The simple act of prayer has numerous tangible health benefits, and it is considered “a form of medicine,” which works to regulate bodily functions through lowering stress and developing a capacity to maintain a sense of peace, according to Dr. Kat Lindley.
“Prayer can calm your nervous system, shutting down your fight or flight response,” Dr. Lindley, president of the NGO Global Health Project, said in a Sept. 29 X post. “It can make you less reactive to negative emotions and less angry. Prayer elicits a relaxation response, which lowers blood pressure and other factors heightened by stress. It also releases control to something greater than oneself through secondary control, which can reduce the stress of needing to be in charge.”
