It has been variously named: Epiphysis, cerebral epiphysis, pineal body, conarium.
Like all the other glands of the body, the Pineal Gland is an organic system that has the fundamental function of producing substances indispensable for the correct functioning of the body, both physical and mental. Even today we still do not have absolute knowledge of all its functions, in a complete way.
The main substance it produces is the hormone Melatonin. What is it used for? We will explain it later.
The glands, in general, are divided into endocrine and exocrine. Endocrine glands are those that release the substances they produce directly into the bloodstream or interstitial fluid. The exocrine glands release their substances into various ducts or cavities to be transported to various points, but they are not discharged into the blood.
The Pinal gland is endocrine, that is, the substances it produces are discharged into the bloodstream (gr. endon: within, inside, internal, interior; krino: to judge, to discern, to separate).
An important part of the glandular subsystem is intimately related to the Limbic system since it supplies it with diverse substances and mainly with hormones. This Limbic system is a set of cellular structures located in the brain that develops functions of regulation of emotions, both positive and negative (Future Post THE LIMBIC SYSTEM AND THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM).
We have already mentioned that when we keep walking in a recurrent way, by the only fact of doing this activity -without incorporating any other-, we promote that our body, generates by itself, certain substances in our organism that are essential for its optimal functioning. Physical exercise (WALKING) and mental exercise (READING, WRITING AND DRAWING), which integrally promotes the WALK-RWD System, stimulate the brain in an intense way that in turn produces positive impulses toward other parts of the brain itself and towards other systems, organs and glands of the body, among the latter, is the Pineal, which produces the hormone Melatonin. However, we know that the Pineal gland decreases in its function as we age, so we must stimulate it by walking, just as we stimulate the generality of the other glands and organs of the body.
It has also been known for a long time that this gland can also be stimulated by darkness, so it invites us to take -also- our walks where the luminosity is minimal, just enough so as not to trip or fall; and consequently, it hormonal productivity decreases with light.
Let us see succinctly this process generated by the intensity of light. The eyes, through their sensitive cells located in the retina (photo-receptor cells of the eye), receive the light and generate stimuli that inhibit the Pineal Gland, so it begins to stop producing Melatonin.
The indication of luminosity begins in the eyes, which through their optic nerves send signals to the brain, within the complete 24-hour circadian cycle (Post THE WALK AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. PART I), and this sends its own waves through the Sympathetic system, up to the spinal cord, and through the superior cervical ganglion, reaches the Pineal Gland, inhibiting it.
The flashes and light signals are a relevant part in the establishment and modulation of circadian rhythms (24-hour circadian cycle) as the optic nerves in turn resend signals through the system composed of the retina and the hypothalamus impacting the Pineal Gland.
Why is the Pineal Gland stimulated by darkness to produce Melatonin?
Melatonin is the hormone that modulates sleep, and is intimately related to circadian rhythms.
Let’s take it one step at a time.
I have already mentioned in several occasions that using the WALK-RWD System the intellectual capacity, the imagination, the memory and the creativity are increased, besides that the potentialities to learn and process the data and the information that we read and write are increased. The answer is that the brain produces substances in greater proportions when performing these 4 activities, either simultaneously or separately, but always walking. In our case, the Pineal Gland increases its production of Melatonin if we walk at night, with low illumination.
The Pineal gland reaches its maximum production of Melatonin in the dark, and with it we can facilitate our inclination to sleep, we will know better which is the time to go to bed, that is to say, our circadian rhythms will be in normal conditions, and this will allow us to reach the best and deepest phases of sleep (Delta Phase, Post WALKING AND SONMBULISM). We express in this Post:
Sleep has several levels of intensity; it can be deep, medium or light.
The Delta phase is when the human being truly rests since it is when the generation of delta waves predominates, hence its name. When we are sleeping in this phase it is very difficult to wake up and if we do we feel confused and disoriented, we do not know where we are. Also some vital signs drop in level, such as heart rate and respiratory rate.
Likewise, in this deep or delta sleep phase, certain anomalies and irregularities are also generated, which have been called “sleep disorders” and sleepwalking is one of them. Within this group it is located in the subgroup of Parasomnias, being these disorders in which the dreamer wakes up during brief periods, without being able to wake up completely, that is to say, the dream is interrupted but the person does not wake up.
WHAT IS THE MELATONIN HORMONE USED FOR?
To what extent is it the imbalance of the hormone Melatonin that generates, in part, these sleep disorders?
What is regularly mentioned about the benefits and scope of this hormone Melatonin is the following: “Melatonin is a very important hormone, it decreases with age; its beneficial effects on the body: it protects against cancer, against radiation and herbicides, prevents certain tumors, improves immunity. It circulates throughout the body and is an antioxidant. It decreases the risk of osteoporosis. NO to melatonin supplements. It must be produced by the body itself”.
All of them are true, there is no doubt about it.
Indeed, we must know that if the Melatonin Hormone is consumed as a pharmaceutical product, in high doses, it is dangerous, since it can alter the circadian rhythms and thus cause sleep problems, with consequences in wakefulness. Even if our organism produces high levels of Melatonin, it is also dangerous.
We must ensure that it is generated by our own body, at acceptable levels. How? The most important thing is to walk in near darkness – without effort – and on a regular basis, but not necessarily every day. Darkness is the basis of Melatonin generation. An acceptable way is to walk in a natural way, on paths with few lights.
It is very important to know that the Melatonin Hormone also acts in organs and other glands of the human body, such as in the ocular system (light-darkness), sexual system (ovaries and testicles), hypothalamus, pituitary, hippocampus, veins, large and small intestine, and others, so its function is quite impacting on mental and bodily functions, for better thinking, proper digestion, good sexual performance, favorable work performance, etc. It is a regulating, balancing, harmonizing, leveling, and stabilizing hormone.
There are several ways to effectively increase Melatonin, without taking drugs:
-Do not take caffeine.
-Do not drink alcoholic beverages.
-No smoking.
-Do not watch television at night.
-Avoiding or decreasing stress.
-Reduce cell phone use at night
Doing:
-Exercise by walking.
It is worth explaining this recommendation.
No strenuous exercise should be performed at the beginning of the night, and less late at night (Future Post WALKING OR RUNNING, THERE IS A DILEMMA). However, we have already commented in previous posts that walking is a natural exercise and can be done in the evenings without being practiced intensely. You can and should walk at night -as we have already mentioned- to increase the production of the hormone Melatonin (Future Post WALKING AT NIGHT. CIRCADIAN EFFECTS); this will give us better sleep and a balance of our circadian rhythms (Post THE WALK AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS-PART I).
CIRCADIAN EFFECTS: For thousands of years Homo Sapiens got used (nomadic) to walk day and night (wanderers), so walking should be programmed to be done day and night (Future Post WALKING AT NIGHT. CIRCADIAN EFFECTS).
The hormone Melatonin also favors the strengthening of the Immune System, mainly because a good level of this hormone satisfies the organism making it rest at night.
Perhaps we could say that the Immune System is favored to a greater or lesser degree if the individual is an early riser, a night owl, or any of the different levels between these two demarcations of being able to get a good night’s sleep, every day.
Which “nicteotype” are you? To whatever degree you are, your type is being conditioned and regulated by your Melatonin.
The hormone Melatonin is synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan, which undergoes a transformation to become Serotonin. And during the night, this Serotonin is transformed into Melatonin.
Observing and using other analytical fields, I have to comment on aspects of the collective unconscious and the “Absence Archetype” in order to answer with another foreshortening, of the intellectual type, the generation of Melatonin by stimulating the Pineal Gland. The archetype “Absence”, like all archetypes, is an absolute and universal concept. It is also a psychic projection or spiritual image generated in the collective unconscious and that emerge to the consciousness after long periods of time, produced by repeated experiences fundamentally from the most remote times by the observation with the naked eye of the behavior of the stars (the Sun, the Moon, Venus, etc.) following one another, appearing and disappearing, in a reiterative and infinite way in time and space, in such a way that they have been engraved in the collective unconscious. They manifest and reveal themselves to the physical medium in various ways, among them plastic art. It was shaped by the concealment of the stars that were observed with the naked eye. Jung speaks of this renewal by pointing out that since the archaic mind it has been inscribed that everything must “die” and be “reborn” although I consider that it should not be confused with the new, with the ritual of the new, with the restart of the cycle, of the astrological periods although they are related; that is, it is not coincident with the “revival” of those who lacked life, the resurrection of the hero, of the guide, of the redeemer. The ortho of the sun has always been the new being born from the mother darkness, which defines the cycle of eternal rebirth or eternal return. Frazer in his book The Golden Bough, mentions a mythological manifestation of this archetype, pointing out: “… whereas Zeus’ decision that Adonis [Tammuz, god of the Semitic peoples of Babylonia and Syria] should remain part of the year under the ground [with Persephone, queen of the nether world], in darkness, and part above the ground [with Aphrodite, goddess of love], is only the Greek version of the annual disappearance and reappearance of Tammuz [as a projection of the movement of the stars, of the Sun mainly, in his daily appearance and disappearance; of the god who dies annually and returns to revive the eternal circle of birth-dying-rebirth]”. Dintornism. A plastic-philosophical theory of reality (*).
And continuing with the subject of divinities, we can comment that there is also a relationship with what Rick Strassman (specialist in clinical psychiatry) exposed in the 90’s of the last century. In his book The Spirit Molecule he expressed that the Pineal Gland appears in the fetus 49 days after conception, which caused some Buddhist currents to associate this with their belief that the spirit (the soul) incarnates in the human being in that same period of 49 days.
Some other spiritual-philosophical currents point out that this gland is intimately related to the spirit, with what they point out as the “Third eye”, which has associated it with “awakening” (Post THE PATH OF VACUITY). Reaching Nirvana and Awakening.
Yoga, is an oriental discipline that seeks the body to express itself in rest, in all its varieties and manifestations. It is recursively said that “The body prays in silence”. People who practice this system of Yoga seek to Awaken, communicate and confess with their own Spirit (Loya-Lopategui, Carlos, The Holy Spirit confesses [The Holy Spirit is confessed], 2022 **). De Mello considers that being awake is requisite to be able to reach freedom, but also to be able to exercise and transmit it, asserting that the only experience that is truly worthwhile in life is that of achieving awakening.
The body, besides praying in silence, also prays out loud with the mantras. It does it out loud when it vibrates in the practice of Yoga, with the Sanskrit syllable A-U-M. The mantras are the thoughts that are emitted out loud -although they are also performed in Sotto Voce– which are conjugated in invocations and prayers, which are repeated in some of the paths of yoga, to achieve liberation, awakening, and ecstasy (Post LISTENING TO OUR BODY WHILE WALKING).
To conclude, I would like to raise a couple of questions that I will try to answer in future Posts:
We know at what average age we start walking; we also know at what age women and at what age men -here appears the word Gender in the title of this Post-; but: Why do women start walking earlier than men? Why do human beings not start walking immediately when they are born, like all other mammalian animals?
I will explain the answers in future posts, within the wide subject of Hormonal Glands. Of course, all of them have an important relationship with the human being’s walking: in a high degree of importance the Thymus, Thyroid, Pituitary or Hypophysis, Suprarenal, and also relevant Sebaceous, Meibomian, Salivary, Cowper’s, Sweat, Bartholin’s, Skene’s, etc. glands.
Let’s go for a walk and also enjoy walking at night. Our senses will sharpen, become more sensitive and work in a more perceptive way, and of course, all our organs, systems and glands will gladly start working to the rhythm of our feet.
(*) Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Dintornismo. Una teoría plástico-filosófica de la realidad, EMULISA, México, 2012.
(**) Loya Lopategui, Carlos, The Holy Spirit confesses, EMULISA, México, 2022.