Medical News Today reported on July 4, 2008, that eliciting the relaxation response, a nonpharmacological intervention, can help patients deal with disorders ranging from high blood pressure, to pain syndromes, to infertility, and to rheumatoid arthritis. The relaxation response – a physiologic state of deep rest – influences the activation patterns of genes associated with the body’s response to stress. The collaborative investigation by members of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Genomics Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) appears in the open-access journal PLoS One.
“For hundreds of years Western medicine has looked at mind and body as totally separate entities, to the point where saying something ‘is all in your head’ implied that it was imaginary,” says Herbert Benson, MD, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute and co-senior author of the PloS One report. “Now we’ve found how changing the activity of the mind can alter the way basic genetic instructions are implemented.”
More than 35 years ago Benson first described the relaxation response, which can be elicited by practices including meditation, deep breathing and prayer; and his team has pioneered the field of mind/body medicine.
The relaxation response not only alleviates symptoms of psychological disorders such as anxiety but also affects physiologic factors such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption and brain activity. The relaxation response is the opposite of the well documented fight-or-flight response.
The relaxation response alters the expression of genes involved with processes such as inflammation, programmed cell death and how the body handles free radicals – molecules produced by normal metabolism that, if not appropriately neutralized, can damage cells and tissues.
Using the Light Switch Self Hypnosis technique is an easy way for you to use hypnotherapy to change basic genetic instructions affecting your heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen consumption, brain activity alleviate pain and increase fertility. Watch Light Switch Self Hypnosis and find out how easy self hypnosis is. You can also watch these videos on Power Minutes: Power Minutes, How To Use Power Minutes, Written Suggestions , Orange Blossom and Stress Reduction. Use hypnosis several times a day, every day. Read Stress – Often A Matter Of Perception.
What do you do to relax?
Your Hypnosis Health Info Hypnotic Suggestion for today:
I breathe deeply, relaxing my mind and my body.
Remember to sign up for your FREE, 8-part audio course, Understanding Hypnosis, at the top of this page NOW!
