It’s a piece of advice yogis have given for thousands of years: take a
deep breath and relax. Watch the tension melt from your muscles and all
your niggling worries vanish. Somehow we all know that relaxation is
good for us.
Now the hard science has caught up: a comprehensive scientific study
showing that deep relaxation changes our bodies on a genetic level has
just been published. What researchers at Harvard Medical School
discovered is that, in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods
such as yoga and meditation, far more ”disease-fighting genes” were
active, compared to those who practised no form of relaxation.
In particular, they found genes that protect from disorders such as
pain, infertility, high blood pressure and even rheumatoid arthritis
were switched on. The changes, say the researchers, were induced by what
they call ”the relaxation effect”, a phenomenon that could be just as
powerful as any medical drug but without the side effects. ”We found a
range of disease-fighting genes were active in the relaxation
practitioners that were not active in the control group,” Dr Herbert
Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who
led the research, says. The good news for the control group with the
less-healthy genes is that the research didn’t stop there.
The experiment, which showed just how responsive genes are to
behaviour, mood and environment, revealed that genes can switch on, just
as easily as they switch off. ”Harvard researchers asked the control
group to start practising relaxation methods every day,” says Jake Toby,
hypnotherapist at London’s BodyMind Medicine Centre, who teaches
clients how to induce the relaxation effect. ”After two months, their
bodies began to change: the genes that help fight inflammation, kill
diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch on.”
More encouraging still, the benefits of the relaxation effect were
found to increase with regular practice: the more people practised
relaxation methods such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater
their chances of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with
stronger immunity, healthier hormone levels and lower blood pressure.
Benson believes the research is pivotal because it shows how a person’s
state of mind affects the body on a physical and genetic level. It might
also explain why relaxation induced by meditation or repetitive mantras
is considered to be a powerful remedy in traditions such as Ayurveda in
India or Tibetan medicine.
But just how can relaxation have such wide-ranging and powerful
effects? Research has described the negative effects of stress on the
body. Linked to the release of the stress-hormones adrenalin and
cortisol, stress raises the heart rate and blood pressure, weakens
immunity and lowers fertility. By contrast, the state of relaxation is
linked to higher levels of feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and to
the growth hormone which repairs cells and tissue. Indeed, studies show
that relaxation has virtually the opposite effect, lowering heart rate,
boosting immunity and enabling the body to thrive.
”On a biological level, stress is linked to fight-flight and danger,”
Dr Jane Flemming, a London GP, says. ”In survival mode, heart rate
rises and blood pressure shoots up. Meanwhile muscles, preparing for
danger, contract and tighten. And non-essential functions such as
immunity and digestion go by the wayside.” Relaxation, on the other
hand, is a state of rest, enjoyment and physical renewal. Free of
danger, muscles can relax and food can be digested. The heart can slow
and blood circulation flows freely to the body’s tissues, feeding it
with nutrients and oxygen. This restful state is good for fertility, as
the body is able to conserve the resources it needs to generate new
life.
While relaxation techniques can be very different, their biological
effects are essentially similar. ”When you relax, the parasympathetic
nervous system switches on. That is linked to better digestion, memory
and immunity, among other things,” Toby says. ”As long as you relax
deeply, you’ll reap the rewards.” But, he warns, deep relaxation isn’t
the sort of switching off you do relaxing with a cup of tea or lounging
on the sofa.
”What you’re looking for is a state of deep relaxation where tension
is released from the body on a physical level and your mind completely
switches off,” he says. ”The effect won’t be achieved by lounging round
in an everyday way, nor can you force yourself to relax. You can only
really achieve it by learning a specific technique such as
self-hypnosis, guided imagery or meditation.”
The relaxation effect, however, may not be as pronounced on everyone.
”Some people are more susceptible to relaxation methods than others,”
says Joan Borysenko, director of a relaxation program for outpatients at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston. ”Through relaxation, we
find some people experience a little improvement, others a lot. And
there are a few whose lives turn around totally.”
7 Health Benefits of Deep Relaxation
The next time you tune out and switch off and let yourself melt,
remind yourself of all the good work the relaxation effect is doing on
your body. These are just some of the scientifically proven benefit.
1. INCREASED IMMUNITY
Relaxation appears to boost immunity in recovering cancer patients. A
study at the Ohio State University found that progressive muscular
relaxation, when practised daily, reduced the risk of breast cancer
recurrence. In another study at Ohio State, a month of relaxation
exercises boosted natural killer cells in the elderly, giving them a
greater resistance to tumours and to viruses.
2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE
Emotional balance, means to be free of all the neurotic behavior that
results from the existence of a tortured and traumatized ego. This is
very hard to achieve fully, but meditation certainly is the way to cure
such neurosis and unhealthy emotional states. As one’s consciousness is
cleansed of emotionally soaked memories, not only does great freedom
abound, but also great balance. As one’s responses then are not colored
by the burdens one carries, but are instead true, direct and
appropriate.
3. INCREASED FERTILITY
A study at the University of Western Australia found that women are
more likely to conceive during periods when they are relaxed rather than
stressed. A study at Trakya University, in Turkey, also found that
stress reduces sperm count and motility, suggesting relaxation may also
boost male fertility.
4. RELIEVES IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
When patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome began
practising a relaxation meditation twice daily, their symptoms of
bloating, diarrhoea and constipation improved significantly. The
meditation was so effective the researchers at the State University of
New York recommended it as an effective treatment.
5. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE
A study at Harvard Medical School found that meditation lowered blood
pressure by making the body less responsive to stress hormones, in a
similar way to blood pressure-lowering medication. Meanwhile a British
Medical Journal report found that patients trained how to relax had
significantly lower blood pressure.
6. ANTI-INFLAMATORY
Stress leads to inflammation, a state linked to heart disease,
arthritis, asthma and skin conditions such as psoriasis, say researchers
at Emory University in the US. Relaxation can help prevent and treat
such symptoms by switching off the stress response. In this way, one
study at McGill University in Canada found that meditation clinically
improved the symptoms of psoriasis.
7. CALMNESS
The simple difference between those who meditate and those who do
not, is that for a meditative mind the thought occurs but is witnessed,
while for an ordinary mind, the thought occurs and is the boss. So in
both minds, an upsetting thought can occur, but for those who meditate
it is just another thought, which is seen as such and is allowed to
blossom and die, while in the ordinary mind the thought instigates a
storm which rages on and on.
How to switch off stress
How can you use relaxation’s healing powers? Harvard researchers
found that yoga, meditation and even repetitive prayer and mantras all
induced the relaxation effect. ”The more regularly these techniques are
practised, the more deeply rooted the benefits will be,” Jake Toby says.
Try one or more of these techniques for 15 minutes once or twice a day.
Body Scan: Starting with your head and working down
to your arms and feet, notice how you feel in your body. Taking in your
head and neck, simply notice if you feel tense, relaxed, calm or
anxious. See how much you can spread any sensations of softness and
relaxation to areas of your body that feel tense. Once your reach your
feet, work back up your body.
Breath Focus: Sit comfortably. Tune into your
breath, follow the sensation of inhaling from your nose to abdomen and
out again. Let tension go with each exhalation. When you notice your
mind wandering, return to your breath.
Mantra Repetition: The relaxation response can be
evoked by sitting quietly with eyes closed for 15 minutes twice a day,
and mentally repeating a simple word or sound such as ”Om”.
Guided Imagery: Imagine a wonderfully relaxing
light or a soothing waterfall washing away tension from your body and
mind. Make your image vivid, imagining texture, colour and any fragrance
as the image washes over you.
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