Among the several fundamental homeostatic controls in our body the Autonomic nervous system is considered to be the Master regulator. The Autonomic nervous system (ANS) consists of the Sympathetic Nervous system (SNS) and the Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The SNS is our fight or flight syndrome. If there were a threat in front of you, like say a lion ready to attack you, your body will respond to this threat by preparing to either fight off the lion or flee away from the scene for survival. The SNS is our survival instinct. It mobilizes all the energy to our extremities – our hands and legs – to help us attack our threat or run away to safety. During the times when the SNS is activated the PNS is subdued. The PNS is our ‘rest and recoup’ system. All our natural bodily functions like digestion, cell regeneration are functions of the PNS. The PNS is what keeps us healthy by running the mechanics of our body well functioning.
Both SNS and PNS are very important for survival. Neither one takes more importance than the other. It is simply a question of balance and control. Without a sympathetic response we would probably not have survived long enough. But today we get stressed not because of life threatening situations. Simple everyday happenings like a traffic jam, absence of a maid, unnecessary telephone calls – everything creates a fight or flight response in our body. To paraphrase Aristotle, everyone can become sympathetic dominant – that is easy. But to trigger that with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way – that is not so easy. The idea is not to avoid sympathetic activation but ensure it happens under our conscious control.
When I began strength training several years ago, I asked this question, if both yoga and modern strength training have equal benefits, how can their approaches be so diametrically opposite? Yoga is all about even breathing, controlled movements and a relaxed approach. Modern cardio and strength training is all about push harder, lift heavier, do more. How can such opposite approaches have equal benefits?
Well, the yoga tradition of India uses movements to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system of rest and recoup. It aids in ensuring your body learns how to regenerate and calm itself from the ravages of stressful living. It undoubtedly is the best approach to holistic wellbeing – IF and here I emphasis, only IF your entire lifestyle follows through in the same routine. Today we perform even yoga to a time schedule. 50 suryanamaskars in 50 minutes; 5 minutes of pranayama; savasana with an alarm!! None of this will work because yoga is a way of life – a very beautiful and effective way of life that really works wonders when you follow those principles 24x7x52 all your life!
On the other hand modern strength training and gym exercises act on activating your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Wow! Isn’t that totally unnecessary? Aren’t we already hyper active on our SNS? Isn’t stress an intrinsic part of our daily life? Why would I then add a stress called exercise to my routine? I agree. If the exercise you do is actually activating only your SNS and giving you greater stress, you are doing more harm than good with your exercise program. They used to believe in the motto ‘No pain No gain’. However, today we have evolved to understand that you ‘Train, don’t drain!’
The entire idea of the modern gym exercises are on the principle of Parasympathetic reactivation. A vaccine works on the principle that when a little bit of the infection is injected into the body, it triggers the body to immediately activate its immune system and thereby prepares the body from getting attacked. In a similar way, the exercise programs designed in a fitness studio are meant to trigger the body into reactivating the parasympathetic state. If you noticed, a good fitness trainer is always more concerned about your recovery period. If you took ten minutes to recover your normal heart rate after a 2 km run in the first week of your program, your trainer will keep tabs to ensure the recovery period drops to 3 to 5 minutes within a few weeks of training. That is the very essence of modern training – reactivating our PNS. On the other hand if your exercise routine is so intense after a stressed out day that you literally just want to ‘crash’, you are doing more harm to your body than good.
Simply put, today’s lifestyle are filled with very different needs than the ancient Indians’. We need translations from Sanskrit to understand ancient thought. Our nutrition needs have changed dramatically in the last few decades. Our life movements are no longer in sync with those of yesteryears. Our thought processes are no longer limited to only what is around us. Modern methods are a necessity for the new age men. A method that includes sympathetic activity and parasympathetic reactivation is the need of the hour.
When there is an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system, it results in an imbalance in all aspects of life. For instance, an imbalanced SNS could cause undue fear, worry, anxiety, pain, control issues, hatred, jealousy, anger, hurt and expectations. An imbalanced PNS would cause boredom, guilt, frustration, loneliness, confusion, under stimulation, hedonistic or criminal behavior. During highly elevated times of SNS activity our body will have poor digestion, constipation, increased heart rate and respiration, poor sleep, nervousness, inflammatory conditions, become susceptible to infection and increased muscle tension. On the other hand if there is increased parasympathetic activity, contrary to what you may think, it also leads to bodily imbalances like strong or excessive digestion, hyperactive bowel, incontinence, orthostatic failure on rising, depression, increased allergies.
As I mentioned earlier, it is not about one or the other. It is about conscious control over both SNS and PNS. In order to achieve that, we need to integrate the science of kinesiology as understood by the modern world with the wisdom of silence as practiced by the ancient Indian. A balanced autonomic nervous system actually aids in peak performance. When sympathetic nervous system is activated by conscious will, it aids in inspiration and profound exhilaration. Joy, peace, a sense of well being and connectedness flow though the art of living life to the fullest. This is because the sympathetic activation is closely followed by parasympathetic reactivation by conscious control. When parasympathetic resonance happens it creates profound relaxation in the body without the need to be asleep. There is wisdom, patience and purpose to one’s life.
In order to ensure this principle of using exercise as a method of taking over charge of your body is fully understood and implemented, it is important to have a well balanced exercise routine that not only focuses on stretching, stability and strengthening but also on energizing. It is time to redefine fitness as not merely absence of disease but presence of vitality. Time to change the word exercise from one that means exerting energy to one that cultivates energy.
In tune with this need, we at Maverick suggest ZONE exercises for all exercisers. Zone exercises are the brain child of Paul Chek, founder C.H.E.K institute, where he has incorporated the principles of yoga, taichi, Quigong and several other ancient eastern forms to present exercises that are related to the seven chakras as outlined by the Indian yoga tradition. Unlike ‘power yoga’ which actually is a ‘work OUT’ where you exercise with intensity, an antithesis to the traditional yoga of gentle stretching and even style, Zone exercises do justice to the basic principle of yoga which is to ‘work IN’ to rebuild your energy. These exercises are structured to help the flow of energy in our various energy centers or chakras to ensure there is a harmony in the body.
Traditional yoga did use a lot of calisthenics or exercises with body weight. However, today this has died down to just a few postures performed in a hurry that defeats the very purpose of parasympathetic activation. By using the more modern method of sympathetic activation in terms of heavy gym workouts and not really understanding that your fitness is actually built ‘after’ the workout and not really ‘during’, there is a whole world of fitness enthusiasts who don’t really look all that healthy, burning their candle on both sides. Only when we understand that the modern system of sympathetic activation in terms of strength and cardio exercises are to be incorporated with meditative or energy building exercises like Zone exercises for parasympathetic reactivation, are we really building health and energy. Else your body will end up more battered from exercise than built!
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in Food & Health in November 2012
