A profile of Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Herbert Benson whose pioneering work on the Relaxation Response has helped millions of people learn a simple meditative technique to reduce the harmful effects of stress. In this program, we visit Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute and hear from patients who have benefited from learning relaxation practices.

Themes

• What are the physical effects of too much stress?
• What are practical ways to develop a state of inner calm?
• Which common ailments can be reduced or alleviated by relaxation exercises?

A person has a choice of using a religious technique, a secular technique; one sitting quietly, or one exercising. Clearly, the technique that the person chooses should be one that he or she believes in.”

—Herbert Benson, MD