Effects of Mindfulness the human cognitive, nervous, and immune systems

Did you know if there are effects of mindfulness on the human cognitive, nervous, and immune systems? 

 

The cognitive system is the source of all mental processes and products, arising from complex neural activity in the brain.

 

A cognitive system is a group of interactive and interrelated processes that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. Its job is to execute how information is treated and manipulated through thought, knowledge, and memory within the brain. It is how we understand, plan, decide, solve problems, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and judge information after perceiving it. Still, it also dictates our actions and behaviors.

 

The nervous system is the body's central control, regulation, and communication system. It is the center of all mental activity, including thinking, learning, and memory.

 

The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that fight infection, harmful substances, germs, and cellular changes to protect the physical body against disease.

 

By assimilating the definition of the cognitive, nervous, and immune systems, we can realize that the practice of mindfulness is implicitly within all these systems.

 

Based on scientific research, there are four mechanisms by which we can have evidence of the effects produced by mindfulness practices. There is the regulation of attention, the awakening of the body, emotional regulation, and the change of self-perspective.

 

Theoretical accounts describe mindfulness practices such as focused attention, self-compassion, self-awareness, physical impulse control, clarity of thought, and emotional control.

 

Studies related to the effects of mindfulness practice in humans show that mindfulness practice can provide new solutions to current problems. And handle potential future issues that result from demographic and technological changes by which all human beings go through today.

 

An article produced by the Department of Health and Human Services USA called "Mindfulness Meditation and the Immune System: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials" confirmed mindfulness practices as a mental core training for developing a mindful daily life. The effects of mindfulness meditation on the immune system were measured considering parameters with a specific focus on outcomes. 

 

The findings suggest the possible effects of mindfulness meditation on specific markers of inflammation, cell-mediated immunity, and biological aging.

 

Thus, Mindfulness mediation can be healthy for immune system dynamics. In addition, it can help improve self-reported measures of disease symptomatology, the effect that mindfulness meditation has on the biological mechanisms underlying aging.

 

Through a psychological process called intention of self-attention, mindfulness practices can help us to make conscious decisions and be present in a particular moment.

 

As a result, we can become aware of what is happening within us, with focused attention to what it is without presenting a judgment or qualification of what is happening to us at that precise moment; and so, we can reduce the problems related to our physical, mental, and emotional health. 

 

This is pretty much it.  Thank you for listening! and stay in tune for the next topic in two weeks “Occupational stress, the physical body, and mindfulness from the chiropractic's perspective”.

 

Music for this podcast:  

 

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3635-deliberate-thought License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license   and   Kalimba

 

Relaxation Music by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5711-kalimba-relaxation-music License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license