Homeostasis simplified! Wondering about the basics of homeostasis? Learn about balance within the human body and how this contributes to what we call "health".

1. Homeostasis
Keeping the balance
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2013

2. To stay alive and healthy, we need to keep our
body systems within optimal ranges.
● Body temperature needs to stay within a range of 98.6 F or 37C.
● Blood pressure needs to stay within the range of 120/80.
● Blood glucose levels need to stay in the range of 70 and100
milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) - this would “normal” for
fasting glucose test.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

3. Homeostasis
Is a collection of on-going physiological processes that adjust our
organs and glands in order to maintain correct ranges of
temperature, blood pressure, glucose, etc.
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2013

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2013

5. A simple example:
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2013

6. If we cannot move into the shade, we will sweat.
This is such an everyday occurrence that it is easy to miss the
importance of it.
Sweating is a way to reduce heat and keep our body temperature
within the safe range.
How is it that we sweat without even thinking
about it?
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

7. Sweating decoded:
1. Feel too hot.
2. Send that message to the brain.
3. Brain must set into motion all of the details of sweating.
4. Once we are cooled off, we must stop sweating or we will get too cold.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

8. Sweating in science terms:
1. Feel too hot. Sense receptor picks up the signal
2. Send that message to the brain. Message is sent along a sensory nerve to the brain.
3. Brain must set into motion all of the details of sweating. Integration center processes
this information.
A signal is sent to a sweat gland (an “effector”) to sweat.
4. Once we are cooled off, we must stop sweating or we will get too cold.
Negative feedback loop
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

9. Homeostasis relies on three things:
1. A receptor, such as a temperature receptor
in the skin, that sends the “hot” message to the
brain.
2. Integration center - usually the brain.
3. Effector - a muscle, gland, or cell that does
something in response to whatever information
the receptor picked up.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

10. Simple Elegance
Our physiology constantly adjusts millions of things in order to keep us in
balance, or homeostasis. These adjustments go on automatically, thanks to our
incredible nervous and endocrine systems.
The move toward maintaining this balance is a natural, intrinsic characteristic
of our biology.
One way to think of health is that we are “healthy” when we are within
homeostatic balance in all of our body systems. We have disease symptoms
when we are outside of these ranges. The process of returning to
homeostasis could be considered the healing process.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

11. Simple Elegance
Our physiology constantly adjusts millions of things in order to keep us in
balance, or homeostasis. These adjustments go on automatically, thanks to our
incredible nervous and endocrine systems.
The move toward maintaining this balance is a natural, intrinsic characteristic
of our biology.
One way to think of health is that we are “healthy” when we are within
homeostatic balance in all of our body systems. We have disease symptoms
when we are outside of these ranges. The process of returning to
homeostasis could be considered the healing process.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

12. © Meridian Massage Institute
2013

13. General Principle of Maintaining Homeostasis:
● Sensory receptors detect a change away from “normal”
● The message is sent to the brain.
● Brain figures out the correct response.
● Brain sends messages via the nervous and/or endocrine system to a cell, organ, or gland to
do something to correct, or bring back into the normal range, whatever is out of
range.
● Examples are temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, oxygen levels,
rate of respiration.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

14. We are always wobbling a little.
As long as we stay within certain ranges, all is well.
Every system of our body participates in keeping the overall balance, or homeostasis,
of the entire person.
© Meridian Massage Institute
2013

15. Created by Cindy Black, MSOM
Founder of Meridian Massage Institute
Ancient wisdom for modern practitioners.
www.MeridianMassageInstitute.com
cindyblack63@gmail.com