How peace of mind can heal your body

Today’s article is aimed at helping you understand how meditation, peace of mind and being calm and relaxed can help the body cure itself from virtually any disease.

Also, meditation is scientifically proven to produce certain substances that cure the body. If all this sounds interesting and new to you, keep reading, because you’re in for a real treat.

To begin with, let me share with you a very interesting factoid: did you know that the vast majority of chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancers, obesity, depression, anxiety, Type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, premature/accelerated aging and many other health issues, are mostly due to stress? Okay, lifestyle comes into play, as well as diet, but stress is the main culprit. Even mainstream healthcare practitioners also known as medics/doctors are beginning to grasp the concept.

So, why are we so stressed?
That question is kind of important, considering the epidemic of cancers, heart disease and obesity our modern society is confronted with for the past 4 decades, give or take. Well, the answer is the current socio-economic model, as well as our life style choices. See, we’re units of production and, in the same time, consumers for big corporations, i.e. we’re both drones/robots and customers, as we also buy/consume the same products that we help manufacture.

In order for the system to work and for the GDP/economy to grow continuously (so major stock holders can buy a new private jet every year), we must work hard and lust for useless stuff that we don’t actually need (a new smartphone every year, a bigger house, a bigger TV set, the latest gadget, fashion items, a bigger car etc.), due to clever marketing campaigns and TV/mass media indoctrination.

And, in order to accomplish that morbid lust for material possessions (and junk food as well), we often borrow money from banks (check out how banks create money from thin air via the fractional reserve system), so we end up working as wage slaves for the same corporations/banks that are selling us their products (credits are financial products by the way). As you can see, this is a meaningless and futile life-cycle, and that’s one of the reasons for which people feel that their lives have no meaning and they’re trapped in a vicious consumerist circle which only ends when you die.

Nowadays, teens[1] are even more stressed out than adults, and that’s due to various factors, such as social media pressure, student debt, the lack of good paying jobs for college graduates due to irresponsible immigration policies, and so on and so forth.

Here meditation comes into play, as guided meditation for healing can help you relieve stress without taking toxic medication (antidepressants pills, SSRIs and all that crap). Meditation is literally a sort of magical therapy and it’s wide spread across the planet, with more than half a billion people practicing guided meditation on a daily basis. You should learn that meditation is actually an ancient practice and it’s been used by various populations for thousands of years. According to what we know so far, it all started in India, sometimes around the year 500 BC (research tantras), and it’s widely believed that people staring into the flames during funeral rites (read pyres[2]) were the pioneers of meditation, also known as an altered state of consciousness.

Today we know that meditation aides the body into producing certain substances, which help reduce stress and contribute to our general wellbeing. In case this sounds like mumbo-jumbo to you, think along the lines of serotonin and dopamine. Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter that’s released when you do something you love, like playing the piano, drifting your car on the race track, painting, or even when you’re in love (or eating large amounts of dark chocolate). Basically, dopamine is the body’s reward system and it inspires/motivates us to take action.

Serotonin
Serotonin is known as the happy-hormone, while dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is responsible for feelings of desire and recompense.

Serotonin is one of the most influential neurotransmitters in our brain, and it has a huge impact on our mood. We also know that old age and stress are the leading triggers of depression, but the good news is that meditation has a direct impact on boosting the production of serotonin levels in the brain. Meditation is literally a magic trick which helps you mitigate depression and stress issues which are due to low serotonin/dopamine levels in the brain.

I bet you did not know, but stress is responsible for flushing your body with cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone. Basically, stress has a physical impact over your body, as it releases cortisol into your system. What happens next? Chronic stress will literally tear your body down, as high cortisol levels are linked with blocking the release of “good hormones” (a condition linked with anxiety, depression, brain fog, inflammation, insomnia, high blood pressure and so on and so forth), as well as the destruction of healthy bone and muscle. High cortisol levels due to stress are bad news for anyone’s physical and mental health.

However, meditation can help with reducing stress, hence if you practice meditation daily, you’ll see a dramatic drop in your cortisol levels in a matter of weeks. Another benefit of meditation is that it boosts the production of DHEA, also known as the longevity molecule. You should learn that DHEA is arguably the most important hormone in the human body, as DHEA levels are a clear indicative of one’s true age. That’s why some people in their fifties look like a thirty year old, and vice versa: stressed up/over worked thirty year olds look like they’re in their forties and fifties. DHEA levels are also directly linked with mortality rates, i.e. the less of this hormone you have in your body, the shorter your life span.



Fortunately, meditation will help you with boosting DHEA levels provided you engage in this ancient practice on a regular basis. But wait, there’s more: meditation also boosts the body’s production of gamma aminobutyric acid, also known as GABA, i.e. a major inhibitory neurotransmitter which is responsible for things like keeping drug consumption in check (read caffeine, tobacco, alcohol etc.) and controlling feelings of nervousness, anxiety sleeplessness or racing thoughts/mania. To make it real simple, low GABA levels in one’s central nervous system is linked with addictions of all types and anxiety. The good news is that one hour of meditation can boost GABA production by a whopping 27 percent according to a study from 2010 courtesy of Psychiatrists at the Boston University School of Medicine.

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Meditation is also a great endorphin booster
Endorphins are the body’s natural (internally produced) pain killer (the feel good factor associated with working out), and that’s why athletes and meditation practitioners are all having their endorphin levels elevated after engaging in strenuous physical activities, or meditation respectively. Have you ever heard of runners high? The term was coined by joggers and it describes the literal endorphin-high/zen like/happy state of mind/true bliss associated with our body producing endorphins. That’s why many people are addicted to sport by the way. The good news is that you can achieve that “natural-high” state of mind through meditation only.

Speaking of staying young forever, you’ve probably heard about the growth hormone, right? And yes, meditation boosts the body’s GH production. Low GH levels are responsible for the bone/muscle frailty which is associated with the aging process, and that’s why rich people like movie stars and professional athletes spend hundreds of thousands of dollars taking GH. However, meditation is free, as in you can do the same thing even if you’re not a millionaire. Speaking of looking young at old age, have you noticed how a bad night’s sleep makes you look like a zombie the next day? Meditation can help you with that issue though, as it boosts melatonin production. Melatonin is created by the pineal gland and it makes for our body’s natural clock; blue/artificial light (read TV screens, computer screens, and your smartphone) is associated with decreased melatonin levels, and again, that’s due to our super-technologized society. This hormone is essential if you want to enjoy a restful sleep and have a good mood, and melatonin blood levels peak just before you go to bed. Melatonin also strengthens the immune system and prevents cancer, hence having low melatonin levels is very bad news in regard to one’s health prospects. Luckily, meditation makes for a free and effective solution if you want to boost your melatonin production without taking weird supplements, as it’s been proven to increase melatonin levels by a whopping 100 to 300 percent according to Rutgers University researchers.

To sum it up
There’s much to gain from practicing meditation on a daily basis. Meditation is proven to affect both brain activity and DNA in a good way, as it can switch on and off genes linked to immune function and stress. Meditation will help you deal with fear and anxiety, relaxes both the mind and the body, provides you with an energy boost, keeps your mind focused on positive things and helps you achieve the zenith of ultimate happiness and peace, which, after all’s said and done, helps your body heal by itself.

I hope the article helped. If you have questions or comments, don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts in the dedicated comment section below. Be well.

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angie_nrs said:

It's good to remember that I'm just living in another day of paradise. I try not to sweat the small stuff and try to remember.....it's all small stuff! At least it has been thus far. I am very grateful for that.

I find that if I'm in a bad mood or just feeling disconnected, I get outdoors and take a walk. That has always helped......always. My MIL suffers from depression and my advice to her is to get her butt outdoors! Getting that body moving and breathing in some fresh air from Gods country does wonders! He has given us the tools to fix ourselves. So, I'm gonna take my own advice.....time to shut off the electronics and get outdoors and do a few chores.

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