The first time I ever heard yoga described as a spiritual science it blew my mind. In our modern world we are taught to keep spirit and science separate. Yet here ancient yogis created an entire science dedicated to understanding the spirit. According to Webster's dictionary, " science n. - knowledge obtained from observation and arranged in a system." Well duh,why can't the spiritual be a science? In fact yoga practices can be considered the technologies and or the lab for greater understanding.
Lately my scientific research has been centered around love as medicine. Now instantly when we mention the word love and science in the same sentence there is a collective eye-roll from the science community, some shifting uncomfortably in their seats, and a disregard as touchy-feely hippie talk, not real science. In both the Indian system of medicine known as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, emotions are taken into account in both the diagnosis and treatment of any dis-ease or illness. In fact in TCM each organ is connected to specific emotions; liver is associated with anger and anxiety, kidneys and fear, spleen worry, lungs are grief, gallbladder is indecisiveness, and heart is joy. Yet Western allopathic medicine scoffs at any mention to our emotions playing a major roll in dis-ease and illness.
Lately I have been observing how and where love shows up in the external world. Turns out it is everywhere! Have you turned on the radio lately or ever listened to music? What is the most common theme? LOVE of course. The ups and downs of falling in or out of love. Outside of the scientific world we can all agree that love, either positive or negative, is the driving force of our human experiences. Yet strangely it is almost universally kept out of our medicine and healing. I had once heard a psychologist talk about her experience working in a refugee camp in Thailand. She worked mainly with women who had escaped the war-torn country of Burma, most of which were dealing with many physical aliments. These women had seen and experienced things we couldn't even imagine. And yet when they came to talk to her all they wanted to talk about was love, Why did their boyfriend run off with their cousin, or who they were attracted to in the camp, or why was their husband being so distant from them now that they had made it out of Burma. Love and it's many forms was the most significant theme that any of the women talked about.
We are taught God is Love. If God is love and God's spirit is within us all than are we not also made up of love as well? If our spirit is ultimately love, and our body is the vessel which communicates the spirit then how can we possibly disconnect what is happening in our bodies and how we are either feeling or not feeling the love in our lives? And what the effect of those feelings are having on our bodies? Here's a little experiment- take a moment to go back into an experience of illness or dis-ease in your own life? Where you feeling loved at the time of onset? Either self love or love from others?
Maybe the reason there are so many dis-eases out there that are yet to be cured is because our science has been asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking, "what is the genetic mutation that causes breast cancer?" we should be asking, "do you love yourself? Do you feel loved? Do you belong to a community and/or support networks? Do you have friends you can laugh with? How's your relationship with your partner? Do you feel you give and receive love freely?" In my opinion, most modern science no matter how advance it may be, has utterly failed to observe the most basic and common evidence.
Could it really be that simple? Yes. I believe it is. I challenge you to a science project of your own. For this next week observe all the signs and symbols of love you see around you. Just witness and observe. Even better yet, collect the data and arrange in your own research project. The following is a collage of evidence I have collected on my daily walk...
Exhibit A:
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