The relaxation response: our current guide
What this page said
The page said that in the late 1960s, in the same Harvard Medical School room where Walter Cannon had studied fight-or-flight half a century earlier, Herbert Benson found a counterbalancing mechanism. Just as stimulating an area of the hypothalamus can cause the stress response, he said, activating other areas of the brain reduces it. He named this opposite state the relaxation response.
It invited readers to continue to pages on how to bring it on and weave it into daily life.
Key points from the original
- Described as the counterbalance to fight-or-flight.
- Credited to Herbert Benson's work in the late 1960s.
- Led to pages on eliciting the response and common questions.
Pages in this section
Relaxation Response FAQsThe relaxation response FAQ archived from mbmi.org: answers on preventing stress, using CDs, falling asleep during practice and finding time to…/basics/whatis_rresponse_faqs.aspEliciting the Relaxation ResponseHow the Mind/Body Medical Institute taught the relaxation response: two essential steps and a nine-step daily technique, archived from mbmi.org…/basics/whatis_rresponse_elicitation.asp