We favor open techniques for studying the Relaxation Response for reasons explained here. To date, however, the open techniques have been primarily built on observation of what has been used from the traditional practices and then measuring physiological and psychological changes from these practices. As we have gained deeper understanding about how the physiology and psychology are affected, then we also have the opportunity to make variations on these practices to see what practice brings the most benefit from a wellness perspective. With open techniques, we can break the practices or techniques down to their core components and begin to think about variations that might improve the technique. On this page, we describe the basic components of the open techniques so that we have a firm basis for future improvements.
The Main Components of Open Techniques
The basic components of the open techniques are as follows.
- A passive attitude
- A relaxation agent
- Repetition of that relaxation agent
The relaxation agent component is covered in more detail below.
The Relaxation Agent
The relaxation agent is the “thing” that is used for repetition. In Dr. Benson’s original research, this relaxation agent was often labeled as a “mental device”. This may stem from the fact that the original research was done on practitioners who used mantra meditation to elicit the Relaxation Response. A mantra is a word or phrase that is the object of focus for meditation and repeated in the mind or thoughts. Other forms of meditation also involve primarily mental activity. Hence the idea of a “mental device” as a central component of eliciting the Relaxation Response is a natural abstraction of the mantra or other mental areas of focus used in the early research.
However, based on further research and understanding we can expand this concept of a “mental device” to more than just mental activity. For example, many traditions both religious and secular use deep breathing as the focus of their repetition. Deep breathing is more of a physiological aspect instead of a mental device. Similarly, concepts like the “runner’s high” or other sports that involve repetitious practices probably have some elicitation of the Relaxation Response, although this is less well studied. Since we now know that there is often more to the component that is used in the elicitation of the Relaxation Response than just a mental device, on this website we choose to use the term of “relaxation agent” for this component. We hope that this or a similar concept that goes beyond just mental activity will become more common.
From a scientific perspective the relaxation agent holds the most potential for experimentation. We can see this by looking at the traditions and realizing the many forms that the relaxation agent takes. And now that we understand that the Relaxation Response is primarily centered on the parasympathetic nervous system, then we can also understand that there may be even more relaxation agents as well. These variations on the relaxation agent have yet to be fully explored from a scientific standpoint. We hope that more experimentation will lead to even more open techniques that will bring even greater levels of wellness to practitioners.