His newest book, the Relaxation Revolution, reveals more striking results from his more than 30 years of research on the value of a few short minutes of meditative practice on our health and wellness. The initial findings in the Relaxation Response were that engaging in focused meditative activity activates a response in our body which is the exact opposite of the response our body has during times of stress. Much of our health problems are caused or made worse by stress which makes this very simple fact quite a powerful discovery. Engaging in the relaxation response can directly address certain common health problems such as hypertension, stress headaches, anxiety-related symptoms, mild depression, etc. However, medical research shows that engaging in the relaxation response can also help improve the symptoms of any number of illnesses.
The new book builds upon this initial finding as the power of mind body medicine becomes more undeniable. New research shows that the protection against stress from engaging in meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, etc. over time also affects the behavior of the practitioner's genes. The activity and responses of your cells and even your genes, are effected by regular engagement in the relaxation response. In fact, your genes' behavior is modified due to the relaxation response and this then affects your cells in terms of their resiliency to stress and how they deal with age and illness. It is not that the relaxation response reverses the aging process for your cells, instead the reaction it elicits creates a buffer, or an insulation, against the effects of stress that are so damaging.
To top it all off, long term engagement in meditation creates habitual responses in our bodies, brains, cells and genes. And according to Dr. Benson, when enough change happens within our bodies over a long enough time, these changes to our genes are passed down to our children. It is important to note here that the structure of our DNA has not changed, but instead the genes' activity or behavior has changed.
These new discoveries really throw down the gauntlet in terms of managing our stress and being calmer people. We owe it to ourselves, our society and our children to strike a different course in a time of skyrocketing health care costs, proliferating lifestyle diseases, and a nation struggling with depression, anxiety and mental illness . The relaxation response seems to be a simple and powerful way to do so. One of the most amazing things to consider is that cultures for thousands of year have been engaging in the relaxation response through their spiritual traditions and practices. This is not a discovery of science but instead an affirmation of a spiritual (or simply human?) practice that has great benefit and usefulness to the practitioner. This points to the fact that spirituality has a part to play in being human, and that our spiritual traditions have valuable lessons that we can learn from in how to live well. The fact that scientific inquiry is catching up with some of these more subtle spiritual lessons is exciting and will be very challenging to the traditional scientific and religious institutions.
As an end note, I do not hold spirituality and religion to be the same thing. Religion can be a spiritual endeavor, but in many cases it is not. Likewise, a spiritual life or practice doesn't need to be a part of a religion.
For more on the relaxation response: listen to Dr. Benson being interviewed on abc (5min)
Or for those of you who want a deeper drill down on this topic: here is Dr. Benson discussing his new book at Harvard U (39 min)
The new book builds upon this initial finding as the power of mind body medicine becomes more undeniable. New research shows that the protection against stress from engaging in meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, etc. over time also affects the behavior of the practitioner's genes. The activity and responses of your cells and even your genes, are effected by regular engagement in the relaxation response. In fact, your genes' behavior is modified due to the relaxation response and this then affects your cells in terms of their resiliency to stress and how they deal with age and illness. It is not that the relaxation response reverses the aging process for your cells, instead the reaction it elicits creates a buffer, or an insulation, against the effects of stress that are so damaging.
To top it all off, long term engagement in meditation creates habitual responses in our bodies, brains, cells and genes. And according to Dr. Benson, when enough change happens within our bodies over a long enough time, these changes to our genes are passed down to our children. It is important to note here that the structure of our DNA has not changed, but instead the genes' activity or behavior has changed.
These new discoveries really throw down the gauntlet in terms of managing our stress and being calmer people. We owe it to ourselves, our society and our children to strike a different course in a time of skyrocketing health care costs, proliferating lifestyle diseases, and a nation struggling with depression, anxiety and mental illness . The relaxation response seems to be a simple and powerful way to do so. One of the most amazing things to consider is that cultures for thousands of year have been engaging in the relaxation response through their spiritual traditions and practices. This is not a discovery of science but instead an affirmation of a spiritual (or simply human?) practice that has great benefit and usefulness to the practitioner. This points to the fact that spirituality has a part to play in being human, and that our spiritual traditions have valuable lessons that we can learn from in how to live well. The fact that scientific inquiry is catching up with some of these more subtle spiritual lessons is exciting and will be very challenging to the traditional scientific and religious institutions.
As an end note, I do not hold spirituality and religion to be the same thing. Religion can be a spiritual endeavor, but in many cases it is not. Likewise, a spiritual life or practice doesn't need to be a part of a religion.
For more on the relaxation response: listen to Dr. Benson being interviewed on abc (5min)
Or for those of you who want a deeper drill down on this topic: here is Dr. Benson discussing his new book at Harvard U (39 min)
Not to take you off topic but a book was recently written from a Christian perspective about the difference between Spirituality and Religion and making the argument that habit/practice is important. Seem to connect to the relaxation and spiritual routines mentioned here.
ReplyDeleteHere is the book: http://brianmclaren.net/archives/books/brians-books/naked-spirituality-a-life-with-g-1.html