Blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory responses to a single session of relaxation: A partial replication

Abstract

Our aim was to replicate a study of the Benson relaxation technique [1] using respiration as well as a wider representation of cardiovascular variables, including heart rate and blood pressure, to see whether (a) these variables are decreased by the relaxation response, and (b) whether subjects respond across these variables as would be expected by the concept of an “integrated relaxation response”. In an own-control comparison, 18 subjects were given two periods of reading (a relatively neutral, non-relaxing control) with two periods of relaxation in a sequence of 12-minute phases (A-B-A-B): (1) The relaxation produced significant mean decreases in respiration rate, as had been reported [1]. (2) Significant, but small, effects were found for heart rate, but no effect for blood pressure. (3) Some bases for the variation were explored: (a) heart rate differences were predicted by initial rating of attitude toward the relaxation procedure, (b) amount of prior incidental practice did not predict amount of response, (c) differences in initial blood pressure were unrelated to improvement. (4) No evidence was found to support the concept of a relaxation response in terms of only decreases in the measured physiological systems, but rather these data are more consistent with theories emphasizing that individual relaxation response patterns may differ somewhat from person to person.