Meditation and Immune System

[Rasheed]

• Can meditation boost person's immune system?

[mandyjw]

I'd say yes, but it's more complicated than that, the answer depends on your beliefs and experience. Meditation cuts down on thoughts of stress and illness, so you'd attract them into your experience less. 

However if you mediate because you're afraid of getting sick, you intention to push away sickness may instead become a focus on illness and could attract illness until you get over the need or condition to be healthy over being sick. 

[Rasheed]

  On 1/30/2020 at 2:04 PM, mandyjw said:

I'd say yes, but it's more complicated than that, the answer depends on your beliefs and experience. Meditation cuts down on thoughts of stress and illness, so you'd attract them into your experience less. 

However if you mediate because you're afraid of getting sick, you intention to push away sickness may instead become a focus on illness and could attract illness until you get over the need or condition to be healthy over being sick. 

That makes sense. Intention is very important. I also think that meditation can increase immune system for that same reason.

[Michael569]

Let's see if we can break this down on physiological level. 

Stress induces production of noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol from adrenal glands through HPA Axis stimulation --> in long term cortisol has been shown to 1. reduce immune cell proliferation 2. reduce secretory IgA (your gut's immune defence) 3. induce chronic inflammation possibly due to destroying cortisol receptors in amygdala & hippocampus and disrupting its own negative feedback (this is also associated with persistent depression which destroys immunity even more) 4. Separate tight junctions in the gut leading to more inflammation and possible autoimmunity  --> meditation was found to reduce cortisol secretion as well as adrenaline secretion which will reduce risk of all above

So technically, yes meditation helps the immune function. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Michael569

[Rasheed]

  On 1/30/2020 at 3:19 PM, Michael569 said:

Let's see if we can break this down on physiological level. 

Stress induces production of noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol from adrenal glands through HPA Axis stimulation --> in long term cortisol has been shown to 1. reduce immune cell proliferation 2. reduce secretory IgA (your gut's immune defence) 3. induce chronic inflammation possibly due to destroying cortisol receptors in amygdala & hippocampus and disrupting its own negative feedback (this is also associated with persistent depression which destroys immunity even more) 4. Separate tight junctions in the gut leading to more inflammation and possible autoimmunity  --> meditation was found to reduce cortisol secretion as well as adrenaline secretion which will reduce risk of all above

So technically, yes meditation helps the immune function. 

Monkey mind can cause whole lot of stress...Meditation really boosts health.

[Deezeetho]

  On 1/30/2020 at 1:58 PM, Rasheed said:

• Can meditation boost person's immune system?

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