We live in a society healing from the PTSD-like symptoms as a result of surviving a pandemic. No matter your beliefs or experience with SARS CoV-2, the immediate response to hearing a cough from a stranger in close proximity will cause a chill to travel your spine. A cough or a sneeze would probably have gone unnoticed in 2019, but just a few years later we have become primed and vigilant.  Now with every cold and flu season we return to skills as pseudo-diagnostic experts and review a newly refreshed checklist: RSV? COVID? Flu? Cold? H1N2? Allergies? Post-Nasal drip? 

It's time for us to recover from our post-pandemic hangover by giving our bodies the best ability to maintain health. 

Many suggest stocking up on K2-D3, Vitamin C, an assortment of high quality Bs and some sustainably sourced, metal free omegas as the magical winterized protection formula, but I prefer to begin with the nervous system. Before I explain the connection between the immune system/immune response and the nervous system, I must give a hefty shout out to proper nutrition. Though every system has a very different and ever-changing requirement for what optimal nutrition means for them, consuming a healthy amount of fresh, organic food while limiting processed food and excessive sugar are necessary for every aspect of health. Supplementation on top of an unhealthy diet is ineffective. 

Supplementation on top of the most pristine diet is also ineffective if you are experiencing nervous system dysregulation.

The connection between the nervous system and the immune system was first discovered in 1983, but it only became a hot topic and focus in medicine in the mid 2010s. In the aughts of the 2010s, cancer research institutes began achieving success with the destruction and elimination of cancer cells with modulating the immune system alone. These discoveries became a field of study and resources have been pouring into the pursuit of using micro-currents, vibrations, chemical therapy, alterations in ozone and dozens of other treatments to target parts of the immune system. A key element to the capacity of the immune response is directly linked to capacity for the nervous system to exist in balance. 

An immune system only has the ability to function at its fullest capacity when the nervous system is balanced. 

Of course, the catch 22 here is that when a body is experiencing cancer, the form of replication of the cancer and attack to the body dysregulates the nervous system, which creates less resistance for the cancer cells to proliferate. Much of the field of oncological-immunotherapy now includes techniques to support and soothe the nervous system. 

“At the whole organism level, long-range interactions between immune cells and the central nervous system allow the immune system to engage the rest of the body in the fight against infection from pathogenic microorganisms and permit the nervous system to regulate immune functioning.” - National Library of Medicine, NIH

For us at TUNE, understanding the research behind the nervous system - immune system connection has helped us create programs and protocols that allow people an opportunity to stay in balance. We focus on balancing the nervous system as a pathway to creating a more open, expansive life with less resistance. Though we have worked with those experiencing cancer and those in recovery, our main focus is to support everyday health outcomes like supporting immune function to limit the negative effects of cold and flu season. 

Due to the stress of modernity and the grind of our requirements, most of us are living in dysregulated bodies. This dysregulation results in nervous system imbalance. The downstream effects of this are broad and wide, one of them being a reduced capacity of the immune response. This leaves us susceptible to a cough from a stranger or a sticky hug from our sick little one. 

Good vibes to boost your immune system.

We built a technology that tunes the human body by emitting medical-grade vibrations, aka, good vibes. TUNE falls under many categories including biohacking, somatic therapy, mental health and medically-informed equipment, but during the winter I tend to think of it chicken soup. Your grandma will tell you to eat chicken soup if you don't want to get sick, or if you’re sick it will help you heal faster. Though going against your grandmother's advice is never a good idea, I do suggest adding in a few tune sessions a week AND eating a bowl of soup for good measure!

Listen to a great podcast explaining how the immune system functions and some additional tips and tricks for maintaining a healthy one outside of tuning.

Learn more about some of the research done in the field of the nervous system/immune system connection.

Visit the website of the National Institute of Health.