves and arteries which have all been corrupted.

That is how a corrupted posture in any part of the body gives birth to a partially corrupted mind.

As we know, we open the third eye chakra and the crown chakra in one single go by moving the temporomandibular joints up and out by maneuvering the mandible.

This posture ensures the alignment of the upper and the lower dentures in one single plane along their entire lengths.

But the entire maneuver is extremely subtle, hence quite complex. This is because of an emergent need to balance the actions of the prime movers and other synergetic muscular actions.

This and other such maneuvers for various other joints along the skeleton are what the corresponding sets of guided meditations are made of. Together, these guided meditations enable Skeletal Leap.

A guided meditation under the direct supervision of an experienced guide is the best way to take the Skeletal Leap.

And that is how we can partially empty the mind and set a specific physiological system back on track.

There Are Many Other Systems And Subsystems Like The Visual Subsystem

Blurred vision is a perfect example of a corrupted mind stopping the brain from clear visual perception via unblocked nerve signals.

But there is a caveat here. The visual system is not the only subsystem of the nervous system in our total mind-body system.

There are several similar ones along with their respective subsystems. The visual system that we investigated is a subsystem of the nervous system. We can certainly correct these individual systems or subsystems locally, but there is again a caveat here.

Like muscles have their synergetic partners, chakras do too.

And why shouldn’t they?

After all, they are the result of corrupted skeletal postures and their associated muscles, nerves and arteries.

By that token, all 7 chakras are synergetic partners of one another. Synergetic partners tend to amplify whatever the prime mover decides to do.

If we decide to open one single chakra, all the other 6 would tend to amplify its action. But that is only possible when those 6 are already open.

Otherwise, they would just do the opposite in the long run, i.e, negate the action taken to open that one single chakra.

So, it is never a wise decision to open any of the chakras in isolation. Our best bet is to open them all in one inter-related, chronological sequence.

We cannot effectively empty a fragment of our mind and hope that it will continue to remain so. Corruptions of the mind from its other fragments would rush to fill in that empty space later if not sooner.

How long shall we be able to keep it protected from its offenders?

But if the entire mind goes empty in one inter-related chronological sequence, it would tend to remain empty forever.

And it is not an impossible task to empty the mind that way.

In fact, that is exactly what leads to Skeletal Leap!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure! In the next episode, I will tell you about how lifestyle diseases and immune system dysfunction take a toll on human health.

Be a part of Skeletal Leap Community! Subscribe to Skeletal Leap Newsletter. Click on the link in the description to subscribe.

🔗 Series Bridge:

This masterclass is a 19-week journey through my book, The Mind-Body Connection. If you missed the foundation, start here: The 16-Part Prequel: 14 Core Principles.

🔑 Unlock the Practical Plan:

To truly master the Skeletal Leap, you need the step-by-step memoir and the associated practice codes found in the book.

• Get the Book: The “Resource Codes” for this chapter’s PDF practice plan are found in the Amazon Paperback Edition.

  

• Join the Movement: Download the Free Prequel Ebook via StoryOrigin and join our community.

  

• Subscribe: Follow SKELETAL LEAP: The Mind Body Connection on Substack for weekly deep-dives into the human potential archive.

  You may also like…

Introduction:

In this post, I decided to jump into the complex interplay between neurology and psychology, exploring the fundamental question: where is the seat of the mind in the body?

Have you ever wondered about it?

I invite you to accompany me on a thought-provoking journey that examines how our instincts and emotions shape our lives and identities.

I start with a captivating hypothesis: the mind acts as a reviewing faculty of the brain in the domain of time.

Hence whereas the brain has its abode in the domain of space inside our skull, the abode of the mind is nowhere in space. It’s rather there in the domain of time acting as the seat of awareness creating a concept of free will that it conceives it has.

It means the mind does not generate original perception but rather reviews what the brain has already perceived in its own psychedelic manner.

This leads to a discussion on the importance of subjective meaning in our lives, as it helps us construct our unique narratives.

However, this process can become problematic when the mind’s free will is contaminated by fear, which often arises from our instinct of self-preservation.

Fear generated out of overemphasizing the instinct of self preservation can distort our perception of reality, leading to a misinterpretation of real threats to life.

As a result, the mind starts conceiving imaginary threats to life in its over-enthusiasm to protect life at any cost.

This misinterpretation can suppress vital instincts such as sex, curiosity, adventure, and interaction, which are essential for a fulfilling life.

That was why and how Sigmund Freud’s theories regarding life and death instincts came into existence. I compare them with contemporary views on human behavior.

You will discover how societal constructs often tame our natural instincts, resulting in a fragmented mind. These contradictory fragments keep fighting among themselves all day long, leading to fatigue and emotional distress.

I emphasizes the importance of recognizing and embracing these suppressed instincts to reclaim our joy and passion in life.

The discussion shifts toward the concept of skeletal meditations, a unique approach aimed at aligning the body and the mind to turn it whole.

By focusing on our physical posture and movements, we can foster a healthier mind-body connection that promotes personal transformation.

As the episode unfolds, I explain how our emotional states impact our physical well-being and vice versa.

I encourage you to engage in practices that restore balance and vitality to both the mind and the body, ultimately leading to a more authentic and joyful existence.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the deeper mechanics of their psyche and the transformative power of embracing our instincts.

Tune in to explore how we can break free from the confines of fear and rediscover our true selves through the lens of both, neurology and psychology.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Brain vs Mind: I address brain versus mind aka instincts versus emotions.

• Fear vs Guilt: Guilt steals its energy from the energy of fear.

• Sexual Energy vs Piety: Piety downgrades the powerful instinct of sex.

• How Emotions Affect the Body: Psychology tells us to be confident instead of being diffident.

• Skydiving: Skydiving as an awesome physiological meditation.

🎙️ Listen to the Journey:

📽️ Watch the Masterclass:

Transcript:

“Where is the seat of mind in the body?

Have you ever thought about it?

Here is a hypothesis.”

My name is Laadi Ojas. Welcome to “Skeletal Leap: A Living Adventure”. Skeletal Leap transforms one’s life into a personal heaven.

Today’s episode will tell you about neurology vs psychology respectively addressing brain vs mind or instincts vs emotions as far as human life is concerned.

Where is the seat of mind in the body?

Have you ever thought about it?

Here is a hypothesis:

Mind As The Reviewing Faculty of Brain

Mind is the reviewing faculty of brain. It never views. It only re-views what the brain has already viewed and acted upon. It happens efficiently, provided this reviewing faculty hasn’t negatively affected the spontaneous perception and action taken by the brain.

Why is reviewing required?

Reviewing is required to give a subjective meaning to the psychedelic perceptions and automatic actions effected by the brain. This subjective meaning imparts life with a sense of individual identity having a free will of its own. It makes an individual life a uniquely comprehensible story and thus makes it interesting to this reviewer that the mind is.

The Contaminated Free Will As Ego

There is a serious caveat here. The reviewer, that’s the mind, finds it so interesting that it holds this comprehension as being the real perception and real action. The mind decides to exercise its free will which ultimately turns into ego that it then starts identifying itself with.

Even this wouldn’t have been much of a problem, had this free will not been contaminated. Most often, it gets contaminated by an element of fear that stems from an overrated core of life preservative instincts. Life begins with an innate fear of losing itself.

It is this fear that is at the root of contaminating this free will, thereby reducing it to what Richard Dawkins calls the ‘selfish gene’.

It gets subjectively attached to its own faulty apprehensions of what constitutes a threat to life.

This fear is a reaction to something that is not a real danger and the brain may not even perceive it as a real threat. It is rather a conceived threat that the contaminated free will of the reviewer attaches to its comprehension.

The contaminated free will is not as intelligent as the spontaneous brain. Along with the instinct of self preservation, the brain also hands a complete list of other instincts over to the reviewer.

Instincts That We Are Born With

This is done so that the mind can review, cognize and comprehend those instincts as the basic tenets of life, like:

Eating | Drinking | Excreting | Curiosity | Movement | Play | Adventure | Interaction | Love | Grouping | Sex | Reproduction | Parenting

All these different instincts need to be given overall inclusive emphases in an equally exclusive manner. None less, none more!

But as we saw, the reviewer gets subjectively attached to its faulty apprehensions of threat to life. It does so at the cost of ignoring, and at times, even suppressing a few other instincts.

The main victims to this fear of the mind are the instincts of sex, adventure, curiosity and interaction. It apprehends them as challenging self preservation. Sex is such a strong instinct as can make one even ignore one’s safety and security. In fact, sex falls under the category of death instincts as opposed to the instincts of self preservation.

This categorization of mine is in contrast with the categorization conceived by Sigmund Freud as life instincts and destructive death drives (Thanatos), as opposed to death instincts. In fact, he had earlier started working along the idea of death instincts before he moved on to conceptualize death drives or Thanatos.

And at that time, he had categorized sex as one of the prime death instincts.

These were conceived as death instincts since they tended to do away with ego which overemphasized instincts supporting self-preservation. As per this initial concept, mind - as ego - apprehends these death instincts as capable of killing its hegemonic existence. Obviously, it would never be ready to welcome or even accept them. And even when it does so, it does so in a very lukewarm and half-hearted way. I find this earlier concept of Freud’s more meaningful than his later concepts. Hence I have developed my concepts along his earlier line of thought.

Here is a quote from Life and Death Drive; Freud’s Thanatos and Eros Theory:

Sigmund Freud’s theory of life and death drives evolved throughout his life and career. Initially, he described a class of drives known as life instincts that he believed were responsible for much of our behavior. Eventually, however, Freud came to believe that life instincts alone could not explain all human behavior. With the publication of his book ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle‘ in 1920, Freud concluded that all instincts fall into one of two major classes: life drives and death drives—later dubbed Eros and Thanatos by other psychologists.

As a result, human culture and society tag sex as the basic sin, acting from that fearful mind’s apprehensions.

The same is true of the passion and joy of adventure. Adventure is an instinctual drive to jump into an experience that is unknown.

The more the passion, the less one is susceptible to get tamed. You can tame a bullock but never a bull. Human culture and society, constructed over the most basic foundations of fear, needed to tame their individuals. If they don’t get tamed, they may jump into life-threatening adventures out of passion. Adventure and safety are two diametrically opposite things. In fact, passion and joy are the hallmark of all death instincts, sex and adventure being the most magnetic among those. That is how and why passion and joy are closely associated with sex and adventure.

Curiosity is something that questions culture and society’s training programs designed to provide their individuals with safety and security, even at the cost of turning them into cogs of ever turning wheels. The human education system is the worst example of this where students must follow a regimen rather than satiate their curiosity. Regimen insures what students must know in order to safeguard their future. On the other hand, curiosity flows like water toward unknown horizons, rewarding one with insights. That is when one turns truly intelligent. Mind prefers knowledge to intelligence. But knowledge without intelligence and insight amounts to nothing more than stupidity and nothing less than insensitivity.

Interaction is another victim to the hegemony of self-preservation. The more one interacts with strangers or unknown situations, the more one exposes oneself to the risk of getting harmed. This apprehended risk gets generated out of the fear of the unknown. Hence human culture and society prefer regimented relationship to spontaneous interaction. Relationship is conditioned, with set protocols to follow, turning it mechanical and dull sooner than later. Interaction is unconditional, creating its own unique designs every time one has it afresh, turning it aesthetically much more creative. Relationship is safe, interaction is risky. Relationship is swimming in a pond, interaction is swimming in an ocean.

Hence, human culture and society are structured on the foundation of curbing these instincts either overtly or covertly.

This is why I place these four instincts of sex, adventure, curiosity and interaction under the category of death instincts. These are the very instincts that tend to kill ego in the mind. That is why and how they appear to be death instincts to the mind, in the first place.

Super-ego Comprising Morals

When these instincts are suppressed, their energy gets suppressed as well. Mind has a powerful tool to do so. The super-ego! This super-ego is a new faculty that the mind generates, comprising morals that ought to be respected. If not, another new entity we call guilt coaxes it. Surprisingly, guilt steals its energy from the energy of fear. The mind, through super-ego, has thus created these two entities, fear and guilt, that are forms of another faculty that the mind generates – emotion.

What happens when energy is suppressed? And, not only suppressed but also repressed at times. Repression means pushing the consciousness of its suppression to the unconscious mind so that it just forgets everything about it.

But the repressed energetic content of instincts still keeps knocking on the doors of the conscious mind. And whenever it finds an opportunity, it pushes them. Soon, it enters consciousness stealthily when the guards sitting at the doors are snoozing. That is what our dreams are.

Not only this, even during their exile in the unconscious, these repressed instincts don’t become fully inactive. They retain their capacity to affect the decisions taken by the unconscious mind against its conscious reasoning.

Now, let’s get back to the question: what happens when energy is suppressed or repressed?

The content and energy of said suppressed and repressed instincts gets downgraded. A few different morals are constructed to achieve this. Piety downgrades the powerful instinct of sex. Mind understands how powerful and inevitable sex is. Hence it creates another sub-moral of piety called marriage as a spiritual union.