Healthy Lifestyle Geek

Practicing meditation has been shown to induce some changes in the body, such as changes in the body’s “fight or flight” response.

The system that is responsible for this response is the autonomic nervous system, also known as involuntary nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles, including heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion And it does all this automatically.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two major parts:

• The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. Whenever you are under stress, it produces the fight-or-flight response by increasing your heart and breathing rate, and blood pressure, narrows blood vessels narrow to restrict blood flow and tightens muscles.
• The parasympathetic nervous system creates the “rest and digest” response. This system’s responses oppose those of the sympathetic nervous system by causing heart rate and breathing rate to slow down, dilates blood vessels for improved blood flow, and increase activity in many parts of your digestive tract.

One way some types of meditation might work is by reducing activity in the sympathetic nervous system and increasing activity in the parasympathetic nervous system.

Research is ongoing to learn more about what goes on in the brain and the rest of the body during meditation, and if it would be useful for particular diseases or conditions. A number of researchers believe that meditation is associated with significant changes in brain function, which would account for many of meditation’s effects.

There is still much to learn in these areas. In the meantime, get meditating, and at least start contributing to some of the enormous preventable effects of stress.

• New Age of Meditation Medicine for Mindful Relaxation, Chronic Disease Health and Fitness
• How Homeopathy Alternative (Complementary) Medicine Approach Works

Filed under: Meditation