Meditation means different things to different people and there is an abundance of information out there in the form of books, articles, videos, dvd’s and classes. However I thought it would be useful to highlight how you probably already meditate without knowing it and more importantly, how essential it is for fighting infectious illness and disease. You can go full-unicorn and gnome into the rainbow realms but what we are discussing here is firmly supported by scientific research.
The human body is equipped with wondrous health promoting systems that unfortunately have been relegated in preference for the higher profit margins found in pharmaceuticals. Prescription drugs have their place for sure but unfortunately an over-reliance on them does not help to rectify underlying issues such as a weak immune system. To help your body to help itself is remarkably simple however, if you can think and breathe at the same time, you can do it! The process works by reversing the body’s stress response also known as fight-or-flight, which has become a natural state for many people and the cause of so many issues.
Firstly a little background on how stress negatively effects our health. It is well known that our body’s response to stress is an increase in blood pressure and heart rate placing strain on the circulatory system and increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. The digestive system becomes disrupted which has a knock-effect to every part of our being including mood. The stress hormone corticosteroid actually suppresses our immune system and changes that take place to immune cells that are created in the bone marrow can lead to higher levels of inflammation. Inflammation is a key marker for so many health issues. This is why we are more susceptible to infectious illness and disease whilst in a state of stress. Chronic stress also causes changes in our gene activation. During stressful situations the body produces glucocorticoids, steroid hormones that alter gene expression in a negative way. In essence it switches off genes that help the body whilst switching on genes that can be detrimental.
We develop coping strategies during a state of stress that negatively effect our health in secondary ways. Smoking, excessive drinking, disrupted sleep, recreational drugs, prescription drugs, a diet that prioritises processed sugars and even social media have become familiar mechanisms to comfort the mind. Did you know that using social media releases dopamine in the brain that makes us feel good and makes it addictive? This circle of stress feeds into a reduced immune system, declining health, disrupted sleep, clouded thought, excessive eating and drinking, lowered self-esteem and depression. This viscous circle becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads towards a reliance on external stimulation and pharmaceuticals.
The opposite of the stress response is commonly referred to as the relaxation response and can be defined as follows:
Decreased metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate
Calming of brain activity
Increase in attention and decision making abilities of the brain with slow alpha waves
Positive changes in gene activity
These positive changes strengthen our immune response, improve health, improve sleep, promote clear thinking, reduce anxiety, reduce pain and inflammation and also promote a healthier diet. We can now enjoy a virtuous circle that becomes self-fulfilling in a positive way. The question is how do we initiate a relaxation response and does it involve more than lighting incense and listening to your favourite albums of humpback whales playing bamboo flutes ?
The key is to change the pattern of brain waves to fall predominantly in the alpha wave spectrum. Alpha waves sit in the middle of the brain wave spectrum and are increased when we are conscious but not thinking too hard about anything in particular. Consider how you feel when you have just woken up and before than mind starts talking to itself. Any repetitive exercise is ideal as it focuses the mind just enough so that the general chitter-chatter quietens down without giving stimulus to instigate thoughts as such. This is why repetitive tasks such as painting, mowing the lawn and knitting become ‘meditative’ and why counting sheep sends us to sleep. See, you have probably already been meditating without even realising it.
So the goal is to break the continuous conversation that bounces around inside our minds and we use focussing on a repetitive task as a tool for achieving this. It’s important to understand that thoughts will come and go regardless, this cannot be controlled. What we can control is how much attention we give to a thought. When a thought pops into our heads, if we bring our focus back to the repetitive task the thought will drift away again. Occasionally we will catch ourselves thinking about a thought and it is important to not become frustrated, just bring the focus back to the task. Over a 15 minute period you may only achieve less than a minute in total of mental stillness, this is fine and will improve with practice.
Sound familiar? This is this basis for many types of meditation, chanting, prayer, martial arts, walking, running, cycling and anything that repeats. Repetition, repetition, repetition. The simple exercise below is split into two phases, if you cannot commit to 30 minutes a day then just focus on the first phase.
First Phase
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed or distracted and make yourself comfortable, be that seated, kneeling, lying down etc.
Choose a repetitive task on which to focus. This could be breathing, a short poem, song, music playing, clock ticking, counting… whatever works for you.
Close your eyes and focus on the repetitive task.
Breathe deeply through your nose and relax.
When random thoughts come into your head bring your focus back to the task.
Aim for a duration of 12 - 15 minutes.
Second Phase
When followed correctly the mind will now be in a receptive and relaxed state with a dominance of alpha waves. At this point stay relaxed and breathing deeply but shift your focus to something that makes you feel happy, relaxed and free from pain. This could be particular scenery, a holiday or happy memory, doing something you love or being in an imaginary place. Again, whatever makes you happy. Allow yourself to be in this place for a further 12 - 15 minutes, and then you are done… simples.
The big advantage of this approach is that it is completely adaptable. By that I mean it can be integrated with so many aspects of your life therefore allowing your to incorporate it with activities you will be doing already.
Now for the part that takes a little more effort. If you want to make changes, if you want to see results and if you want to overcome problems, it is important that you do this every day for 8 weeks. This is not very long in the grand scheme of things and the time will pass anyway so it is your choice what you do with it and what you make a priority. However your health is your responsibility and it is up to you to take really simple steps to promote a healthy and virtuous circle. The relaxation response will not solve every problem but if we all took responsibility in this way how much healthier would we be as a world and how much less of a strain would we be placing on the health systems?
There is so much open source research out there, here are a few links to get you started and I’ll add more over the next few weeks:
The Relaxation Response and its effect on health care utilisation.
Genomic counter stress changes induced by the Relaxation Response