endocrine system

Activating Oxytocin – The Master Hormone for Bliss and Bonding

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Known as the “bonding hormone”, oxytocin plays an important role in the neuroanatomy of wellbeing and intimacy.  It is associated with  various behaviors, including social recognition, pair bonding, orgasm, anxiety, and parental  behaviors.

The endocrine system produces and regulates our body’s hormonal activity.  The gland known as the hypothalamus creates oxytocin, and it is stored in the pituitary gland, which then releases it to the rest of the body.

Like all systems, this  works in complex feedback loop; One hormonal function in one gland then triggers the function of other glands in the system.  So for example, when we activate the hypothalamus it then activates the pituitary gland, which then sends signals to other glands within the body – the  adrenals,  the thyroid, and the  gonads – which in turn, are also cBliss and Bondingonnected via feedback loops.

Editor’s note: This article refers to the cultivation of oxytocin, a natural hormone produced by the human body. Oxytocin should not be confused with OxyContin/Oxycodone, a pharmaceutical opioid with similar effects to morphine.

In this  interaction, the hypothalamus and the pituitary are the “master” glands; the holders of  the crown frequency. The crown releases oxytocin, which ‘bonds’ all the rest of the systems in the body into one cohesive song. The natural state of the glands is interactive harmony – the unity consciousness  of  the crown frequency  – and the individual harmonies of the body come together to help create the song of your life;  how you are feeling, how  your immune and digestive systems are working, what your sexual drives are saying in any given moment in time… This bond is the bond of love.

The  Feedback Loop

If we know how to actively  cultivate this sense of wellness and love and being that is hardwired within our bodies, we’re inevitably  thrive. When we experience love – our own unique Bliss instinct  – we gravitate more towards the things that make us feel more love, make us feel more beautiful, more healthy, more satisfied, more abundant. We make choices that are from a place of security and happiness, and safety, rather than from a place of mistrust, and fear, and insecurity about what’s going to happen – am I going to have enough money, is my partner is going to stick around, are my children going to be fine etc. We make a lot of decisions from fear when we don’t know how to actively that secrete the sensation of love.

Like our DNA, our consciousness  play  an active role in determining when and  how our glandular system works. When we learn to  activate the glands, the hormones,  the sensations, we can activate  the frequency  of love in our being.

Whether we know it or not, we’re constantly in the process of a feedback loop. When we begin to understand and interact with our body with this  awareness, we can go from chasing love to creating.  When we understand the neurochemistry of love,  we can learn to  resonate with the crown frequency and  activate that “master hormone” within our own bodies. The feedback loop it creates goes beyond the endocrine system, positively impacting the brain and the immune, circulatory, nervous  and digestive systems. So, by developing an intimacy with our body glandular functions, we can give ourselves access to the sensation of love  and trigger an energetic feedback loop that creates more love,  and supports our physical health.

Activating Oxytocin- The Master Hormone for Bliss and Bonding - Art - Chakras by Tikku

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of this  feedback loop, other glands also  receive the oxytocin hormone, and help to regulate levels in the body by communicating to the hypothalamus that it has  had “enough”. What that means is that, through the innate intelligence of our body’s natural frequencies,  we feel  satiated and satisfied. We experience this love  sustainably. We know when we have had enough. We are not trying to satisfy  our cravings or addictions  to  foods, or sex, or emotional fulfillment; neediness of our emotions seem to disappear when we are able to find the feeling of love deep within ourselves. Physically and energetically. It ultimately comes back to the sensation of love.

Ancient Knowledge, Modern Suppression

So many problems in our lives come from not feeling the love that we desire – the love that we desire from our parents, from our peers, from our friends. We want to be in social interactions where we are really bonding, feeling the sense of compassion and support all around. And when we do, when we tune into that unity vibration, we really thrive, we don’t feel like we have as many cravings, we don’t feel lonely, and we don’t resort to  addictions to fill that need for love.

Unfortunately, our ability to tune into the  frequencies in our bodies has become largely dormant in today’s world. Toxins, chemicals, frequencies  and other environmental pollutants have affected the function of  our glands and we have lost access to their  purest functions,  which are  intrinsically linked with our experience of emotions and feelings. Social programming teaches us that it is “adult” behavior to  suppress our  emotional state, and  we end up replacing the “natural and native” functions of our glands with the “programmed version”. We expect  our endocrine system to behave counter-intuitively, and as a result,  our glands act up over time.

For example those who grow up in homes or cultures where suppressing one’s truth is rewarded (tall-poppy syndrome, for example) and those who have silently suffered from  manipulation  and  trauma, often experience issues of  the thyroid gland, which is linked to communication. The thyroid is also linked to metabolism, so unexpressed truth can often manifest in the body as  as weight gain.

A lot of our power has been taken away from us. Although the ancients held this knowledge, today, we do not  know  how to use the body. We do not teach our children  that we can influence  our digestive process, our genetic  expression,  our immune system, with our intention. And, with  the reductionist model still prevailing in modern medicine, we are not  taught to know  our bodies as a blissful, interactive  whole.

Activating the Crown Frequency

The first step to cleansing the body’s frequencies is to learn how to activate the glands. It’s not only important to activate the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus, it’s important to activate all the glands within the body so that they are all functioning in perfect harmony, and that feedback loop is in its best possible shape.

Activating Oxytocin- The Master Hormone for Bliss and Bonding

Initially, when you turn the focus of the lens into the physical body, you will develop a simple awareness of its  sensations. As you go deeper into that experience, your relationship with the sensations becomes more sophisticated, and in turn, the mind becomes more intelligent at interpreting those sensations.

Within the body system is a full octave of glands and organs that resonate on a certain frequency. When the white light of consciousness enters the body, it refracts and travels through seven different organs and glands with seven different frequencies. Each frequency regulates the characteristics and color of light emitted. For example, when the consciousness light enters the pineal gland, the energy emitted is violet due to the specific vibration of the gland.

Our ‘bliss frequency’ is the light of consciousness experienced through the full octave of frequencies in the body: the seven frequencies, plus the origin of the octave (the high ‘C’).  When your  instrument is tuned to these frequency,  amazing things happen.  This  is the state where we are most blissful, most beautiful, most thriving and most divine.

To do this we have to expose each gland to its native frequency.  When we start to reintroduce it to its natural frequency, it starts to re-program itself back to its healthy, natural state. With your energy centers balanced, everything becomes harmonized. This happens when we  allow ourselves to experience the natural bond of love; the frequency of our  bliss.  It  guides us  to what supports our being, and to what needs to be healed. For example, if you take a heart that doesn’t know how to experience love.  If  you give it love from all different directions, it is  reminded of its natural frequency and (as science has proven) the body responds by releasing dis-ease and returning to its natural state.

The  crown frequency is associated with the unity consciousness; it is the vibration that  allows you to see your true nature as a part of the universe. To reintroduce it to its natural frequency, give it the  experience of unity and bonding, from all directions. Give it the experience of your bliss.

Sound simple? It is. When you are aligned with your bliss instinct, you feel good. When you feel good, there is no confusion. This is only your yes  response: that  sense of calmness, relaxation, peace, euphoria, and clarity. As  your  inner and outer worlds align, your emotions  harmonize, your glands harmonize, and you can feel it on all levels of your being. And what may  surprise you, especially  if you have difficulty trusting yourself at first,  is how quickly you will feel your bliss instinct take over as your guide, as  the universe begins to conspire to move you in this direction.

Remember; focusing your attention to activate glands is the most powerful tool out there. You can activate the glands by giving it frequencies from medicine, homeopathy, herbs, all sorts of things, but it is not until we take control of our consciousness at all levels, and learn to communicate using sensations, that we see the game really change. Consciously identify and engage the glands. Engage your bliss. It’s about taking  the power back into your hands, and learning to activate  your body, heal your body, communicate with  your glands, and explore  the  sensations and vibrations that make up your existence.

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Hormone Levels In Endocrine System Influence Unethical Behaviors, Like Cheating

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Cheaters of the world, rejoice. Science has found a new scapegoat for you to blame your lack of a moral compass on. Turns out that cheating, and other unethical behaviors, could be a product of hormonal reactions, according to a new study.

Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Texas, Austin, decided to explore unethical behavior in greater depth in order to uncover what role our hormones play in our decisions to do what we know is wrong. They were interested to discover what exactly motivates us to cheat, as cheating scandals become a growing issue on college campuses and financial fraud amounts to $3.7 trillion in annual costs for businesses. Specifically looking at two hormones — the reproductive hormone testosterone and the stress hormone cortisol — researchers found they played a two-part role in encouraging and enforcing cheating.

The study found that this dual role the hormones play is key to committing an unethical act. First, hormone levels will increase, predicting the likelihood of cheating, and then these hormone levels will change to reinforce the behavior. “Although the science of hormones and behavior dates back to the early 19th century, only recently has research revealed just how powerful and pervasive the influence of the endocrine system is on human behavior,” said Robert Josephs, UT Austin professor of psychology, in a press release.

In order to test how hormones can influence cheating, the researchers asked 117 participants to complete a math test. Then, once they were finished, they were asked to grade the test themselves and report how many problems they got correct. They motivated participants to cheat even more by telling them that the more problems they got correct, the more money they would earn.

The researchers then collected salivary samples from participants after they took the test, finding that those who had higher levels of testosterone and cortisol were more likely to lie about how many problems they got correct. “Elevated testosterone decreases the fear of punishment while increasing sensitivity to reward. Elevated cortisol is linked to an uncomfortable state of chronic stress that can be extremely debilitating,” Josephs said. “Testosterone furnishes this courage to cheat, and elevated cortisol provides a reason to cheat.”

Interestingly enough, those who cheated also reported feeling a reduction in stress after the test, accompanied by a lower level of cortisol in their system. It’s as if cheating had given these participants a feeling of relief.

“The stress reduction is accompanied by a powerful stimulation of the reward centers in the brain, so these physiological psychological changes have the unfortunate consequence of reinforcing the unethical behavior,” Josephs said.

Now that the researchers better understand what mechanisms are motivating the unethical behavior, they hope to explore how to eliminate this hormonal response and its subsequent reinforcement. Because they did not observe a similar response when these hormones acted independently of one another, they believe that lowering levels of both testosterone and cortisol could potentially prevent cheating.

Researchers have also observed in previous studies that when a group is rewarded for good behavior, as opposed to an individual, the effects of testosterone could be eliminated. As far as the stress hormone cortisol goes, Josephs says he’s seen people relieve distress through certain techniques, like yoga and meditation.

“The take-home message from our studies is that appeals based on ethics and morality (the carrot approach) and those based on threats of punishment (the stick approach) may not be effective in preventing cheating,” Josephs said. “By understanding the underlying causal mechanism of cheating, we might be able to design interventions that are both novel and effective.”

Source: Josephs R, et al. Hormones and ethics: Understanding the biological basis of unethical conduct. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2015.

5 Herbs To Balance Your Hormones

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  • 5 Herbs To Balance Your Hormones

Many women have horrible PMS or menopausal symptoms, and others suffer from infertility. More often than not these hormone imbalances are cause from dysfunctions in the endocrine system which for those of you unfamiliar with this, it is your glandular system. Here are a few natural herbs you can use to get your imbalanced hormones under control.

When it comes to hormones natural therapy is always better, so rather than jumping straight to conventional hormone therapy why not give these a try first. There are many herbs that can assist in hormone function but these are all time favorites. Here are 5 herbs that have been quite successful in my practice:

1. Maca:

Maca has been used for centuries by the Peruvian people for fertility, hormonal balance, libido, and endurance. It does not produce hormones but rather works as an adaptogenic herb which means that it adapts to each body’s circumstances and balances hormones depending on that person’s needs. So if a person is producing too much or too little of a hormone, it will act in the opposite direction either increasing the deficient hormone or decreasing the body’s production of the over abundant hormone. I like to call it a regulator. It regulates hormones and keeps them in check not allowing them to get out of control in either way.

Maca stimulates and nourishes the pituitary and hypothalamus glands of your endocrine system which are known as the “master glands”. These two glands are responsible for regulating all the other hormone producing glands. With these “master glands” in balance it has the ability to naturally bring all other glands into balance as well.

This herb is not just for women! Men benefit greatly from this herb and it can often times increase libido and endurance. It is a natural “Viagra” of all sorts. Also because 40-50 percent of infertility cases are due in part to the man, taking this herb may help with sperm motility, volume, and quality.

 2. Red Raspberry Leaf:

It has a pleasant taste as a tea and is a nutrient dense power packed herb for women. This herb is best known for its uterine strengthening properties. This wonderful herb is a rich source of vitamins and minerals particularly vitamin C.

Red Raspberry Leaf has many benefits besides that of a uterine tonic. It has been known to help increase fertility in both men and women, prevent miscarriage and hemorrhage, and help decrease heavy blood flow and painful menstrual cramps. It can ease the nausea associated with pregnancy, reduce pain during and after labor, and help stimulate milk production.

 3. Vitex Or (Chaste Tree Berry):

This herb has a long extensive history of use for hormone regulation. It is often used for treating endometriosis, infertility, PMS, preventing miscarriage in first trimester, and menopausal symptoms particularly hot flashes. Vitex or chaste tree berry. I have had success using this herb in my clinic to help regulate menstrual cycle and even help initiate a period in women who have had absent periods for some time.

Vitex does not contain actual hormones but rather works to help naturally balance the body’s hormones by way of regulating the pituitary which we talked about earlier and that it was one of the body’s “master glands”. By regulating the pituitary it has an effect on the function of the other glands involved in this system. The pituitary sends out the signal to the other glands to tell them when and how much hormone to produce. This communication system is called a hormonal feedback loop. If the pituitary is not balanced properly this will effectively throw off the balance of the other glands.

 4. Milk Thistle:

This is one of my all-time favorite herbs for a multitude of health conditions. Milk Thistle is one of the best liver cleansing herbs and a healthy liver is vital for hormone balance. Many women have an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of progesterone because of it. What many people don’t know is that excess estrogens get filtered out of the body through the liver.

If the liver is congested and stagnant the body cannot eliminate these excess estrogens and they re-enter the body. The liver is also the processing plant for our body’s toxic wastes such as chemicals, heavy metals, fungus and other toxins. Many of these toxins can act to mimic hormones in our body and lead to further hormonal imbalance and disruption.

 5. Oatstraw:

Oatstraw may not be the typical herb that comes to mind when people think of herbs for hormones. I have found oatstraw to strengthen the nerves, calm the body, strengthen the blood, stabilize moods, strengthen digestion, sooth stomach, balance the endocrine system or those hormone producing glands, support the skeletal system due to its abundance of bio-available calcium, magnesium, and silica, and calm the central nervous system.

Other benefits of this beautiful herb are great supportive benefits to the hair, skin, and nails, diuretic, cholesterol lowering, and heart health. This herb is great on its own or as a base mixed with other herbs.