In my last post I introduced the concept of inner flow and how it involves going beyond our thoughts and emotions to the deeper essence of who we are which is our consciousness. This week I’d like to discuss the next level of flow which is physiologic flow. What is physiologic flow?
If we look at all of our body’s processes and what keeps us functioning optimally, they all depend on flow. If we look at the cellular level, our genetic blueprint, which is the DNA, is used to produce proteins which are involved in carrying out all the functions which make us who we are physically and keep us alive. However, these proteins must be transported through the fluid of the cell, called the cytoplasm, and often between cells to carry out their functions. These processes depend on flow.
If you look at a more macroscopic level, all of our organ systems function because of flow. Oxygen is transported from the atmosphere through our upper respiratory system into our lungs to tiny air sacs called alveoli where it is absorbed into tiny blood vessels called capillaries and then carried by red blood cells in our circulation.
Our circulatory system which consists of the heart pumping blood through blood vessels called arteries to all the different organs, tissues and cells of our body depends on flow. The blood returns to the heart through blood vessels, called veins, to release carbon dioxide in the lungs before picking up its next load of oxygen to be transported to all the different parts of our body.
Another system, called the lymphatic system, carries immune cells to all the various parts of the body to help fight infection and remove cancerous cells. The lymphatic system also reabsorbs extra fluid from the tissues to return it back to the circulatory system.
Even our brain and spinal cord is bathed in fluid called the cerebrospinal fluid or CSF which transports vital nutrients to the central nervous system while transporting away the waste products of metabolism, as well as protecting the central nervous system. These processes depend on flow.
You can see how flow is vital to the functioning of our physiology and we must optimize our physiologic flow to get fully into the flow in our lives. The question then becomes how do we do this? We do this by maximizing our nutrition and creative visualization. These will be the topics of my next posts so stay tuned!
Nauman Naeem MD