Meditation and the Relaxation Response

In this clip (Pt. 3 of 8), Dr. Harrington addresses Claim 2, "Meditation reduces stress and enhances health."
This clip is part of a lecture by Anne Harrington, PhD, professor for the history of medicine, Harvard University, on "Is Spirituality Good for Your Health? Historical Reflections on an Emerging Research Enterprise." In it, she addresses 4 major claims made about the spirituality-health connection. This lecture, given at NIH in 2005, is part of NCCAM's Online Continuing Education Series. Free CME/CEU credit is available to health professionals (see nccam.nih.gov/t....

[@neorich59]

The fact that the supposedly "secular" T.M. movement, didn't like the fact the Benson exposed one of their dirty little secrets, speaks volumes. They like to insist that only *their* form of meditation (after you've spent hundreds of pounds/dollars learning what can be taught for free) is really effective. I've learned T.M. when the price was reasonable (£35, student rate) and also read Benson's book (under £10) and seen his free explanations on line and although there are slight differences in the technique, i.e. the Benson technique uses the "out" breath to repeat the mantra, whereas in T.M. the mantra is not tied to, nor dependent upon the breath, the "results," are much the same. In fact, I prefer the Benson method which seems to allow me to go "deeper!" And, having recently watched "David Wants to Fly," which exposes the T.M. movement as a pretty tacky, money grabbing outfit, I think that I'd much prefer to stick to the Benson method. There's a pretty powerful scene where a guy claims himself to be a "Raja" (pretentious prick) in Germany and gets shouted down by members of the audience, to the point where David Lynch (who insists that the movement is "secular," while also waxing lyrical about being in the Ganjes, at the same time as his "Holiness," the Maharishi's ashes are sprinkled therein) has to leap to his defense. Whenever I hear the T.M. movement mentioned, I think: Kerr-CHING! £$£$ 😉

[@aguy559]

But let’s say that one does TM and disregards the extraneous stuff. Is there any reason why it couldn’t be useful?

[@ajmarr5671]

Relaxation Response: The concept that your muscles, which are doing nothing (i.e., relaxed) are doing something. That is, a non-response is a response. As an oxymoron, or contradiction in terms, the relaxation response represents a wickedly good approximation of unknown knowledge that has been affirmed by the silent applause of millions. In other words, if you get one oxymoron going why don't you string along more (like the ones in parenthesis)? The concept of relaxation is simple. Sit around and do and think of nothing, and your muscles will relax. There's no magic here, since if your muscles don't need to do anything, they won't. However, if you start reciting a nonsense word, odds are you'll still be relaxed, but now you can attribute those good feelings to the magical powers of mumbling in silence. Herbert Benson, the cardiologist who 'discovered' this nonsense, discovered also that the principle of the relaxation response is just the ticket to coining money big time in seminars and books. So even though the relaxation response is no different than sitting quietly, there's money in the extra mumbling tacked on. Hence the relaxation response will be with us for quite some time to come. from Dr. Mezmer’s Dictionary of Bad Psychology, at doctormezmer.com

[@anamcaraxi]

Nope

[@aguy559]

The difference I see is that silently repeating a mantra keeps you from thinking while you’re meditating, giving you a break. It resets your thinking.

[@anamcaraxi]

I would prefer if you never received any of my tax dollars ever again

[@dannycrowley9630]

What do you have against this research?

[@anamcaraxi]

@@dannycrowley9630 from the snide attitude of the presenter the uninformed way in which positive thinking and meditation are run together