Angeline Ong Yoga World: Discover Tremor Yoga/ Vibration Stretch

The word yoga is here used as it can aptly be applied to the practice which is going to be described, however in this context it is not describing a psycho-physical discipline with its origin the Far East and, as well, dynamically it is the very opposite of typical hata yoga methods where absolute stillness is required in any of the various yoga postures (asanas) employed. That it may bring about some results similar to those achieved in laya yoga, in respect to what is symbolically described as the coiled serpent in Kundalini yoga and as well in the yogic practice of the psychic heat, (tūmmō) as evidenced from purely subjective experience, is indeed likely, however this practice is mostly a tonic and therapeutical exercise and, in this respect, of all things which life may offer us there is only one which we would never forsake: good health!

Tremor, as an intrinsic manifestation of our psychophysical constitution, is indicative of certain metabolic changes under particular situations such as fever, illness, physical discomfort, extreme cold and psychological stress such as fear, rage and a variety of other circumstances, both physical and psychical. As such it reflects certain states of our psychophysical stand due to sustained biochemical changes within our organism, changes which can be traced to the release of diverse neurotransmitters from the synapses in our neural networks.

Although tremor is an autonomic property of the nervous system indicative of homeostatic unbalance we can easily imitate or feign it to a certain degree by a deliberate act of will and a set goal.

The exercise in itself is, initially, very easy in that it simply consists on generating a vibrational effect throughout the body, not dissimilar from shaking and trembling and akin to the vibration caused when you yawn and stretch your arms’ muscles. This can be effortlessly obtained by acting on the muscles in the body's trapezoidal, abdominal, and lumbosacral regions, in unison or separately, in so many ways as a practitioner can devise; anyhow, just to give an example: clench you fists and draw your scapulae inward and you will experience a strong vibration taking hold of your torso. The more you pull your muscles, the stronger tension you apply to them, the stronger the resulting vibration. This is not dissimilar from a stretching exercise but for the fact that stretching, by itself, will not generate sustained vibrations unless some other muscular structure is activated, as from the example above: if we just clench our fists we will obtain muscular tension in both arms, but if contemporaneously we pull the scapulae inward (the latter action also expands the chest) a vibration takes hold of the whole torso.

Given the easiness and lack of particular training with which tremor, or muscular vibration, can be generated it appears that it is an exercise that anyone can practice independently of sex and age and, nonetheless, even in those cases where physical ailments are extant. All in all it requires just a conscious act of will and giving due time to the exercise itself; as stressed above, tremor can be obtained in variety of ways which can best suit, or satisfy, the practitioner’s exigencies. While is just a matter of simple practice to devise a method which is personally more suitable, the vibrational activity should be extended to the abdominal and the perineal regions so that the vibration is fully felt all the way between the neck and thighs. It takes practice, but this is the part of the exercise where similarities with laya yoga and psychic heat (tūmmō) may be discerned and where health may be influenced for better. It goes without saying that coupling the exercise itself with a beneficial breathing practice will surely add to its positive effects. However, in the latter case, at least initially it is not easy to properly direct the mental concentration to two simultaneous activities, namely that of maintaining a steady vibration and that of sustaining a regular, conscious, breathing exercise. That will be achieved with due practice and the process will become automatic; if so willed, since the tendency to concentrate on the bodily vibrations apparently is stronger and both activities must be properly synchronized.

Basically, and in an extremely simplified description, the process behind the exercise can be traced in the following metabolic processes: we know that the resonant frequency of a nerve impulse is of about 360 cycles per second and that it can reach, under excitation, a maximum frequency of about 500 cycles per second. As well, we know that when a nerve cell is stimulated a single electrical impulse starts from a value of negative 60 millivolts, crosses a zero point and rises to a value of 60 positive millivolts; this potential then falls again, crosses the zero volt threshold of the cell's membrane, and again becomes 60 millivolts negative when the nerve cell comes to rest again. These differences of potential and frequency in the nervous system act on the permeability of the nerve cell’s membrane consequently favoring greater or lesser biochemical activation and exchange. Hence, more likely in the case in object, a balancing biochemical reaction, which in the last analysis is what lies behind good health. "The cell is indeed a machine";1 it is within our powers to tame it.

This means that the exercise acts on all the components of the nervous system favoring, mechanically, a relaxation between tissues while, from a neurological and electrochemical point of view, we can envisage sustained favorable biochemical processes with a tendency to promote physiological equilibrium and in some instances even healing of certain ailments.

As related to personal experience, this exercise was devised in response to the excruciating and intractable pain generated from cervical spondylitis and the constant heavy need of analgesics in order to try living a normal existence. The immediate result was neither healing nor reshaping anew the encrusted cervical vertebrae but a remarkable remission of pain and long intervals between attacks which were almost daily. Hence a long practice with the technique itself and variations of the same followed so much so that the exercise, which can be practiced at leisure anywhere, has become almost addictive. Deep relaxation ensues after the exercise; a breathing exercise is practiced altogether.

In some instances, although not invariably, another effect, not easy to come about and reminiscent of what is what is known as psychic heat is that the abdomen and subsequently the thorax and above experience an intense pleasurable heat; in this particular case time and mental relaxation play a prominent part. Another physiological effect is arousal which may be sustained indefinitely so long as the exercise is carried out, and this happens if during the induced vibration constriction is applied to the muscles in the sacral region. This last effect, which very likely is cardinal to some practices of Tantric yoga, is brought about spontaneously and without any physical contact or mental imagery - namely, without induced stimulation whether physical or mental - hence it unmistakably indicates that the arousal mechanism of the brain is spontaneously affected; to state it differently, it unequivocally testifies to the strong metabolic and physiologic influence that the exercise exerts. Together with the psychic heat, it suggests similarities with some practices related to laya yoga. Additionally, applying force to both the sacral and abdominal muscles will give rise to “spikes” in that some jerky muscular contractions will abruptly raise the trunk if supine - since this may issue also as a sudden and violent reaction, proper control is necessary.2 However, stabilized at a reasonable intensity, it will bring about an orgasmic effect. Properly forcing - without undue exertion which could bring about "spikes" - only the abdominal and coccygeal muscles to the exclusion of all other muscles will give way to a soft, almost subliminal, vibration in the whole organism. Possibly this should be the aim of the exercise since in the latter case the least effort is required and the best result obtained. With due stress on the fact that the observed results are strictly subjective, as a closing remark emphasis is to the effect that the outcome of the exercise is a substantial sense of power, of accumulated energy.

It may not be farfetched thinking that, under proper supervision, this exercise might help several myopathies, diminish seizures in epilepsy, reduce compulsive behavior, and therapeutically aid other ailments since brain stimulation can potentially help in a wide range of disorders.

If you are keen on meditation practices, something additional is indeed worth trying; its import will be self-evident as we read along.

When we look at a building in its complex, we perceive its outlines; then within the same its distinctive features strike our imagination: nice outfits and ornaments, or old and falling apart, or whatsoever. We hardly, if ever, give a thought to that which is hidden beyond the plaster, namely, bricks, stones, cement or whatever keeps it standing. Sadly, we normally do the same thing when we look at or think about our physical temple. We perceive an image and appreciate its youth, or its beauty; or we despise its manifest old age, or its ugliness and all sort of things. All in all we perceive a living entity, so dressed, so moving, so behaving, or so attractive or so repulsive. We look at it just like we look at the building above mentioned; we hardly if ever give a thought to the hidden structure which lies beyond the skin and bones which keeps it together. We are struck and narcissistically attached to the outward appearance. This hidden structure however, as we are too well aware, is made up by a myriad of living organism at a very primitive level, acting in concert – the cells which make up the various important organisms within the body itself. Each of these cells, singly among thousands of billions of them, has a life of its own, a motive power and intelligence and thence this temple of ours, as such, is not an individual living being but the sum total of uncountable microscopic organisms’ lives, each thriving with an exact purpose, an unerringly set goal. As to the purpose of this remark: so much so as it is useful to look within our mind, on the other side of the rope something equally precious is hanging but we never give it proper attention. We are hardly conscious that these myriad of lives are the very pedestal not only of our physical frame, but as well of our mind and that this complex frame of ours should, likewise, be properly visualized for what it is and not from the outward appearance of the structure. Looking at ourselves in such a wise a different reality is perceived, a greater, incomparably richer image teeming with life strikes our mental vision and widens its horizon towards border-less visions. Calling it “our physical temple” is not inappropriate because here it is that, like in prayer in a holy place, a greater discernment of our real place in nature, as well as a greater understanding of the nature within ourselves develops and matures; a keener view of what we really are.

Adapting this vision as it better suits you, you should cling to the same while doing the tremor exercise, possibly at that level which above was termed as subliminal vibration. Here you may find yourself as rigid as a corpse but, nevertheless, you will have the unspeakable feeling of every single atom vibrating in your organism.

Tremor Theraphy Yoga - Stimulus/Activating

Central Nervous System

Of the many kinds of neural activity, there is one simple kind in which a stimulus leads to an immediate action. This is reflex activity. The word reflex mean - automatic response of a muscle or several muscles to a stimulus that excites an afferent nerve. The term is now used to describe an action.

The nervous system
The human body consists of billions of cells organised into TISSUES, ORGANS and SYSTEMS, each having its own special function. These must be co-ordinated by the nervous system because body’s activities are related one to the other. When there’s a change in the organism’s environment, the STIMULUS, a nervous response, takes place. These stimuli must be detected by RECEPTORS that have to transmit IMPULSES along networks of specialised nerve cells, the CONDUCTORS. They must lead the impulses to EFFECTORS that are the responding organs which transmit the response to the stimulus (muscles and glands are the most common effectors). The tissue of nervous system is made up of nerve cells, the NEURONS, that are the functional unit of this system. A neuron is a specialised unit consisting of a CENTRAL OVAL CELL BODY and its OUTGROWTHS. The central part of the cell is the NUCLEUS surrounded by the CYTOPLASM, or NEUROPLASM. Within the cytoplasm there are GRANULES called NISSL BODIES that are the SOURCE OF ENERGY for nervous activity and are involved in PROTEIN SYNTHESIS since they are rich in RIBOSOMAL RNA. The outgrowths are extremely thin NEUROFIBRILS that form branches in order to form either an AXON or DENDRITES, the channel which the IMPULSES are conducted along. The one or more branching dendrites take impulses to the cell body while the single axon detaches the impulses away from this.

The nervous system is a continuous transmitting system. The impulses which travel along the nerve fibres are electrical and chemical. There is no PROTOPLASMIC CONTINUITY between neurons and so there is functional connection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of another, the SYNAPSES. A synapse consists of a microscopic gap between two adjacent nerve fibres. Each terminal branch of an axon has a minute swelling which lies close to the tip of a dendrite of the next neuron, without actually touching it. Transfer of the impulses across the synaptic gap occurs when the arriving impulse causes the release of a chemical transmitter, which carries the impulse across the gap and then affects the next neuron. The chemical transmitter is ACETYLCHOLINE that bridges the gap.

The neuron system is divided into parts that are:
- Central nervous system formed of BRAIN and SPINAL CORD
- PERIPHERAL nervous system

The spinal cord begins as an extension of the MEDULLA OBLONGATA of the brain just below the FORAMEN MAGNUM of the skull. It lies within the neural channel of the vertebral column. The cord is divided into two incomplete halves along its entire length due to:
- a deep dorsal/posterior fissure
- a wider anterior/ventral fissure

A cross-section of the cord shows that the GREY MATTER, in the shape of an H, is centrally situated, while the WHITE MATTER is external situated to this.

The spinal cord functions automatically and is not controlled by WILL. It conducts impulse to and from the brain, it controls the REFLEX ACTIONS of the brain and it co-ordinates muscular movements. A reflex action is a rapid AUTOMATIC RESPONSE by an organ to a stimulus outside of the central nervous system. The response is an involuntary reaction which doesn’t involve the brain for its starting. A REFLEX ARC is the route along which the impulse must go to bring about a reflex action, that can only take place if there is a complete reflex arc. When there is a change in our body the sensory receptors in the skin receive the stimulus. Then the physical stimulus is transformed into a nerve impulse which is transmitted by the sensory nerve fibres to the spinal cord. The impulse enters the cord and passes from one neuron to the next over synapses until it passes out of the cord and is conducted to the muscles of the part of the body hit (the effector). When the impulse is transmitted to the effector, the muscles of the part contract and withdraw the part of the body hit from the stimulus. During or after the reflex action has taken place, the impulse may be transmitted by neurons to brain where the impulse is converted into a perception, and the person becomes conscious of the stimulus. Then the brain can have an influence on the reflex action.

The five senses
The five senses of our body are: SIGH,SOUND (HEARING), TOUCH, TASTE and SMELL.

TASTE:
Taste buds are groups of sensory cells found on our tongue and also in the skin lining the mouth and the throat. The testes on our tongue are: SWEET, SALTY, BITTER and SOUR.

Sweet tastes are perceived in the middle of our tongue; bitter tastes are perceived at the back of our tongue, sour tastes are perceived on the sides of our tongue, salty tastes are perceived at the tip and edges of our tongue.

It is very important to say that the sensations of taste and smell often function together.

SIGHT:
The eyes are placed in the BONY SOCKETS and are surrounded by a layer, the FATTY TISSUE. There are 6 muscles that are connected with the eyeball and that permit to the eyes to move in a lot of directions. The eyes are protected by EYELIDS. In the superior part of the eyes there are some GLANDS that secrete a WATERY FLUID which washes the eye, keeping it clean.

The wall of the eyeball consists in 3 layers of cells: the SCLERA, the CHOROID, the RETINA. The sclera in the outer layer of the eye. It is white and in front it is transparent and it is called CORNEA. The principal function of the sclera is to protect inner layer and the inner part of the eye and maintain the shape of the eye. The principal function of the cornea is to allow light rays to enter the eye and help to focus them. The choroid is the middle layer of the eye and it absorbs excessive light and gives rise to the IRIS and PUPILS. The choroids gives rise to the CILIARY BODY that is composed by CIRCULAR CILIARY MUSCLES. The LENS is attached to the ciliary body and it is biconvex, elastic transparent structure and it is surrounded by a thin membrane called THE LENS CAPSULA. The iris contains the PUPIL, whose size is controlled by muscles. The iris function is regulate the light entering the eyes. It also gives the eyes its colour. The retina is the innermost layer of the eye. It has 2 particular cells: the RODS and the CONES. The rods aren’t sensitive to strong light while the cones are sensitive to intense light and colour stimuli. The area in front of lens is filled with a watery fluid. Also the area behind the lens has a fluid that contains NUTRIENTS and VITAMINS. The eye glands contain the enzyme lysozyme which keep the eyeball free from infections.

SMELL:
The sense of smell permits us to perceive scents and smells. The chemical stimulation of the nervous fibres in the nose permits to smell, gases can only be detected after they are dissolved in the moisture in the nose.

The olfactory receptors are chemical receptors and their function permits to smell. We have about 10.000.000 of these receptors and some of these are sensitive to molecules for example of food; others are sensitive to others particular molecules.

SOUND:
One of the sense is the sound through it we can ear sounds. The ear is divided into 3 distinct regions: outer, middle and inner ear. The outer ear consists of two parts, the PINNA and the EXTERNAL AUDIORY CANAL. The pinna is the part of the ear projecting at the side of the head, it is only found in mammals. It is composed of cartilage covered with skin, the lower part, the LOBE, is mainly connective tissue. In the cavity of the pinna there are SMALL, FINE HAIRS which serve to keep foreign objects from entering the ear. The pinna’s function is to direct sound into the auditory canal. The other part of the outer ear is the external auditory canal that is the slight CURVED TUBE from the cavity of the pinna to the ear drum. The canal is lined with skin which contains a number of wax glands.

The middle ear is formed by a very small cavity in the skull bone, immediately inside the ear drum. In this part of the ear there are four openings: the external ear communicates with the middle ear through an opening, over which a membrane known as the EARDRUM is stretched. There are also two openings that connect the middle ear with the inner ear: they are called OVAL WINDOW and ROUND WINDOW. Is there, at the lower part of the middle ear, the EUSTACHIAN TUBE; it is about 4 cm long and connects the middle ear with the PHARYNX. This tube equalises the pressure of air in the middle and external ear. There are in this part of the ear 3 small bones called HAMMER, ANVIL and STIRRUP. They transmit vibrations from the eardrum through the middle ear and at the same time they increase the intensity of these vibrations. The last part of the ear, the inner ear, consists of COCHLEA and 3 SEMI-CIRCULAR CANAL; the structures of the inner ear are filled with fluid. The semi-circular canal lie in 3 different planes and are arranged at right angles to one another which helps to control balance. The cochlea tube is coiled like the shell of a snail and its function is to convert sound waves to impulses which are transmitted by the auditory nerve to brain.

TOUCH:
The touch is our last sense. We can fell the pain or warmth by sensory nerves situated on our body. The sensations are transformed in impulses transmitted by neurons to the brain that lifts up the sensations. The most developed parts of our body for the touch are the hands With them we can do millions of actions necessaries for our life.

Reflexes are the automatic reactions of the nervous system to stimuli impinging on the body or arising within it. They are more easily described than further defined. The knee jerk (one of the 'tendon jerks') is a familiar instance. The tendon below the kneecap is struck sharply with a rubber hammer and the muscles of the kneecap in the thigh are caused to give a brief twitchlike contraction which extends the knee joint and causes a little kick of the foot. The latency, the time between the blow and the first sign of muscular contraction, is about a fiftieth of a second, not much longer than is required for nerve impulses to travel from the sense endings excited by the blow to the central nervous system (here the spinal cord) and back down to the muscle.

The word 'reflex' comes from the idea that nerve impulses are 'reflected' in the central nervous system. Descartes instances the constriction of the pupil when a light is shone in the eye. In the 18th century, Robert Whytt and Stephen Hales showed that the integrity of the central nervous system is, indeed, essential for 'reflection' to occur. In the next century the subject was greatly clarified by the discovery of Magendie and Bell that the nervous system uses separate channels (nerve fibres) for input and output so that 'reflection' must occur centrally. With minor exceptions ('axon reflexes') the dorsal spinal nerve roots are exclusively sensory and the ventral roots exclusively motor in function. Detailed knowledge of the connections between the sensory and motor nerves in the grey matter of the spinal cord dates only from 1951, when Eccles obtained records from a microelectrode inside a motor nerve cell — the first time this had been achieved with any central neuron.

The tendon jerk is the simplest and fastest mammalian reflex known and its neuronal mechanism (although not its function in everyday life) is still the best understood. Endless other reflexes exist of greater complexity and longer latency. Commonly instanced are responses to injury or irritation: sneezing and coughing, the withdrawal of a foot in a frog or quadruped, the scratching of a dog. There are very many reflexes concerned in the vital functions: blood pressure is reflexly affected by pressure receptors in the walls of the aorta, breathing by reflexes from stretch receptors in the diaphragm, and so forth. Reflexes from receptors in the muscles of the limbs and trunk (of which the knee jerk is one) are a large class, of still controversial function in the control of bodily movement.

Although the experimental investigation of reflexes in animals is traditionally carried out on the spinal cord after severing it from the brain, or on the lower parts of the nervous axis after removing the cerebral hemispheres (decerebrate preparation), there are many reflexes whose pathway is through the cerebral cortex. The involuntary blink to a threatening gesture is one. And the elaborate learned responses called 'conditioned reflexes' (see conditioning) are cortical or usually so.

C. S. Sherrington, to whom we owe much of our knowledge of reflex action, regarded the reflex as the unit of nervous action and suspected that complex sequential acts, such as walking, were in the nature of chain reflexes, in which one element reflexly caused the next: in walking, for example, the movement of the leg forward excited receptors in the leg which reflexly caused it to move back again, and so on. There is now evidence that the nervous mechanism for performing such acts as walking or breathing exists in the central nervous system and can function, after a fashion, without reflex inputs, but that, normally, reflexes modify and regulate these actions and adapt them to changing circumstances.

The point at which an animal's responses to stimuli cease to be regarded as reflex and are called deliberate or voluntary, or by some similar term, is ill defined. A mild cough can be suppressed by an effort of will during a concert, but such coughing would be regarded as reflex. A similar suppression of the urge to pass water is more easily achieved and passing water is normally to be considered a deliberate act; the underlying reflex element is dominant only in infancy or when self-control is impaired.
Resource from: http://www.liceoantonelli.novara.it/AttivitaeCorsi/Lingue2000/lingue/humanbody.htm