Arm your Body to Fend off Foreign Invaders

RENEWArm YOUR BODY TO Fend off Foreign Invaders

by Lynell Cavnar, Owner & Master Certified Bowen Practitioner, Lynell & Company

Our bodies are constantly under attack from foreign invaders such as environmental toxins, pollutants, bacteria, germs and viruses.

But did you know you have a protective, aggressive but silent army inside of you?

Here’s how our nervous system and immune system work together with a few tips of how to maintain homeostasis.

Your immune system (the protective army) — when working optimally — learns about these invaders after you’ve been exposed to them. However, because of its superior intellect, its cells are capable of activating, mobilizing, attacking and killing off foreign invaders.

The cells not only communicate, but they help regulate different sites within the body via the chemical messengers released by nerve cells, immune cells and endocrine organs. The brain and the nervous system are part of a neuroimmuneregulatory network.

This network’s two main pathways connecting the brain and the immune system, are the autonomic nervous system (the sympathetic and parasympathetic components) and the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis (the pathway between the central nervous system and the endocrine system). These help balance hormones and affect the stress response.

Our nervous system is directly related to our immune system because our lymph tissue is supplied with sympathetic nerve fibers that allows the synapsing/ communication of neurons with white blood cells in lymphoid tissues.

What if this protective army can’t mount a winning attack?

Many of the increased immune system dysfunctions showing up today seem to be due to the aggressive and invasive approach of treating symptoms with medication as opposed to restoring and maintaining the proper function of the immune system.

The solution lies in strengthening the body’s natural defense network prior to, during and after any kind of immune system dysfunction.

So, keeping stress low, inflammation down, good thoughts in your mind will be key to a healthy immune system. Things like “forest bathing,” a Japanese tradition of walking in the woods for 15 to 20 minutes can boost your immune system. I’m a big fan of fresh air and sunshine — it does the body good!

Eat well by choosing items as close to the way nature intended as possible. Move your body gracefully each day, taking in large swaths of oxygen with deep breaths. And take advantage of a body-and-nerve restoration session to help repattern your nerves, keeping all within balanced and strong.