Holy-wood (Tabernanthe iboga)
People of the equatorial regions of Africa have used the iboga plant as
an herb of initiation and as a rite of passage and for millennia.
Ibogaine generates period of lucid vivid dream-state that coincides
with extensive rewiring and resetting of the opioid nervous system.
Deborah C. Mash of the University of Miami School of Medicine is
finding it "extremely effective" in blocking withdrawal from opiates;
she says it is a very gentle detox. Not only is ibogaine an effective
addiction interrupter for most substances, including heroin, methadone,
methamphetamine, cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine, but it also can be
used to transcend the compulsive, habitual levels of consciousness in
which all addiction is manifest. It is also ideally suited for use by
those from traumatic origins and PTSD in general as a means of
liberation from the past. The dream-like "visions" don't cause any
LSD-like euphoria that would tempt the repeated use of the drug. They
say the experience is exhausting for you're up for about 36 hours in
peak visual activity.
Carl Anderson and colleagues at Harvard Medical
School and the Brain Imaging Center at McLean Hospital have been
studying a critically important region of the brain called the cerebellar vermis.
The cerebellar vermis, lies at the midline region of the cerebellum
lobe...at the back of the head. It is involved in enabling us to walk
upright, giving us the ability to regulate our breathing independent of
motion--thereby permitting language and laughter. The cerebellum and
vermis process sensory inputs to influence cortical excitability and
enhance motor learning and execution. Carl Anderson thinks the vermis
and cerebellum are central to all methods of healing and the effects of
all drugs. He says the vermis could very well be connected with
kundalini energy, as acupuncture and also yoga may have strong effects
on this region.
Neuroimaging studies point to the vermis being involved many
neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders, from drug abuse, childhood
abuse, addiction, attention deficit disorder, Parkinson's disease and
possibly mercury poisoning. . Research suggests that early
abuse/deprivation maybe associated with a functional deficit in
limbic-vermis networks and could help set the stage for) later
substance abuse. The vermis appears to connect many apparently
unconnected psychiatric disorders and also appears to play a role in
the development of epilepsy or limbic seizures. Studies found that
electrical stimulation of the vermis suppresses the spread of epileptic
seizures by quelling excitability within the limbic system.
Blood flow follows consciousness/nerve flow and
nerve-flow/consciousness follows blood. Abnormal neuronal activity and
blood flow in the vermis of those that have endured childhood sexual
abuse or neglect, is no doubt one of the factors involved in their
reduced emotional affect stability, dissociation, increased
hypervigilance and lack of mind-body coordination, because of the
reduced regulation from a deficient vermis.
One of the factors leading to this dysfunction is the excess levels
of corticosteroids during early stress which negatively impacts the
development of the cerbellar vermis. This in turn may increase the risk
of substance abuse later in life. Reduced enrichment and development of
the vermis through early trauma may increase the propensity for
kundalini awakenings, due to lack of "braking" on the limbic system.
Studies by Carl Anderson and associates show that early stress and
maltreatment may interfere with the development of the vermis of the
cerebellum, and produce neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with the
later development of substance abuse. In a paper at
remfractal.mclean.org/integrative_role_cog_emotion.pdf Carl says that
drug addiction is highly associated with early child abuse, ADHD and
bipolar disorder--conditions that correlate strongly with vermis
pathology.
The drug Ibogaine is derived from the root of the African Tabernanthe iboga
tree, has been found useful in treating drug addiction. Ibogaine
strongly activates the climbing fiber projections to the vermis which
is a strong influence on the Purkinje cells, the major output neuron of
the vermis. The loss of the ability to coordinate muscular movement
(Ataxia) and nausea develops first, followed then by auditory and
visual hallucinations which occur in rapid succession like a movie
running at high speed, then when the effects of this drug subside the
subject can sometimes sleep for 24 hours and awaken with complete
remission from their addiction. Ibogaine is hypothesized to break the
habitual cognitive-emotional patterns of drug addiction by resetting
the vermis networks and restoring a more normal pre-abuse neural
organization. For those who have had rocky beginnings in life and who
are kundalini active and having a difficult time of it, treatment with
Ibogaine may be a viable method of resetting the brain. (Please do not
try this at home, I mention it here purely as a suggestion for further
research in the area.)
This excerpt from an article by Carl Anderson is from one of the
most fascinating pieces of writing on psychiatry on the web. It reminds
me of Michael Persinger's work on personality and functional
differences between the two sides of the brain at www.innerworlds.50megs.com
Ibogaine Therapy in Chemical Dependency and Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder: A Hypothesis Involving the Fractal Nature of Fetal REM Sleep
and Interhemispheric Reintegration.
"Based on his clinical experience and the seminal work of Roger
Sperry, Dr. Schiffer has proposed, that we all have, in fact, two minds
or personalities, one in each hemisphere. Using a new therapeutic
technique called lateral visual field stimulation (LVFS), he has
observed clinically a dramatic manifestation of disparate dual
personalities in subjects who have suffered from abuse or PTSD during
their lives. In effect, Dr. Schiffer proposes that our two hemispheres
are like joined minds, mental Siamese twins, who learn in early life to
function harmoniously sharing their unique specializations. This
harmony is fragmented by abuse or trauma, which unbalances the twins
and leads to a unending pathological struggles of dominance resulting
in a wide range of personality disorders. For example, one twin, the
right in many cases retains the abuse memory and as a result is less
mature, and will take control in times of stress or anger, sabotaging
the good efforts of the more mature side. This replaces the Freudian
concept of the unconscious with Sperry's findings of two minds.
Interhemispheric struggles, primary a result of child abuse, may be the
fundamental psychological root of drug addiction...Ibogaine, possibly
in combination with hemispheric reintegration techniques, may
potentially free the minds of many individuals (addicts, rape victims,
violent criminals, victims of child abuse, war or natural disasters)
suffering from the debilitating emotional disregulation resulting from
hemispheric disharmony...In the hypothesis I proposed that ibogaine
works through multiple neurotransmitter systems to create within
amygdaloid-brainstem systems a self-organized critical oneiric state or
state of plasticity, similar to states of plasticity existing during
fetal development. This critical brain state may facilitate the
consolidation of traumatic memories, reversal of abnormal hemispheric
functional and the dissolution of habitual motor patterns associated
with addiction." C.M. Anderson, PhD
Since morphine stopped Christina Grof's
kundalini during the birthing of a child, there is a possibility that
Ibogaine might also be used as a method to quickly halt kundalini. I am
not sure about the mechanism of Ibogaine...but if it manages to allow
people to overcome their opiate addictions then it must severely
interact with the endorphin/opiate/anandamide mechanisms in the body. I
think that for sure the initial blast of combining Ibogaine with
kundalini would be a radical amplification of symptoms, but I suspect
that such an interference with the normal firing patterns of both
kindling, seizures and kundalini might actually lead to a cessation of
the tenacity of the kindling pattern to re-establish itself and
continue.
Ibogaine might offer an adequate perturbation of synchronous firing
and return the brain to normal, by changing the rhythm of the brains
firing patterns. Especially if it somehow can remove deficient wiring
from the PTSD of childhood trauma. In fact theraputic use of ibogaine
might actually be seen as an alternative method of radical brain
reconstruction in order to avoid extended periods of negative kundalini
effects. Ibogaine might be useful for people seriously wanting to stop
kundalini and not willing to ride it out and adapt to it...such as the
mentally/emotionally unstable or those in unsupportive environments.
Thus Ibogaine should be one of the things researched as potential
method of stopping kundalini. Of course there are slower and perhaps
more tried and true methods to reduce kundalini with diet and
supplements.
Those who are addicted to drugs or substances are both looking for
the sacred and seeking relief from their pain, because the abused child
in a dysfunctional family holds such incredible pain within their
nervous system. We often turn to addiction to cope, rather than find
healthy ways to perturb repressive anaesthetizing mechanisms and
unleash this pain in order for the nervous system to mature.
A kundalini awakening will do the work of rewiring and offer the
traumatized and armored some relief from their condition. However I
would say rarely would any highly addicted person be strong enough for
kundalini, nor informed and wise enough to navigate its course. Thus
substances like Ibogaine and other entheogens and the shamanistic path
in general could one of the best "Ways" of rehabilitation for the long
suffering and addicted. First build up the tribal brain to reintegrate
the individual back into a community sense, perhaps for the first time,
this reduces the isolationism that drives the individual to seek drug
relief in the first place. Once the tribal brain has been reformed,
then the individual's soul-contribution or god given gift needs to be
discovered and developed. When this is done and stabilized, the chances
of regression are slim if treatment is carried out in a comprehensive
fashion--such as in community with a guide and assistance to establish
new skills, resources and life-patterns.
Recovery is not a mere matter of detoxification. The successful emergence from the clutches of addiction requires a death and rebirth
in order for the wiring to be so altered that the individual is simply
above gravitating to self-destructive means of self-regulation.
Kundalini is the alchemical force of death and rebirth...it is the
force of Spirit itself in the body. Although kundalini does follow
normal neuro-detoxification patterns that affect us all whether we know
it or not, it is far more than mere detoxification, it is the process
of death and resurrection. It is one of the few ways in which there is
enough death of the "old," to make way for significant "new," in order
to make large advances in spiritual evolution in one lifetime. There is
simply no significant maturation possible without the transformative
process of death and rebirth. Thus death and rebirth must be the
pivotal principle in any deep understanding of kundalini. It must also
be the pivotal principle in any program that seeks to help the addicted
emerge from the clutches of their affliction.
Like Ibogaine, Ayahuasca might be beneficial in addiction recovery,
especially when used in a ritual context such as the Santo Daime
religion in Brazil. I was talking to a guy who belongs to a Santo Daime
group in Ireland, and he said that when you have a group of "old
timers" they hold the group together and facilitate the experience of
participants so that it is most "evolutionary" and productive. Thus the
drug is used in a transpersonal sense for the evolution of the
individuals. Without the ritual-binding and conscious presence of the
old timers, both organization and progress breakdown, and participants
have a "harder" time with the drug. Careful use of drugs like Ibogaine
and Ayahuasca might be another cathartic method for exorcising chronic
pathological kundalini symptoms and bringing the "restructuring work"
to a faster close. But this will only be of positive advantage in the
context of social enrichment, occupational and physical rehabilitation.
One night after Carl Anderson got me focused on the cerebellum I
didn't sleep till 4am, and for the first few hours of trying to get to
sleep I was negatively ruminating. I touched the back of my head as I
often do bodywork on myself in bed, and I noticed that the area of the
"right cerebellum" was sore like it was bruised...however hours later
when I was no longer negatively ruminating the soreness left. This is
fascinating that the brain activity occurring inside the skull can
impact the surface of the skin such that one can feel pain there. Of
course I have noticed my scalp becoming sore from brain activity
before, but never so succinctly tied it into specific mind processes
and specific area. So the cerebellum is involved in negative rumination
eh, key to motive and motivation. Rather than stimulating higher action
of course it just gives us a headache. No doubt passionate,
unconscious, reactive, defensive and aggressive responses are sourced
from this area. This just shows you that compassion is its own reward,
in that we are the first ones to benefit from our own good mental
states. Of course any degree of deep breathing would have prevented a
gloomy mood in the first place.
If you want others to be happy, practice happiness. If you want to be happy, practice happiness.
©2006
Biology of Kundalini by Jana Dixon