For a long time human understanding of the brain was that it was a stand alone static organ, disconnected from the rest of the body and maintaining a sort of equilibrium from this separation. The blood brain barrier was thought to be impermeable and protective.
Meanwhile, for hundreds of years, we have understood the existence of the body’s dynamic lymphatic system, over time perceiving the way it supports healthy fluid levels, filters out waste products and abnormal cells, helps your body absorb fats, and protects your body against invaders by releasing white blood cells called lymphocytes. The body’s excess fluid from plasma (which delivers nutrients to tissues and collects waste afterward) is called lymph, and lymph is like the final cleaner dealing with the details that were glossed over, picked up by the lymphatic capillaries and dealt with so that the body can function optimally.
What we didn’t understand until recent years, however, is that the brain has its own system similar to the lymphatic system (named the glymphatic system due to the similarities). With great excitement the scientific world learned that the brain can clear waste products by this glymphatic system: research has shown that during deep sleep the interstitial spaces in the brain widen, allowing for more efficient flow of cerebrospinal fluid which enhances waste removal.
For those interested in brain health and dementia prevention, the discovery of the gymphatic system has been foundational, as the waste removal of things like amyloid and tau are preventative for neurodegenerative conditions. The quest for deep sleep has never been this consequential, as sleep trackers, supplements, and lifestyle changes have been constantly optimized vying for efficient glymphatic clearance.
As a health and wellness coach focused on dementia prevention, I emphasize improving and prioritizing sleep as one of the top lifestyle goals for this very reason (among the many other benefits of deep sleep). However, I’ve just read a study from Vanderbilt University published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month that puts an even more exciting twist on our understanding of the glymphatic system: during advanced meditation, the brain enters a state similar to that of deep, non-REM sleep, where the glymphatic system is able to clear excess waste. The study was small (23 adept meditators analyzed versus two control groups, all analyzed using MRI to observe the brain in real time), but powerful as the study proved that during the times of deep meditation, the meditators’ brains shifted into a state of glymphatic clearance similar to that experienced in deep sleep.
I was already excited about the discovery of the glymphatic system some years back, and optimizing sleep seemed to be the only way to support it. As we all know, perfect sleep is nearly impossible night after night, so this new understanding that advanced meditative states can influence glymphatic clearance in the same way is hopeful and motivating as we are learning that we have more control over our brain health than we ever realized. Things that we have always known were good for stress and general health, like optimal sleep and calming the brain through meditation, are now being proven to physically alter our brains.
We are not just symbolically releasing detrimental thoughts and ideas through meditation, we are literally enhancing the release of cerebral waste, opening space for better health and vitality.
We have much to do to reclaim our health and the health of the planet — trust yourself and your restorative practices as studies like this exemplify that science is slowly verifying what we already intuitively know. This is an exciting time!
Dragonfly Energy 