On Stress, Yoga Meditation, and The Evolution Revolution

In the Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…. It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” Yes, the period of which Dickens wrote is a lot like the present day. We are living through extraordinary times in a complicated world. In my 74 ½ years, I’ve never seen anything like it — from the virus to political strife to protests, stress is rampant. Stress may impact negatively virtually every system of our body, from the immune system leading to decreased resistance to virus infections, such as Covid-19 and cancer, to heart problems, elevated blood pressure, autoimmune disease, and more. Chronic stress has also been revealed to impact mental health leading to high levels of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Moreover, stress in and of itself is a risk factor for lower cognitive ability. People who report high levels of stress, including adverse childhood experiences and early life stress such as trauma, abuse, or neglect, have a much higher risk of developing this fatal, mind-robbing disease. Stress also has a pronounced negative effect on your genes, decreasing the level of a crucial enzyme called telomerase, which controls the length of your telomere at the tip of your DNA. While shorter telomeres are associated with poor immune system function, inflammation, accelerated aging...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness anxiety chronic-stress depression immune system insomnia Kirtan-Kriya lower cognitive ability mbsr meditation mental health Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction telomere Transcendental Med Source Type: blogs