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| Café Singer Edgar Degas GNU Free Documentation License |
A friend of mine posted on her FaceBook page a poster extolling the health benefits of singing which inspired me to write todays article. Here's a tip! Try singing and chanting for your health!
Singing, laughing and chanting make the sternum (the breast bone) vibrate which stimulates the immune system as the oscillations boost the thymus, a small gland in the chest behind the sternum which controls the production of the body’s key defense cells called T lymphocytes. When you sing or shout, pray or chant, laugh or listen to music, whether it be recorded or played live by many musicians, the Thymus is stimulated.
The early Greeks referred to the Thymus as the "Seat of Life Energy", but western medical science has not always understood the function of the thymus gland. Now the thymus is recognized as a gland closely related to the immune system, stress, and general well-being. It directs life-giving and healing energies of the body, and is strongly influenced by an individual's physical environment, social relationships, food and posture.
The thymus becomes smaller and smaller with age and almost disappears in the end. It is largest and most active during the neonatal and pre-adolescent periods, but by the early teens, the thymus begins to atrophy.
Some researchers believe that different infections and cancers in old people are closely linked to the decline in T lymphocyte production. Hence, stimulating the thymus in some way either through laughing, chanting or singing can be helpful in maintaining or improving health as we age or experience illness.
Chinese Medicine uses Tapping the Thymus to help stimulate the production of T-cells, which are primary immune factors. Practiced daily, tapping will also increase the size of the thymus.
Vibrations in the throat also stimulate the Thyroid, the gland which produces hormones that regulate metabolism and the body’s energy consumption and body weight.
So now you know! The Fountain of Youth was inside YOU all the time. Keep laughing and singing for a long and healthy life!
What do you do to stay young and healthy?
Learn more about Chanting
Edited 4/30/17
