You are an electromagnetic entity. Neurons in your body and brain are charged up, waiting for commands to act. Think of yourself as a fully wound up spring or a coiled serpent waiting to spring into action! Neurons on getting the Go! signal, send a tsunami wave of charged particles down the length of their axon, sending signals to other neurons or parts of your body. This is what makes you move, think and live! And like a Tsunami wave, once it starts, it cannot be stopped. Th

Balancing is something we take for granted. We stand, walk around, run, bend over and catch objects - all of this happens seamlessly. But think back to your childhood, or watch little children - their movements are not completely coordinated, they fall, they learn. One of the main structures in the brain used for balance is the cerebellum. It receives information from the inner ear (about how your head is tilted), from parts of the body about posture and position of limbs, as

Patience. Time. Calmness. The Temperance card of the Tarot deck is about moderation and that things will happen in due course. Our bodies have natural rhythms that give into seasonal rhythms, that flow with time. Like the swinging pendulum moving back and forth, there are neurons that oscillate and release chemicals that increase and decrease in levels. This helps you with the day-light cycle, and clocks in each organ. The suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain is situated righ

Consciousness: Where is consciousness situated in the brain? What is the seat of consciousness? The Hermit card of the tarot deck is about walking in solitude from darkness till enlightenment is attained. It is a card of self-reflection and self-awareness. While it is still not clear if there is one area of the brain that makes us self-aware or conscious, the Insula, deep within the brain has been considered to be the seat of consciousness. It serves as hub for different cogn

Introspection: What does it mean to be self reflective and meditative? What is your inner compass? The Pineal gland, is located deep in the center of the brain right above the third ventricle. These are the gaps in your brain filled with cerebro spinal fluid. The pineal gland secretes its hormone, melatonin into the cerebro spinal fluid and it is carried to the rest of the body. Melatonin is sometimes called the Hormone of Darkness! The ebbs and flow of this hormone regulate

Possibilities - What are the fates that determine how you look, when you develop and what parts of your body does what In some ways we are playing the game of chance and the Hox Genes are the ones that control us! When you are initially an embryo, a bag of cells you are unpatterened. There are a set of genes called the Hox genes that help define what part of the embryo develops into what structure - what becomes the head, what becomes the tail, if you will have hands or wing

Fight or Flight - this is one of the primal choices we make. Through the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys are the source of the stress hormones, the release and regulation of this is controlled by the brain and the autonomic nervous system. The hypothalamus and the autonomic nervous system send signals to the adrenals, which in turn releases its hormones into the bloodstream. This is why you can coordinate a whole body response to a situation, instead of reacting piecemea

What makes you exert control? The brain takes in all kinds of information and channels it and streamlines it. It is like a raging river that is channelized - The frontal lobe of the brain is one of the main centers that makes sure that you respond appropriately to different external scenarios and internal states. This week when you are in control of a situation - it could be simple (say when you are making a super dinner, or able to throw a ball to perfection or help with som