The Autonomic Nervous System and Antiaging

The autonomic nervous system, is the most important part of your body that you likely have never heard of. It regulates all of your critical functions and learning how to de-stress the nervous system and achieve tranquility is the key to long life and good health!

Most of us go through life never thinking about the way our body's vital functions are maintained when we sleep, or when we are rendered unconscious from some kind of trauma. Our hearts still beat and we continue to breath, all because these functions are occur automatically outside of our conscious control.

Two Branches of the Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system has two branches, the sympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system basically prepares you to handle emergencies which require a “fight or flight response. It puts your body on high alert!

It causes the following responses:

• Moves blood away from digestion to major muscles for action
• Increases heart rate and dilates your coronary arteries
• Shuts down digestion and elimination (bowel movement)

Thus your stress levels are brought up to the max, both digestion and bowel function are shut down, and your heart is beating at an accelerated rate. This is a very stressful condition meant to prepare your body for life threatening emergencies and challenges.

It's easy to see why you would not want to be in this state for very long!

In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system promotes rest, digestion, and elimination by:

• Moving blood back into the stomach to aid digestion
• Restores peristaltic function (bowel movement)
• Slows heart rate and brings breathing back to normal
• Puts your body into rest and regeneration mode

Why Stress is So Bad.....

It's easy to see why you would want the parasympathetic system to be dominant most of the time. When it is, you are not under stress and can relax and function normally. This is the difference between being stressed and being relaxed.

You have probably heard about how unhealthy it is to be under stress, but now you have an idea WHY it's so unhealthy! Being in “sympathetic mode” constantly, as some people seem to be is like driving your care at 90 miles an hour ALL THE TIME! Something is going to give, and that something will likely be your HEART!

Stress ages you at a faster rate and undermines your quality of life.

Ok, So How Do We Shift The Nervous System To Parasympathetic Mode?

Shifting our autonomic functions so that the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant is essential to your health. If I were asked how best to do it, two years ago I would have suggested meditation, and although that is still a very effective strategy, it requires effort and practice to learn. This means that many people will not do I.

Now we have another strategy that is so simple that it really took me by surprise, and that is grounding!

The ONE thing I would recommend to EVERYONE is body grounding! It shifts the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic (stress) mode, to parasympathetic (relaxation) mode.

All you have to do is walk barefoot outdoors on grass, or even unpainted concrete if the weather permits, OR put your feet on a grounding mat if you have to be indoors.

I can tell you from personal experience that body grounding works VERY well for this purpose, and it's completely passive, which means you are much more likely to do it and get the benefits from it.

Literally being connected with the Earth is a calming thing for human beings. Even though many people might be skeptical that something this simple could be so effective, but it does work!

Get into Grounding

Don't believe me? Then listen to the words of Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a board certified cardiologist who co-wrote the book on grounding!

"I believe that body grounding is the simplest and most effective way to relax your autonomic nervous system and bring more tranquility into your life. You will feel the benefits in terms of more relaxation, better digestion, relief of constipation, and even a better sex life." - Stephen Sinatra M.D.

Return from Autonomic Nervous System to Aging and Disease

Return from Autonomic Nervous System to Longevity and Antiaging Secrets