Meditation Using Your Body And Brain

There is a constant two-way contact going on involving your body and your brain. Do you remember a time when you reflected on a situation that was just horrible or possibly you had a "sinking feeling" in your stomach area? That is the kind of contact that goes on between your body and mind. Meditation can help relax your mind so it can assist your body in finding a routine to eliminate tension and your brain to be clear.

Recent research has discovered that not only does your brain communicate with your cells, but your cells will also communicate with your brain as well as other parts of your body. In fact, scientist have recently discovered that we think not only with our brain but also our physical body. Meditation can also aid us in understanding our brain. It is not inaccurate to look at your complete body as being part of your brain.

That may be a new fact that may startle you, but do not reject it. Several scientists are now starting to believe that we are in actuality a "body-brain". You can communicate with your body and brain via meditation. A key part of your body's amazing communication system involves your cells' receptors. What this boils down to is each and every cell in your body can have several million receptors on its face, and each cell has perhaps6 dozen different types of receptors.

While meditating as I learned more I discovered that in the early 1970s, Candace Pert, PhD., was the original scientist to prove that these receptors existed with her own discovery of the opiate receptor. This receptor molecules float on oily outer membrane of the cell and also have roots that can reach deep inside the cell. I'm sure that Dr. Pert had to do lots of meditating as she was writing her fantastic book "The Molecules of Emotion." Dr. Pert says that "a cells life, what it is up to at any moment, is decided by which receptors are on its surface, and whether those receptors are occupied by ligands or not.

A ligand is explained as a small molecule that will attach itself to a cellular receptor. Still using mediation to keep my mind open I discovered that there are three chemical types of ligands. Those 3 types of ligands are the neurotransmitters, the steroids, and the ones that most interest us at this time, the peptides. According to Dr. Pert, up to 95% of all ligands may be peptides.

The receptors and their ligands have come to be seen as "information molecules'- the basic units of a language that are utilized by cells throughout the organism to communicate across systems such as the endocrine, neurological, gastrointestinal, and even the immune system." I would say as much knowledge as Dr. Pert has on this subject meditation might be what kept her mind in focus.