It has become common knowledge in recent years that mindful meditation can effect positive influences on health—specifically, cardiovascular disease, stress, and metabolism. But do you know how and why this happens?
A recent article from the Cleveland Clinic explains how meditation influences the nervous system, calming it down so it doesn’t react as if the body is under attack. The human body is designed to fight off anything that may harm it, but over an extended period of time, its defenses can be harmful in and of themselves.
Modern stresses make for a jumpy sympathetic nervous system. You’re feeling that fight-or-flight panic when there’s no real threat to your well-being. That kind of perpetual stress can do real harm to your body. Meditation helps to calm the mind and body, essentially turning down the sympathetic nervous system and toning the parasympathetic nervous system.