"The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress... and the opposite of the fight or flight response."
These words were written in 1975 by Herbert Benson, M.D., the Associate Professor of Medicine in Harvard Medical School and director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute.
This natural, built into our bodies relaxation response is behind all the relaxation techniques that we use, be it Yoga, Tai Chi, prayer, Vipassna, mantra, mindfulness or transcendental meditation, breath focus, Qi Gong and many others.
Hardly any one argues anymore against the fact that relaxation is beneficial for one's health. There have been countless explanations as to why it is so.
However, not until recently it was actually shown exactly how the Relaxation Response works on the very deep, genetic level.
"Genomic Counter-Stress Changes Induced by the Relaxation Response" is a recent study that shows how eliciting the relaxation response influences the activation of genes associated with the body's response to stress.
This activation of genes is called genetic expression. Not all genes in a cell are active at any given time. Gene action can be switched on or off in response to the cell’s stage of development and external environment.
In this particular study, the relaxation response has been shown to alter the expression of genes involved with processes such as inflammation, programmed cell death and how the body handles free radicals.
"Changes in the activation of these same genes have previously been seen in conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder; but the relaxation-response-associated changes were the opposite of stress-associated changes," says Jeffery Dusek, PhD, co-lead author of the study.
These changes were more pronounced in the long-term (at least 4 years) practitioners but they weren't the only group that participated in the study. The other group were people without any previous experience in Relaxation Response techniques who had only 8 weeks of relaxation training during the study itself. And this 8 weeks were enough for them to exhibit noticeable changes in gene expression similar to the "seasoned" group.
To sum-up:
- Relaxation exercises positively influence our bodies on genetic level.
- Any relaxation practice will induce this change. It can be left to the user's preference.
- The resulting biological changes of relaxation exercises can be seen in as little as 2 month.
8 comments:
Interesting how the body responds so postively to relaxation.
Very nice article, drawing attention to the benefits of relaxation. I'd like to point out the difference, however, between relaxation and meditation — at least, in the case of the Transcendental Mediation technique, there's a big difference. According to the science, a wide range of beneficial physiological changes commonly occur during the Transcendental Meditation technique, changes that distinguish the practice from mere relaxation and other forms of meditation.
Studies indicate that TM practice produces a state of rest much deeper than sitting with eyes closed, and also much deeper than other meditation and relaxation practices. Research consistently shows a natural decrease in breath rate during the TM technique, 25% greater than controls, and an increase in basal skin resistance (a standard measure of relaxation) up to 70% higher.
Physiological indicators of deep rest also include marked changes in respiratory volume, minute ventilation, tidal volume, blood lactate and heart rate. Studies suggest that this unique state of physiology helps regulate cortisol and other hormones associated with chronic stress — along with healthier regulation of serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with mood.
Even more significant, EEG measurements show high levels of alpha coherence over the entire brain — increased integration and orderliness of brain functioning — further distinguishing the Transcendental Meditation technique from ordinary relaxation and other meditation practices.
The thing is, there's 'relaxation,' and then there's the much deeper experience of Transcendental Consciousness — atma — the fourth state of consciousness expereiced during TM, with the physiological parameters outlined above, markedly different from relaxation or the Relaxation Response.
More than 600 scientific research studies have verified the beneficial effects of the Transcendental Meditation program for mind, body, behavior and society. These research studies were conducted at over 250 independent universities and research institutions in 33 countries — including Harvard, Stanford, Yale and UCLA Medical School.
Over 300 of these research studies have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, such as Scientific American, the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine, Science, International Journal of Neuroscience, American Journal of Physiology and many others.
The National Institutes of Health has granted over $24 million to study the impact of the Transcendental Meditation program for the prevention and treatment of heart disease, hypertension, and stroke — and the research found significant positive results.
The same cannot be said for mere relaxation or any other known mind/body practice.
For more info on this, there's the Ask the Doctors website, an excellent resource for knowledge about the health benefits of meditation, in the words of doctors and scientists.
Hi wisdom. Nice site you've got there.
laughing crow - Transcendental Meditation is a very good technique. Big fan of Maharishi myself. The problem most of my readers will encounter if they'd want to learn TM is thus - it cost is $2000 for the first stage. Do you know how much our meds cost? Few if any will drop this kind of $ on a meditation class, no matter how good it is. Cut the price to $400, than we might have a deal.
Rain - Thanks for this - I was just doing some more research on relaxation's effects! Will link you in a post on this shortly.
- Megan
Megan - thanks :). It is the most interesting line of research. Genetic expression is something that is pretty cutting edge, I was glad to see it was studied in relaxation techniques.
I am going to post more on relaxation later as well though you probably doing more in-depth research here. Check out Benson's site, you might find some good info there.
RE: Relaxation Response
Here's letter sent from Dr. David Orme-Johnson to Newsweek magazine back on October 10, 2004
The Myth of the Relaxation Response
Dear Editors,
In your September 27th issue on Mind-Body medicine, Herbert Benson asserts that a wide range of practices from meditation to jogging produce a common relaxation response that has health benefits. How could jogging, which increases the heart rate and metabolism, have the same effects as meditation, which reduces them? It doesnt. In fact, randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses of over 475 studies show that even different meditation and relaxation techniques have different effects (1). For example, they indicate that Maharishis Transcendental Meditation technique is more effective than other techniques studied in reducing blood pressure, decreasing anxiety, reducing smoking and drinking, in increasing self actualization.
The practice of using the demonstrated effectiveness of some technique to promote others can only obscure progress in mind-body medicine. The readers of Newsweek should know that the meditation techniques recommended by Benson (p. 47) simply do not have the claimed medical benefits.
In letters to Science, Irwin Tessman of Purdue University and Jack Tessman of Tufts University report that Benson's claims in his popular books for the relaxation response are not supported by the published data (2). In the 1980's the Chief of Medicine of Boston's Beth Hospital assembled an outside committee to evaluate Benson's work. Review panel member Bob Rose, a psychoendocrinologist, formerly on the editorial board of Psychosomatic Medicine, and director of health programs at the MacArthur Foundation said: "Herb has claimed to do the very basic kinds of biological research that document the psychobiogical mechanisms underlying the relaxation response, but it turns out that when you look very carefully that he hasn't done that"(p. 358).
References:
1. 1. Orme-Johnson DW, Walton KG. All approaches to preventing and reversing the effects of stress are not the same. American Journal of Health Promotion. 1998;12:297-299.
2. 2. Tessman I, Tessman J. Book review of "The Power and Biology of Belief". Science. 1997;276:369-370. Tessman I, Tessman J. Troubling matter. Science. 1997;278:561.
3. 3. Roush W. Herbert Benson: Mind-body maverick pushes the envelope. Science. 1997;276:357-359.
David Orme-Johnson, Ph.D.
191 Dalton Dr.
Seagrove Beach, FL 32459
850-231-2866
RE: Cost of learning TM
1. Scholarships for Students
David Lynch's foundation offers student scholarships for those who can’t afford the fee.
Tel/Fax: 323-874-2467
http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/scholarships.html
info@davidlynchfoundation.org
2. Low Interest Loans
Citi-Bank's CitiAssist program now offers very low interest loans to anyone learning TM, with up to 15 years time to repay.
You apply online and take the course at any TM center. Open to adults or students of any age.
Details here: http://www.mum.edu/tmcourse/
3. Employee Benefit
Many companies pay for half or more of the TM fee for employees. Ask your employer. Here's a partial list for the U.S.—
US Post Office, IBM, Motorola, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Toyota, Tower Companies, US Veterans Admin., AirTel, Bank of America, ESPN-Star Sports, Eveready Industries, GE Capital, Hero Honda, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and Xerox.
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