“The sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions. Your sympathetic nervous system responds to stimuli, especially stress and emotional upset, and revs into action with ‘fight or flight’ responses.”
“Now that’s a phrase that I do remember from high school,” said Max.
“When that happens,” said Daniel, “your blood pressure increases, your heart beats faster, and your digestion slows down. Now the parasympathetic nervous system controls functions that help your body to relax. When it kicks in, blood pressure decreases, your heart rate slows, and digestion can occur. Your body must be able to shift effortlessly from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system activity to ease the effects of stress, recover from injury and illness, and allow optimal function.”
“So I’m assuming that anything that interferes with these processes will affect our ability to respond to and recover from stress,” said Ben.
“Exactly,” said Elizabeth. “Like every system in the body. Left to their own devices they function smoothly, predictably and almost flawlessly.”
Max walked over and leaned against the workbench, pouring himself another glass of chlorophyll water. “I think I’m going to need more time to study this, boss, before I can apply it to anything we’re working on. This makes my robot prototype look simple.”
“Don’t be discouraged, Max,” said Elizabeth. What we’re talking about here is the essence of life. You couldn’t replicate that unless you were a god of some sort.”
“The god of trouble, he used to be,” said Vic.
“Vic,” replied Max. “Remember to raise your hand before you interrupt the teacher. She was explaining the ‘essence of life’. That sounds important. Let’s allow her to continue.”
Vic stood up and stretched. “Carry on, ma’am.”
“Quantum physics teaches us that when you break the body down to its smallest components, we are all simply energy. This energy gets circulated throughout the human body by the nervous system, the meridian system, the chakras, our aura and probably many other forms we don’t know about. It seems sensible to us to ensure that all of these systems are in tune and working at their peak potential. To do that, we seek help from other professionals who specialize in fields related to this body energy. We regularly visit a chiropractor for our spinal and nervous system health. We get regular massages. We’ve tried many different forms of non-traditional health practices over the years, like acupuncture, reflexology, cranio-sacral therapy and medical intuitives. We believe that the more our energies are tuned up and in balance, the better off we’ll be. Even homeopaths and naturopaths work with the energy of plants to bring about healing within the human body.”
Ben was fascinated by the strategic focus that the Websters applied to maintaining their health. Their longevity was certainly no accident. He hadn’t even heard of some of these specialists to whom they turned to ensure that all of their energy systems operated in synch. This seemed like a completely different kind of health care system.
“The two-way flow of energy between the brain and the body’s cells, tissues and organs, guided by the innate intelligence in the seed of health, is life itself,” explained Elizabeth. “These electrical impulses contain instructions to control our growth and development through the regulation of the body’s chemical balance. They direct the glands and organs to secrete hormones and chemicals, in the proper amounts at the proper time, to regulate metabolism and control all bodily functions. When this complex process is allowed to operate unimpeded by outside interference, the body functions as it was intended to, and optimum health is maintained.”
“Interference seems to be the operative word around here,” said Max. “It sounds like all we have to do is eliminate it, and we can reach nirvana.”
“We may not reach nirvana, Max, but we’d all be a lot better off with less interference. Imagine how much more flow there would be to a hockey game without all that clutching and grabbing in the neutral zone,” said Vic.
“That’s the only way the Leafs can bring other teams down to their level,” said Max. “It’s only in Toronto that falling leaves signify the beginning of spring.”
“Can we have less interference from the peanut gallery?” asked Ben as he squatted down beside the car. He watched as Daniel examined a worn brake disc from the left rear wheel.
“This is worn pretty bad, Ben. Too much longer and we would have been looking at a much bigger job. See the scoring here? That’s the first sign,” explained Daniel as he handed it to Ben. “You should have your brakes checked regularly. Remember preventive maintenance as opposed to disease treatment and damage control? This is a perfect example,” he said as he walked to the workbench to look for a replacement disc.
“I don’t think Elizabeth was finished,” said Vic as he reached for a plump nectarine.
“Thanks, Vic. I was discussing the importance of the regulation of the body’s chemical balance,” said Elizabeth. She walked over to the opposite wall and straightened the picture frame that was hanging at an angle. Ben couldn’t remember having seen that picture hanging there on his previous visits. An old man with a full head of thick white hair, lively blue eyes, and a mischievous grin watched over them from the confines of a weathered barn board frame. Ben couldn’t tell whether it was a painting or a photograph. The face was vaguely familiar.
“To understand and appreciate how important the timely release of these chemicals is to the proper functioning of the human body,” said Elizabeth as she turned and glided back across the room, “consider a simple scenario. Imagine that you are about to begin running to catch a bus. In an almost imperceptible instant, your brain sends an electrical impulse through the nerve fibers of the central nerve system to your adrenal glands. This impulse contains an instruction to secrete adrenaline, which causes your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to dilate. This is done in order to accommodate the increased blood flow to the muscles, which enables you to run. This process happens so rapidly that it often appears as though the physical act of running causes our pulse to quicken. But it’s the reverse.”
“That’s like the chicken-and-egg debate,” exclaimed Max. “Which comes first—a quickened pulse or the act of running?”
“That’s something that you’ll never personally be able to answer, Max. You’ll have to research that one—ask someone who has actually run,” said Vic, glancing at Ben with a smirk on his face.
“I’m allergic to exercise, Vic. Don’t you remember how many times I told you that? Just the thought of it makes me tired,” said Max as leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.
“Well, Max, the process that Elizabeth just described happens instantly and automatically. You don’t need to think about it to make it happen,” explained Daniel, positioning the jack under the front bumper. As he raised the front wheels off the floor, he continued.
“Problems arise only when there is interference in the transmission of the electrical impulses. Quite often, this interference occurs along the spine, the key component of the central nerve system. Acting as the on-ramp and off-ramp for the millions of nerve fibers connecting the brain to the body’s tissues and organs, the spine consists of twenty-four moveable bones called vertebrae. But interference can occur anywhere in the body’s bio-energetic systems. The Chinese believe that the circulating life energy, which they refer
