The ‘Relaxation Response’ is a term coined by Harvard Medical School’s Herbert Benson to describe a state that differs significantly from the three states of waking, sleeping and dreaming on which research into consciousness had thus far focused. The state—also known as ‘restful alertness’—is marked by dramatically reduced metabolic function, measurably deeper even than deep sleep, coupled with an inner ‘wakefulness’.
While considered by some psychologists to be related to a form of relaxed, non-verbal, and receptive mode of mental functioning known as ‘primary-process thinking’, Benson, and later researchers, including Milton Erickson’s research partner, Ernst Rossi, came to regard it as a discrete ‘fourth state’ of consciousness, naturally occurring, but previously unrecognized in Western culture.
As Rossi elaborates in The 20-Minute Break, humans appear to have evolved with the potential to benefit from recognizing and responding to natural mind-body cycles, now known as ultradian rhythms, which occur every 90–120 minutes. The ability simply to observe our thoughts without becoming involved in them appears to have far-reaching effects on the subject’s cognitive abilities, health, and longevity.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn believes that meditation may have salutary effects on telomere length, both by reducing cognitive stress and stress arousal, and by increasing positive states of mind and hormonal factors that may promote ‘telomere maintenance’.
Telomeres can be thought of as like the metal tags that prevent your shoelaces from unraveling. These caps of DNA occur at the end of chromosomes, preventing the chromosomes from fusing together. The longer the telomeres, the healthier you are.
Blackburn believes that meditation functions as a kind of ‘metacognitive awareness’ (an awareness of your thoughts, without becoming involved in them). This could function as a kind of mental housekeeping, by interrupting rumination, allowing one more accurately to evaluate thoughts, and to create greater freedom of choice in responding to thoughts and emotions. This practice, Blackburn and her colleagues point out, differs markedly from cognitive behavioral therapies by changing the relationship to thoughts, rather than trying to change the contents of thinking.317
Benson and his colleagues—inspired by research into the Indian technique of Transcendental Meditation®, then newly imported into the West—align completely with the theories and findings of the Blackburn team.
Benson’s early research indicated effectiveness in the treatment of hypertension, cardiac irregularities, headaches, anxiety disorders, pre-menstrual syndrome, and mild and moderate depression. Later studies318 showed benefits to patients suffering from back pain, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, angina, infertility, and chemotherapy-induced nausea.319
Several researchers believe that the distinctive mix of alpha and theta brainwaves demonstrated during practice of the technique marks specific neurological changes related to psychophysiological self-regulation. Part of its effect is believed to result from the dissipation of accumulated stress, or entropy, thus increasing emotional and physical resilience to day-to-day stressors.320
The Relaxation Response differs significantly from more familiar ‘relaxation exercises’, such as listening to tapes or practicing progressive relaxation, in that it appears to act cumulatively on the functioning of the nervous system’s ‘alarm system’, most notably by down-regulating activity in the reticular formation and thalamus areas of the brain.
Even more significant is the suggestion emanating from the emerging science of epigenetics that experiencing the Relaxation Response on a regular basis can change the expression of more than 1,500 specific genes.321 This and other studies suggest that purely mental interventions can not only alter people’s genetic landscape, but can pass on changes, for better or worse, to their offspring.
Two important characteristics of the Relaxation Response are its essential passivity and its reiterative nature—that is, rather than relying on an external prompt, such as recorded instructions, it repeatedly ‘feeds back’ into the subject’s current level of awareness, progressively deepening his or her state. Several variations of the technique have proved effective, but the essential components include:
Note: Even though you might experience many thoughts, especially when you begin the practice, your heart rate, breathing, and metabolism will slow down automatically. Therefore, avoid getting up too abruptly when the session is over. Also, do not practice for longer than 20 minutes to avoid excessive stress release.
We suggest the practitioner (who should practice the technique him- or herself) guide the patient through the process to ensure full understanding, rather than simply giving instructions. Be sure to emphasize the necessity for regularity of practice.
For those with visual or kinesthetic sensory preferences, the technique can be adjusted as follows.
You can pick a simple colored shape that you gently hold in your inner attentional field. Simply observe it without judgment. Each time you become aware that you have drifted off onto thoughts or other distractions, gently brings your attention back to the shape.
Place your attention on your nostrils and simply notice the sensation of your breath as it moves in and out. You may silently count each out-breath if you so wish.
Start at 1, imagining you are breathing in an image of the number itself, seeing and feeling it gently settle in your lower abdomen as you breathe out. You then breathe in 2, visualizing it settling gently on the number 1 as you breathe out again. Your goal should be to reach 10, stacking each number, one on top of the other, before starting again.
317. Blackburn E, Epel E, Daubenmier J, Moskowitz JT, Folkman S. Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Aug; 1172: 34-53.
318. Benson H, Stuart E (eds) (1992) The Wellness Book. New York: Fireside.
319. Rossi EL, Nimmons D (1991) The 20-Minute Break: Using the New Science of Ultradian Rhythms. Los Angeles: Jeremy O Tracher.
320. For a summary of related research, see Benson H, Klipper MZ (1975). The Relaxation Response. New York: HarperTorch.
321. Dusek J (2008), Genomic Counter-Stress Changes Induced by the Relaxation Response, PLoS One, Jul; 3(7).