Category: Parasympathetic nervous system

What happens in your brain and body during focused attention meditation?

FA meditation activates a branch of the nervous system that restores calm after a threat has passed. Credit: AI

In focused-attention (FA) meditation, the meditator directs their attention towards a neutral bodily sensation, and gently returns it to that sensation whenever they notice that their mind has wandered. In Shamatha meditation, for example, the focus of attention is the sensations associated with breathing in and out.

Focusing our attention in this way helps to replace the fight-or-flight response with the relaxation response. This kind of meditation activates the “parasympathetic nervous system”, which is the branch of the autonomic (or “involuntary”) nervous system that restores calm after an immediate threat has passed. The parasympathetic nervous system slows our breathing and heart rate, for example, and promotes digestion.

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What happens in your brain as you check your emails?

boxing-fight-or-flight
Email can trigger physiological responses that evolved to help us see off aggressive rivals. Credit: West Point/Flickr

The “fight-or-flight” response evolved in our distant ancestors to prime their hearts, muscles and lungs for action, giving them that vital extra boost to escape ravenous predators or see off aggressive rivals. After the immediate threat had passed, a “relaxation” or “rest and digest” response kicked in to restore their overexcited bodies to a state of calm better suited for more restful activities, such as feeding and grooming.

But in modern humans, technologies such as social media and email can keep our fight-or-flight response constantly switched on by continually presenting us with stimuli that provoke feelings of excitement, fear or aggression.

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