Thoppukarnam and Super Brain Yoga

Littlerose · Feb 6, 2012

View attachment Thoppukarnam n Pillayar kuttu.doc

Dear All,

Please read the below completely n patiently and try to follow and forward to all those deserved to enjoy the fruit of this great practice. Have attached the same for your convenience.

 [FONT=&quot]Super Brain Yoga @ Thoppukarnam:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Powering the Brain: Thoppu-karanam and Super Brain Yoga[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 1 [/FONT][FONT=&quot]In the morning, stand facing the sun, with your feet pointing straight ahead and spread about shoulder width. Keep the tongue pressed firmly into the roof of the mouth[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 2[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Place your left hand on your right ear lobe, thumb on the front of the lobe with fingernail facing outward and second finger behind the ear lobe. The right ear lobe represents the left brain. When you hold the right ear lobe this way, you energize and activate the left brain and pituitary gland.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 3 [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Now, place your right hand on your left ear lobe, so that your thumb is on the front of the lobe facing outward. The left ear lobe represents the right brain. Holding the left ear lobe this way energizes and activates the right brain and the pineal gland.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 4[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Press both earlobes simultaneously, making sure your left arm is inside your right.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Step 5[/FONT][FONT=&quot] As you press on the earlobes, squat down as fully as you can, keeping your back straight. Do 10 to 12 rounds, inhaling through the nose on the way down and exhaling through the mouth coming up.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This method has been widely endorsed by Yale neurobiologist Dr. Eugenius Ang, and prescribed for patients with Alzheimer’s and children with autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.[/FONT]

Benefits : The Super brain exerciseis said to be based on the principles of subtle energy and ear acupuncture. The practice clears our energy centers, or chakras, and integrates the intuitive and emotion-based right hemisphere of the brain with the logical left hemisphere. Normally, the rhythmic patterns of brain waves that is displayed by EEG – namely, the Alpha, Beta,Theta and Delta – occur independently on each side of the brain. During the Super Brain Yoga, as during meditation and deep relaxation, the brain waves sent out are mostly Alpha that are in sync. This enables the meditating person to be alert, creative and in greater control of the body.

Holding the tips of the ears by cross-changing the hands is a short-cut for connecting positive and negative life forces and, while in that position, by doing sit-ups, the vital veins are stretched and the nerves in spinal cord connecting the brain trigger the tender nerves in the brain, which effect multiplies the brain power.

Pillayar kuttu:
You may have seen south indians, when they visit Vinayaka shrine, do toppukarnam… they also knock their forehead(Frontal Lobe and sides(Temple, the temporal lobe – two ends of the forehead) with their knuckles 8 times… this is pillayar kuttu.

When we pray Ganesha (Pillaiyaar) we offer 8 Kuttus on our temple (both sides of Forehead) and 8 Thoppukaranams by our body. These actions have more meanings just more than offering just simple prayer. These processes are really for offering our Karmas made by 8 basic elements - Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, Matsara, Bhaya and Lajja. These are the 8 behaviour oriented qualities or elements or in other words GUNAS. Our Karma is done by hands which is part of our body. We are supposed to do our karma by body (hands is an important tool of our body), speech, and mind -- Kaya, Vaacha, Manasa

Benefits:
It is believed that the nerves connecting to the intellect passes through these two ends and the knocking is to invoke Lord Ganesha, the god of Budhi (intellect).

To be more clear n with scientific point of view, the place where we knock is the “Frontal Lobe”(the Latin word for forehead) and temples(The temporal lobe).. The Frontal lobe is responsible for voluntary movement and planning and is thought to be the most significant lobe for personality and intelligence.

So, by knocking there as well as the temples(sides of the forehead above the ears), we are stimulating those parts of our body(and so brain) by which our emotions are controlled well and so our mind and intellect.
Pillayar Kuttu activates the glands under the roof of the palate(of one’s mouth) which is supposed to ooze necatarine like fluid that can have a vitalizing effect on health, intelligence and age.Under side of the palate roof is also called Amirtha Yoni. (due to the motor cortex and the somatosensorycortex connection with mouth that’s present in the Temporal lobe of the brain)
[FONT=&quot]The typical gentle knocking on the forehead is for activating the chakras in the head -The Ajna and Sahasrara.[/FONT]

I think the religious significance of Pillayar Kuttu and Thoppukaranam are clear now. The scientific explanation in the next post...

Littlerose · Feb 6, 2012

Thoppukarnam and Super Brain Yoga - 2nd part

[FONT=&quot]The science behind Thoppukarnam and the Brain:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you look at the brain from the top, it becomes immediately obvious that it is split in two from front to back. There are, in fact, two hemispheres, almost as if we have two brains in our heads instead of just one. Of course, these two halves are intimately linked together with an arch of white matter called the corpus callosum.
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[FONT=&quot]In various ways, researchers have discovered that the two halves do have some specialization. It is the left hemisphere that relates to the right side of the body (generally), and the right hemisphere that relates to the left side of the body. Also, it is the left hemisphere that usually has language, and seems to be primarily responsible for similar systems such as math and logic. The right hemisphere has more to do with things like spatial orientation, face recognition, and body image. It also seems to govern our ability to appreciate art and music.
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The Frontal Lobe(Forehead)
The executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. Therefore, it is involved in higher mental functions.
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Starting from the central sulcus and working forward, we first have the motor cortex, which sends its signals down to the body to control the skeletal muscles.

Just in front of the motor cortex there is the premotor cortex, which is where we compose and rehearse movements before we engage in them. Broca's area for speech production is part of the premotor cortex.

And then we have the prefrontal cortex, where some of the most interesting things occur. Some say that will power, our sense of reality, and our sense of our own personality reside there.

A few areas of the prefrontal cortex are at least partially understood. The dorsolateral area (high and to the sides) appears to allow us to hold ideas in awareness, focus on them, and even manipulate them.

The ventromedial area (low and close to the midline) seems to be involved in emotional experience and provides us with the feeling that things make sense and have meaning. Low levels of activity here are associated with depression: Nothing makes any sense. High levels, on the other hand, are associated with mania: Every little thing is full of importance!

The orbital area of the prefrontal cortex (just above the eyeballs) tells us when something is wrong and requires serious attention. It also has the ability to inhibit behaviors that are inappropriate, such as those that are harmful to us or are socially unacceptable. This includes the ability to counteract the signals for aggression from the amygdala in the limbic system. It is believed that many violent criminals have had damage to this area of the brain.

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[FONT=&quot]In the most frontal part of the prefrontal lobe is an area devoted to interpreting people's intentions and motives. Autistic people seem to have some sort of defect in this location. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Temporal Lobe (Temple, sides of forehead)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]At the side of the head is the temporal lobe (from the Latin word for temple). The special area of the temporal lobe is the auditory cortex. As the name says, this area is intimately connected with the ears and specializes in hearing. It is located near to the temporal lobe's connections with the parietal and frontal lobes.
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[FONT=&quot]This lobe sits at the two sides of the head, under the temples. The upper part of the temporal lobe, along the Sylvian fissure that separates it from the frontal lobe, is the primary auditory cortex, which receives input from cochlea. The areas around it are devoted to interpreting sounds, and one of these in particular (Wernicke's area, toward the boundary with the parietal lobe in the left hemisphere) is known to be devoted to the understanding of language.

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[FONT=&quot]One of the earliest things discovered about the brain were the speech centers. One is called Broca's area, after the doctor who first discovered it. It is located at the bottom of the left frontal lobe. A patient who had had damage to this area lost his ability to speak, which is called expressive aphasia. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Another area is Wernicke's area, which is nearby Broca's area but in the temporal lobe, right next to the auditory cortex. This is were we understand the meaning of speech, and damage to this area will leave you with receptive aphasia, meaning that you will be unable to understand what is being said to you.
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[FONT=&quot]Occasionally, someone has damage to the connections between Broca's and Wernicke's areas. This leads to conduction aphasia. Someone with this problem can understand speech just fine, and can produce it as well. They just can't repeat something they just heard!
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[FONT=&quot]Another important area is the angular gyrus, just above and behind Wernicke's area. It serves as the connection between the language centers and the visual cortex. If this area is damaged, the person will suffer from alexia (inability to read) and agraphia (inability to write).
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[FONT=&quot]Another area is called the fusiform gyrus, which sits low in the temporal lobe near the occipital lobe. In the left hemisphere, it is responsible for word and number recognition. In the right hemisphere, it is responsible for the crucial human ability to recognize faces. Problems here leave one with a disorder called prosopagnosia ("face blindness"), which makes social life very difficult.

There are medial (inner) areas of the temporal lobes that are closely connected to the hippocampus and appear to be devoted to memory for life events (episodic memory).

One very odd function of the temporal lobe is what some have called the God spot. Stimulation here gives people intense feelings of joy and the sense of being close to some greater power or being "one with the universe." Some epileptic patients get these intense feelings just before seizures, and it is believed that some famous saints and other religious figures may have likewise experiences.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]At the back portion of the frontal lobe, along the sulcus that separates it from the parietal lobe, is an area called the motor cortex. The lowest portions of the motor cortex, closest to the temples, control the muscles of the mouth and face. The portions of the motor cortex near the top of the head control the legs and feet.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Behind the frontal lobe is the parietal lobe (from a Latin word meaning wall). It includes an area called the somatosensory cortex, just behind the sulcus separating this lobe from the frontal lobe. Just like the motor cortex, the somatosensory cortex can be mapped, with the mouth and face closest to the temples and the legs and feet at the top of the head.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So, please understand that doing Thoppukarnam(Super Brain Yoga) along with Pillayar kuttu helps us overcome problems associated in these areas and stimulates the brain and aid us towards self realization and brain attunement.[/FONT]

malaswami · Feb 6, 2012

Thanks for sharing

anurar20 · Feb 6, 2012

wow nice info..........thanks for sharing

SSNmom · Feb 6, 2012

Awesome post!! thank you for posting

jaykay · Feb 6, 2012

Very informative and relevant post. Many thanks.
Jay

Littlerose · Feb 7, 2012

Dear Malaswami, Anu, SSNmom n jay,

Thanks for reading the info. Please try to follow it along with vegetarian diet n regularly for progressive result within one's self. What we eat is what we are... Also, if any teachers are in this elite group, please try to give a copy of this to all ur school students n even elders also is equally benefitted by it... can even pass on to ur friends and collegues... Even those who follow NV diet also can do this.... with god's grace, at one point of time, if u do this regularly with good faith on either ur self/God( coz, both r same, the inner self of u is God), automatically ur mind will turn away from NV... ur body cant digest NV.... that stage is the purification stage within u whoever is following NV.... so both can follow.... but mind should be pure for rest to become pure....

Have a nice day. Do u all know where mind resides? Guess..... Will add that in a seperate thread.... Good Day.

Littlerose · Feb 8, 2012

Thanks for reading this article. Please try to pass it to all ur kith n kin for the benefits associated with it for all. It's both good for kids as well as for elders. For kids to sharpen brain, for elders to control themselves well apart from brain sharpening... when kids do this from small age, they r capable for taking perfect decision n r capable for leading a very well balanced life... Pls. make sure not to overdo it, coz, it may cause "Kundalini Syndrome"...
So, pls. ensure to do max 14 squats if performed in this manner... that's fine... can do it both sandhya kaalam... both in morning n evening the time when sun n moon r visible around 6am/pm. Have a nice day.

wishes n regards,

S. Sriumadevi Srinivasan.