The endocrine correspondences
Sunita's notebook links each note to a gland. The pages are unusual for the whole book — they are written in careful clinical English, with hormone names spelled out and functions described accurately.
They are also the pages where a practitioner is most likely to say something they should not. So before the table, the rule.
Nothing in this lesson is a mechanism. There is no evidence that playing a bowl changes hormone production, and the notebook does not claim it. Sound work does not treat thyroid conditions, diabetes, fertility problems, adrenal disorders or anything else on this page. If a client raises any of them, the answer is a doctor — see Lesson 3.2.
By the end of this lesson you will know which gland the tradition associates with each note, understand why that correspondence exists at all, and be able to discuss it accurately without overclaiming.
The correspondences
| Note | Gland | What it actually does |
|---|---|---|
| C | Testes · Ovaries | Testosterone in men, driving sperm production and secondary sex characteristics. Oestrogen and progesterone in women, required for the development of the egg. |
| D | Pancreas · Adrenals | Insulin and glucagon, which regulate glucose in the blood. The adrenals release epinephrine and norepinephrine, which help the body deal with stress. |
| E | Thymus | Releases thymosin, which stimulates the development of T cells — part of the immune system, and most active in childhood. |
| F | Not recorded in the notebook. | |
| G | Thyroid · Parathyroid | The thyroid produces thyroxine, which regulates metabolism. The four parathyroid glands release parathyroid hormone, regulating calcium in the blood. |
| A | Pineal | Releases melatonin, involved in rhythmic activities including the daily sleep and waking cycle. |
| B | Pituitary · Hypothalamus | The pituitary produces hormones that regulate many of the other endocrine glands. The hypothalamus makes the hormones that control the pituitary, and others that are stored in it. |
The notebook records no gland for F. We have left the row empty rather than filling it from another source.
Why the correspondence exists at all
Here is the part worth understanding, and it requires no belief whatsoever.
The endocrine glands are arranged up the body in almost exactly the same vertical order as the chakras.
- Gonads — in the pelvis, where the root and sacral sit
- Pancreas and adrenals — in the abdomen, at the sacral and solar plexus
- Thymus — in the chest, at the heart
- Thyroid and parathyroid — in the neck, at the throat
- Pineal — deep in the brain, behind the point called the third eye
- Pituitary and hypothalamus — also in the brain, at the crown
A tradition that divided the body into ascending centres and a science that catalogued hormone-producing organs ended up describing the same column of the body in the same order. That is not evidence that one validates the other. It is evidence that both were looking at a body that has a real structure, and there are only so many ways to divide it.
That framing is both honest and considerably more interesting than the version where sound is claimed to operate on glands.
One place the fit is loose. The thymus sits behind the breastbone, in the chest — which is heart height rather than solar plexus height. The notebook assigns it to E, the solar plexus. It is close but not exact, and we would rather point that out than smooth it over. The correspondence is a good approximation, not a perfect overlay.
The zeal point
Beside G, Sunita writes zeal point.
That is a term from a different tradition again — a minor centre described in some systems as sitting at the base of the skull, behind the throat. Its appearance here is a small piece of evidence for how much has been absorbed into this teaching from elsewhere, which is what happens to any living tradition.
We have recorded it because she recorded it. We cannot tell you more than that.
How to talk about this with a client
The temptation is to use the gland names because they sound authoritative. Resist it, and if a client asks, be precise:
The tradition links each note to a gland, and it's a neat mapping because the endocrine glands really do run up the body in the same order as the chakras. That's a nice bit of anatomy rather than a claim about what the bowls do. Nothing I'm doing here changes your hormones.
A practitioner who says that is more impressive than one who implies otherwise, and considerably safer.
Practice
Learn the vertical order, on your own body, with your hands.
- Sit quietly and place a hand at the pelvis. Gonads.
- Move to just above the navel. Pancreas, and the adrenals sitting behind, on top of the kidneys.
- Behind the breastbone. Thymus.
- The front of the throat, either side of the windpipe. Thyroid, with the four parathyroids behind it.
- Between and behind the brows. Pineal, deep in the middle of the brain.
- Just above and behind the bridge of the nose. Pituitary, with the hypothalamus above it.
- Do it twice more, without the list.
Ten minutes, and you will keep it. This is real anatomy and it is worth knowing whether or not you ever mention it in a session.
Common mistakes
- Implying the bowls act on the glands. The one that matters. It is a claim you cannot support.
- Using gland names to sound expert. Clients can tell, and the ones who cannot are the ones you should protect.
- Offering sessions for thyroid problems, diabetes or fertility. Never. These are exactly the conditions people ask about, and exactly the ones where a false hope does harm.
- Filling in the F row. The notebook does not record one. Neither should you.
- Treating the mapping as exact. The thymus is at heart height, not solar plexus. Approximation, not overlay.
How do you know you got it right?
You can name the glands in order from the pelvis to the crown, say what each one does in a sentence, and explain why the correspondence exists without claiming a mechanism.
That last one is the real test, and it is the difference between a practitioner who is trusted by a nurse and one who is quietly dismissed by them.
Something to sit with
Two entirely separate ways of looking at a person — one ancient and energetic, one modern and biochemical — divided the body into a column of centres and put them in the same order.
What do you think that agreement is actually about?