The Loh Down On Science
Ommmmm….can mindfulness help us live longer?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Yoga, meditation and Tai-Chi are proven ways to relieve anxiety and stress. But could these activities also help prevent disease?
Ivana Buric at Coventry University studied how our bodies react to mindfulness practices. For people in the biz, that’s ‘mind-body interventions,’ or M-B-I-s for short. Buric wondered if M-B-I-s can actually REVERSE changes to our DNA caused by stress.
The story goes like this. Stress wears down our bodies. This makes us susceptible to diseases. So inflammation kicks in to fight them off. But if this happens too often, the inflammation can cause serious damage. Such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, or even psychological disorders.
Buric reviewed eighteen different studies on various M-B-I-s. She searched for any evidence that they can cause genetic changes in the body. What did she learn?
The studies show that practicing mind-body interventionsactually SLOWS DOWN the activity of genes that cause inflammation!
So, traffic stressing you out? Strike a Tai-Chi pose! Um – maybe not in the car, though.
This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.