When you look at the popularity of mind-body medicine today, it's hard to understand what a groundbreaking book this was when it was first published in 1975. Based on studies at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Herbert Benson showed that relaxation techniques such as meditation have immense physical benefits, from lowered blood pressure to a reduction in heart disease. The Relaxation Response demystifies the mantra meditation used in the transcendental meditation program, explaining how anyone can reap its advantages with or without the help of a guru. If you want to understand the beginnings of today's alternative medicine movement, or if you're simply looking to learn a simple meditation technique without a lot of metaphysical trappings, this is a good place to start. --Ben Kallen


Book Description
When Dr. Herbert Benson introduced this simple, effective, mind/body approach to relieving stress twenty-five years ag, his book became an instant national bestseller. 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.Discovered by Dr. Benson and his colleagues in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and its teaching hospitals, this revitalizing, therapeutic approach is now routinely recommended to treat patients suffering from heart conditions, high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical ailments. It requires only minutes to learn, and just ten to twenty minutes of practice twice a day.


About the Author
Herbert Benson, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Mind/Body Medical Institute. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In just five minutes...

You can learn the principles of controlled meditation without leaving home...without attending high-priced lectures...without pills, medication or drugs.

This revitalizing, therapeutic technique--developed by the renowned doctor whose extensive testing in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and Boston's Beth Israel Hospital first exploded the scientific prejudice against TM--can release you body's hidden defenses against stress and stress-triggered illnesses (including high blood pressure)!

Once learned, the Relaxation Response takes only ten to twenty minutes twice a day, and as millions have already discovered, can relieve the restlessness and tension that stand between you and a richer, fuller, healthier life.

SYNOPSIS

When Dr. Herbert Benson introduced this simple, effective, mind/body approach to relieve stress in The Relaxation Response twenty-five years ago, the book became an instant national bestseller. Since that time, millions of people have learned the secret of the relaxation response—without high-priced lectures, drugs, or prescription medicine. The tremendous success of this approach has turned The Relaxation Response into the classic reference recommended by most health care professionals and authorities to treat the harmful effects of stress.

This revitalizing, therapeutic approach, discovered by Dr. Benson and his colleagues in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and its teaching hospitals, is now routinely recommended to treat patients suffering from heart conditions, high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical ailments. Requiring only minutes to learn, and just ten to twenty minutes of practice twice a day, the Relaxation Response has proven to be one of the most effective ways to relieve the tensions of modern-day living for a richer, healthier, more productive life.

FROM THE CRITICS

Noah Gordan

The Relaxation Response can show us how to lower our blood pressure, change our harassed personalities, and, perhaps, even save our lives. —Journal of Human Stress

David W. Ewing