Dissolving Stress to Awaken Your Body’s Intelligence
What does the body’s intelligence do? First we should acknowledge that the body has inherent “creative intelligence”: this is obvious in the ever continuing growth of one’s body from a fetus to a teenager to an adult. We don’t direct the body to do so, but it naturally creates. Examples include new cells, new antibodies, and new neural connections.
The body also already has what is called natural “regulatory intelligence” which is illustrated by all its functions. Examples are sneezing, coughing, eyes tearing, blinking, yawning, redistribution of blood flow, salivating, perspiring, blood clotting, pupils dilating, labor contractions—and the list goes on and on.
Our bodies are continuously building, sensing, evaluating, and responding in highly coordinated ways—most often faster and more precisely than our conscious thought could ever manage. This phenomenon happens at an intersection of consciousness, physiology, and deep underlying principles of mind–body structure, function and integration.
What does stress do to our bodies?
As we move through life, pressure, fatigue and overwhelming experiences create an overload on the chemical or structural level of the body—this overload is called stress. Stress disrupts the body’s intelligence. It interferes with timing, coordination, and communication within the body. Internal signals become exaggerated or muted, rhythms become irregular, and automatic processes become effortful or inefficient. This creates havoc and can adversely affect everything from blood pressure to digestion to sleep to hormones to immunity and more.
How does the Transcendental Meditation technique help?
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a reliable, repeatable way for the body to deeply relax. That profound state of rest allows the nervous system to reset and reintegrate. The body’s intelligence is not absent under stress—it’s obstructed. During TM, deep-rooted stresses unwind or dissolve, leaving that part of the body unhampered and able to express its potential naturally. Therefore, when this deep relaxation dissolves stress that has been interfering with the intelligence of the body, nothing new is being added. Instead, the TM technique restores conditions under which the body’s natural intelligence can function successfully. As that happens, creative and regulatory processes spontaneously resume.
We can prove it!
We can discuss the TM technique’s extraordinary capacity to enliven our body’s intelligence in three main ways—scientifically (observed measurable changes), theoretically (how those changes are interpreted), and anecdotally (lived experience).
Scientifically: what’s actually observed
Research on TM shows a distinct unique psychophysiological pattern that is experienced as—and often called—restful alertness. You are deeply relaxed mentally and physically and yet remain aware. Scientists have measured this phenomenon in the body and its effects after meditation.
Key findings include:
- Reduced metabolic rate (sometimes deeper than sleep)
- Increased alpha brainwave coherence (especially frontal regions)
- Lower cortisol and stress hormones
- Increased coherence between brain regions
- Improved autonomic balance (parasympathetic activation)
- Better cardiovascular markers (blood pressure, arterial function)
- Improved immune markers
- More resilience and more efficient recovery from stress
Theoretically: interpretation of the scientific observations
Action is based on thought and, in turn, thinking is based within the mind on a silent, orderly state of awareness, sometimes called the state of pure consciousness. During the TM technique, the mind experiences quieter, more refined, levels of thinking and can transcend (go beyond) thinking, when it settles into that state.
Because the mind and body are intimately connected, the workload (metabolism) of the body correspondingly decreases. The nervous system functions more coherently. “Awakening intelligence” equates with removing interference so the body can function optimally. This aligns to a degree with concepts in systems biology (self-organization), neuroplasticity (brain rewiring), and homeostasis (dynamic balance).
Anecdotally: what TM meditators say
Anyone who can think a thought and follow simple instructions can learn the Transcendental Meditation technique. Women and girls who practice TM describe improved intuition, spontaneous life-supporting choices, a greater sense of self, more self-esteem, enhanced flexibility, greater emotional stability, a clearer mind, better health, and that their body is “in tune.”
Most people who learn the Transcendental Meditation technique have heard about it from someone they know and trust—someone experiencing tangible benefits who recommends TM to move from stress-induced symptoms to enhanced health and well being.
Eliminate the Stress; Contact a Certified TM Teacher.
About the Author
Janet Hoffman is the executive director of TM for Women Professionals, a division of TM for Women in the USA
More Posts by Janet
- Shedding Winter’s Layers: TM Dissolves Built-Up Stress
- A Simple Guide to Healthy Happy Mothers and Babies: An Interview with Author Margaret Mullins
- Author Ann Purcell Discusses Silence
- Five Fundamentals of Progress: A Scientific Path to Self-Improvement
- Advice You Can Rely On: How to Leverage Your Body’s Innate Healing Ability
