Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard
Medical School
is a pioneer in
behavioral medicine and mind-body studies, as well as in spirituality
and healing. Through his work, he defined the ``relaxation response''
and continues to lead reasearch into its efficacy in counteracting the
harmful effects of stress. The relaxation response is a meditative
process which interrupts the sympathetic nervous system's storm of the
fight-flight reaction, and is taught as a form of prayer for persons
from religious traditions, while for the non-religious it is taught as
a form of meditation. The two general steps to eliciting the
relaxation response are (i) to repeat a word, sound, prayer, phrase,
or muscular activity and (ii) to disregard everyday thoughts
that come to mind, and passively return to the repetition. There are nine
specific steps that seem to work well for eliciting the relaxation
response: (1) pick a focus word or prayer that is rooted in your
belief system; (2) sit quietly in a comfortable position; (3)
close your eyes; (4) relax your muscles; (5) breathe slowly and
naturally, and repeat the chosen focus word, phrase, or prayer
silently to yourself while exhaling; (6) if other thoughts come to
mind, gently and passively return to the repetition; (7) continue the
repetiton for ten to twenty minutes; (8) do not stand immediately,
rather sit quietly for about a minute, allowing other thoughts to
return before opening your eyes and then slowly rising; (9) practice
this technique once or twice daily. Secular focus words can include,
e.g., ``Ocean,'' ``Love,'' ``Peace,'' ``Calm,'' and ``Relax.'' Religious
focus words or prayers can include, e.g., ``Our Father who art in
heaven'' for Christians, ``Shalom'' and ``The Lord is my shepherd''
for Jews, ``Inshallah'' for Muslims, ``Om'' for Hindus and Buddhists,
and ``Alláh'u'Abhá'' (God the Most Glorious) for Bahá'ís.
Dr. Benson and others
have used the relaxation response to treat hypertension,
anxiety, chronic pain, and heart disease in a general program of
stress management, and have scientifically shown that
prayer is good for the person who prays. Moreover, in his recent
book, Benson goes so far as to say that we're wired for God,
meaning that faith is a survival trait that is biologically built into
human beings. See Herbert Benson, Timeless Healing: The Power
and Biology of Belief (New York: Scribner, 1996).
