Hello! This my first time posting anything here, but this seems like a good place for this.
I've been looking at an account of some studies that were done in 1970, where Swami Rama visited a lab in Kansas to allow them to take some measurements while he demonstrated some of his self regulation abilities. Some of these were really interesting, so I am going to describe some of the highlights here.
Here is one of the interesting ones:
Swami Rama told the researchers he would raise the temperature of the Hypothenar (pinky) side of his right hand several degrees above the Thenar (thumb) side of the same hand. Thermistors were attached to the hand, close to the wrist, at these two points. One was just over the hypothenar muscles, and the other was just over the thenar muscles. The researchers remained in the room with him during the experiment, and they observed that he did not move his hands during the demonstration. After about 13 minutes, they observed that the hypothenar side was at 95 degrees and looked pink, while the thenar side was 84 degrees and looked grey.
Swami Rama explained to the researchers that this differential control of the temperature in one hand was one of the most difficult things he had learned to do. The neural controls over the radial and ulnar arteries in the wrist are only a few millimeters apart in the central nervous system.
The experiment continued from this point, and at 20 minutes, his heart rate (in beats per minute) was 90. About 6 minutes later he said to the researchers "test my heart immediately!" At that point, his heart rate was down to 60.
Another heart rate experiment was done later, where at the time he started, his heart rate was 74. One of the directors, using the intercom in the room, asked the researchers to have him slow his heart again. He replied "I heard that. I will do it." His heart rate immediately began to drop, and after 50 seconds it had slowed to 52.
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