You have probably heard someone say that they felt a chill when they experienced stress, fear, or the flu. Likewise, you may have heard about someone who says they feel a chill as a sign or a communication from someone who is no longer in this life.

Thus, it becomes a curiosity to know what is the cause of this feeling that eventually people of all ages can perceive at some point in their lives. Besides, there are scientific explanations about this subject, as well as those referring to spirituality.

Understanding why we feel shivering is the reason for this article that addresses the concepts and interpretations so that it can be understood in all its aspects. Read on and realize the spectacular complexity of this response that the human brain sends to the body to restore balance.

What is a shiver?

According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, shivering is a "set of small contractions of the skin and skin muscles throughout the body, often with strong trembling and pallor, accompanying a sensation of cold caused by low temperature, poor organic condition, or fear, horror, disgust, etc. Moreover, it is described as a "feeling of cold and strong trembling, sometimes with the beating ofteeth, which precede or accompany fits of fever."

So that shiver that you feel or notice on your skin when your hair becomes raised is called shivering, which anyone can have, at any age and for various reasons. It usually passes quickly, but it is also an indicator of inflammation and infection that should be promptly treated by a doctor.

Shivering according to science

The normal temperature of the human body is 36.5º C. If there is a loss of body heat, this temperature drops and a sensation of cold occurs. However, the brain protects the entire organism and, upon receiving this sensation through the hypothalamus, commands the muscles to contract, causes goose bumps, raises the hairs and causes trembling throughout the body, with the objective of restoring the normal body temperature.body.

Therefore, shivering is a tactic of the brain, with bodily reaction, to alleviate the sensation of cold and balance the temperature necessary for the body to keep well. With the shivering hairs together, for example, they form a cushion of warm air to retain heat. If for our ancestors, whose bodies were covered with hair, this made sense, nowadays, where we are more and morewaxed, this defense is no longer as effective. This is why shaking makes more sense to warm up.

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In addition, chills can be signs that the body is not physiologically well and may be defending itself against a dysfunction or illness. They can manifest as a result of:

• Fever;
• Cold;
• Flu;
• Mononucleosis ("kissing disease," an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, transmitted through saliva, which causes inflammation and whitish plaques in the throat, fever, and swelling in the neck);
• Pyelonephritis (inflammation of the renal parenchyma and pelvis caused by bacterial infection);
• Meningitis;
• Urinary Tract Infection;
• Hypoglycemia, especially in diabetics;
• Hypothyroidism;
• Anemia;
• Inflammation of the prostate.

It is important to pay attention to the chills and try to understand the cause, because if they last 24 hours or more, if they are constant, or if some other concomitant symptom is noticed, this time should be disregarded, and it is recommended to seek medical diagnosis to solve the cause as soon as possible. Chills are common in pregnant women.

Just as a cat, for example, reacts by raising its hair and stiffening its muscles, our body has the same reaction, although it works more for it to scare away the threat than for us.

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Likewise, when we watch a horror movie, the body can also manifest shivers. However, we know that it is all fiction and we are safe, so they would be a false alarm of threat, and they are even pleasurable because they generate adrenaline. While one part of the brain warns about the "danger", another, very conscious, warns that everything is fine.

Moreover, the body can manifest shivers in situations of physical affection: a kiss on the back of the neck, for example. This is because the brain, when faced with various stimuli, can have the same type of response. In addition, they can arise when surprised or when faced with an intense emotion, such as when listening to a song, as pointed out by neuroscientist and psychobiologist Jaak Panksepp (1943-2017), from WashingtonState University (Washington, USA).

In this way, the brain, which is responsible for provoking the shivers, can present this response several times both by understanding and tolerating the false alarms and by warning about possible problems and dangers, in order to prepare it to react satisfactorily or to make us understand the need for help.

Shivering as a symptom of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about the joint action of several institutions to identify the symptoms and alert different populations about this serious disease, so that people would seek hospital care. Based on the observations of physicians from several countries and preliminary international studies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the Department of Health andHuman Services of the United States, included in the first half of 2020 some symptoms in the list of indications of this disease.

Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

These include fever, fatigue, dry cough, loss of smell and taste, breathlessness, and others, such as constant and persistent chills, combined or not with other signs. In fact, the latter have been reported by Covid-19 test-positive people of various ages in the UK, according to the research "COVID-19 linked with wider set of symptoms than previously thought - REACTTherefore, excluding shivering due to emotional responses or false fear alarms, seeking medical support is fundamental.

What is the spiritual meaning of the chills?

How can we explain the shivering that is not related to coldness, symptoms of illness or strong emotions of fright, fear or pleasure? Considering that our body is the result of an energetic connection and that we exchange energy with everything around us, even if unconsciously, shivering can happen when we come into contact with the energy fields ofdensity different from ours, a spiritual explanation.

Thus, the flow of energy circulating in our body is abruptly interrupted in the energy exchange between different densities, causing a quick shiver or chill, which ends as soon as the balance is adjusted. More sensitive people are able to perceive them more often, especially if they have an unconventional energy density, with higher frequency orlower than the places they frequent or in relation to the people they live with.

From the same point of view, positive or negative energies can be received or offered. Thus, when one feels chills followed by a feeling of uneasiness, this means that one is receiving a negative energy. In this case, it is better to move away and change the energy field. It is important to have optimistic thoughts, good memories, and to do things that bring happiness.

Pixabay / Pexels

However, when the chills are accompanied by a feeling of well-being, peace, happiness, and kindness, one is most likely receiving positive energy that is very beneficial to the spiritual body. In this case, it is important to receive this moment with an open mind and heart, for it may represent the blessing of a being of light.

There is also a lot of energetic exchange between people during sexual intercourse, which is more intense and positive when there is emotional involvement. The shivers that result from this situation are caused as much by neurotransmitters and hormones released at the moment as by this exchange. There are even people who don't practice sex without love, because they understand that the connection between energies is physical andspiritual.

Sometimes we find people who refer to chills as signs of spirits or spiritual activity. Some who believe in angels or enlightened beings also understand these sensations as a physical touch that they emanate, being alerts for people to pay attention, reflect or ponder on something that is happening. So when they feel this touch, they stop momentarilyto reevaluate the "course", to give thanks and to pray.

Also from the spirituality point of view, the shivers can appear as confirmation, in moments when the person is in meditation or in a state of happiness, indicating something about what he loves, desires or dreams. But they can also occur when someone is in a stressful situation, in an argument or in an unknown and inhospitable environment, being, in these cases, a warning to avoid this vibrationor leave the premises.

According to spiritualism, when a medium perceives an approaching entity, he can identify if it is spiritually elevated and of good feelings when the chills cause a cool sensation. However, with an unpleasant sensation or heat, this spirit is perceived as involuted.

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In this sense, the passage of a spirit will be for the medium a discharge in the epidermal nerves, mainly in the extension of the vertebral column, going up from the coccyx to the occiput, as it happens when someone has shivers in a sudden situation of fear or intense fright. By the way, if they are frequent and not due to illness, they are understood as an indication of mediumnity orsensitivity to the spirit world.

Finally, understanding chills as signs is very wise, for they can represent only a sensation of cold that indicates that the body needs to balance and adjust the temperature, preserving warmth. They can mean an already installed illness, a symptom of Covid-19, a physical manifestation of a strong emotion of pleasure or stress, a sign of energetic differences duringRegardless of your conclusion and belief, keep alert about these sensations and always seek your well-being in all senses. Live better! Understand the indications of your body and your spirit.