The Relaxation Response

"When you consider that physicians estimate that up to 90 percent of their patients have a stress-related condition, it's hard to understand why more people aren't actively managing their stress. It's ridiculous how many of us would rather turn to something outside our bodies to regulate what's occurring on the inside. But if you don't happen to fall into that category, then I may have a book for you.

The Relaxation Response is a classic on learning meditation. I discovered it in 1990 and its latest edition still speaks to me. Back then its message was revolutionary - even though it had first been published some 15 years earlier. Conventional wisdom at the time considered self-healing foolish at best and quackery at worse.

But with a medical doctor, from Harvard no less, people started to listen. The way that he gets his message across, however, won't appeal to everyone. As a cardiologist and someone who understandably wants to write only what he knows from first-hand experience, he concentrates on the benefits of mediation in relation to the heart and blood pressure, which can get a bit dry in places if not directly applicable to your own situation. My advice? Skip those bits and move on to the good stuff.

And the good stuff in The Relaxation Response is very good indeed. Besides a very detailed, yet easy to understand explanation of stress - what it is, what causes it and what it does to the body - there's a fascinating look back at how Christian mystics used and achieved altered states of consciousness, which is what meditation is all about.

The method that Benson teaches is the essence of Transcendental Meditation. You can learn it in a matter of minutes. If you were so inclined, you could even turn to page 129 (of the newest edition) and simply get on with it. I seem to recall that's what I did all those years ago. But do go back and read it properly. It really could change your life!"
~ Written on 2008-11-11

""A Customer" was clearly expecting a step-by-step self-help book, which is exactly what this book isn't.

While it does offer instruction in bringing about the relaxation response through meditation, there is also much supporting medical evidence, and examples of the approaches taken by practitioners of different religions through time. The idea is, of course, that you can take or leave whichever bits appeal to you, and it's emphasised repeatedly that meditation needn't be a faith-related activity and can be undertaken by those who are entirely godless (my words, not the author's!)

Overblown guff? Not at all. Stating the obvious? Up to a point. But it's so much easier to accept the necessity or usefulness of doing something obvious if it's backed up by some well-reasoned argument.

This book will take just a few hours to read unless you're a really slow reader, and if, like me, you've suffered from chronic depression I'd certainly recommend it - but as a complement to drugs rather than an alternative.

I've given it five stars for its potential beneficial effects; if I were to be hyper-critical, I don't much like the prose style, but it's easy enough to read. And in any case, it scarcely matters that the book isn't great literature."
~ Written on 2008-08-18

"I read this little book nearly 30 years ago, and was mildly surprised to see that it was still in print (it popped up in my Amazon recommendation list).

I was even more surprised to see that one reviewer called it 'overblown guff' and gave it a one-star review. Way back in the 70's, this book had a profound effect on me, and vastly changed my life for the better - in ways that still continue.

Anyway, the one-star review prompted me to buy it again and reread it, just to see if it was so hopelessly outdated as to deserve the bad review.

Having read it again, I'm left with the feeling that it's a true classic - and like most classics, that means that while it has a continuing relevance, it is also 'of its time,' and CAN feel somewhat dated.

This is an 'updated' version, though the main change seems to be a new 45-page introduction. I found this interesting as a commentary on the book's history, but have to admit that I found the overall tone a bit off-putting (for my taste it was a tad too self-congratulatory and smug).

After the introduction, the book seems to be pretty much as I remember it, and I think I can see why the other reviewer didn't like it. Much of the content now seems totally self-evident to us: Stress can lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes; Our state of mind can have a profound effect on our body and our health. It almost seems too obvious to need saying.

But the thing is, when the book was first published, this was revolutionary stuff. This book was a crucial part of the paradigm shift that took us to our present position, where meditation is no longer seen as the preserve of weirdos and oriental monks.

So why is the book still relevant? Well, this handy little volume still gives, in my opinion, one of the easiest forms of meditation you'll find anywhere, offering the benefits of Transcendental Meditation without costing you the megabucks that the TM movement would charge you. And the scientific data is still relevant for anyone who's interested in the physiological effects of meditation.

In conclusion, yes, in the twenty-first century some aspects of the book will seem too obvious to need saying - but that's largely because this very same book first said them thirty-odd years ago! It's still worthwhile reading for anyone who's interested in meditation or the mind-body connection."
~ Written on 2008-01-19

"The book claims to teach an alternative to the TM technique that is just as effective. As TM costs a fortune to learn and this book costs just a few quid, well worth the cost of the book."
~ Written on 2008-01-06

"There is a genre of books that these days take a small piece of common knowledge, common sense even, and parcel it up for sale as the latest miracle cure or revealed wisdom. This is one of those books. The message, basically, is relax and meditate and you will feel better - that is it. However modern marketing requires a good deal of padding and irrelavant tosh to bulk out the book..."
~ Written on 2001-06-04