The human body has two main modes it operates in - your sympathetic ‘fight or flight’ mode - also known as your ‘decay’ mode because it's catabolic - and your parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ mode - also known as your ‘growth’ mode because it's anabolic. Having a proper balance between these two states and an ability to switch back and forth between them when needed is important for optimal health and wellness. You can find a fun overview of the Autonomic Nervous System here and here.
What I want to focus on is how much time during your day you spend in ‘growth’ mode versus ‘decay’ mode and why it’s important for your health.
Your sympathetic nervous system is very important. Should you have to fight a bear, or you’re playing sports, or have a big project you need to get done at work, you need to be able to shunt blood to your muscles, lungs, brain - the things needed to run away or fight. The problem is that our bodies are utilizing a system that was developed when we were all still living in the woods and happening across a bear or tiger was our big concern. This means that when you activate your sympathetic nervous system, your body reacts like you just happened across a bear in the woods. Other body functions get put on hold because for those moments you need to worry about your survival. The tricky part about this response is that you can only operate in one system at a time, and your body can’t tell the difference between you actually fighting a bear versus just thinking about fighting a bear - the sympathetic response is the same response, it’s just a different strength of activation given the circumstances of the situation. This is why low-grade chronic stress is so detrimental to our health - the body stays stuck in ‘just survive it’ mode, which means all of the other, very important processes like tissue healing don’t happen. It’s also why chronic worrying, negativity, dwelling on past mistakes or otherwise spending more time in a less positive frame of mind can have such a huge impact on your health. You spend a predominant amount of your day in ‘decay’ mode and healing doesn’t get to happen as efficiently.
The good news is that you can train your system to spend more time in your parasympathetic response. This is where all the stuff I like to call ‘the woo woo’ comes in and why it is so important for health and wellbeing - the daily gratitude practices, the positive affirmations, the spiritual connection strengthening, etc., it all helps us to turn on our parasympathetic responses and supercharge our healing abilities. We can consciously choose activities and thought processes that have a physiological effect on our bodies and mood states. And the more you practice them, the more your body and brain will just automatically spend more time in your parasympathetic response.
So what are some ways you can turn on your parasympathetic response and supercharge your health and wellness mechanisms?
- Mindfulness/Meditation - Loads of research is being done on all of the ways meditation is beneficial for our health - from reducing inflammation to improving mental health. You can look through the ‘Spirit’ sections on the site to find information on meditation, how to do it, and some guided ones to get you started.
- Yoga/Tai Chi/ Qigong - these practices incorporate not only meditative practice but movement and spiritual development as well to incorporate the whole body, mind, and spirit into health and wellness. They’ve been shown to be effective in helping to manage chronic pain conditions, reduce inflammation, as well as help give practitioners a community to belong to, which has also been shown to be protective to our health.
- Diaphragmatic breathing - all of the above practices focus on the importance of breath, and there’s a reason for that. Taking deep, diaphragmatic breaths - the kind that push your belly out, not increase your chest diameter - automatically clicks you into parasympathetic mode. It’s a fun little trick of neurology. So even if you don’t have time to devote to 20 minutes of meditation, you can add in some diaphragmatic breathing no matter where you are or what you’re doing. You can also monitor your breathing as a handy way to tell when you’re in or out of your parasympathetic state since you also automatically take deep breaths when parasympathetics are clicked on. So whenever you notice that your breathing has become fast and shallow, you’ll know to stop and focus on your breathing for a few seconds and bring back your sense of calm.
- All the woo woo - start a gratitude practice, begin daily positive affirmations, look into all the ways that the wellness folks do it. They’re masters at it.
The trick is to start and keep at it. The more you do it, the easier it gets and the more time you spend in your parasympathetic state. There’s a reason all those yogis are so calm and happy all the time. You too can be calm and happy all the time… it just takes a little practice.