The Contemporary Taoist - The Science of Meditation

The Contemporary Taoist - The Science of Meditation

By Séamus Anthony

Good western doctors know how meditation works to relax and heal. A recent survey of Victorian GPs found that up to 80% of doctors had referred patients to practitioners of the three most popular complementary therapies that included meditation, along with acupuncture and hypnosis (1). 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 (US edition) ran a cover story on meditation reporting that over ten million US 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. A key to this is the fact that meditation helps lower blood pressure and strengthens the immune system. It is effective both as a means to prevent disease, and 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, meditation teacher and founder of The Perth Meditation Centre, claims to have received around a quarter of his over 15,000 clients as ‘referrals from the medical profession’. In his book ‘How Meditation Heals the Body and Mind’ (1999, Perth Meditation Centre), 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, Melbourne’s 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. 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’.

How exactly does meditation work?
The 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 recognised by Dr Herbert Benson, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in 1967, who reportedly sneaked a number of practitioners of meditation into a laboratory to measure what was happening biologically when they were meditating. He 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 ‘relaxation response’ and began a process whereby western empirical science could understand the biological implications of meditation.

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”. (2) 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. In short – we are a society of perpetual ‘worry warts’, and many people fail to recognise 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 that inhibits the mind from switching back into the ‘relaxation response’.

The ‘relaxation response’ is important in achieving biological balance, or homeostasis. It is when we are moving towards homeostasis that the body sets about repairing itself and combating pathogens. In order to achieve this desirable state we need to relax. Sounds obvious, but in fact relaxation is a skill that many people need to consciously learn. The idea of relaxation being a barbecue with friends or walking the dog just isn’t enough. Our minds keep busy with worries when we walk the dog, and we just plain distract ourselves from ‘our-self’ when we hang out with friends.

How our bodies react to stress
Stress is a response to a situation that motivates us to perform an action – whether that is fighting off an attacker, worrying, or just mowing the lawn. If we become stressed (even mildly), then our sympathetic nervous system works to cause us to act appropriately. Hormones kick in; we get excited or anxious; muscles tighten; blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate rise; we use up more energy. This is the fight-or-flight response.

Whether it is a minor event or a life-threatening situation, our bodies respond to stress in a similar way but 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. For example, pretend you are mowing the lawn, and you are feeling really wound up about the task. This could be because the mower wouldn’t start immediately, or because you are dwelling on job-related pressures, or because you are habitually high-strung.

Whatever the case, you are over-stimulating your body’s sympathetic nervous system. 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”. As Petrea King (Quest for Life Centre), meditation teacher, and cancer survivor says: “When our mind goes either into the future or into the past, that creates a chemical and electrical state in the brain and body that makes it impossible for us to really enjoy and savour the moment” (16th June, 2004, 702 ABC Sydney).

The human body is wired up to react to danger very quickly. At the first sign of ‘danger’ (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 this happens, our bodies redirect energy from other less immediately vital areas to the functions that are specifically needed to respond to the stress. Importantly, one thing that loses out is the immune system. Therefore the more ‘stressed’ we are at any given moment - the less work our immune system is doing to get rid of all the nasties that are in our system. When we are highly agitated, the immune system pretty much packs up and has a siesta while all the drama unfolds elsewhere. The same goes for our 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, 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 just because we are generally very busy. This means the immune system isn’t getting enough time to do its job therefore healing does not take place, or if it does, it is at a reduced rate of efficiency.

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

And so we meditate!
As you meditate and relax, the ‘relaxation response’ is kicking in, thanks to your parasympathetic nervous system, the opposite of your sympathetic nervous system.

When we meditate, or rest effectively, the parasympathetic nervous system gets to work reversing fight-or-flight responses; counteracting their effects, relaxing the body/mind, and journeying (through healing) back to a balanced state of homeostasis. This is the ‘relaxation response’, and it is scientifically proven. This is the single most tangible thing that beginning a regular practice of meditation can do for you and your health. If you are a person who has trouble switching off the mind and truly relaxing, then meditation can help. Even if you are a fairly relaxed person, you will still benefit from the deeper levels of relaxation, and the healing that this will encourage.

The benefits we 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.

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

Encouragingly, meditation can facilitate major breakthroughs 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 positive leaps forward. When meditating “you encounter the reality of your situation, you deal with it, and you overcome it”, says prominent Australian-based meditation teacher Swami Shankarananda, author of ‘Happy for No Good Reason’. Beginning to understand and practise 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.

It’s a scientific fact.
(1) MJA 2000; 172: 105-109 – Complementary Therapies: Have They Become Accepted in General Practice.
(2) Craig S Hassed MJA 2000; 173: 545-547 Depression: dispirited or spiritually deprived?
(3) Miller, M. and Rahe, R.H. Life changes scaling for the 1990s. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 43:279-292, 1997.

Date: 6 Jun 2007 / Category: / Views: 861