A portion of my assignments for the second week in my class Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing, was to listen to and describe my experience in a reflective statement of a relaxation lesson called Journey On. The audio lesson had a calming backdrop of soft music and the speaker had a soothing voice. He asked us to loosen our clothing and remove any restrictive items such as a watch to further induce relaxation and to settle into a comfortable position and for a moment just feel the blood flow throughout our body.
Of course being the Nutritionista, what fascinated me most was the narrator’s information that when we are at rest 80% of our blood flow in is the center of our body. The center of our body contains the GI or gastrointestinal tract which fills our blood with nutrients from our food intake and is used to nourish and strengthen the rest of our body. The other 20% of our blood flow is to our limbs or our arms and our legs when we are at rest. The narrator brought us through the steps to feel the blood leave its concentration in the GI tract and to feel it fill our arms and fingers and thus promote a feeling of heaviness and relaxation. My fingers felt like fat sausages, ha, and my arms felt very heavy. My breathing slowed and I felt a sense of peace and comfort. This exercise showed me how the power of visualization in our minds and concerted breathing can control our stress reactions in our bodies.
It's funny how people of the past came up with some ideas that are similar to our scientific based data. I believe that it was the ancient greeks who beleived that blood came from the center of our bodies and now this audiotape is stating that 80% of our blood is in the center of our bodies. I was able to feel all of the relaxing part of the audio but was not able to feel the blood to the limbs. Maybe my mind is still not open enough to believe that I could make my blood travel to other parts of my body.
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