HLife | Healthy Living Redefined

The Endocrine System might just be my favorite body system because it is in charge of communication. The hormones secreted by the endocrine glands tell everyone else what to do and when to do it (bossy glands!) But this is just one aspect, one reason why I like it. The other is that it corresponds exactly with the traditional chakra system.

Science first: The Endocrine System is composed of glands that release hormones into the blood, which tell the various organs in our body what to do or stop doing (we got this). Let’s look at the major glands and their jobs:

The Pineal Gland: This might be my favorite gland within my favorite system. The pineal gland is the coolest of them all because it is magical and otherworldly. In other words, science doesn’t really know everything about how it works yet. What we do know is that it is in charge of biorhythm, or what we call the Circadian Rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is your internal clock – it tells you to wake up at 6 a.m., have a bowel movement at 8 a.m., be hungry by 10 a.m., have lots of energy by noon and then be hungry again and then around 3 p.m., get sort of tired, get a second wind, be hungry again and then be tired by 10 p.m.  Yes, your body runs on a schedule.  How closely do you match the average normal biorhythm? I’d venture to say it’s a sign of health if you’re right on schedule with pineal directives. So, how does the pineal gland do this? It takes its orders from a “higher” source: The sun. Light and dark cycles are what control the pineal gland and tell it what to do, so it can tell you what to do. You know how you feel depressed and low energy – sleepy, if you will – during an overcast day when “the sun doesn’t come out”?  Shake your fist at the pineal gland – it’s telling you, it’s time for bed, silly, not work! Can’t you see it’s still night time?  Duh. The pineal gland is tiny and it is nuzzled in the center of your brain.

The Hypothalamus: The hypothalamus is kind of another mystery. It is also located in your brain and we don’t know much of how it works, except that it links the nervous and the endocrine systems and it produces hormones that have to do with the next guy we’ll be talking about. We also know that it plays a role in mating: In many vertebrates, the hypothalamus has been shown to pass info about seasonal changes and availability of a mate. Kinda like a wingman.

The Pituitary Gland: The pituitary is located just under the base of the brain, between your two frontal lobes, where it hangs with the hypothalamus. They’re like buddies, brothers, homies, and, in this case, the pituitary is the extrovert and better known of the team. The pituitary gland is sometimes called “the master gland” because it has a lot of other glands under its command and it gives out orders all over the place like there’s not tomorrow: The posterior pituitary releases hormones made by the hypothalamus. One of them is oxytocin. You heard of it, eh? Probably not because it is involved with the mammary glands, but because it stimulates contraction of the uterus, therefore playing a role in female orgasm and earning its name as the “cuddling hormone”, because it is also involved in making pair bonds, the feeling of attachment to a partner after sex (now you’ve heard of it?) The posterior pituitary also releases antidiuretic hormone, which promotes water retention in the kidneys. The anterior pituitary has even more responsibilities – it’s growth hormone (another popular guy, hailed as the new fountain of youth) stimulates growth – especially of bones – and metabolic functions; prolactin stimulates milk production and secretion when a woman has a child; follicle-stimulating hormone stimulates production of ova and sperm; luteinizing hormone stimulates ovaries and testes; thyroid-stimulating hormone (you can guess it’s job) and adrenocorticotropic hormone, which stimulates the adrenals to secrete glucocorticoids. Whew! I know, it’s exhausting! Bow down to the master.

Thyroid and Parathyroid: Your thyroid gland stimulates and maintains metabolic processes and lowers blood calcium levels via a hormone appropriately called calcitonin. The parathyroid balances it out: It secretes the also appropriately called parathyroid hormone, which raises blood calcium levels.

Thymus Gland: Your thymus gland is special. It is not pictured above but it is located in the center of your chest cavity, close to your heart. It is involved in your Immune System. The thing about the thymus is this: When you’re a kid, it is quite large. After puberty, when a whole lot of things change for you and your body and when your immune system is well established, it begins to shrink. By adulthood, most of the thymus gland has been replaced by tissue, but it continues to work throughout life.

The Adrenal Glands: Famous for the fight or flight response via adrenaline (real name: epinephrine) and norepinephrine, hormones that raise blood glucose levels, increase metabolic activities and constrict certain blood vessels so that you can run away from that saber tooth tiger or punch your boss when he turns into one (in your head). The adrenal cortex also has two other hormones, the steroids glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, which raise blood glucose levels and promote reabsorption of sodium and excretion of potassium in the kidneys, respectively.

The Pancreas: You also know this guy (especially if you have diabetes) – he’s in charge of insulin and glucagon, proteins that control blood glucose levels.

The Sex Glands: The gonads (testes) and the ovaries (ova). Your favorite guys, where androgens support sperm formation and promote development and maintenance of male secondary sex characteristics, and estrogens and progesterone stimulate uterine lining growth and promote development and maintenance of female secondary sex characteristics. Without these glands and their hormones (who get their orders from hormones in the pituitary), we wouldn’t be able to give life.

Now, for the metaphysics: If you look at the picture above, you will notice the fascinating  correspondence between some of the major glands (thymus, for example) and the chakras (heart chakra in green, for example), the energy vortices in your body. Coincidence? I don’t believe in them. I believe we are built in a way for a reason. It makes sense that the energy centers of our body, the places esoteric books say are where information comes in and goes out of to and from the Universe, would be located exactly where the communication centers of our physical body are. We’re holistic beings – mind, body, soul/spirit. You do the math. I’ll leave you with just this one thought: The more you take care of your endocrine system via good nutrition (many of the hormones are classified as proteins and amines and all of them are directly affected by what you eat and drink), a decent sleep cycle, exercise, and proper stress management, the more “clean” and connected you may be to that crucial information that mystics say comes from your chakras. And, the more balanced you are energetically, well, the healthier you will be all around. After all, that is the core of this material masterpiece you call your body.