Mind-Body Medicine Part 1
There is a tendency to believe that the more invasive a treatment is, the more effective it is. Vice versa we tend to believe that gentle practices such as meditation, yoga and gentle physical touch are not as effective. However, science shows us that this is not so.
The most predominant reason for people seeking treatment in our health care system is due to stress. Stress suppresses the immune system and 80-90% of dis-/ease is caused by stress. When we are under stress, our nervous system prepares us to be either fighting or running from the bear, only we are not fighting or running, we are often simply watching/listening to the news, watching a movie or worrying about what is going to happen to our world. At times stress can be so overwhelming that we might even freeze up.
Emotions and thoughts trigger our stress response and influence our relaxation response. If we are under stress, our blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate increases. If we are relaxing as we are watching a sunrise or a sunset, our vitals reflect that as well and they will return to a more balanced and healthier state.
We can learn to live in a way that prevents us from experiencing continuous stress. We can also learn to calm down during a stressful situation or a panic attack, by tuning in to our breath, slowing it down and repeating calming words to ourselves. This is not make-believe, but literally mind over matter, as it allows our physiology to return to a state of balance, also called homeostasis, where our nervous system is resting in a calm parasympathetic mode, as opposed to a predominantly stressed sympathetic mode. More details will follow below on what exactly parasympathetic and sympathetic means.
Meditation and conscious breathing have repeatedly been shown to literally change the size and shape of our brain and to have a direct impact on our physical body. The act of tuning in, becoming aware of how we sit and how we feel, breathing slowly and rhythmically, as well as scanning our body from top to toe, are the basic tools we utilize during mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation out of many.
It is important to understand that “sitting/standing in meditation” and “practicing meditation” is not synonymous with actually being in a meditative state. Few are able to reach a deep state of meditation in the very beginning; it usually takes time, often years of dedicated regular, if not daily, practice before one is able “to drop in”, as it is also called when one goes into an actual state of meditation. The good news is that you do not have to be a master meditator to reap the health and wellness benefits from meditation; complete beginners are able to as well (as explained below), though benefits do increase with practice.
It is also important to understand that meditation is not “not thinking” but is rather a state of being, where we tune in to the space between the thoughts, relaxing and letting go of our judgement and ideas about the thoughts that we are having. It has been compared to gazing at the beautiful blue sky simply acknowledging that the clouds are floating by, not becoming attached to any of the clouds themselves.
The mind has been described in different ways depending on the belief system. Meditation is often associated with Buddhism or Indian Yoga, but in fact it is mentioned a multitude of times in the Bible as well, as is it in other ancient scriptures. In Tibetan Buddhism the mind is described as either the “ordinary mind” or the “nature of the mind” (the Buddha mind). The “ordinary mind” is the “monkey mind” in Yoga, or the ego in Western psychology. The “nature of the mind” is the “Self” in Yoga, or God in for example “organized religion”. The point being that our logical busy mind will be thinking, since this is its job.
Meditation can be a pause in our day, where we get the chance to first of all step back, have a closer look at what is going on inside of our “head” and then let go by allowing the mind to “do its thing”, knowing that there is a place of calm and peace inside of us where we can abide. This process has also been described as the observer observing what the busy mind is thinking. Traditionally, focusing on the breath, a candle/crystal/picture of a spiritual teacher, a mantra/sound or chanting/singing spiritual hymns and more, have been used to help focus the “ordinary mind” and “bring it home”, another term for stilling the busy mind.
If we are under stress before we begin meditating, including having had a cup of coffee with caffeine, we will be in a sympathetic state of fight, flight or freeze, the severity depending on how stressed we are or how much coffee we have had. However, one breath at a time, we can relatively quickly be able to transition into more of a parasympathetic mode of rest, digest and ease. The more we focus on our breath and the peace within, the stronger the parasympathetic tone will be. Still, if you have just consumed a double espresso, you might have to call the meditation off and wait until it wears off.
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are the two components of the autonomic nervous system, which controls inner bodily processes without our conscious participation. Autonomic means “involuntary” or “unconscious”, and it prompts our nervous system in a way that guarantees that our heart is beating, and our lungs are breathing, even when we are asleep, and that we are digesting our foods, even when we do not think about it. However, this system is influenced by our thoughts, our emotions and our actions and what we consume as mentioned above, which is where mind-body practices come into the picture.
Slow deep abdominal breathing and long exhalation phases, that involve movement of the diaphragm (the thin flat muscle at the bottom of the rib cage involved in lung and chest expansion and contraction), lead to an increase in the parasympathetic tone, and when we combine this form of breathing with practices such as meditation, yoga and Qi Gong, we can increase the calming effect many-fold.
The vagus nerve and its relationship to the parasympathetic nervous system have become a hot topic in research during recent years; this nerve was once viewed as primarily bringing information from the brain to the organs. We now know that a very important function of the vagus nerve is that it also brings information from the organs to the brain. The vagus nerve runs the entire length of our torso from the medulla of the brain stem to the intestines, and branches its function to the external ear, throat, voice box, esophagus, heart, bronchi, lungs, and gastro-intestinal tract. It is also innervating (bringing information to and from) the diaphragm. Though the impact on the diaphragm is poorly understood, this is how during deep breathing the vagus nerve, as a main conductor of the parasympathetic nervous system, will help us calm down by counteracting sympathetic nervous system activity, or in other words by counteracting the stress response.
The vagus nerve is also directly involved with digestion via muscle activity in the mouth, throat and neck, and is a key player in gut motility (movement and peristalsis), including bringing information from the gut to the brain. Furthermore, vagus nerve stimulation lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and even facilitates an overall decrease in inflammation.
Meditation also influences our brain chemistry and our neurotransmitters in a beneficial way; we produce more “feel-good and relax” neurotransmitters such as serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, endorphins and melatonin, all of which are bio-chemical messengers signaling brain and nerves all over our body to bring us back to more peace and calm. Meditation additionally helps lower cortisol by 50% or more; cortisol is the so-called stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands which are sitting on top of the kidneys like little hats. Melatonin is mostly known for its sleep promoting effects; however, you might know that it is also prescribed in cancer treatment as well due to its cancer curbing properties.
Meditation research shows us that after 8 weeks of daily morning meditations performed by complete beginners, the front of the brain called the prefrontal cortex will grow and the amygdala will shrink. This causes us to become more attentive and motivated, kinder and more compassionate, and able to make better decisions. Specifically, the shrinking of the amygdala (a little almond shaped structure inside the brain) leads to a decrease in fear, anxiety and depression.
All these beneficial effects on the brain from meditation lead to better coping mechanisms, which can be very helpful whether we are suffering from stress or from physical conditions. Clinical research furthermore confirms that in people who meditate regularly, issues such as pain and depression are decreased, blood pressure is normalized, and sleep and general well-being are improved.
Bottom line, meditation and steady rhythmic breathing are incredibly good for us.
Happy breathing and meditating until we meet again in part II!
Dr. Susanne Macsay | Naturopath