A HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE TO TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

Fortunately, there is an alternative to TM. The Relaxation Response was developed almost 50 years ago by Harvard University research physician, Herbert Benson.

In 1971, Dr. Benson, co-authored a paper that documented a set of unique physiological changes that TM produced in experienced meditators. Various measurements demonstrated that during meditation, study subjects (experienced TMers) were resting more deeply than if in a deep sleep while remaining mentally alert. Benson described these physiological parameters as a "wakeful hypometabolic state." (1)

Benson, a pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, immediately recognized the potential health benefits of the deep rest one could experience during TM. He hypothesized that the state was not specific to TM and studied different cultures and religions. He found that almost all of them had a tradition or practice that produced a state of relaxation.

A few years later, Benson developed a simple technique that produced an identical physiological profile to TM, which he named the Relaxation Response. Benson's technique had added benefits: One could learn it for free, and it was void of religious undertones. Unlike TM, which has many secretive elements, all aspects of Benson's technique are open to scientific investigation.

First, Benson demonstrated that the relaxation response could be elicited predictably and that its results were measurable and reproducible. He then began testing the relaxation response in the healing process of medical conditions caused or complicated by stress. Researchers at Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and other esteemed institutions have studied the relaxation response. Well over a hundred scientific papers on the relaxation response have been published in medical journals. (2)

TM has never agreed to a head-to-head study comparing its results to the relaxation response, yet it has maligned and misrepresented the relaxation response for over 40 years. The organization has denied that the physiological markers are the same.

The relaxation response so concerned the TM organization that someone associated with TM created a phony website which, to this day, appears near the top of a Google search for the relaxation response: http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps. The site pretends to belong to Dr. Benson and includes fake research purportedly demonstrating TM's superiority over the relaxation response. In an email to Aryeh Siegel, Dr. Benson's associates confirmed their repeated requests that the website is taken down were ignored.

Dr Herbert Benson teaching the Relaxation Response

HOW TO ELICIT THE RELAXATION RESPONSE

In his best selling book, The Relaxation Response,3 Benson writes,

From the T.M. technique, we extracted four essential components that would elicit the Relaxation Response:

A quiet environment
A mental device—a sound, word, phrase, or prayer repeated silently or aloud, or a fixed gaze at an object
A passive attitude—not worrying about how well one is performing the technique and simply putting aside distracting thoughts to return to one’s focus.
A comfortable position evoking it could sit or stand.
Pick a focus word, short phrase, or prayer that you like or one that may be rooted in your belief system.
Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes.
Relax your muscles, progressing from your feet to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, head, and neck.
Breathe slowly and naturally, and as you do, say your focus word, sound, phrase, or prayer silently to yourself as you exhale.
Assume a passive attitude. Don’t worry about how well you’re doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, “Oh well,” and gently return to your repetition.
Continue for ten to twenty minutes.
Do not stand immediately. Continue sitting quietly for a minute or so, allowing other thoughts to return. Then open your eyes and sit for another minute before rising
Practice the technique once or twice daily. Good times to do so are before breakfast and before dinner
A YouTube of Dr. Benson teaching the Relaxation Response is available here: https://youtu.be/nBCsFuoFRp8

NOTES

Wallace, Robert K. & Benson, Herbert & Wilson, Archie. (1971) A wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1971.221.3.795
Benson-Henry Institute “Published Research” Retrieved from https://www.bensonhenryinstitute.org/ research-published-research/
Herbert Benson, The Relaxation Response (New York: HarperTorch, 2000), pp.10-19

***

Blog 22