Endorphins

[Guest guest]

VISVANATHAN WROTE:

 

>snip<

What i learned from the article in Discover re dopamine receptors and

obese or addicted people...is that they have LESS receptors in their

brains...and thus the ordinary pleasures like a sunset or a walk in

the lovely woods...will not give them the same feeling of joy and

pleasure...so they seek the dopamine by self-medicating with food or

drugs...as Dasji was sharing with us....

>snip<

....i do remember reading a long time ago how the

exercise nuts get "high" on exercise....because the exercise causes

the body to release Endorphins...

=================================

 

Dear Visvanathan et al,

 

How wonderful to see the scientific (medical) and philosophic (religious)

minds merging at last...gives real hope for the betterment of mankind

generally. Sages have long advocated (along with meditation) the value of

simple pleasures such as watching a beautiful sunset, taking a walk in the

moonlight, or engaging in yogic exercises, etc. We are now seeing scientific

proof of the benefits of these activities.

 

The release (production) of endorphins culminating in euphoria,

blissfulness, ecstasy, is a common experience of meditators...not the goal,

but a pleasant experience along the way. I have no experience of the

euphoria produced by the "weed" (for instance) so I can't say what it's

like, but I can't see anything comparing to the bliss of meditation...and

this (endorphin release) is just something along the way to

"wakefulness"...the true goal!

 

The endorphin release experienced by marathon runners (for instance) can

ultimately be dangerous as one is continually pushing the body beyond it's

limits, which (long term) has an extremely detrimental affect. Likewise the

endorphin release experienced through intoxicating substances ultimately has

a detrimental effect on both body and mind.

 

Regards

Wendy

[Guest guest]

gjlist, "Wendy Vasicek" <wenvas@o...> wrote:

 

 

> Dear Visvanathan et al,

>

> How wonderful to see the scientific (medical) and philosophic

(religious)

> minds merging at last...gives real hope for the betterment of

mankind

> generally. Sages have long advocated (along with meditation) the

value of

> simple pleasures such as watching a beautiful sunset, taking a walk

in the

> moonlight, or engaging in yogic exercises, etc. We are now seeing

scientific

> proof of the benefits of these activities.

>

> The endorphin release experienced by marathon runners (for instance)

can

> ultimately be dangerous as one is continually pushing the body

beyond it's

 

> endorphin release experienced through intoxicating substances

ultimately has

> a detrimental effect on both body and mind.

>

> Regards

> Wendy

 

OM Amrtesvaryai Namah!!

 

Namaste dear Ones

 

thank you Wendy for your posting on the issue. i would agree with you

on how this information tends to confirm what the sages have taught...

and even in a way the "new-ager" holistic health types..they were only

a little ahead of the current scientific model....

....when i was referring to exercise as helpful to rebuild the dopamine

receptors and thus helpful to bring the ordinary pleasures of such

things as sunsets and such back to one's life...i was not meaning to

suggest that one should become an exercise freak..like that marathon

running or any particular thing...Dr. Weil recommends SOME exercise

every day...and the same was presented to us in a Back Care workshop

relative to my work...the young ladies giving it suggested that modern

folks generally do not get enough exercise of ANY kind, and this alone

makes for many of the problems....even back pain is related to

exercise for many people...as their muscles are just not in shape

enough to do the proper job of supporting the body...and then we go

and ruin it more with poor posture for most of our lives...So the

ladies suggested taking the stairs, walking to work, just generally

walking more...paying attention to posture...and such things...exactly

as Dr. Andrew Weil had suggested on his wellness site.....

 

in my case poor posture will give me a migraine...and reading too long

the same...(again i think that is postural too...as well as the actual

reading activity)...

 

but i do see that generalised exercise like walking and swimming and

such ARE very good in many ways, health wise, and feelings wise...it's

a necessary part of an holistic approach to healing.....

 

for example if you have to sit all day every day in front of a

computer for 8-12-14 hours a day...you'll have to then take little

postural and exercise breaks thru-out the day...always noticing if you

are sitting correctly or not...and typing correctly or not...and so

on...and still one will need to get out and exercise even if it's only

a nice evening walk for an hour or so...just put some speed in it for

a while too...or walk up hill for a while...just using Mother Nature

to stretch your limits, and thus increase both strength and

endurance...and too, that will result in a nice glow of "dopamines" i

guess it must be, after the exercise...it doesn't have to be speed

raceing or super hard...just some kind of movements...

 

in regard to the endorphin release from intoxicating substances, again

you have a good point and one could say that this is precisely what

the article was pointing indirectly to....that these habits may arise

out of a deficiency of Dopamine receptors, and that the behaviours

around the addicting substances (including food, sex, and whatever

else people get addicted to), in the long run will actually contribute

to a possible further decline in these dopamine receptors...They

didn't go so far as to actually state this, but they did mention that

the more obese, the fewer dopamine receptors...and possibly this is

the same for drug/alcohol/cigarette addicts the body is given the

endorphin rush by the substance, and thus makes less itself...and

shuts down some of the receptors because the "user" is somewhat over

working the system...just like with coffee...if you drink it every

morning at 7 am and then on Saturday you don't get up til 10 am,

chances are you just may get a headache..because the intelligent body,

figured out your habit, and starts to compensate for it by producing

less of whatever chemical gives us the energy...or maybe it's

serotonin or whatever...but since the body has cut back on production

you have to dose it at the right time...or suffer the

consequences...however if you don't have a particular time when you

have your morning coffee...say it's at somewhat different times over

the week..then this habit wouldn't develop into the headache quite so

soon..as body isn't quite sure just what mind is doing...and hasn't

cut down that chemical production in the same way...it's called

intermittent reinforcement...

 

it's very good, i think to bring these issues up...it may help some

people who have not been aware of them...just as i wasn't aware of the

possibly strong effects of evening primrose oil and the other sources

of the Essential Fatty Acids...depending upon what we eat, it can be

very difficult to take in enough of the EFA's...as our current food

supplies do not seem to be delivering it as well any more...too much

refining...and such...they get removed, for better shelf life...

 

thank you one and all for all your helpful and caring comments on

Essential Fatty Acids and Depression and Migraine...i really

appreciate all the feedback and clarification to my little comments!!

that's how we learn...in a feedback loop with our "peers" or in my

case, my beloved sisters and brothers who are devoted to that Holy

Science, as Swami Sri Yukteswarji used to call the Sri Jyotir Vidya!!

 

In the Divine Mother's Love,

and in Her Service

 

as ever,

Your own self,

 

visvanathan

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!!