Silence and its effects on the autonomic nervous system: A systematic review

Evaluating qigong as integrative support for COVID-19 and Long-COVID-19 rehabilitation: a systematic review

“…Interpreting the effects of qigong in light of neuroscientific theories such as the polyvagal theory suggests that the benefits of this practice on psychophysical relaxation result from stimulation induced by exercise on the autonomic nervous system's regulatory centers, particularly the vagal tone, promoting ventral vagal complex activity (Seppala et al, 2017 ). This could lead to increased control and resilience of the autonomic nervous system responses to external stressors, enhancing cardiovascular and respiratory activity, mood tone, as well as a general effect of increased concentration and psychophysical relaxation (Donelli et al, 2023 ). Thus, the traditional concept of qigong as a practice restoring “Qi” balance can be interpreted neuroscientifically as the potential to contribute, through exercises, to “harmonizing” the activity of both the ventral and dorsal vagal complexes, whose physiological actions are mutually antagonistic, ultimately promoting individual psychophysical wellbeing.…”

“…Thus, the traditional concept of qigong as a practice restoring “Qi” balance can be interpreted neuroscientifically as the potential to contribute, through exercises, to “harmonizing” the activity of both the ventral and dorsal vagal complexes, whose physiological actions are mutually antagonistic, ultimately promoting individual psychophysical wellbeing. Qigong, as a training to achieve a state of “inner silence,” is a discipline that requires simultaneous focus and relaxation during movement: this implies a simultaneous presence of high vagal tone and orthosympathetic tone, which is maximally beneficial because it enhances control over heart rate, breathing, and phonation, and also induces beneficial eustress for immune and biohumoral reasons (Donelli et al, 2023 ). Indeed, this interpretative paradigm has been applied with interest and scientific credibility to other meditative disciplines, such as Yoga, originating from the Ayurvedic tradition (Sullivan et al, 2018 ), and mindfulness-based techniques (Lucas et al, 2018 ; Poli et al, 2021 ).…”