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The ANS is quite complex. To help you understand it, we are
going to present it as simply as possible. From the illustration
here, you can see how extensive and complex the system is.
What is obvious from the illustration is that the ANS runs
throughout your body. It originates from the spinal column
and is connected to all of your glands and organs.
The
main parts of the ANS are the sympathetic nervous system (SNS)
and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). In the diagram
here, the SNS is in red and the PNS is in blue. (We present
here only the SNS and PNS because they are the easiest to
understand and learn how to balance as you participate in
your own healing. A third division, the metasympathetic system
(MNS) is discussed in a more complex article of ours.)
Put
very simply, the sympathetic system tends to speed up responses
to our muscles and organs to help us adapt to stress while
the parasympathetic system slows down responses. When these
systems are in balance, after a high stress response, the
parasympathetic system will help to calm you down.
Under conditions of balance, the SNS turns on organ responses
to high levels of environmental stress. When the stressful
conditions are removed, the PNS turns on to restore balance
within your organ systems. Under conditions of imbalance,
the SNS may be turned on for long periods of time. The PNS
may be turned on as well. This is like having your foot on
the accelerator pedal and the brake at the same time.
The
adrenal glands that sit atop the kidneys are a special way
station and command center for the sympathetic nervous system.
Under emergency conditions, the adrenals can pour out large
amounts of the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. You
are probably familiar with adrenal responses. When someone
unexpectedly pulls out in front of you while you are driving,
you will get scared. Your heart will beat fast and you might
even start perspiring. This is a physical reaction to emotional
stress and is the sympathetic nervous system in action.
Strong
emotions that are contained and hidden from others (and often
from the self) contribute to the exhaustion phase. It is the
role of the ANS to translate the intent of our emotions into
a language that our organs can respond to. When emotional
energy is blocked and emotions cannot be expressed freely,
ANS dysfunction occurs. This dysfunction of the ANS then leads
to dysfunctions of your endocrine (glandular) system and immune
surveillance system. Over time, healthy immune responses that
are designed to protect the body from the invasion of foreign
organisms (bacteria, viruses, etc.) or the proliferation of
mutant cells (cancer) will break down.
For
example, if you are not expressing anger that you feel towards
someone you have to deal with every day, even though you don't
appear to be angry, you feel angry inside. This causes an
ongoing adrenal response that will affect your entire endocrine
(glandular) system.
By identifying
the emotional factors that participate in the development
of cancer, we can help you release some of the repressed emotions
thereby preventing cancer in the future or reversing the course
of diagnosed disease.
The
article on our sister site, The
Psychopathology of the Breast Cancer Prone Behavior Pattern,
discusses in depth the emotional responses that can lead to
cancer. If you decide to contact us, part of the process we
will lead you through is to help you identify the emotional
factors that you have been dealing with -- and probably repressing
-- over a period of time. With identification of the first
step, you will then learn how to transform these emotional
risk factors, creating the skills needed to promote health
and wellness, and allowing you to move toward meeting your
unmet needs.
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