Anything that causes a negative impact on our brain and body is called stress. It can be physical stress or chemical stress. But human body is a beautiful creation of God and brain is the masterpiece which commands and control everything that we do in our daily activities. In our body, nerves are the wires that carry the information from brain to various parts of our body and we call it nervous system.
There are various part of nervous system and one of them is autonomic nervous system. Autonomic nervous system controls the activities we do without thinking. Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are part of autonomic nervous system that helps to deal with stress. Whenever we are stressed our body releases stress hormones also known as cortisol which helps to react quickly to life threating situations and this response is controlled by sympathetic nervous system Some of the important functions of Cortisol are -
- Managing stress
- Increasing heart rate
- Keeping you alert and awake
- Increasing energy level
When the threat passes, Parasympathetic nervous system is activated which helps to relax. Some of the important functions of parasympathetic nervous system are-
- Decreasing heart rate
- Stimulating gastric secretion which helps to improve digestion
- Improving vision
- Increasing blood circulation which increases oxygenation and absorption of nutrients.
- Conserve energy for future use
But unfortunately these days most of us are highly stressed which keeps our sympathetic nervous system activated. Activated sympathetic nervous system leads to continuous secretion of cortisol that may lead to Heart disease, Indigestion, poor concentration, Difficulty in sleeping, Weight gain and high blood sugar.
So, here I am sharing some of the scientifically proven easiest techniques to activate our parasympathetic nervous system that helps our body to relax and perform its important function like digestion, lowering blood pressure, increasing blood circulation etc. In another words activated parasympathetic nervous system is the key of good health.
- Breathing technique - When we intentionally slow down our breath, our body understands that everything is okay and parasympathetic nervous system gets activated.
- Listening mahamantra - Research has demonstrated that simple techniques like chanting or listening mahamantra for 20min daily has beneficial effect in relieving stress by increasing parasympathetic tone among moderate to severe stressed professional women.
- AUM Chanting - The Vibration that we experience during ‘AUM’ chanting has the potential to stimulate parasympathetic nervous system which can be also used for the treatment of depression.
- Singing - The Parasympathetic nervous system is connected to your vocal cords and the muscles at the back of your throat. Singing, humming and chanting can activate these muscles and stimulate your Parasympathetic nervous system.
- Drinking cold water/ ice water - Research has found that drinking Ice water decreases heart rate in healthy people. When our heart rate reduces our brain feel every thing is ok and parasympathetic nervous system get activated.
- Massage - It has been found that 15 min moderate pressure masssage helps our body to shift from sympathetic state to parasympathetic state.
- Diet - Eating unhealthy diet or high glycemic food releases free radicals that may produce chemical stress on our body which may lead to activation of sympathetic nervous system. So, we must include food that are rich in antioxidants like fruits, dark colored raw veggies, leafy vegetables etc. in our diet that helps to neutralize these free radicals.
- View green - Study has found that that five minutes of viewing urban green space can support recovery from stress that happens during parasympathetic state.
- Laughing - Laughing loudly definitely helps to reduce stress, decrease pain and improve quality of life and is used word wide used as a therapy in most of the psychological diseases.
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