The Relaxation Response

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Harper Collins, Sep 22, 2009 - Health & Fitness - 240 pages

In this time of quarantine and global uncertainty, it can be difficult to deal with the increased stress and anxiety.  Using ancient self-care techniques rediscovered by Herbert Benson, M.D., a pioneer in mind/body medicine for health and wellness, you can relieve your stress, anxiety, and depression at home with just ten minutes a day. 

Herbert Benson, M.D., first wrote about a simple, effective mind/body approach to lowering blood pressure in The Relaxation Response. When Dr. Benson introduced this approach to relieving stress over forty years ago, his book became an instant national bestseller, which has sold over six million copies. Since that time, millions of people have learned the secret—without high-priced lectures or prescription medicines. The Relaxation Response has become the classic reference recommended by most health care professionals and authorities to treat the harmful effects of stress, anxiety, depression, and high blood pressure.

Rediscovered by Dr. Benson and his colleagues in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and its teaching hospitals, this revitalizing, therapeutic tack is now routinely recommended to treat patients suffering from stress and anxiety, including heart conditions, high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical and psychological ailments. It requires only minutes to learn, and just ten minutes of practice a day.

 

Contents

Section 1
ix
Section 2
1
Section 3
13
Section 4
18
Section 5
32
Section 6
37
Section 7
55
Section 8
80
Section 9
111
Section 10
125
Section 11
140
Section 12
146
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Page 108 - A messenger of Hope comes every night to me, And offers for short life, eternal liberty. " He comes with western winds, with evening's wandering airs, With that clear dusk of heaven that brings the thickest stars. Winds take a pensive tone, and stars a tender fire, And visions rise, and change, that kill me with desire.
Page 41 - Begin or end school 26 Change in living conditions 25 Revision of personal habits 24 Trouble with boss 23 Change in work hours or conditions 20 Change in residence 20 Change in schools 20 Change in...
Page 110 - This has generally come upon me through repeating my own name two or three times to myself silently, till all at once, as it were, out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest...
Page 108 - But, first, a hush of peace— a soundless calm descends; The struggle of distress and fierce impatience ends; Mute music soothes my breast— unuttered harmony, That I could never dream, till Earth was lost to me. Then dawns the Invisible; the Unseen its truth reveals; My outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels: Its wings are almost free— its home, its harbour found, Measuring the gulf, it stoops— and dares the final bound.
Page 97 - Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. " Say it moving your lips gently, or simply say it in your mind. Try to put all other thoughts aside. Be calm, be patient and repeat the process very frequently.
Page 109 - Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood, In which the burthen of the mystery, In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, 40 Is lightened— that serene and blessed mood In which the affections gently lead us on— Until, the breath of this corporeal frame And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep 45 In body, and become a living soul; While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life...
Page 130 - Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, "ONE,
Page 109 - Oh ! dreadful is the check — intense the agony — When the ear begins to hear, and the eye begins to see ; When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again ; The soul to feel the flesh, and the flesh to feel the chain. " Yet I would lose no sting, would wish no torture less ; The more that anguish racks, the earlier it will bless ; And robed in fires of hell, or bright with heavenly shine, If it but herald death, the vision is divine...
Page 88 - I dive on this side and on that, as far as I can, and there is no end. So great is the force of memory, so great the force of life, even in the mortal Life of man. What shall I do then, 0 Thou my true life, my God? I will pass even beyond this power...
Page 89 - Choose whichever one you prefer, or, if you like, choose another that suits your taste, provided that it is of one syllable. And clasp this word tightly in your heart so that it never leaves it no matter what may happen. This word shall be your shield and your spear. . . . With this word you shall strike down thoughts of every kind and drive them beneath the cloud of forgetting.

About the author (2009)

Herbert Benson, M.D., was the Director Emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (BHI), and Mind Body Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benson authored and co-authored more than 190 scientific publications and 12 books. More than five million copies of his books have been printed in many languages.Dr. Benson was a pioneer in mind body medicine, one of the first Western physicians to bring spirituality and healing into medicine. In his 40+ year career, he defined the relaxation response and led teaching and research into its efficacy in counteracting the harmful effects of stress. The recipient of numerous national and international awards, Dr. Benson lectured widely about mind body medicine and the BHI's work. Dr. Benson's research extended from the laboratory to the clinic to Asian field expeditions. His work served as a bridge between medicine and religion, East and West, mind and body, and belief and science.

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