Mind-Body System

Mindfulness

The ancient purpose of yoga was to prepare the body for meditation. Yoga conditioned the body to relax so that the mind did not trigger adrenaline. Yoga conditioned the mind to not trigger adrenaline when using muscles.

After practicing yoga, the ancient purpose of meditation was to practice techniques to (1) condition the mind to not trigger adrenaline caused by thoughts and (2) condition the body to relax so that the mind did not trigger adrenaline caused by physical sensations.

Meditation techniques include focusing on each breath, focusing on patterned breathing, counting breaths, speaking or thinking a mantra or chant and other mental concentration methods. Meditation can be done while sitting, walking, swimming, driving or doing many activities. Meditation is the practice of conditioning the mind to stay calm and not trigger adrenaline.

The mind-body system uses feedback loops. If we sense danger then our mind triggers adrenaline so we can run, or stay and fight (the fight or flight syndrome). This is a reinforcing feedback loop in the sense that continued stress over time continues to trigger adrenaline. However in our modern society, we can neither run nor fight when we encounter stressful situations at work or in relationships. Our mind triggers the adrenaline and our muscles respond. Our heart rate increases, our blood pressure goes up, our stomach stops processing, our immune system is suppressed and we have other body chemistry changes. But we can not run or fight.

When this happens over time, the balancing feedback loops in our brain begin to loose their reservoir of neurotransmitters to calm the mind and stop the adrenaline. We start having physical symptoms that appear to be a medical condition but really our mind is triggering adrenaline and stimulating our muscles.

When the mind-body system has a balancing feedback loop that is not working properly then we start having physical symptoms that our mind misunderstands and that triggers more adrenaline. This causes more physical symptoms and triggers more adrenaline. This downward spiral leads to what we call anxiety attacks and panic attacks. We experience moods that swing above and below what is therapeutic. Our behavior changes and we get angry more easily, we feel exhausted and another downward spiral starts to take place that can lead to depression.

Being aware of how our mind-body system uses feedback is the first step in transforming our dilemma. The second step is to take action to practice calming the mind and body. Yoga and mediation are two methods, and there are several techniques within each method, to condition the mind and body to not trigger adrenaline.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a combination of yoga and meditation to calm the mind-body system. This method has been shown to reduce the sensation of pain in cancer patients, and improve physical and emotional well-being (1).

Serotonin and SSRIs

The neurotransmitter in the brain that is the key part of the balancing feedback loop is serotonin. About one millionth of the neurotransmitters in the brain are serotonin. This neurotransmitter supports a multi-billion dollar drug industry producing Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly called antidepressants. The drug based therapy (for anxiety, panic attacks and depression) is to prescribe an SSRI drug. Over time, the SSRI drug increases the reservoir of serotonin in the brain by blocking the receptors that take serotonin out of circulation.

Serotonin is the key part of the feedback loop between the mind and the body because this is how information is passed between the brain and the spinal cord in the central nervous system. As stress over time causes the level of serotonin to fall below a threshold, the mind misunderstands the information about sensations coming through the spinal cord from the body. The brain triggers adrenaline and the body experiences sensations from the rush of adrenaline. The information, about these additional sensations, is misunderstood by the mind and the brain triggers more adrenaline. The balancing feedback loop has stopped working when serotonin falls below a threshold and the reinforcing feedback loop takes over causing a downward spiral in behavior and mental stability.

SSRI drugs increase the reservoir of serotonin in the brain so that the mind begins to understand the information from the body and not react with more adrenaline. However, without conditioning the mind and body to stay calm, the old habits will return when the patient stops taking the SSRI drug. This can cause a meta-cycle of taking an SSRI and then not taking the drug only to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety again, and returning to taking the SSRI. This causes problems because these are psychotropic drugs that have side effects when ramping up or getting off the drugs.

1. For more information on Mindfulness, go to Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_stress_reduction ) and the Center for Mindfulness ( http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx ).