11/09/2020
Our bodies are self-regulated by our autonomic nervous systems. Our autonomic nervous systems have two parts: sympathetic (fight or flight) 🏃🏾♀️ and parasympathetic (rest and digest) 🛌.
When we have an ⬆️ in sympathetic dominance, it can cause a plethora of issues. Increased stress hormones, increased inflammation, insulin resistance, and decreased immune function to name a few. I think we can all agree these are bad.
So how do we ⬆️ parasympathetic dominance instead? What can we do on a daily basis to decrease stress, decrease inflammation and improve our immune response?
The two best things that we can do is breathwork (specifically belly breaths) and meditation. 🧘🏼♂️
Breathwork and meditation physiologically and biologically change our states of being. They decrease stress and put us into a more relaxed state.
5️⃣ types of breathwork to try:
Cadence
Wim Hof
Clarity
Biodynamic
Transformational
You could also just start with inhaling slowly through your nose for 5 seconds, holding for 5 sec, exhaling slowly through your nose for 5 sec, holding for 5 sec and repeating that cycle for 5 minutes.
🌿 A few other things to help improve our immune health are water, nutritious foods, exercise, sunlight, reading, socially interacting, yoga, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc and elderberry.
The more that we can pursue a parasympathetic state of being, the healthier we will become.
Breathe. 🌬
Health is simple. It’s just a lost wisdom.