The Tao of Natural Breathing_ For Health, Well-Being, and Inner Growth - Dennis Lewis [17]
One of the ways that stress undermines our health is by increasing the production of the hormone cortisol, which in turn suppresses our immune system. A study published in the early 1990s in The New England Journal of Medicine found, for instance, that healthy participants who were given nose drops containing a cold virus were susceptible to the virus in direct relationship to the degree of emotional stress they were experiencing at the time. Other studies have shown that stress—and the fear and anxiety often associated with it—can cause autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis to worsen.16 Through learning how to sense ourselves more clearly, however, we will begin to understand that it is not always stress itself that is the problem—a certain amount of stress can actually be beneficial to our health—but rather the habitual ways in which we respond to stress. It is here that our emotions play a major role.
EMOTIONS AND THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Through self-sensing we will begin to experience for ourselves the relationship between our emotions and the so-called autonomic nervous system, which controls the smooth muscles and the glands. This system works either to excite or inhibit certain internal and external actions and secretions. As we learn how to sense the physiological effects of fear, anger, and anxiety in ourselves, for example, we will begin to understand experientially how they are bound up with the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, which readies the body for “fight or flight” action. The sympathetic system acts in “sympathy” with our emotions, particularly those related to fear, danger, and excitement. Some signs that this system is turned on include sweating, dry mouth, and other forms of “arousal.” This system, with neurons located mainly in the chest and midback regions of the spine, communicates with the rest of the body by transmitting impulses from the brain through chains of sympathetic ganglia running down both sides of the spine. From the ganglia, nerve fibers carry impulses to the various internal organs. These nerve impulses decrease movement in the digestive organs, increase heart rate and blood pressure, constrict blood vessels, dilate (open up) airways in the lungs, release sugar stored in the liver, and flood the body with adrenaline and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands, so that more blood and energy are available for action.
The Survival Value of Negative Emotions
As troublesome as they are in our lives, it is clear—at least sometimes—that what we call “negative emotions” have important “survival” value. Many of our negative emotions are simply signals that something has gone wrong in our lives or that some action is necessary to avoid a potential problem. A student’s anxiety about an upcoming exam, or an executive’s anxiety about a financial report that is due the next day, can play a beneficial role in stimulating appropriate preparation, as long as the anxiety does not become so excessive that it causes fear and a lack of concentration. A woman’s anger toward a man who physically or psychologically abuses her may motivate her to leave the relationship or to find a healthier relationship with someone else, as long as it doesn’t become so strong that she becomes violent. A mother’s anger toward a teenage daughter who stays out all night may be what is necessary to motivate both mother and daughter to try to communicate with each other in a new way. Our lives are filled with many examples of how our so-called negative emotions, as long as they do not become excessive, can provide important information about what is happening in our lives—information that can help us take intelligent actions on behalf of ourselves and others.
Unfortunately, many of our negative emotions seem to quickly reach a point where they have no apparent solution, and we frequently find ourselves unable