HOLISM

Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well; and not today's pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of man. — James H. West

The chakra system is rooted in holism, the concept that the entire person should be addressed to include psychological, spiritual, emotional, mental, and lifestyle factors. Applying holistic practices broadens both the provider's and patient's healing capacity in conventional, alternative, and complementary medicine, so as to enrich the scope of medical practices to optimize a patient's health potential. Holism encompasses occupational environment, lifestyle habits, mental processes, psychological factors, and other experiences that influence one's state of being.

Specifically, the chakra system serves as a holistic model that expounds and directs the influence of all quadrants within the patient's life. For example, an individual may suffer from chronic back pain, even though all medical exams and imaging modalities have shown no evidence of pathology. Holism allows the health practitioner to apply a wider lens of evaluation and treatment for this complaint. Whether due to stress or dysfunctional postural habits, one can better advise the patient in cost-effective, holistic practices rather than immediately turning to surgical interventions or oral painkillers.

Holism also addresses how each part of the body influences one's entire being. In Jon Kabat-Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living, he talks about interconnectedness and wholeness throughout the body:

It is a universe in itself [our body], consisting of more than 10 trillion cells that all ultimately derive from one single cell, organized into tissues and organs and systems and structures, with a built-in ability to regulate itself as a whole to maintain internal balance and order down to the nano level of interacting molecular structures. In a word, our bodies are undeniably self-organizing and self-healing at every level you care to look at ... All these are highly integrated, interconnected regulatory processes operating through elaborate feedback loops.

Our biology is interconnected and self-regulated, meaning that any single piece can positively or negatively affect the entire body. Numerous experiences in our day-to-day living exemplify this theory, such as when we feel sad, we may not have an appetite, or when we are under chronic stress, our bodies may break out in a rash. Our minds and bodies share a sphere of experience, each mirroring the other. Science has validated much of what the ancient yogis have taught in reference to the mind-body connection.

What Are the Chakras?

We are no animals. We are galaxies with skin. — Tara Sophia Mohr

Dating back to 1750-500 BCE, chakras derived from the Vedic culture known for the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. Many holistic practices are products of this culture, which includes theories of awakening, intuitional practice, as well as the belief that the individual is a realization of the self. The chakras are simply an organic formula for the individual to use to become pure or to rebalance in the body.

Chakras — meaning wheel or circle in Sanskrit — are psychospiritual vortices of energy within and surrounding the body. Though many exist, we will focus on the seven main chakras within the body. With that in mind, the idea is that humans manifest from an interplanetary system. For example, the saying "as within, so without" means that the elements of the planet are the same as those within the body itself. The element water is illustrated in the body as fluid, urine, and other unsolidified components: the element earth is illustrated in the body as bone structure, skin, and other physical configurations; fire is demonstrated through body temperature, digestion, and other metabolizing apparatuses; and air is exhibited through respiration, gas, and participates in digestion. Therefore, the Vedic culture believed the human being exists as a fractal of the universe. They used yoga practice and holistic interventions to clean and balance the elements, which would, therefore, clean and balance the system.

The chakras utilize movement, touch, voice, mind, and lifestyle choice to influence anatomical, physiological, and psychological development. They delineate how depending on external influences and choice will yield catalysts to psychophysical expansion or malady in the body. Each chakra expounds glandular reactions with the brain producing tendencies in the human. The yogis identified fifty tendencies associated with different glands throughout the body.

The processes needed to balance the chakras are associated with practices such as meditation, chanting/singing, diet, lifestyle choice, ethics, yoga, and service. Each chakra has specific practices relating to both the neuroendocrine system and psychophysical relationship with the body to influence the specific region it correlates with. As there have been many evidence-based yoga practices that support, prevent, and rehabilitate ailments or injuries, the science behind yoga poses and their effects on the body is ample. Repeating yoga poses or movement patterns puts sustained pressure on key areas throughout the body. These positions also affect the flow of blood and lymphatic fluid throughout the circulatory system. As the body moves through functional patterns, this process helps optimize neuromuscular pathways that decrease discomfort in the body, making it easier for the person to function and live a flourishing life.

Overall, the chakras acknowledge that different people are at different places in their development. This knowledge allows the physician to identify what the patient is facing, thereby offering a better way to meet the patient where he or she is. For the individual, the chakras show up to delineate where the person should work on to enhance his or her own evolution and...