Pivot to Peace and Calm - Understanding How Meditation Impacts the Nervous System
The nervous system is the control center of the body. According to The Cleveland Clinic, “your nervous system uses specialized cells called neurons to send signals, or messages, all over your body. These electrical signals travel between your brain, skin, organs, glands, and muscles. The messages help you move your limbs and feel sensations, such as pain. Your eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and the nerves all over your body take in information about your environment. Then nerves carry that data to and from your brain.”
According to Wikipedia, this complex system consists of 2 parts: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The former is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is made up of bundles of nerves that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body. It is also divided into three separate subsystems:
the somatic, which is related to voluntary movements
enteric nervous system, responsible for the gastrointestinal system
the autonomic, which is further divided into the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems.
What's the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
The autonomic nervous system consists of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. Both are essential to survival but operate very differently. The sympathetic nervous system is the flight or flight response to a perceived threat, stressful situation, or strenuous physical activity. In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system provides the commonly used term for rest and digest perspective. It is more detached and not reactionary. It is associated with quiet times of rest thereby reducing your heart rate and bringing you back to a sense of physical and mental balance.
Many people mix up the two systems. I find it easy to remember if I remind myself that the prefix “para” means beside or past. So I think of the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) as moving beyond the reactionary sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to a more reflective, rest and digest, perspective.
In terms of impact on well-being, it is important to note that according to the National Institute of Health, the effects of the parasympathetic system tend to be more discrete and localized, with only specific tissues being stimulated at any given moment, compared to the sympathetic system where a more diffuse discharge is possible.
What triggers the sympathetic nervous system
Reactions to stress trigger the sympathetic nervous system. Although a reasonable amount of stress can be healthy and certainly motivate us to accomplish tasks, most of us are aware of the long-term effects of extreme stress. According to Harvard Health, “over time, repeated activation of the stress response takes a toll on the body. Research suggests that chronic stress contributes to high blood pressure, promotes the formation of artery-clogging deposits, and causes brain changes that may contribute to anxiety, depression, and addiction. More preliminary research suggests that chronic stress may also contribute to obesity, both through direct mechanisms (causing people to eat more) or indirectly (decreasing sleep and exercise).”
What are the 5 functions of the sympathetic nervous system?
According to the National Institute of Health, most arterioles and veins receive only sympathetic nerve fibers. Therefore, vascular smooth muscle tone and sweating are regulated by the sympathetic system only. In addition, the sympathetic system innervates structures of the head (eye, salivary glands, mucus membranes of the nasal cavity), thoracic viscera (heart, lungs), and viscera of the abdominal and pelvic cavities (eg, stomach, intestines, pancreas, spleen, adrenal medulla, urinary bladder).” As a result, the sympathetic nervous system can affect the following aspects of the physical body:
Blood flow to muscles and skin
Blood pressure
Heart rate
Sweat release
Pupil diameter
What are the functions of the parasympathetic nervous system?
According to WebMD, the parasympathetic nervous system affects the following bodily functions:
Eyesight - the ability to see close-up objects clearly
Heart rate - the ability to decrease heart rate when the body is under stress. It also affects circulation due to its ability to constrict blood vessels.
Lungs - regulates mucus secretions and manages the width of airways.
Digestion - helps the bowel muscles contract and push food through the small and large intestines. VeryWell Health shares, The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) recommends mindfulness-based practices to help people with irritable bowel syndrome of all types while being low-risk and having long-term benefits on stress and quality of life that last even after the therapy is discontinued.
What triggers the parasympathetic nervous system?
Balancing your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are key to vibrant well-being. According to East Sussex Osteopaths, you can support your parasympathetic nervous system with these techniques:
Reduce stress - as described above stress triggers our sympathetic nervous system so reducing it will support the parasympathetic nervous system
Meditation teaches us to manage triggers, reduces our breathing rate, slows our heart, and decreases blood pressure. At the end of this blog, I will share an easy and effective meditation
Massage - restores the parasympathetic nervous system
Yoga - helps to decrease your fight or flight reaction to perceived trigger situations
Nutrition - a healthy diet rich in vitamin B12 and limiting coffee and alcohol
Exercise - light cardio exercise supports the parasympathetic nervous system
Get enough sleep
What is an example of the rest and digest response?
According to Healthline, there are clear physiological reactions supported by a rest and digest response to stimuli. They are as follows:
Salivation: As part of its rest-and-digest function, the PSNS stimulates the production of saliva, which contains enzymes to help your food digest.
Lacrimation: Lacrimation is a fancy word for making tears. Tears keep your eyes lubricated, preserving their delicate tissues.
Urination: The PSNS contracts the bladder, which squeezes it so urine can come out.
Digestion: The PSNS stimulates the release of saliva to promote digestion. It also enacts peristalsis, or the movement of the stomach and intestines, to digest food as well as release bile for the body to digest fats.
Defecation: The PSNS constricts the sphincters in the intestine and moves digested food material down the digestive tract so a person can have a bowel movement.
Meditation to Support the Parasympathetic Nervous System
As I shared in my recent blog, Meditation for Healing: The Restorative Art of Quieting Your Mind, regular meditation can directly support your physical well-being by reducing stress levels. Is that motivation enough to begin meditating? Imagine living with greater internal calm and peace. A study by the Cleveland Clinic found that after eight weeks of intervention, participating employees reported feeling more energy and less stress and anxiety, which can lead to depression. After a year of regular meditation, participants experienced a 31% reduction in stress levels. I know some of you will roll your eyes and focus on what seems impossible - 8 consistent weeks of meditating, never mind an entire year. Just start. Take it one day at a time.
Ready? This meditation supports your parasympathetic nervous system bringing you to a more meditative state. Start with 3 minutes and work your way up to 11.
How To Practice This Meditation
Sit up nice and tall. Take your right hand and simply hold it in a fist at the level of your shoulder, relaxing the elbow at your side. Lift your chest and pull your shoulder blades down. Bring your left hand up, fingers are flat, and point towards the left wall. It's important that you pull the wrist back, palm, and fingers are flat. Focus your eyes on the tip of the nose, only slightly open.
Take a deep inhale, allow the belly to expand, then your diaphragm, then all the way up to the collarbones. Exhale in the same slow wave, rolling that energy down until you contract your abdominals. Then suspend your breath out as long as you comfortably can. Suspending the breath out is the key to this meditation because that’s what supports the parasympathetic nervous system. When you need to take a next breath, inhale again and continue this breathing technique. After three or 11 minutes take a deep inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale again. Take a third deep inhale and stretch your fingers, suspend the breath in, and tighten every muscle of your body. Exhale. Take another deep to inhale, exhale and observe yourself.
Contact SoundWellness Today to Jump Start Your Journey to Wellness!
Ready to experience the healing power of Kundalini Yoga, Gong Sound Therapy, or Reiki? Contact Monique today!
About SoundWellness
Monique Derfuss is the founder and President of SoundWellness offering gong sound therapy, Reiki, Kundalini Yoga, and meditation. Her wellness business is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has helped thousands of people over the past 6+ years move beyond only taking care of their physical bodies to taking a more holistic approach to their health by integrating support of their energetic, or subtle, bodies. Check out what others have said about her services.
Subscribe on YouTube to SoundWellness or the company newsletter for helpful wellness videos and information to support your vibrant well-being. For general inquiries, please call 202-355-8136 or contact Monique by email.