Ever wonder why a cat grooms itself all day?
Well, clearly, it’s not primping for a night out on the town. So there must be some other reason. And through some inventive research at Princeton University, we now understand exactly why cats like to groom. (I know, that question’s never far from your mind). Even if you’re not a cat person, read on, because what I’m about to explain has some major implications for your well-being and energy.
Remember serotonin? It’s one of your brain’s “feel good” neurotransmitters. Because there are only about 200,000 serotonin neurons in your brain, and they have to service millions of cells, and because serotonin has a profound (although complicated and not completely understood) effect on well-being and mood, it’s no wonder that as a society, we spend an awful lot of money to keep the serotonin flowing. In fact, there’s a $130 billion industry (as of 2000) based on drugs that do just that (they’re called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs).
Back to the cat.
Barry Jacobs, Ph.D., and his colleagues in the psychology labs at Princeton inserted electrodes into the brain stems of cats and then recorded what was happening over the course of each cat’s day. Which was not much.
Until the cats started grooming themselves.
Once they started grooming, their serotonin activity increased forty fold!
No wonder they do it all the time.
But here’s the thing: What that 9 and other) research has taught us is that concentrated, repetitive motion raises serotonin activity. And that brings us to one of the best energy enhancers in the world – Qi gong.
MIND-BODY ENERGY EXERCISE
Qi gong originated in China thousands of year ago. It’s actually a family of mind-body exercises that share the following elements: regulation of the body, regulation of breathing, and regulation of the mind. If a practice doesn’t include all three elements, and if all three don’t occur simultaneously, then it’s not a member of the Qi gong family.
Three decades ago, Herbert Benson, M.D., the pioneering doctor who was among the first to introduce the concept of mind-body medicine to the United States, studies gi gong while he was researching what he termed “the relaxation response”. *He concluded that to reach a state of deep relation all you have to do is control your body, breathing, and mind.
In qi gong, as in many meditative practices, you control your mind by simply concentrating on a single though. It can be a word, a mantra, a sound, a letter. You regulate your breathing in some count of four and breathing out for a slow count of four), and you add regular, specific movement to handle the body part of it. Those three components are the trifecta of increased serotonin activity (and with it, greater energy and well-being).
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (ENERGY)
At the University of Southern California, Irvine, Shin Lin, Ph.D., a visiting professor from Shanghai University, has been researching the measurable effects of qi gong and tai chi. Lin and his colleagues use an EEG to measure brain waves. They use an EKG to measure heart waves and the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system balance. They use a laser Doppler to measure peripheral blood flow. These guys are serious; they’re performing rigorous, scientific investigation about what happens in the body and what happens to energy when you perform certain exercise.
And here’s what they found: significant, measurable, beneficial effects on the nervous system when subjects did gi gong and tai chi.
We don’t often think of energy as something you can measure, but Lin’s lab is doing exactly that. Lin and his research associates don’t stop with the EEG, the EKG, and the laser Doppler measurements, though. They also quantify the actual human energy field using infrared thermograph to measure light, and measuring electrical fields with a highly complex system called gas discharge visualization.
What they’ve demonstrated is that when you practice certain movements, such as those in gi gong, your energy increases. You get enhanced blood flow, signaling more energetic activity. You actually raise all the markers for energy – heat, light, and gas. Your energy objectively, measurably, and significantly increases. Couple that with an increase in serotonin levels and you’ve got a great prescription for boosting your overall energy.
So why not just do regular exercise?
Well, actually, you should (see chapter 3). But the thing about tai chi and gi gong is that you get many of the blood-circulating effects of exercise without the increase in stress hormones that usually accompanies a strenuous workout. In Lin’s lab, they have Bowflexes, stationary bikes, and weight training equipment. Although all these do greet things, they also raise levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), and weight lifting actually temporarily constricts rather than dilates the blood vessels. Tai chi and gi gong are excellent complements to conventional Western exercise and allow you to reach a relaxed, calm state while at the same time increasing your energy.
Which means you’ve got up one on that grooming cat?
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