The Relaxation Response
The classic mind/body approach that has helped millions conquer the harmful effects of stress.
Originally published in 1975, this is an old-school classic on the science of meditation. Herbert Benson, MD, has been a Professor at Harvard Medical School and a leading figure in the mind/body movement for decades. Benson was the first to scientifically establish the significant positive effects of meditation. He called it the “Relaxation Response.” Big Ideas we explore: Fight-or-flight vs. Relaxation responses, how to elicit the relaxation response, the placebo effect (is powerful!), and the power of focus.
Big Ideas
- Fight-or-Flightvs. The Relaxation Response.
- How to ElicitLet’s get our relaxation on.
- The Placeboaka Remembered wellness. (HUGE.)
- The Power of FocusWant to dry sheets w/your mind?
- The GiftNeeded now more than ever.
“Why this could be the most important book in your life…
Sixty to ninety percent of visits to physicians are for conditions related to stress. The Relaxation Response counteracts the harmful effects of stress in a host of conditions including: anxiety, mild and moderate depression, anger and hostility, hypertension, irregular heartbeats, pain, premenstrual syndrome, infertility, hot flashes and menopause, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, and many other stress-related illnesses…
You can learn simple mind/body techniques to elicit the Relaxation Response without leaving home, and you can use them anywhere. The Relaxation Response is without serious side effects and reaffirms the value of prayer, meditation, and relaxation in your daily life!”
~ Herbert Benson, M.D. from The Relaxation Response
Originally published in 1975, this is an old-school classic on the science of meditation.
Herbert Benson, MD, has been a Professor at Harvard Medical School and a leading figure in the mind/body movement for decades.
Benson was the first to scientifically establish the significant positive effects of meditation. Only, he’s an awesome, conservative academic committed to bringing the benefits of meditation to the masses without all the woo woo so he doesn’t call it meditation.
He calls it inducing “the Relaxation Response” which proves to be a super powerful way to counter the toxic effects of chronic stress that comes from living in “fight-or-flight” mode too much of the time.
This book outlines Benson’s initial research. (Get a copy here.)
We also have a Note on his more recent book The Relaxation Revolution in which he explores the epigenetic effects of meditation and other goodness. (Unless you deliberately want to go old school, I’d recommend the newer Relaxation Revolution rather than this as it’s a more up-to-date look at what’s up!)
I have been deeply inspired by Dr. Benson’s work and mention a couple of my favorite Big Ideas from his work in our MEDITATION 101 class. Check it out for more on the applied whys + hows of meditation.
For now, let’s jump in and explore a handful of my favorite Big Ideas!
We’ll start with juxtaposing the fight-or-flight response with the relaxation response.
Download MP3
Download PDFThe elicitation of the Relaxation Response, stress management, regular exercise, good nutrition, and the power of belief all have a tremendous role to play in our healing.
Get the BookFight-or-Flight vs The Relaxation Response
“Amazingly, the very room and building in which my colleagues and I studied the T.M. devotees was where Walter B. Cannon, the famous Harvard physiologist, had discovered ‘the fight-or-flight response’ sixty years before. For those of you unfamiliar with this finding, it was revolutionary. The fight-or-flight response offered glimpses into the evolutionary momentum that equipped modern human being with keen physiologic survival instincts. Cannon theorized that mammals have a physical ability to react to stress that evolved as a survival mechanism. When faced with stressful situations, our bodies release hormones—adrenaline and noradrenaline, or epinephrine and norepinephrine—to increase heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, metabolic rate and blood flow to the muscles, gearing our bodies either to do battle with an opponent or to flee.
Our studies revealed that the opposite was also true. The body is also imbued with what I termed the Relaxation Response—an inducible, physiological state of quietude. Indeed, our progenitors handed down to us a second, equally essential survival mechanism—the ability to heal and rejuvenate our bodies. In modern times, the Relaxation Response is undoubtedly even more important to our survival, since anxiety and tension often inappropriately trigger the fight-or-flight response in us. Regular elicitation of the Relaxation Response can prevent, and compensate for, the damage incurred by frequent nervous reactions that pulse through our hearts and bodies.”
First, how cool is the fact that Benson discovered the relaxation response in the same room and building that Walter Cannon discovered the fight-or-flight response?
Amazing. (Go Harvard researchers! :)
So, quick re-cap: Our bodies evolved to respond to physical threats with an increase in heart rate, respiration, adrenaline, etc. to most adequately prepare us to either fight or flee.
Got it.
Now, of course, that makes sense in the pre-historic era when the only times we’d trigger that response was when we were actually physically threatened. The increased blood flow to our arms and legs came in handy as we ran away from a lion.
In modern times, our overly sensitive response systems are not so handy. When someone honking their horn at us can elicit the same response as a lion roaring, we’ve got issues, eh? :)
And, we have even more issues when the mere thought of something stressful can elicit a racing heart and quickened breathing. We have nowhere to run (and no need to run), but our bodies are in overdrive and important health-giving systems are being ignored.
The aggregate effect of these little moments is toxic.
Here’s how David Perlmutter and Alberto Villoldo put it in their great book Power Up Your Brain (see Notes): “As we discussed earlier, the fight-or-flight response works through the HPA axis. When there are no perceived external threats, the HPA axis is at rest and all the body’s resources are dedicated to the renewal of its systems and the growth of new cells. When the body perceived a new threat, such as the sudden roar of a lion or the blare of an automobile horn, the HPA axis kicks in and signals the release of cortisol and adrenaline, which constrict blood vessels in the digestive tract and redirect blood flow away from the internal organs to the extremities, preparing us to fight or flee. These hormones also constrict blood vessels in the prefrontal cortex, where our logic and reasoning centers are located, and redirect blood to the old brain, where reflexive, instinctive action originates. As a result, our thinking becomes muddled and we operate like a cornered animal.”
Good news: Our bodies also evolved to heal and rejuvenate our bodies.
Benson calls one way we do that the Relaxation Response. It’s a good thing.
We’ll take a look at how we elicit the Relaxation Response in a moment.
But, before we do that, lest we think that all stress is bad (it’s NOT!), let’s take a quick look at another really powerful response called “the challenge response.” Kelly McGonigal talks about in her great book The Upside of Stress (see Notes).
McGonigal tells us: “Like a fight-or-flight response, a challenge response gives you energy and helps you perform under pressure. Your heart rate still rises, your adrenaline spikes, your muscles and brain get more fuel, and the feel-good chemicals surge. But it differs from a fight-or-flight response in a few important ways: You feel focused but not fearful. You also release a different ratio of stress hormones, including higher levels of DHEA, which helps you recover and learn from stress. This raises the growth index of your stress response, the beneficial ratio of stress hormones that can determine, in part, whether a stressful experience is strengthening or harmful…
People who report being in a flow state—a highly enjoyable state of being completely absorbed in what you are doing—display clear signs of a challenge response. Artists, athletes, surgeons, video gamers, and musicians all show this kind of stress response when they’re engaged in their craft or skill. Contrary to what many people expect, top performers in these fields aren’t physiologically calm under pressure; rather, they have strong challenge responses. The stress response gives them access to their mental and physical resources, and the result is increased confidence, enhanced concentration, and peak performance.”
So…
Not ALL high-arousal states are toxic, of course.
In fact, we simply can’t access our highest potential WITHOUT a certain level of “stress.”
We just want to use that energy wisely!!
(Remember: “I’m excited!!” + FEAR: Stop & GO!)
Back to the relaxation response and how to elicit it. :)
Eliciting the Relaxation Response
“From the collected writings of the East and West, we have devised a simplified method of eliciting the Relaxation Response and we will explain its use in your daily life. You will learn that evoking the Relaxation Response is extremely simple if you follow a very short set of instructions which incorporate four essential elements: (1) a quiet environment; (2) a mental device such as a word or phrase which should be repeated in a specific fashion over and over again; (3) the adoption of a passive attitude, which is perhaps the most important of the elements; and (4) a comfortable position. Your appropriate practice of these four elements for ten to twenty minutes once or twice daily should markedly enhance your well-being.”
Quick reminder: A big part of Benson’s work over the decades has been to take the practice of meditation out of the esoteric and make it palatable for a mainstream, conservative audience.
This is why he’s not referring to the practice he recommends as meditation per se; rather, we’re simply “eliciting the relaxation response”—which has tremendous positive health benefits and is something anyone can get excited about it!
So, here’s a quick recap of the four components to getting our relaxation response on:
- Find a quiet place where we won’t be distracted. Pretty straightforward but super important. Pro tip: I drop these earplugs in any time I want a little more quiet. And if I REALLY want to go dark on the audio side of things, I throw these bad boys on. Hah. Seriously. They work. Pure silence. (Very helpful when you work from the home office with a three-year-old around. :)
- Pick a “mental device” such as a word or phrase that can be repeated again and again.
This is our “anchor.” Just as a sailor needs an anchor to throw overboard to make sure they don’t drift in the sea, WE need an anchor to make sure our minds don’t drift.
This can be a word or phrase or even an object we gaze at. The “mental device” simply anchors our mind. Pick one! (btw: check out our mantram discussion in our Note on Passage Meditation. My current? Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.)
- Adopt a passive attitude.
“Relaxed concentration” is what we’re looking for here. When your mind INEVITABLY slips you say, “Oh, well.” and simply bring it back. You do NOT get all up in your stuff and frustrated.
Another way to think about it that we talk about in Meditation 101 is to simply “brush your brain.” You don’t judge how well you’re brushing your teeth (at least I hope you don’t!). You just brush. Same with this. Just do it. Brush your brain.
- Find a comfie position.
Newsflash: You don’t need to be a levitating monk in lotus position to reap the rewards of inducing the relaxation response. Just sit in a comfie position. If that’s in a chair, awesome. Keep your spine straight. If it’s in something like hero’s pose (what I do! I just use a simple bolster under my butt), awesome.
Pro tip: Sit with dignity. (<— That’s how Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it in Wherever You Go There You Are.)
Rock it for 10-15-20-whatever minutes. Repeat daily.
Experience benefits.
(Again: I walk us through some of the other key facets of creating a basic meditation practice in Meditation 101. Check it out for more!)
The Placebo effect (aka Remembered wellness)
“Researchers had long relied on the 30 percent success rate attributed to the placebo effect by Dr. Beecher. Our work showed that far from an irritating little variable, the placebo effect deserved our utmost attention. Indeed, evolution made it an innate capacity for healing within each of us—a resource that could be effective the majority of the time. To disassociate it from the negative response it provoked in medicine, I proposed renaming it ‘remembered wellness.’ Remembered wellness, the placebo effect, is fueled by belief.”
The placebo effect. Benson describes it as “remembered wellness.”
It’s truly remarkable how powerful our beliefs can be.
Bernie Siegel, M.D. puts it this way in Love, Medicine and Miracles (see Notes): “One of the best ways to make something happen is to predict it. Pooh-poohed for some twenty years by the medical establishment, the placebo effect—the fact that about one-fourth to one-third of patients will show improvement if they merely believe they are taking an effective medicine even if the pill they are taking has no active ingredient—has now been accepted as genuine by most of the profession.”
The key variable? Strong belief.
It’s remarkable (!) what a strong belief can do.
In The Relaxation Revolution Benson describes studies in which people who are told they are going to have knee surgery but are then given a fake surgery experience the SAME results as people who actually had the surgery. (<— Cray cray.)
In Counterclockwise (see Notes), another leading Harvard researcher Ellen Langer tells us: “When we see mind and body as parts of a single entity, the research on placebos takes on new meaning and suggests we can not only control much of our disease experience, but we may also be able to extend our ability to gain, recover, or enhance our health.
Placebos often come in the form of a single word that captures a richer mindset. In one study I conducted with my students, we explored the mindset most of us have regarding excellent vision air force pilots have. All participants were given a vision test. One group of participants were then encouraged to role-play ‘air force pilots.’ They dressed the part and, in uniform, sat in a flight simulator. They were asked to read the letters on the wing of a nearby plane, which were actually part of an eye chart. Those participants who adopted the ‘pilot’ mindset, primed to have excellent vision, showed improved vision over those who were simply asked to read an eye chart from the same distance.”
Our minds are powerful. Placebos are real. Use them to your benefit.
How? Here’s one way: Imagine the best version of yourself. How would he or she sit/stand/walk/talk/dress/breathe? What would they do? How would they interact with people?
Act like that. :)
Want to dry some sheets with your mind?
“In another example, the team watched as monks, dressed in nothing but small loincloths, were draped in wet sheets while exposed to near-freezing temperatures. You and I would experience uncontrollable shivering, develop hypothermia, and perhaps die under these circumstances. But because these monks had developed amazing physiological control over years of practicing this type of heat-producing meditation, they experienced no distress in these conditions. Instead, within minutes, the body temperatures they produced steamed and dried the wet, cold sheets.”
First: In case you were wondering if stories that monks could actually do that were true or not, there you go. Nuts.
I repeat: THE DISCIPLINED MIND IS POWERFUL.
Benson first met the Dalai Lama in 1979 and traveled to Tibet to study monks. Imagine a super conservative Harvard MD seeing *that*!
He continues with how we can apply this to OUR lives: “The monks accomplished this first by meditating and evoking the Relaxation Response in the same simple way my colleagues and I had studied. When their minds were quiet, they then visualized a fire or heat…
Eager to reproduce, in some measure, the benefits we had witnessed in the Tibetan monks, my colleagues and I from that point on began to teach our patients the ‘two-step process’ the monks had practiced. First, you evoke the Relaxation Response and reap its healthful rewards. Then, when your mind is quiet, when focusing has opened a door in your mind, visualize an outcome that is meaningful to you. If you are intent on alleviating a pain, envision yourself without the pain. If you are concerned with your performance at work or on the golf course or tennis court, imagine yourself performing well in these venues. Whatever your goal, these two steps can be powerful, allowing anyone to reap the benefits of the Relaxation Response and take advantage of a quiet mind to rewire thoughts and actions in desired directions.”
Step 1. Induce the Relaxation Response.
Step 2. Dry sheets. (Hah.) Or, imagine an outcome you desire and see it coming to fruition.
Discipline your mind. Open to the possibilities.
#steamy
Give yourself the gift of relaxation
“Throughout this book we have tried to show you that the Relaxation Response is a natural gift that anyone can turn on and use. By bridging the traditional gaps between psychology, physiology, medicine, and history, we have established that the Relaxation Response is an innate mechanism within us.
The Relaxation Response is a universal human capacity, and even though it has been evoked in the religious history, you don’t have to engage in any rites or esoteric practices to bring it forth. The experience of the Relaxation Response has faded from our everyday life with the waning of religious practices and beliefs, but we can easily reclaim its benefits.”
As we discuss again and again, we need to make waves.
And, the practice of meditation is, hands down (!), one of the most powerful ways to do that WHILE strengthening our minds and connecting ourselves to something bigger than ourselves.
As Dr. Benson advises: “Since the environment is unlikely to grow less complex or more stable, we must find within our own bodies a physiologic means of dealing with the demands of twenty-first-century life.”
It’s time to give ourselves the gift of relaxation as we optimize and actualize!
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