The forgotten youth hormone

                                                                                         

Deep relaxation is an authoritative anti-aging tool. It is powerful in invigorating the body in its fight against age and decease, and one of the reasons for this, is that any form of deep relaxation encourages the secretion of the steroid dehydroepian-drosterone, DHEA for short.

DHEA is a very intriguing steroid. It is secreted by the adrenal cortex and it circulates the bloodstream in quantities thousands of times greater than the two sex hormones, estrogen and testosterone. It peaks at age 25 and decreases fast when we reach the menopausal years.

The adrenal glands secrete stress hormones called glucocorticoids (adrenalin and cortisol). The fascinating part here, is that everytime the body manufactures the stress hormones, it has to use up some of the body's DHEA supply. And this could be the reason why DHEA declines over time.

During the 1980's, Arthur Schwartz a biochemist from Temple university, investigated DHEA by administering it to mice. He observed a remarkable reversal of aging. Old mice regained their youthful vigor, their coats were glossy again, their cancers disappeared, their immune responses increased and animals with diabetes improved drastically.

Today we also know that high levels of DHEA are associated with reduced incidence of coronary artery disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, longer survival and decreased death from all diseases in older men.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, world pioneer on mind/body medicine and his colleague dr. Jay Glaser compared the DHEA levels of a group of meditators versus a group of non-meditators. They observed that the DHEA levels of the meditators were higher than those of the non-meditators and took it as proof that biological age was decreased as a result of meditation.

The next, simple breathing exercise can be done daily to enhance your health on a physical, emotional, spiritual level, as well as to increase the DHEA level in the blood. Do this on a daily basis.

Sit in an upright chair with the spine straight and the eyes closed, feet flat on the floor a few inches apart. Keep your hands relaxed and in a comfortable position in your lap. Take a long, slow, deep breath and hold for a count of three. Exhale and feel how the body relaxes. Repeat three times. After the three deep breaths in which you breathe in slowly, hold for a count of three, exhale and relax, you keep on breathing slowly while you remain in the straight-spine position. Become aware of how your breathing consciously slows down, relaxing the body more and more as it goes deeper and deeper into a state of deep relaxation. Concentrate only on your breath, breathing deeply until you feel a stillness you have never experienced before. Be at peace with yourself and the world. Breathe deeply for approximately 20 minutes while you think only of your breath and your breathing. And when your mind wanders, which it will, just bring it back to your breathing.




Nymph completed her L.T.C.L. in music and drama, and obtained a B.A. Psychology and Philosophy a few years later. She trained as formal singer under various renowned vocal advisers and performed in numerous concerts, recitals, and oratorios. After a car accident that lead to a few neuro surgeries, she began investigating the benefits of deep relaxation and wrote a few books and numerous articles on the subject.

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