Support Your Immune System with Calm and Creativity
In these challenging times, two of the most helpful things we can do are 1) support our immune systems and 2) think clearly and creatively.
To understand how to support your immune system, it helps to know a little physiology.
The autonomic nervous system, which regulates all our internal processes, has two branches.
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for responding to external threats by preparing the body to run, fight, or hide.
The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for managing all our ongoing background physical processes, including the immune system’s job of protecting us from internal threats such as viruses.
When your brain thinks you are facing an external threat, such as from a predator, it shifts your body’s resources to the sympathetic nervous system.
If a tiger is chasing you, getting away from the tiger is more important in that moment than spending energy on protecting you from things like viruses.
In the world of our ancestors, threats were usually immediate and short-lived. The sympathetic nervous system would dial up, address the threat, and then dial down.
In our modern 24/7 switched on world, our brains can easily think there are constant external threats, which keeps our sympathetic nervous systems revved up.
When that happens, our immune systems and other important internal functions (such as digestion) get chronically dialed down, which can make us more susceptible to disease.
Doing things that bring us into a state of calm tells the brain that we are not facing an immediate external threat.
That signals the sympathetic nervous system to dial down and energy gets directed back to the immune system.
Being calm helps our immunity and also helps us think clearly, both of which are so important right now.
Doing creative activities we enjoy also shifts our brains out of fight/flight and helps us think creatively, which we need in these times of rapid change.
If you’d like to increase your calm and creativity, join us for 10 Days of Calm and Creativity for Heart Centered Women, May 1-10. Sign up here:
https://mailchi.mp/happybrainlife.com/10-days-of-calm
Even if you don’t join us, please take time each day to calm your nervous system and connect with your creativity – you will be supporting your immune system and increasing your ability to think clearly and creatively.
Please take good care of your precious self. Our world needs you!
Hugs,
Liz
