The Cakras in Transpersonal Psychotherapy

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
John Prendergast
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Experience ◽  
Personal Transformation ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
The Body ◽  
Kundalini Yoga ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Indian Tradition ◽  
Transpersonal Psychotherapy ◽  
Body Sensations ◽  
Tantra Yoga

The Indian tradition of Tantra-Yoga and Kundalini-Yoga describes seven major cakras ("discs/wheels"): subtle energy centers in the body that govern different domains of human experience ranging from physical survival to spiritual illumination. After twenty years of direct personal and clinical experience with the cakras, I have come to believe that they offer a remarkable conceptual and perceptual map of the psychospiritual process and play a vital, though often unrecognized, role in psychotherapy. It appears to me that psychotherapy knowingly or unknowingly involves the cakras and that awareness of them facilitates the process of personal transformation,allowing clients to gradually open to their transpersonal depths. In this article I will demonstrate the relevance of the cakras to the practice oftranspersonal psychotherapy and offer some suggestions as to how therapists and clients can consciously work with them. Using the cakrasrequires an ability to focus on subtle body sensations and to understand their meaning, a capacity that many therapists and clients already have. Knowledge of and experience with the cakras help to bridge psychology and spirituality,enriching our understanding of transpersonal psychotherapy and helping to ground it in the body.

scholarly journals Fear of body symptoms and sensations in patients with panic disorders and patients with somatic diseases

2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 659-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Latas ◽  
Danilo Obradovic ◽  
Marina Pantic
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
General Population ◽  
Panic Disorder ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
The Body ◽  
Panic Attacks ◽  
Somatic Illness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Body Sensations ◽  
High Level

Introduction. A cognitive model of aetiology of panic disorder assumes that people who experience frequent panic attacks have tendencies to catastrophically interpret normal and benign somatic sensations - as signs of serious illness. This arise the question: is this cognition specific for patients with panic disorder and in what intensity it is present in patients with serious somatic illness and in healthy subjects. Objective. The aim of the study was to ascertain the differences in the frequency and intensity of 'catastrophic' cognitions related to body sensations, and to ascertain the differences in the frequency and intensity of anxiety caused by different body sensations all related to three groups of subjects: a sample of patients with panic disorder, a sample of patients with history of myocardial infarction and a sample of healthy control subjects from general population. Methods. Three samples are observed in the study: A) 53 patients with the diagnosis of panic disorder; B) 25 patients with history of myocardial infarction; and C) 47 healthy controls from general population. The catastrophic cognitions were assessed by the Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ) and the Body Sensations Questionnaire (BSQ). These questionnaires assess the catastrophic thoughts associated with panic and agoraphobia (ACQ) and the fear of body sensations (BSQ). All study subjects answered questionnaires items, and the scores of the answers were compared among the groups. Results. The results of the study suggest that: 1) There is no statistical difference in the tendency to catastrophically interpret body sensations and therefore to induce anxiety in the samples of healthy general population and patients with history of myocardial infarction; 2) The patients with panic disorder have a statistically significantly more intensive tendency to catastrophically interpret benign somatic symptoms and therefore to induce a high level of anxiety in comparison to the sample of patients with the history of serious somatic illness (myocardial infarction) and the sample of healthy general population. Conclusion. The tendency to catastrophically interpret benign somatic symptoms and therefore to induce a high level of anxiety in patients with panic disorder, confirms the cognitive aetiology model of panic disorder and suggests that it should be the focus of prophylactic and therapeutic management of patients with panic disorder.

The Alchemical Body of Carl Jung

2021 ◽  
pp. 164-191
Author(s):  
Simon Cox
Keyword(s):  
Substance P ◽  
Carl Jung ◽  
Active Imagination ◽  
Kundalini Yoga ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Dream Analysis ◽  
Critical Reflexivity ◽  
Body Concept ◽  
Quantum Revolution ◽  
Eastern Traditions

This chapter traces the subtle body concept through the work of Carl Jung, who is introduced to the idea by G. R. S. Mead’s theosophical books. After tracing Jung’s early engagement with the Orient, the chapter moves to an analysis of the subtle body concept in his work, specifically in his engagements with Eastern traditions: Daoism, Kundalini Yoga, and Tibetan Bardo Yoga. After examining Jung’s use of the subtle body concept in his translation-commentaries on Eastern texts, the chapter turns to how Jung incorporates the concept into his own psychology of individuation based on the techniques of active imagination and dream analysis. The chapter turns to Jung’s seminars on Nietzsche, where he presents the subtle body concept with a unique dose of critical reflexivity and Kantian rigor. It ends with Jung’s late-life speculation about a future where, following the quantum revolution and spitting of the atom, humans evolve into subtle body–dwelling creatures who occupy a world of psychical substance.

Hinduism and Meditation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Flood
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Axis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Body ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Pure Awareness ◽  
Different Levels

Meditation has been integral to Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions, in particular involving visualization or visual contemplation, practiced as part of ritual and also in its own right in order to achieve the goals of liberation from the cycle of reincarnation and also to achieve pleasure or power in this and other worlds. Visual contemplation is particularly focused on the body envisioned as being pervaded by a vertical axis at a subtle level, along which are located different levels of experience associated with different levels of the hierarchical cosmos. Power is awakened through meditation that rises up through these levels up to the very highest realization. This visual contemplation is thought to be of the subtle body as the support of the soul that leaves the physical body at death. There is also meditation without visualization that emphasizes the flow of pure awareness. This essay examines these practices in the major Hindu tantric traditions focused on the deity Śiva with some reference to the traditions of the Goddess, Viṣṇu, and Buddhism. These traditions influence the later Yoga tradition and have been transformed in the modern West.

Wave of the Future? Reconsidering the Neuroscientific Turn in Art History

Leonardo ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Kate Mondloch
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
The Body ◽  
History Taking ◽  
Brain Science ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Brain Sciences ◽  
The Brain

This essay examines the much-contested “neuroscientific turn” in art history, taking the cues of the best of the turn while rejecting its false starts. The most promising transdisciplinary encounters spanning the brain sciences and the humanities begin from the premise that human experience is embodied, but the “body” itself is interwoven across biological, ecological, phenomenological, social and cultural planes. Certain media artworks critically engaged with neuroscience productively model such an approach. Taking Mariko Mori’s brainwave interface and multimedia installation Wave UFO (1999–2002) as a case study, the author explores how works of art may complicate and augment brain science research as well as its dissemination into other social and cultural arenas.

Light, Mantra, and Healing

1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Swami Sivananda Radha ◽  
Swami Gopalananda
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Conscious Mind ◽  
Kundalini Yoga

Although we live in a century of great technological advancement, our knowledge about the body is still in its infancy. We see the body largely as a mechanical instrument, which to some extent is true, when you think of the repairs that now can be made: artificial steel hips, bonding plastic to bones, and many more modern techniques. But let us assume that the body is more than just a mechanical, technical instrument. Let us assume there is wisdom in the cells, a wisdom to which the conscious mind apparently has no access. In the teachings of Kundalini-Yoga we speak of a body-mind, which means a consciousness that is in all the cells of the body. We know that bones can heal. Obviously, the skin and muscles can heal. And we know that cells grow.

scholarly journals NEUROLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF SHAD CHAKRA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO VATA DOSHA

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
Jigisha.P.S ◽  
Uma B. Gopal ◽  
Remya.K.Simon ◽  
Sanchita
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Mental Status ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Voluntary Response ◽  
Life Force ◽  
Somatic Nervous System

Chakra are believed to be part of subtle body, thought to vitalize the physical and mental status of an individual. Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha and Ajna are called Shadchakra. Ayurveda is based on Tridosha Sidhantha, in which Vata Dosha has prime control over all functions of body, renders Prana to livings. Functions and site of Vata Dosha and Shad Chakra are found to be identical in some constituents. The function of Chakra is to spin and draw in this universal life force energy to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance. Prana Vata is seen related with Ajna Chakra, Udana Vata with Vishuddha Chakra, Vyana Vata with Anahata Chakra, Samana Vata with Manipura Chakra, Apana Vata with Muladhara and Swadhishtana Chakra respectively. Vata Dosha prompts all types of actions, coordinates physical and mental activities, likewise Chakra modulate the flow of subtle energy. Movement of energy is vital to life and the energetic process in body is caused by nervous system. The autonomic and somatic nervous system is most relevant with action of Chakra dealing with involuntary and voluntary response of the body as per need.

scholarly journals Humanisasi dan Divinisasi dalam Seni dan Ritual

MELINTAS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Fabianus Sebastian Heatubun
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Human Beings

<span>Metaphysically speaking, human being is a </span><em><span>homo ritualis</span></em><span> or a ritual being, and not simply because of the need for any ritual, but because of one’s ontological structure. At the same time, human is also a </span><em><span>homo sapiens artisticus</span></em><span>. One’s way of being and one’s mode of thinking is always artistic. One might also say that ritual is always artistic and art is always ritualistic. In this sense ritual and art are inseparable, for ritual and art are </span><em><span>sui generis</span></em><span>. Both exist in the area of human experience and are in touch with cognition, affection, knowledge, action, and enjoyment. Art and ritual are the hermeneutical site of meanings and values that simultaneously become the same place to find the answers. Imagined within the realness of life, art and ritual are a field of meanings. When human beings slip away from their humanity, art and ritual become the medium to restore it. Not only can art and ritual create a balance between the physical and the mental aspects, between the body and the soul that have been dehumanised, they also can exalt human beings towards the divine level as the culmination of the humanisation process.</span>

scholarly journals The Thinking Body: a Study of the Architectural Ramifications of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Rendering of the Human Body's Capacities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Karan August
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
The Body ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
Sensory Experiences ◽  
Phenomenological Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mind

<p>Phenomenology offers a conceptual framework that connects and strengthens the architect' s intuitive understanding of the human experience of space with the theorist's more critical approach. Phenomenology is an ideal vehicle for architectural theorists to avoid the friction between first-hand or subjective experience and generalised or abstracted accounts of experience. In this thesis I extract an account of the human experience of space that is implicit in the Philosopher Maurice Merleau-Pontys work. I consider how this understanding has been employed in architectural scholarship and practice. In particular, I argue that the human body renders the richness of space through deliberate engagement with the indeterminate and independent possibilities of the world. In other words, as the body intentionally engages with the world, it synthesises objects that create determinate spatial situations. I account for Merleau-Ponty's depiction of the body' s non-rule governed, non-reflective, normative directiveness towards spaces and elements, and label it the thinking body. Furthermore I examine how the philosophical theory of Merleau-Ponty is represented in the explicitly theoretical works of Juhani Pallasmaa. In turn I then consider how the thinking body is physically and conceptually realised in the buildings of Carlo Scarpa. Finally I find that Juhani Pallasmaa's description of the phenomenological experience of space is incompatible with Merleau-Ponty's. The strategic importance of these different accounts emerges when projecting their implications for designed space. Pallasmaa' s account points towards an architecture that prioritises sensory experiences synthesised by the mind. The design focus of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy leads to spatial practices in line with Carlo Scarpa, that are sympathetic to the causal qualities of an intentional bodily engagement with spatial situations. In accord with Merleau-Ponty I argue that human body is our medium for the world and as such creates the spatial situation we engage with from a formless manifold of possibilities.</p>

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