David's Inferno (44 page)

• The Epigraph: A prophetic remark from a conversation with one of my favorite psychics in the summer of 2006.

• St. John of the Cross's
Dark Night of the Soul
is one of the classics of Christian spirituality … a poem that describes how a human can be detached from the things of this world and thereby merge with the light of God in much the same way as described by Dante.

• Eckhart Tolle's
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
was published by New World Library in 1999.

• While on the subject of koans and kundalini: the great Hindu guru Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) said that all you really needed to do to raise your kundalini energy was to hammer on that “Who am I?” koan until you broke wide open. Maharshi was a teacher of several of the most important figures who brought Eastern spirituality to the West … including Paul Brunton and Paul Reps.

• The Mary Oliver (b. 1935) poem with the refrain “What blazes the trail is not necessarily pretty,” is called “Skunk Cabbage.” It's in her collection
American Primitive
(1983). She won the Pulitzer Prize for that book.

• “Abraham” is a spirit who's been channeled by a woman named Esther Hicks for more than three decades. As with all such things, it's probably most productive to focus on the message and not worry about the medium.

5-HTP:
A natural amino acid that regulates serotonin levels.

Acetylcholine:
A neurotransmitter involved in memory, learning, and voluntary muscular control … including orgasm! A lack may be associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Acupuncture:
An ancient Chinese medical treatment based on stimulating certain points in the body with tiny needles. Often combined with Chinese herbal medicine.

Agitated Depression:
Just what it like sounds … depression combined with uncontrolled restlessness.

Amino Acids:
The molecules your body uses to make proteins.

Axons:
An umbilical-cord-like thing-a-ma-jig that extends out from the body of the cell and has a whole lot of filaments that shoot out neurotransmitting molecules to other cells.

Ayurvedic:
A traditional Hindu approach to medicine involving massage, hygiene, and herbal remedies.

Bach Flower Remedies:
A collection of plant extracts developed in the 1930s by a British doctor that are commonly used in alternative medicine to treat emotional and mental imbalances. The most famous one is called
Rescue Remedy
. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it … many people find it a much milder and equally effective relaxant as prescription benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepine:
The most common type of sedative and anti-anxiety medication. Including Valium, Lorazepam, and Klonopin. They vary mainly in terms of the therapeutic dosage, half-life, and tendency to lead to addiction.

Bipolar:
Psychiatric condition in which periods of manic behavior alternate with deep depression. Bipolar II is the
milder
form.

Craniosacral:
A special kind of bodywork in which the practitioner makes
subtle adjustments to how the “cranial fluid” is moving. The technique is used by osteopaths and chiropractors as well as massage therapists.

Dendrites:
Tiny receptors on neurons that
receive
the neurotransmitters from axons on other neurons, thereby transmitting “information” (in the form of electric charges or molecular changes).

Dopamine:
Raises alertness and confidence; lowers aggression, compulsivity, and paranoia. Also helps you get a good night's sleep. Parkinson's disease seems to be linked to dopamine deficit. Excessive amounts are a factor in schizophrenia. Speaking of which, cocaine and amphetamines crank the levels up really high.

Dysphoria:
The opposite of euphoria. That is, manic behavior marked by deep anxiety/depression.

Enzyme:
Molecules that increase or decrease the speed of change in cells. The enzymes in the brain break down used neurotransmitters in a way that corresponds to how stomach enzymes break down (digest) food.

Full Spectrum Lights:
Bright lights that mimic the spectrum of the light of the sun in order to help people with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

GABA:
Keeping those GABA levels up can make you feel more relaxed and less anxious. Sedatives often help GABA receptors meet their quotas. It's also the target of several drugs for psychosis. By the way: GABA stands for
gamma-aminobutyric acid
. Might come in handy next time you do a crossword puzzle.

Glutamate:
Glutamate is the other side of the GABA coin. It gets the target neurons more excited. In fact, some drugs that are used for bipolar and schizophrenia may work by somehow balancing the GABA and glutamate receptors.

Hippocampus:
A part of the brain that's particularly involved in memory and orienting yourself in space.

Hypnagogic:
The dream-like images that you see just before falling asleep.

Kundalini:
In Tantric and Kundalini Yoga, concentrated energy in the base of the spine that changes consciousness when it spirals up into the brain. In Sanskrit, “kund” means “to burn.”

Macrobiotic:
A therapeutic diet—and lifestyle—that focuses on eating whole grains and locally-grown vegetables, but little if any meat or processed foods.

Neurons:
Brain cells. Neurons look kind of like giant squids with a whole lot of tentacles and a real whole lot of filaments coming out of each one.

Neurotransmitters:
Molecules made in neurons that transmit signals from one neuron to another. The way a person feels “off” usually depends on which neurotransmitters aren't getting the job done. Even though each
type has its general area of expertise, there's a lot of cross over and they tend to be willing to cover for each other when one wants to go out for a cup of coffee or take a millisecond or two off.

Norepinephrine:
Gets your body up and at 'em by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. So you feel more energized, alert, and able to focus. It's also used in heart medications. (Norepinephrine is another word for adrenaline.)

Petroglyphs:
Pre-historic glyph-like images carved in rocks. There are tens of thousands of them in the Southwest alone.

PTSD:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. While best known, and most prevalent, among soldiers returning from war, the diagnosis is also occasionally given to people with similar symptoms that have been caused by a wide range of other traumas.

Receptors:
You're not going to believe this, but each of the tiny dendrites on a neuron has really, tiny, tiny doors. The doors are different shapes so they'll only let in certain kinds of neurotransmitters and thereby pass along certain kinds of messages. Usually people describe it as a lock and key kind of thing.

Rolfing:
A special form of deep-tissue massage developed by a woman named Ida Rolf in 1971. Among other things, it can have a major impact on your posture.

Serotonin:
The most famous mood-related neurotransmitter. Serotonin can decrease anxiety and aggression while calming and lifting the emotions. There are cells making serotonin through your entire nervous system and, as pointed out in the text, 90% of the serotonin in your body is in your tummy. Think about that next time you have a gut feeling!

Shamanism:
A “magical” religion that, in some cultures, includes ceremonial use of hallucinogenic plants.

Synapse:
The space between cells that neurotransmitters leap across to pass signals from one to another, eventually leading to a part of the brain that knows how to do things like “Crank it up!” or “Chill out!' Or one of a million different variations on those two messages. That is, it's all about getting the brain cells to move and shake in a way Goldilocks would approve of—that is, not too fast, not too slow … just right.

Tyrosine:
An amino acid that neurons use to make neurotransmitters.