The Relaxation Response 
                   In the late 1960's, in the same room in which Harvard Medical School's Walter Cannon per-
                   formed fight-or-flight experiments 50 years earlier, Herbert Benson, MD found that there 
                   was a counterbalancing mechanism to the stress response. Just as stimulating an area of the 
                   hypothalamus can cause the stress response, so activating other areas of the brain results in 
                   its reduction. He defined this opposite state the "relaxation response." 
                    
                   The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emo-
                   tional responses to stress; and if practiced regularly, it can have lasting effects. 
                      Your metabolism decreases 
                      Your heart beats slower and your muscles relax 
                      Your breathing becomes slower 
                      Your blood pressure decreases 
                      Your levels of nitric oxide are increased 
                    
                                            "The ideal is to develop a routine, a time to bring 
                                              forth the relaxation response that becomes as 
                                             much a part of the day as brushing your teeth." 
                                                    BHI Staff, The Wellness Book, 1992 
                    
                    
                    
                    
                   Herbert Benson, who wrote the book, The Relaxation Response, has identified four key ele-
                   ments common to meditative approaches to help people to relax.   
                   These four elements are: 
                   (1) being in a quiet place;  
                   (2) getting in a comfortable position;  
                   (3) having an object to dwell on, such as your breathing or a phrase that you continually re-
                       peat silently to yourself 
                   (4) having a passive attitude in which you let go of your day-to-day concerns by no longer 
                       thinking about them.   
               Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.massgeneral.org/bhi/basics/rr.aspx 
                                                   Jennifer Williams, LCSW 
                                                   BSW Program Director 
                                                   305-899-3941 
                                                   jwilliams@mail.barry.edu