Present in the wall of most hollow organs, their mission is to pass substances into the body. What are they for ? What are their effects? Explanations.

Muscle is a tissue made up of fibers made up of contractions to create movement. The muscles participate in various functions essential to the life of the organism: breathing, digestion… and in its adaptation to the surrounding environment.

The functional and anatomical characteristics of the different muscles allow them to be divided into four major classes, one of which is smooth muscle – visceral.

Smooth muscles are under the control of the vegetative nervous system which ensures the adjustment of processes such as:

• the digestion ;
• immune system ;
• blood pressure ;
• blood flow ;
• blood composition.

The neurotransmitter is acetylcholine which slows down respiratory and cardiac rhythms and lowers blood pressure.

Location of smooth muscles

Smooth muscles are present in the wall of most hollow viscera allowing movement the mobility of internal organs (intestine, bladder and uterus). These muscle fibers have the particularity that their muscle tissue is smooth (hence its name) and contract slowly involuntarily (beyond the control of the will) and rhythmically.

Smooth muscle present:

• in the walls of the organs of the bladder or the uterus allows them to dilate and relax as needed; • in the digestive tract (digestive tract) facilitates peristaltic movements advancing ingested food and nutrients;

• in the eye, smooth muscle adapts the shape of the lens to focus on objects;

• smooth muscle in the artery walls, which relaxes and contracts to carry blood throughout the body.

There are a multitude of organs that contain large amounts of smooth muscle tissue (blood vessels, trachea, bronchi, larynx, stomach, intestine, sphincters, bladder and uterus).

This smooth muscle tissue allows these organs to:

• To contract in order to remove their content;

• Avoid or check the passage of food or waste.

The contraction of these muscles generally makes it possible to advance substances or to control the progression of liquids, it therefore helps to transport different media within the body:

• Digestive tract (mechanism of peristalsis through food);

• Constrictor muscles of the neck;

• Iris dilator muscles (adjusting the diameter of the pupil);

• Blood for smooth muscle of blood vessels (blood pressure, supply to muscles and organs);

• Air for the smooth muscle of the bronchi;

• Urine for the smooth muscle of the kidneys, bladder and the bundles carrying urine;

• From the dermis of the skin;

• The uterus (involuntary contractions by smooth muscles during childbirth);

• Ciliary muscles: to allow near vision.

All the emotions and feelings that we experience have a complex and indirect influence on our vegetative nervous system. We are talking about emotions such as stress, anger, gaiety, anguish and sadness which are very present but not always obvious to define.

The vegetative nervous system plays a fundamental role in our adaptation to emotions. The balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve is easily disturbed and it is often the parasympathetic who wins, thanks to the hormones that are involved in its activation.

This therefore has significant consequences on our body and on our psychic and energetic state. Unfortunately, we cannot exercise direct control over the vegetative nervous system, as we can over a striated muscle (arms, fingers, legs).

However, there are ways to influence it, both medically and emotionally. Thus, by acting on the vegetative nervous system, one can also act on certain functions of the smooth muscles.

Among the methods to influence the vegetative nervous system, there are emotional approaches that are used to find a balance and manage negative emotions:

• Maintain a positive mindset : remove negative emotions as much as possible by replacing them with positive ones;
• Practice physical activity : allows a better oxygenation of the organism by the blood circulation. The movements accelerate the smooth muscles, next to the skeletal muscles;
• Relaxation : yoga, magnetism, meditation, acupuncture are some of the techniques that encourage the release of negative emotions, by rebalancing positive energies;
• Listen to music : the parasympathetic nervous system is activated if the musical rhythms are in agreement with the biological rhythm because this will release acetylcholine, favorable to a feeling of well-being and relaxation.