The purpose of the present Post is to transmit that the WALK-RWD system is an efficient homeostatic method, that is to say, its practice generates a Psychological Homeostasis and an Organic or Corporal Homeostasis; in both spheres an efficient and authentic equilibrium.
In Post WALKING AND SONAMBULISM, we mentioned the importance of this phenomenon of Homeostasis, in its two aspects, the psychological and the corporal, pointing out that : “… the unconscious, as part of its work, is permanently sending messages to the consciousness to rebalance it (psychological homeostasis) and to the body so that it can develop fully (organic or bodily homeostasis) and it sends them in various forms [symbolic languages], one of them being somnambulism: communicating to the being that it must walk. And therein lies the key to everything: WALKING”.
The quotation expresses the direct relationship that exists between the unconscious and Homeostasis, the latter being a functional manifestation, as its expression is commonly considered to be of the involuntary type.
The first thing to know is that the human body generates a homeostatic balance throughout its being, in order to level, stabilize and harmonize both its physical and mental parts. The functional areas, in which we can observe the impact of this operation relevant to the human being, are:
1. Organic: homeostasis of organs and systems in the body, so it may include several of the areas mentioned.
2. Cerebral: Cerebral homeostasis refers to maintaining a constant internal environment for the proper functioning of the brain, which is related to temperature, blood flow and other factors.
3. Psychological: Regulation of emotional and mental aspects, such as emotional balance and stress regulation, which is also linked to physiological processes.
4. Cellular metabolism: Homeostasis at the cellular level is essential for the proper functioning of all cells in the body.
5. Oxygenation: Homeostasis in oxygenation is essential to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen to tissues and organs.
6. Blood glucose: Blood glucose homeostasis refers to the maintenance of blood glucose levels within normal ranges.
7. Hydration: The balance of fluid and electrolyte levels in the body.
8. Body temperature: The body’s ability to maintain a constant internal temperature.
9. Acid-base balance: Regulation of pH levels in body fluids to maintain proper acidity.
10. Kidney function: The kidney plays a crucial role in regulating the chemical composition of the blood and the elimination of wastes.
11. Hormonal homeostasis: regulation of hormones in the body to maintain balance in various functions, such as growth and metabolism.
We could consider a larger classification, extending and specifying it for each of the organism’s systems, however, these are included in Organic Homeostasis.
The principle was first discussed by the French physiologist Claude Bernard in 1859, when he stated that living beings had a vital mechanism that allowed them to maintain certain conditions of stability in their internal environment in order to survive.
It is worth taking into consideration the later opinions expressed by some researchers on how demarcated (limited) the term “Homeostasis” was, such as Walter Bradford Cannon, in 1929-1932, Bruce McEwen, in 1998, Peter Sterling J. Eyer, in 1988, the latter two proposed a new term: Alostasis (Allostasis), mentioning that the healthy balance responses that living beings provide do not seek to “maintain a constant internal environment”, but seek to “vary the functioning of organic systems” in an efficient and healthy way.
There is no doubt in my mind that Claude Bernard considered that human beings organically seek to balance their internal environment by adjusting the functioning of their systems. However, whatever Bernard may have thought, this principle – either by calling it Homeostasis or Alostasis – is apotheosic as it keeps the whole being in a perfect state of balanced functioning.
Artwork # 1177.-TZ-VIOLÍN-2-CEJUELA en DO-DECAFONÍA
The WALK-RWD system is a mechanism that, due to its functional structure, forces the organism to transit from a harmonious state to an unbalanced one (stable unbalance), when reading, writing and drawing, while constantly walking. And it is precisely this permanent process that forces the organism to use homeostasis to regulate and stabilize the physiological and mental indices of the body within certain healthy limits.
We have mentioned in several previous posts, that the WALK-RWD System causes the body to self-generate organic substances (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE SELF-PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES) and also causes the brain to make use of areas that it keeps dormant (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING ). When we keep walking in a recurrent way, by the only fact of doing this activity -without incorporating any other-, we promote that our body, generates by itself, certain substances in our organism that are fundamental for its optimal functioning. Physical exercise (WALKING) and mental exercise (READING, WRITING AND DRAWING) stimulate the brain in an intense way which in turn produces positive impulses towards other parts of the brain and other physiological systems of the body. We have already mentioned that the core issue is not only the harmonious development of the brain, but the creation of new pathways in its functioning, involving the use of brain areas that have been left unused.
The coordinated movement generated by walking causes the brain to generate substances through the endocrine system, which in turn stimulate the development and full functioning of neurons, considerably increasing the number of connections between them and the functional areas of the brain itself. There are several fields in which we can appreciate the effect of provoking the gestation of substances and neuronal processes, and where we can obtain positive and effective results in human behavior. In the field of creativity (ideas, memory, inspiration, imagination, etc.) it is one of them and in the field of emotions it is another. Let’s keep in mind that ideas and emotions are vectors with their own energy and that they are in movement and therefore provoke stimuli to all areas of the organism and fundamentally to the brain. So much has been experimented on the fact that walking promotes the harmonious functioning of the cerebral hemispheres, that there is no doubt about it. Walking is an exercise that has effects on both symmetrical parts of the human body, so any exercise that does so will have similar effects.
I would like to pick up on what McEwen and. Eyer, when they defined the new term Allostasis as similar to Homeostasis. They pointed out that the responses that the human being generates, seek to harmonize the imbalance in which the body (physical and mental) falls due to the performance of its own activities and functions, being constantly subjected to stimuli from the external environment, through the variation in the functioning of the organic systems.
These external stimuli, forces and alterations (excitations) that disharmonize the human body, are nothing more than the organized systematization of the 4 activities that give functional structure to the WALK-RWD system, and which the organism itself responds to (Homeostasis) by seeking and achieving a healthy balance.
The WALK-RWD system is not something static, it is the opposite, a dynamic method that generates a functional variation in all the systems, organs and glands of the being, to maintain it in a healthy stability, within certain adequate and healthy limits.
Let’s go for a walk, and by the mere fact of doing so, our organism will be attentive to maintain itself in an efficient homeostatic state.