Venkat’s text:
I assume self induced pause is the reason for Parkinson’s disease. I step out of pause by practising detachment from the body. For the detachment from the body, I view the self is different from the body. I am soul, and not the body. I, a soul, a point of energy is a guest in the body. As a guest, I leave the body.
Chagpt’s response:
Thank you for explaining your perspective. What you’ve described combines a personal hypothesis about Parkinson’s disease with a spiritual meditation practice.
From a scientific standpoint, it’s important to separate these two ideas:
- “Self-induced pause is the reason for Parkinson’s disease.”
- At present, this is not supported by scientific evidence. The prevailing evidence indicates that Parkinson’s disease involves degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons and abnormal alpha-synuclein protein accumulation.
- It remains possible that stress, autonomic state, and learned movement patterns influence how symptoms are expressed, but they have not been shown to be the root cause of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.
- “Stepping out of pause by practising detachment from the body.”
- This is a meditation practice that may have genuine benefits, even if the explanation for why it works differs from Hadlock’s theory.
- Feeling like an observer rather than identifying completely with bodily sensations can reduce anxiety, muscle tension, and fear of symptoms. These changes can improve movement in some people and make Parkinson’s symptoms feel less intrusive.
Your description closely resembles a form of contemplative practice found in several spiritual traditions. You wrote:
“I am a soul, not the body. I am a point of energy. The body is my instrument. As a guest, I leave the body.”
This type of meditation shifts attention away from the body’s discomfort and toward a stable sense of awareness. There are several possible neuroscience-based explanations for why such a practice may help:
- It may reduce activation of stress circuits involving the amygdala.
- It may decrease sympathetic (“fight-or-flight”) nervous system activity.
- It may increase parasympathetic activity associated with relaxation.
- It may improve attention and reduce excessive self-monitoring of movement.
- Over time, it may promote beneficial neuroplastic changes in brain networks involved in emotion and motor control.
These mechanisms are actively studied in meditation research, although they do not imply that the underlying neurodegeneration has been reversed.
Given what you’ve shared previously about your Parkinson’s disease and your long-standing interest in meditation, this practice could be a valuable complement to your medical treatment if it helps you feel calmer, move more freely, or cope better with symptoms.
One thought about your wording: rather than saying, “As a guest, I leave the body,” it may be clearer to say:
“As a soul, I gently detach my awareness from the body. I observe the body as my instrument while remaining peacefully aware.”
That expresses the meditative experience without implying a literal physical departure from the body. It also aligns better with what is studied in neuroscience: a change in attention and self-perception rather than an actual separation of consciousness from the body.
It would also be worthwhile to treat your experience as something you can observe rather than as proof of a particular theory. For example, you could keep a journal before and after meditation, noting changes in rigidity, tremor, voice, walking speed, mood, and stress. Over time, that can help you determine which aspects of the practice consistently improve your symptoms, regardless of the underlying explanation.
Parkinsons recovery on untrodden path 