03/03/2020
Meditation & yogic breathing exercises boost immunity
We may have no immunity to the Coronavirus (as it's new, or 'novel'), but if we contract it, it makes sense to do what we can to boost our immune systems beforehand. Why?
None of us know how ill the Coronavirus will make us. What we do know is that we already have a pre-existing health condition, then we are going to be more ill, potentially seriously.
Whilst we may not be able to do anything much about medium to long term pre-existing health conditions (such as anything from diabetes to asthma to cancer) in the face of this virus, we can do something about all the other short-term infectious diseases out there (e.g. colds, flu and chest infections). Mindfulness of hygiene and infection control is, of course, paramount, but so is boosting our immunity and overall resilience.
Most of us know the value of things like a healthy diet, supplementation, sufficient exercise and sleep to boost our immune systems, but did you know that there is impressive evidence demonstrating that meditation and yoga can also do this?
A 2003 study by Davidson et al. called 'Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation' (1) showed that regular mindfulness meditation bolsters the immune system and thus helps to fight off colds, flu and other diseases (this study was conducted in a work environment).
Another study in 2009 (T and M. Saxena) found that practicing yogic breathing exercises significantly improved symptoms and lung function in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma (2). People with pre-existing respiratory problems, such as asthma are more vulnerable.
And the NHS recognises and recommends Yoga for its health benefits (3).
So, it stands to reason that if we can strengthen our immune systems by employing some of the familiar strategies and by adding in regular mindfulness, meditation, yoga and yogic breathing exercises, we are likely to get less ill with respiratory diseases, such as the Coronavirus, and recover more quickly.
Additionally - and importantly - to be unlucky enough to have flu and Coronavirus at the same time would be pretty horrible and could be very serious. It makes sense to do what we can to boost our immunity to those things that we already have some immunity to (e.g. colds and flu, that our immune systems quickly recognise), so that we are more likely to be free of them should we contract Coronavirus.
Any kind of stress (mental, emotional, physical) is also known to weaken our immunity. You know what I'm going to say next....!
I mentioned medium to long term pre-existing health conditions near the beginning of this article and that we might not be able to do much about them. Well, for a team of Harvard scientists, who have found proof of yoga and meditation's health benefits (4), that's not strictly true. Fascinatingly, they are discovering that regular yoga and meditation practice can ward off both stress and disease by influencing brain activity and switching on/off genes in the chronically stressed.
For much more evidence on how Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga and Yogic Breathing exercises improve happiness and wellbeing, as well as productivity, and performance see my page:
https://www.sherpa-epp.co.uk/evidence-base/
1. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12883106
2. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017963/
3. www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/guide-to-yoga/
4. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/harvard-yoga-scientists-find-proof-meditation-benefit
How Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga and Yogic Breathing exercises improve productivity, performance and wellbeing: The Evidence This page lists a comprehensive range of recent scientific studies (most involving operational businesses) which prove that Mindfulness, Meditation, Yoga and yogic breathing....
