The following is my own response to a wonderful blog post at pranarupa.
Imagine that there are fields in the body regulating metabolism, structure, healing, and regeneration. These fields would facilitate coherence of the entire body, that is, a holistic way of regulation via a bird's-eye view of what's happening and what needs to be adjusted to effect balance and harmony. These fields, also called "morphogenetic" fields, would provide a pattern or guiding principle for the formation of structures, from cellular to organic to the entire shape of the body, and, the structures would interact with energy to effect function. Here, the old adage, "structure meets function" applies, in that the quantity and quality of the energy determines the nature of the structure.
That being the case, what would be the thing that generates, organizes, and energizes these fields? Consciousness, or, sensitive and dynamic interaction with Life, would seem to be the impetus or the means by which these fields are manifested. "An organism is a pattern unfolding in time, oriented by consciousness".
Here, then, the importance of the nervous system becomes apparent. The nerve supply to tissue can be viewed as the means by which consciousness is extended throughout the body, or, at least the primary way in which that happens. As biological research has shown, to the degree that the nerve supply is compromised, there is a corresponding lack of structure, energetic coherence, regeneration, and proper differentiation of tissue (The Body Electric by Robert O. Becker).
How, then, to promote the healthy formation and function of these morphogenetic fields? Anything that promotes coherent development of the nervous system would likely be of benefit. As Phil at pranarupa describes, meditation can effect coherent nervous system development by promoting "inhabitation" of the nervous system. Carbon dioxide retention is also emphasized, via reduced breathing techniques such as yoga, for example. Carbon dioxide facilitates the efficient use of oxygen with favorable effects on metabolism, benefiting the entire organism.
