I arrived a bit early for a meeting at the local hospital. The conference room was already occupied with 30 staff members sitting silently with their palms on their knees and their eyes closed. The only audible sound in the room was that of deep breathing. In a few minutes the leader gently led the group out of its meditative state through a reorientation process. One by one the staff members, some in scrubs, some in suits, some in white coats, quietly filed out of the room. As I watched this scene, I remembered Benson's research on the relaxation response conducted more than 30 years ago.1
Benson, a physician, was a student of religious mysticism. He saw a common thread in eastern and western religious meditative experiences such as Zen, yoga, and transcendentalism. He particularly studied the physiologic responses evoked through transcendental meditation. His research documented significant physiologic changes during meditative experiences, such as a decrease in oxygen consumption, blood lactate levels, respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood pressure, particularly in patients with elevated blood pressure, and an increase in brain alpha waves usually associated with feelings of pleasure and well-being.
Benson identified 4 common elements among the religious meditative practices that he studied. He demystified the meditative experience so that anyone could easily practice and reap the benefits of what he termed "the relaxation response." The 4 elements necessary to evoke the relaxation response are (1) a quiet environment; (2) a mental device upon which to concentrate, such as a sound, a word which in some cases is called a mantra, or an object upon which to fix the gaze; (3) an upright position of comfort, such as sitting supported in a chair or cross-legged on a mat; and (4) a passive or let it happen attitude that allows you not to be distracted by thoughts or other environmental stimuli as you continue to concentrate on the word, sound, or object of concentration.
I have practiced the relaxation response for years. Once a day I manage to find 15 or 20 minutes in the quiet of my office or at home in the garden to practice the relaxation response. During a particularly harrowing day, this precious practice replenishes my energy, changes my perspective, and makes me feel like I have had a 2-hour nap. The most difficult element of practicing relaxation is developing the degree of passivity necessary to allow the mind's constant chatter to just pass through as you concentrate on the "word" or on the sound of your own breath. Considering the pressures of nursing practice today, nurses owe themselves that 15-minute experience of peacefully turning inward and letting the world go by through Benson's elegantly simple relaxation response.
-Gloria Ferraro Donnelly, PhD, RN, FAAN
Editor-in-Chief
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