Working reference list, please verify each citation against the original source before treating any of this as final or publishing it further. A few entries describe hypotheses or theoretical models rather than settled findings, noted where relevant.
The woo: Balancing your chakras
Autonomic Nervous System Regulation
Shifting between sympathetic and parasympathetic states
- Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116–143.
- Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2000). A model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation and dysregulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 61(3), 201–216.
- Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571–579.
Note: the specific mapping of each chakra to a named nerve plexus (root–coccygeal, sacral–sacral plexus, solar plexus–celiac plexus, heart–cardiac plexus, throat–pharyngeal plexus, third eye–carotid plexus, crown–cerebral cortex) reflects traditional yogic anatomy, not a peer-reviewed anatomical finding.
The woo: Clearing a limiting belief
Memory Reconsolidation
Updating how an old emotional memory is stored
- Nader, K., Schafe, G. E., & LeDoux, J. E. (2000). Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval. Nature, 406, 722–726.
- Clond, M. (2016). Emotional Freedom Techniques for anxiety: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(5), 388–395.
- Church, D., Stapleton, P., Vasudevan, A., & O'Keefe, T. (2022). Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 951451.
The woo: Manifesting
Mental Contrasting & Implementation Intentions
Pairing a felt future vision with a concrete plan
- Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2010). Strategies of setting and implementing goals: Mental contrasting and implementation intentions. In J. E. Maddux & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Social Psychological Foundations of Clinical Psychology (pp. 114–135). Guilford Press.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Duckworth, A. L., Kirby, T. A., Gollwitzer, A., & Oettingen, G. (2013). From fantasy to action: Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) improves academic performance in children. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(6), 745–753.
Note: this research supports "a vivid vision plus a plan increases follow-through," which is a different claim than "belief causes an external outcome to occur." Worth keeping that distinction clear in any copy built from this section.
The woo: Feeling gratitude in your heart
Vagal Tone & Oxytocin Release
The physiology behind feeling safe and connected
- Kok, B. E., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010). Upward spirals of the heart: Autonomic flexibility, as indexed by vagal tone, reciprocally and prospectively predicts positive emotions and social connectedness. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 432–436.
- Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389.
- Kok, B. E., Coffey, K. A., Cohn, M. A., Catalino, L. I., Vacharkulksemsuk, T., Algoe, S. B., Brantley, M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). How positive emotions build physical health: Perceived positive social connections account for the upward spiral between positive emotions and vagal tone. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1123–1132.
The woo: Trusting your intuition
Interoception & Implicit Pattern Recognition
The body reading patterns before the conscious mind names them
- Craig, A. D. (2009). How do you feel—now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1), 59–70.
- Craig, A. D. (2002). How do you feel? Interoception: The sense of the physiological condition of the body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3(8), 655–666.
- Damasio, A. R. (1996). The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 351(1346), 1413–1420.
The woo: Grounding
Parasympathetic Activation
Slow breath shifting the body out of stress response
- Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353.
- Jerath, R., Edry, J. W., Barnes, V. A., & Jerath, V. (2006). Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: Neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Medical Hypotheses, 67(3), 566–571.
- Brown, R. P., & Gerbarg, P. L. (2005). Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression: Part I — neurophysiologic model. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11(1), 189–201.