Hello Elite Being!

Thanks for being here and reading through this newsletter.

I hope you achieve the most elite version of you. Keep going!

Best wishes,

Lisa

It’s the time of year where everyone seems to be getting over a cold.

Or an infection or something serious.

If you are worn down: lack of sleep, too much work, not enough vitamins, you’re bound to be hit by this wave of illness.

I was reviewing some old notes and remembered the immune-boosting power of meditation. And found the anti-aging benefits, too!

Let’s begin with stress. We know that it is not great for sustained periods of time. On a cellular level, chronic stress and depression can inhibit immune cell activity and proliferation, and thus weaken defenses against tumorigenic surveillance and growth.

Hence, we get sick when under great amounts of stress.

There’s more.

Severe or prolonged (chronic) stress results in increased risk for physical and psychiatric disorders, which is called stress-related disease.

Stress is the common risk factor of 75%–90% diseases, including the diseases which cause the foremost morbidity and mortality. According to the former review, the most common stress-related diseases are cardiovascular diseases (CVD, i.e., hypertension and atherosclerosis), metabolic diseases (i.e., diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD), psychotic and neurodegenerative disorders (i.e., depression, Alzheimer’s disease, AD and Parkinson’s disease, PD), cancer (Cohen et al., 2007).

Studies show that meditation helps reverse the physical effects of stress by decreasing cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines therefore boosting immunity.

Further, meditation increased white blood cells that act as natural killer cells that target stress and early defense against infections.

Recommendations from the Harvard Medical School:

Do some deep-breathing exercises.

To reduce stress, practice relaxation-promoting exercises, such as yoga or deep breathing. "Studies have found that people who take part in those types of exercise have less stress and fewer inflammatory markers in the blood," Dr. Shmerling says. An easy deep-breathing exercise: Sit quietly, take a deep breath, and hold it for a count of three. Breathe out, then pause for a count of three. Continue for one minute. Make sure you feel your belly rising and falling with each breath, so you know you're breathing deeply.

If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, this may sound familiar :)
This all makes sense.

What does your body need when its not feeling 100%?

The answer, almost always is rest. Give your body a chance to reset. Taking deep breaths to feel relaxed and move into the parasympathetic state.

I put together this quick (8 minute) immune boosting meditation to help with that.

References

Mindfulness mediation and the immune system: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4940234/#R58

Psychological stress and disease
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17925521/

Inflammation: The Common Pathway of Stress-Related Diseases https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5476783/#B15

This is a truly one-of-a-kind event - meditation, storytelling, live music, food, mocktails, and great people.

Get a ticket while you can!

Are these insights helpful?

Which tools have you used?

What would you like to share with others?

Best wishes & many blessings,

Lisa

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