We know that exercise is good for the body, but it’s also incredibly good for the brain. As the authors of “The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews to Keep Your Brain Sharp” point out, physical exercise is one of the four pillars of brain fitness, the other three being good nutrition, stress management, and mental stimulation.  Exercise gets rid of harmful stress chemicals and it boosts problem-solving, planning, and attention. Getting more exercise will help you improve your cognitive functions whether you’re a high school or college student, part of the work force, or an elderly person in retirement.

Below you’ll find interesting data from two books, filled with information on how our brains work, which describe the science behind the discovery that our brain functions much better when we exercise.   

The First Brain Rule is to Exercise In the New York Times bestseller “Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School”, Dr. John Medina—a developmental molecular biologist focused on the genes involved in human brain development—shares 12 rules that will improve the functioning of  your brain so that you can get the most out of it.  He explains that the first rule for getting your brain to work at its best is to exercise.  Dr. Medina argues that if we were to design an almost perfect anti-brain environment, it would look like our current classrooms and work cubicles.

Why?

Because a protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)–which builds and nourishes the infrastructure of cell circuitry in the brain—is created when you’re physically active. Dr. Medina basically calls BDNF brain fertilizer, and he equates a group of kids sitting around in a classroom listening to a lecture, or an employee sitting in a cramped cubicle typing away at his computer, with a light bulb that is turned off. However, when the kids are out on the playground, or the employee is walking to work, the light bulb is turned on.    He suggests that employees have “walking meetings” in a treadmill conference room, that they move around the office as they speak on the phone, or that they sit on exercise balls and bounce up and down as they read their e-mails.  Creative solutions can also be found to get kids in the classroom to be more physically active.

In addition, Dr. Medina explains that in 18 studies of older adults, those who exercised outperformed those who did not in long-term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, abstract thinking, and more. He goes on to say that an active lifestyle means half the risk of dementia and half the risk of cognitive impairment for these older adults. In this time of increased longevity, regular exercise is an important protective element against the progression of age, if we hope to live not just longer, but better.

Two more reasons why exercise improves cognition are the following: First, exercise increases oxygen flow to the brain, which reduces brain-bound free radicals. In addition, in order to get more oxygen to the brain, you need more blood vessels, and exercise increases and deepens blood vessels. And second, exercise acts directly on the molecular machinery of the brain itself; it increases neurons’ creation, survival, and resistance to damage and stress.

How Exercise Promotes Learning In “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain”, Dr. John Ratey, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, contends that “exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize brain function.”  In his book, he explains how sustained aerobic exercise promotes learning in three main ways. First,exercise activates the executive functioning area of the brain, or the frontal cortex.  This activation makes people more attentive, less impulsive, and less fidgety.  When someone can sustain their attention for a longer period of time, it promotes their ability to sort though information and better absorb it. Dr. Ratey explains that the second way in which exercise improves the functioning of the brain is that it improves the environment in which the nerve cells in our brains live.  It does this by promoting the release of neurotransmitters, hormones, and other elements of brain chemistry which help prime these cells to perform their functions efficiently.

Third, exercise promotes neurogenesis, or the process of growing new brain cells. Although for many years it was believed that the number of neurons  in the adult brain remained fixed, research conducted in the last few years has shown otherwise.  Specifically, exercise adds more brain cells in the area of the brain which has to do with learning and memory, which is an areacalled the hippocampus, also known as “The Grand Central Station” for memory. In fact, Dr. Ratey goes on to say that there’s nothing that we know of that adds new brain cells better than exercise.

So, for how long should you exercise? Dr. Ratey recommends that you exercise about thirty minutes a day, almost daily.

As an aside, teachers and parents will want to read about the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois–documented in“Spark”–which put the local school district of 19,000 kids first in the world in science test scores. Conclusion As Dr. Medina points out, exercise strengthens muscles and bones, reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, regulates appetite, improves fluid intelligence, decreases risk for heart disease, decreases chances of diabetes, improves long-term memory, and has many more benefits.  For your body’s health, and for your brain’s health, make exercising a part of your regular routine.  Be sure to check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Marelisa Fábrega is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain.  She blogs about creativity, productivity, and simplifying your life over at Abundance Blog at MarelisaOnline.

Marelisa is the author of the ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook forAlchemists”

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There is a persistent myth that living healthy is only for the well-off. With hundreds of fast food chains proudly boasting long lists of 99 cent menus – it seems like for those living on a budget, fried burgers and nuggets are the best option. However these are just marketing gimmicks that propagate the myth. Living healthy DOESN’T mean you have to go broke in the process. There are some excellent ways to save money and still lead a healthy and happy life. Here we look at some easy ways to save bundles and keep you and your family on a healthy track.

1.    Buy Organic But Not For Everything: It’s true that organic foods can provide healthier options, but they need not break the bank to do so. First and foremost keep your organic fruits and vegetables limited to those that have an outer skin which you eat. Secondly so long as they say organic, a standard of “certified organic” is not essential. You can get these types of produce at the local farmer’s market for a fraction of the cost of super stores.

2.   Cater Your Coupons: Everybody trying to save some money should certainly look to coupons to do just that. If you really want to save yourself major money but still eat healthy, sign up for a service or through a site that offers a variety of food options. You can even find services catered to the specialty markets that have the healthiest food options where coupons are sent right to your inbox for instant savings at the register.

3.    Buy in Bulk on Lean Proteins: Visiting your local warehouse club or meat market can help you discover some excellent buys on lean proteins. You can buy in bulk and not only save yourself some money, but also ensure that you have plenty of healthy protein options on hand at all times.

4.    Limit Eating Out: Not only does going out to eat drain your bank account, but it can also pack on the fat and calories. Families who cook at home not only save money but tend to have healthier eating habits and even share some family bonding time in the process as they prepare the meal together. You can be in control of what you eat and how much you spend if you cook at home.

5.    Bring Your Lunch: Going out to lunch can end up being a huge monthly expense for a family budget. The smaller charges here and there on quick lunches can really add up—and they can pack the pounds on the waistline. To save yourself some calories and money, bring your lunch or pack it up for your spouse or loved ones to take to work or school.

6.    Cancel the Gym Membership: You burn no more calories working out at a fancy gym than you do in a home gym or outside. You should absolutely maintain regular workouts to live healthy, but you can do so at a fraction of the cost by getting some good workout videos, using the outdoors for workouts, or using free weights in the comfort of your own home.

7.    Find a Health Insurance that Works for You: There are some excellent health insurance plans out there that reward their subscribers for being the picture of health. While medical insurance is a necessity when it comes to your health, research options that will provide lower premiums or even rewards for being healthy.

8.    Learn to Cook Healthy: If you are not a master chef, then it may be worth doing some online research or getting a good book or two to keep you current on healthy recipes. By cooking at home you are automatically saving money, and learning to cook the right foods can save you calories and time. You can get creative and really have fun with new recipes and best of all you don’t have to be a master chef to do so; with all the online resources and books you can easily get help learning the tricks of the trade.

9.    Sign Up for Prescription Savings Programs: Just about every store out there right now offers some sort of prescription program. It’s true that most households will likely spend some substantial money on prescription medications each year and by signing up for a program, you can get some great savings each time you have to get one. You can even transfer an existing prescription for even more savings.

10.    Create Fun Family Workouts: If you are looking for a great way to get the family to bond but don’t want to spend a fortune to do it, come up with some fun ways to incorporate exercise into your next bonding session. Taking walks or hikes together or even going swimming can help you to be healthier, get in some exercise, and do so at a fraction of the price.

11.    Go with Generic Prescription Drugs When Possible: If you need a prescription drug to get you back to being the picture of health, go with a generic version. In most instances the ingredients are the same and will help to heal you at a fraction of the cost.

Far too often we complicate our health and burden it with high expense.  Often, the cheapest route is the healthiest route.  Let these 11 tips be your start to more affordable healthy living.

Mary Ward is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain and enjoys writing about medical career
topics, such as how to get a  job, education tips, and more.

Which diet is right for you?

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Image courtesy of TheDailyGreen

Have you ever changed, or tried to change, the way you habitually eat? Most of us connect the word “diet” with “weight loss”, but people adopt particular diets for a number of reasons: these could be related to your health (which sometimes necessitates weight gain), your finances (eating more cheaply) or particular ethical or environmental concerns.

If you’ve ever been on a diet you’ll know that commitment is crucial. Many of us have been trying to lose a few pounds for years, often half-heartedly “dieting” again each Monday, and never making much progress. Others might manage to stick with a regime for a few weeks, only to come unstuck at the first vacation, birthday or party that comes along.

Here are some ways to stay committed to your diet:

Set Out Your Guidelines

If you’re following a vegetarian diet, be clear with yourself exactly what that means. Do you eat fish, for instance? How about eggs? Do you make sure the cheese you buy is vegetarian? There aren’t right or wrong answers here – and yours will probably depend on your reasons for adopting a vegetarian diet.

You can ask yourself similar questions about veganism and raw foodism – where are you drawing the lines?

For those trying to lose weight, you might want to forbid certain foods some or all of the time. For example, you might decide that you’ll only eat chocolate on weekends, or that you’ll avoid full-fat cheese altogether. (Tip: don’t try to be too restrictive – many weight-loss dieters find this is counter-productive as it can lead to binging.)

Record What You Eat

If you’re struggling to stay committed to your diet, recording what you eat is a great way to keep on track. You don’t need to keep an elaborate diary or journal: in some cases, you might simply tick days on the calendar when you’ve stuck to your guidelines.

Keeping a log of your eating patterns can also help you to identify particular times or situations that tend to knock your commitment to your diet. Perhaps you always end up eating fatty, salty processed foods with a particular group of friends, or maybe you tend to succumb to candy in the afternoons.

Join With Like-Minded Friends

There are thousands of groups, both physical and virtual, for all sorts of different diets. You could find a local vegetarian, vegan or raw food association, and attend meetings: if your friends and family don’t support your diet, this is a great way to surround yourself with people who do. If you can’t meet up locally, try looking for forums or email groups online. You might want to start at VeggieBoards, which includes areas for vegetarians, vegans and raw foodists.

If you’re on a weight loss journey, you might find that attending a local club helps you to stay committed – especially as most have weigh-ins! Weight Watchers is the best-known chain of clubs, but there are plenty of other options, so hunt around for something that suits you. Again, there are lots of free online forums where you can get support and advice about losing weight and sticking to your diet.

Make Gradual Changes

In some cases, overhauling your diet instantly isn’t going to be realistic. You can get healthier and lose weight by making incremental changes – you don’t have to be “perfect”. A great resource for making gradual, step-by-step changes is 31 Days to a Better Diet.

And in many cases, you need to take it slowly for the sake of your health. If you want to be a raw foodist but currently eat an omnivorous, mainly cooked, diet, your body will need time to adjust gradually: don’t try to switch to 100% raw food overnight:
An abrupt change to a raw food diet can cause detoxifying symptoms such as weight loss and a lowering of blood pressure. It is best to gradually transition to a raw food diet by including more fruits and vegetables in the daily diet and gradually decreasing the amount of cooked foods. (Is a Raw Food Diet Healthy for an Athlete?, Darlene, Bright Hub)

Are you currently on a diet, weight-loss or otherwise? How’s it going? How do you keep yourself committed?

Which diet is right for you?

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Depression is a difficult illness for even the most iron-willed of individuals. Whether you’re clinically depressed or just in a rut, depression can make basic tasks like cleaning the house, taking a shower and even getting out of bed incredibly difficult and physically and mentally draining. It is important to stay motivated to continue to live your life and work towards feeling better, even when you’re at your lowest point. Here are some simple ways that you can motivate yourself on a daily basis:

•    Don’t be too harsh with yourself. It’s going to take time to get things done like you used to and to feel like your old self. Changes are not going to happen overnight, so don’t be overly critical of yourself if you make mistakes or don’t get as much done as you’d like. You’re having a hard enough time without getting on your own case.

•    Be realistic. Making a laundry list of things to do is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure. Start with small positive changes and work from there. If you’re not realistic you’ll just end up frustrated and more depressed.

•    Surround yourself with people. While you may just want to curl up and be alone, this isn’t the best or easiest route for you when you’re depressed. Having others around you to give you a helping hand, talk to you and provide you with inspiration is important to feeling better and getting back into the swing of things, even if you feel like you just want to shut everyone out.

•    Move around. Lying in bed all day or hunkering down on the couch isn’t going to do much but give you more time to feel bad about things. When you force yourself to get up, even if only for a short walk or to tend to some plants outside, you’ll be helping yourself feel better physically and mentally.

•    Start a project. For many, this may seem like that last thing they want to do but an enjoyable project can give you something to concentrate on that will bring your thoughts away from depression and give you something to feel proud of when you’re done.

•    Make a plan. If even the smallest tasks seem like a chore, start small with planning out what you’re going to do each day. In the morning, write down the things you’d like to accomplish and in the evening, go back and check off what you did. This can help you regain your sense of control over your life at a time when it seems the most chaotic.

Recovering from depression is a hard road, but with some planning and slow but steady progress you may be able to start feeling optimistic about your life again. For a list of more great depression resources, click here.

Meredith Walker is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain.com. She writes about online nursing programs and welcomes your feedback.

Eliminate your stress

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The Real Key To Life

Have you watched TV programs like Downsize Me? I really enjoy watching this! People who lead unhealthy lifestyles are given a ‘lifestyle makeover.’ They usually end up losing weight and finding more happiness by the end of the show. Obviously they do make great strides over the two months they are being followed by the cameras, but I often wonder how many of these people go back to their old unhealthy ways once the TV cameras have left. The trouble is that these kind of programmes focus on external things – diet, exercise, giving up smoking – but they don’t address the inner world of the individuals they are seeking to treat. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with eating better, giving up smoking, drinking less and doing more exercise, but there’s something deeper here.

The mind-body connection

The connection between mind and body is becoming more accepted in mainstream medicine. If you think about it, this connection is pretty obvious. When you get excited or nervous or panicky, that feeling starts in your mind but has an immediate effect on your body. When you fall in love, you can feel it in your body. When you watch a sad movie, you might start to cry. When you find out you’ve won the lottery or got an ‘A’ grade on an exam, your heart will start to beat faster and you’ll feel all sorts of other physical effects.

R. Veenhoven carried out a scientific study of the effects of happiness on health and concluded that happy people are less likely to get sick and that they live longer. The difference between happy and unhappy people was comparable to the difference between smokers and non-smokers in terms of life span. Veenhoven’s findings can be found in The Journal of Happiness Studies (yes there really is a scholarly journal about happiness!)

Our autopilot

We all run on subconscious programmes. It’s how we manage to survive in the world. If we had to think about everything we did, we wouldn’t be able to function – there would simply be too much to think about! Our subconscious takes control of much of our life so that, in essence, we are running on autopilot. Examples of these habitual patterns are being untidy, being late and being poor. All these things come from the subconscious mind. Being sick is also a subconscious habit. I’m not suggesting that all sickness has its origin in the mind (though it might, and many people believe this), but we all know people who constantly get sick, and if they were ever healthy for more than a few months, their subconscious mind would find a way of getting back on track by bringing along an illness of some kind.

Our subconscious scripts often come from our childhood and they were developed because they gave us an advantage. The benefits of being sick, as a child, are that (for example) people will pay more attention to you, you might get a day off school, you might get some special treats or you’ll get treated better than your siblings. I’m sure we all remember the sheer joy of days off school as a child because of some minor ailment. When we grow up, these scripts stay with us. Sometimes they can still confer an advantage on us – maybe we still get attention from our family or a day off work – but they may also be problematic and destructive to our lives.

The strange thing is that many of us (most of us, in fact) don’t realize this is what’s happening. We are not even aware of the autopilot and think that things are happening to us, and not that we are controlling the way things turn out. But the reality is that we are in control and we do have a choice.

How to re-script your subconscious

Viktor Frankl wrote that ‘between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’

In that space, we can create ourselves anew. We need the right kind of self-talk. We talk to ourselves all day long, so we need to make sure we are saying the right things. We also see ourselves in certain scenarios in our mind’s eye. We need to make sure these visualizations are of what we want to achieve, how we want to feel and what sort of person we want to be. Ultimately, we are trying to construct a good self image. When we have clear image of the person we intend to be in our mind, then our subconscious will start to run that script and the image will become reality. A change in our mind will work its way out.

We need to take responsibility for our lives. Forcing ourselves to endure exercise and eat salad whilst all the time telling ourselves that we are unhealthy and unable to really change will get us nowhere. We need to do it the other way round – start off with the belief that we are fit and healthy, and this will become part of our reality. Spending a lot of time on our mental preparation makes all the difference to our success or failure. Sharpening the axe will make it a lot easier to cut down the tree.

Michael Miles writes at effortlessabundance.com. You can download his new book, Thirty Days to Change Your Life, at the site.

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Since you’re reading Pick the Brain, I think I can confidently suggest that you might have some perfectionist tendencies – and that you almost certainly have a few areas of your life that you’re working on. (Both are pretty much a given, based on an interest in self-improvement and personal development.)

One big area for a lot of us in the West is our health – and specifically, our weight and fitness levels. Over half of America is overweight, and that figure is rising. I’d guess that a number of Pick the Brain readers are aware that, for better health, they need to lose weight and take more exercise.

Something that stops a lot of us from making progress on our health goals is the feeling that if I can’t be perfect, it’s not worth bothering. If you’ve tried out several super-strict regimes in the past, which you promptly ditch as soon as you’ve eaten something unplanned, or if you think it’s not worth going to the gym for half an hour – you need a whole free afternoon – then this article is for you.

Make Small Changes To What You Eat

One good way to avoid that all-or-nothing approach is to make incremental changes to your diet and daily routine. If you read these and think “it’s not worth bothering”, recognise that it’s your subconscious mind trying to trick you into staying firmly in your cosy comfort zone. Small changes really do add up. Some good places to start are:

• Eat breakfast every day (if you don’t already). Skipping breakfast is strongly associated with an increased risk of being overweight.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables. Try having a piece of fruit at breakfast and at lunch each day, a serving of vegetables (like a small side salad, or a handful of carrot and celery sticks ) with lunch, and two servings of vegetables with dinner.
• Switch to wholegrain bread and cereals. Don’t make this an all-or-nothing, just opt for the wholegrain option some of the time.
• When two options are equally tempting, go for the healthier one. For example, if you’re at an Italian restaurant and like the look of the creamy pasta carbonara but you’re also eyeing a tomato, prawn and chilli pasta dish, go for the latter.
• Don’t start worrying about having a perfect diet. Whatever you read on the internet, you do not need to avoid all refined carbs/balance your fat-protein-carbs exactly/eschew all caffeine and alcohol/eat only raw food in order to be healthy. Think of the huge variety of traditional diets around the globe and throughout history – and remember that widespread obesity is a 20th and 21st century problem.

Add In Exercise

If you don’t get much exercise at the moment, set yourself a minimum target that you can fairly easily achieve. That might be a daily twenty minute walk. It might be two gym classes per week. I personally feel at my happiest and most productive if I get a reasonable amount of exercise (ideally, an hour’s walk or the equivalent of it) every day.

Like your diet, your exercise should never be an all-or-nothing deal. Just because you woke up late and didn’t do your planned stretching pre-work, don’t skip your gym session or your evening walk.

As with dieting, you really don’t need to have the perfect body or routine. If you’re exercising purely to keep your heart healthy and your body strong, having a great six pack or toned upper arms is, frankly, irrelevant. I often make the mistake of reading fitness blogs and getting depressed about how much some people do compared to my paltry efforts – but then I remember that I’m easily exceeding the government targets for health. Let other people focus on what’s important to them, and keep your own goals in perspective.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up Over Slip-Ups

A lot of us have a little voice in the back of our heads which says something like “Sod it, I’ve eaten two cookies, I might as well finish the packet and start my diet again tomorrow.” At that rate, tomorrow never comes.

Focus on making healthier choices, most of the time, and you’ll do fine. You don’t need to be a paragon of virtue when it comes to what you eat and how much exercise you do: taking small actions, consistently, will get you to your goals far more effectively than making a huge effort for three days then giving up for the next six months.

If you’ve got diet/fitness goals at the moment, what small, daily actions do you take towards them? How do you keep yourself on track after a minor slip-up?

Balance is something that is often mentioned in personal development and well-being circles. It is said you should eat a balanced diet, live a balanced life and seek a good work/family balance. But what is balance? What does it mean to live a balanced life and why does balance seem like such an elusive concept?

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: And this, too, shall pass away.” – Abraham Lincoln

Life really is one thing after another. The physical environment we each live in is in constant streaming flux. Physically when it’s cold we shiver to bring our body temperature up. When it’s hot we sweat to bring our body temperature down. As living organisms we live in a constantly changing environment. Our bodies are well adapted to this state of affairs and respond appropriately when conditions deviate from their optimal state. This ability of an organism to maintain equilibrium (balance) by adjusting appropriately to the external environment is known as homeostasis.

And there in lies the key to understanding balance. Balance is the taking of appropriate action when circumstances dictate so as to maintain equilibrium. It is said that the great achievement of the sages of old was the achievement of great balance as human beings. How did they achieve great balance? In the present moment, when things would come up, they would respond accordingly.

“There is no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.” – Frank Herbert

When it comes to a concept or principle such as balance it is important to understand that between different people and even from moment to moment the locus of balance is always going to be different. For example, what constitutes a balanced diet for one person may be completely different for another. Both diets may be very healthy in their own right but it is the context of the individual that makes them so. This is probably the key reason for so much disagreement and confusion in the field of nutrition. There is no one size fits all. No mass-producible solution. A difficult business model indeed and so another diet book comes off the press and another wonder product hits the shelves.

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” – Fran Lebowitz

Finding a sense of balance and harmony at some point in any aspect of life will soon turn to disharmony and loss of balance if you try to hold on and freeze that moment forever. Such action is futile and will only lead to pain and your own suffering. The only constant is change. The waves come in, break and recede. Then they roll on in again. Instead of fighting and being tumbled painfully ashore, feel the waves coming and ride them out.

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.” – Thomas Merton

About the writer: This article was written by Stephen Cox. Stephen writes daily at Balanced Existence where he shares the knowledge and insights gained from his personal journey of holistic health and wellbeing.

If you have been following this series on the health benefits of meditation, then hopefully you have given meditation a go by now, and as you meditate and relax, you may well have asked yourself ‘What is actually happening here?’

What is happening is this – The Relaxation Response is kicking in, thanks to your Parasympathetic Nervous System, which is the opposite of your Sympathetic Nervous System.

When you meditate, or rest effectively, the Parasympathetic Nervous System takes over and gets to work reversing the ‘flight or fight’ stress response, counteracting its effects, relaxing the mind and taking your body on a healing journey back to a balanced state of homeostasis.

This is the Relaxation Response. It is proven scientific fact.

This is the single most tangible thing that beginning a regular practice of meditation can do for you and your health. Meditation can be of great help if you are a person who has trouble switching off the mind and unwinding. Even if you are a fairly chilled-out person, you will still benefit from the deeper levels of relaxation, and the healing that this will encourage.

How To Achieve Biological Balance

The Relaxation Response is important in achieving biological balance, or homeostasis.

It is when you are moving towards this state of homeostasis that your body sets about repairing itself and combating pathogens. In order to achieve this desirable state you need to learn to relax. Sounds obvious, but in fact it is a skill that many people need to consciously learn.

The idea of relaxation being a barbeque with friends or walking the dog just isn’t enough – helpful, yes – but not enough. Your mind keeps busy with worries when you walk the dog, and you just plain distract yourself from ‘your-self’ when you hang out with friends.

When you meditate you can measurably feel deep relaxation taking place. Firstly, when you sit down, take stock of yourself. Is your mind racing? How would you describe your mood? Are you irritated or stressed? Excited? Happy? Bored? Depressed?

Then notice physical things about your body like tense shoulders, headaches, or other discomfort. Even those of us who are particularly young and/or fit will notice the subtle imperfections inherent to life in the physical realm when you take the time to meditate.

The Many Benefits of Meditation

So to sum up: the benefits you can gain from meditation are increased physical health and increased mental health. This means that if it is possible that your body/mind can heal or recover from any condition or ailment, then a regular, effective meditation practice will assist this process to occur in a more dynamic and expedient manner. It does this by allowing the immune system to do its job better, and by helping you to be happier and less stressed.

But: an important point – meditation isn’t an instant cure-all. There are generally no easy ‘outs’ in this life – the fact is benefit must be earned, health must be preserved and damage is often hard to undo.

Encouragingly, meditation can represent a major breakthrough in your life. You are unlikely to suddenly meditate your way from down-in-the-dumps to on-top-of-the-world in your first sitting, but you can expect to make some leaps forward in your progression through life.

Beginning to understand and practice meditation can be a glorious eye-opening experience. It can take you (or rather you can take yourself) on a long and interesting journey inwards towards a more positive frame of mind and a happier, healthier and probably longer life.

Seamus Anthony is a writer, musician and entrepreneur. He is the author of “Psychedelic Meditation: How to Get an Awesome Cosmic High Without Drugs” and one half of the action at Rebel Zen.

PS – In case you missed them, here are Part One and Part Two of this “How Meditation Improves Your Health” series.

Meditation promotes good health by fighting off the adverse effects of stress – but what is stress anyway?

Stress is the response to a situation that motivates us to perform an action – whether that be fleeing from an attacker, worrying, or just mowing the lawn.

How Your Body Reacts to Stress.

If you become stressed (even mildly) your Sympathetic Nervous System works to cause you to act appropriately. Hormones like adrenaline and others kick in; we get excited or anxious; muscles tighten; blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate rises. We use up more energy. This is the “Fight or Flight Response”.

Whether it be a small event or a life-threatening one, our bodies respond to stress in a similar way. The difference is that the level of response adjusts to meet the perceived level of threat.

This system can get out of whack and people may find they are overreacting to some of the smaller stressors of life.

Are You Uptight?

You may be a lot more wound up than you need be. For example: doing something simple like mowing the lawn shouldn’t be all that stressful. But if you were to stop mid-task and take a minute to ask yourself ‘what is my mental state right now?’, you may find you are more stressed-out than you realize. This could be because the mower wouldn’t start immediately, or because you’re dwelling on job-related pressures, or because you are habitually high-strung.

Whatever the case, if you are stressed, you are over-stimulating your body’s sympathetic nervous system.

You Are A Bundle of Nerves

Your body is geared up to react to the signals it receives from the mind. Simply put, when you experience ‘negative’ emotions (fear, irritation, anger, stress, bitterness, etc.) your mind interprets this simply as ‘There is danger here; it is not time to relax. All hell could break loose at any minute, better stay ready for action.’

The human body is wired up to react to danger very quickly. At the first sign of ‘danger’ (which could just be slow traffic driving you nuts) the hypothalamus sends off a myriad of signals which prepare us to respond to the perceived threat. When the hypothalamus sends out these distress signals, our bodies redirect energy from other less immediately vital areas to the functions that are specifically needed to respond to the stress.

Why Stress is Bad for Your Body

When your mind and body are in ‘fight or flight’ mode, your immune system suffers because the body is redirecting energy reserves that the immune system needs to other areas of the body. Therefore the more ‘stressed’ you are at any given moment – the less work your immune system is doing to get rid of all the nasties that are in your system.

When you are highly agitated, the immune system pretty much packs up shop and has a siesta while all the drama unfolds elsewhere. Same goes for your digestive system, which is why you may lose your appetite when stressed.

Hormones also have a starring role in this picture. Adrenaline, noradrenalin and thyroxin are amongst the many hormones that get released into the system to perform their role in the ‘fight-or-flight’ scenario. These hormones have specific jobs, such as speeding up the heart rate, or raising body temperature, or swelling a fresh wound.

While this is all natural and necessary, problems arise when we don’t know how to switch off these responses. The body remains on stand-by for trouble, due to negative patterns of thought (worrying about the future, anger, dwelling on the past, etc.), or even just because we are so busy in general. This means the immune system isn’t getting enough time to do its job – so healing does not take place, or if it does, it is at a reduced rate of efficiency.

Unless you meditate, you typically never give the parasympathetic nervous system a go, but rather you settle into a pattern of swinging between a state of high arousal and one of habitual, low-level tension. Even when you go to bed, your dreams may be full of the day’s stress, and your body is so busy playing catch-up that you never quite get to a more desirable state of balance.

What is the Relaxation Response?

The basic theory behind the effectiveness of meditation is that it helps to take the mind (and thus the body) out of the stressed, ‘fight-or-flight’ mode that humans tend to get stuck in, and into the mode known as the Relaxation Response.

This was recognized by Dr Herbert Benson, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in 1967, who reportedly sneaked a number of practitioners of meditation into the laboratory to measure what was happening to them biologically when they were meditating.

Benson measured their vital statistics and found that the meditators were using less oxygen, lowering their heart rates, and generating more Theta brainwaves, which are associated with the relaxed state of sleep, or in this case the mental stage just prior to sleep. Dr Benson coined the term the Relaxation Response in his book of the same name and began a process whereby western empirical science began to understand the biological implications of meditation.

In the third post of this three-part series, we’ll look at how meditation strengthens your immune system, how to use meditation to achieve biological balance and what the benefits of this are.

Seamus Anthony is a musician, writer and entrepreneur who lives in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne, Australia. You can check out more of his personal development writing at http://rebelzen.com

Fact 1: Meditation assists healing. If you have any kind of health complaint at all then meditation can help you to get better.

Fact 2: Meditation can help you to stay healthy. If you are in good shape and want to stay this way, then regular meditation is a good idea.

Twenty years ago these would have been considered fringe ideas rather than facts, but not anymore…

Meditation Goes Mainstream

Meditation no longer belongs solely to the worlds of pseudo-science and spirituality, but has now been embraced by modern science as well.

Good western doctors know how meditation works to relax and heal. A recent survey of General Practitioners found that up to 80% of doctors had referred patients to practitioners of the three most popular Complementary Therapies – which included meditation, along with acupuncture and hypnosis.

Meditation has been extensively tested in laboratories around the world and is proven to help heal the body and mind of illnesses and disorders. As a result, more and more people are turning to meditation as a simple, cheap, and effective method of self-therapy.

In August 2003, Time Magazine (U.S. edition) ran a cover story on meditation in which they reported that over ten million U.S. citizens say they regularly practice some form of meditation, an increase of 100% in the ten years prior. Furthermore, Time went on to say that “it’s becoming increasingly hard to avoid meditation. It’s offered in schools, hospitals, law firms, government buildings, corporate offices, and prisons.”

Meditation is recommended as a way to cure or improve many disorders. Key to this is the fact that meditation helps lower blood pressure and strengthens the immune system. It is effective both as means to prevent disease, and as a means to cure, manage or slow the effects of existing conditions. It is used as treatment for “heart conditions, AIDS, cancer, and infertility … depression, hyperactivity, and Attention Deficit Disorder” (Time).

Eric Harrison, Australian meditation teacher and founder of The Perth Meditation Centre, claims to have received around a quarter of his 15,000-plus clients as referrals from the medical profession. In his book ‘How Meditation Heals the Body and Mind’ (1999, Perth Meditation Center), Harrison claims that an even wider array of ailments can be managed with meditation. He suggests that by initiating the popularly cited ‘Relaxation Response’, the body is able to ward off or effectively slow and manage the effects of not just high blood pressure, but insomnia, fatigue, headaches, gastro-intestinal problems, infertility, sexual problems, and anxiety attacks.

Another respected Australian meditation teacher, Dr Ian Gawler, who used meditation to defeat a diagnosed terminal cancer, also cites the Relaxation Response as being a powerful tool for self-healing (we’ll look at exactly what the Relaxation Response is later in these articles). His work promoting meditation as therapy for cancer and other illnesses earned him an Order of Australia Medal. In his book ‘Peace of Mind’ (1987, Hill of Content) he says that meditation “rapidly and reliably brings immediate physical and psychological benefits.”

Stress – The Dark Side of Our Connectivity Culture

Modern humans are, in the majority, perpetually stressed out. An article on depression in the Medical Journal Australia** recently cited that stress levels “…among people living a Western lifestyle have risen by approximately 45% over the past 30 years.”

Practitioners of meditation believe this springs from the average person’s inability to disconnect from the stress of past events or perceived future threats. Whilst walking down the street, a person may not be doing anything stressful in that moment but may nonetheless be highly agitated due to the tendency of the mind to constantly mull over past or future problems. This occurs even though none of these problems may have anything to do with walking down the street.

In short – we are a society of perpetual ‘worry warts’, and many people fail to recognize this as fact, or indeed simply lack the skills to do anything about it. Even those who would not be described as ‘highly agitated’ or ‘chronically stressed’ are often still afflicted by a subtle level of tension which inhibits the mind from switching back into the Relaxation Response.

Our modern culture of 24-hour connectivity has made this even worse. Even low-tech hippies like me still compulsively check work emails “just quickly” before dinner and get interrupted on weekends by work related calls. This might be part-and-parcel of an interesting and otherwise rewarding career, but nevertheless it takes its toll on our ability to deeply relax. If you are always contactable, then you are never really “switched-off”, and yet, as you will see in my next two articles, this is a vital requirement in the quest for good health.

In the second post in this three-part series we will look at what the Relaxation Response is, how your body reacts to stress and why it’s bad for you.

Seamus Anthony is a musician, writer and entrepreneur who lives in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne, Australia. You can check out more of his personal development writing at http://rebelzen.com