Worried about aging? Relax

Reducing stress is an effective way to ease ills of later life

August 14, 2011|By Karen Weintraub, Globe Correspondent

Mary DiCenso sings along during a drumming circle at Hebrew Rehabilitation… (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff )

There’s no surefire way to slow the aging process, but the most effective treatment so far isn’t high tech or complicated, and it won’t add to America’s health care cost burden. It simply requires relaxation and tuning into yourself.

Research suggests that one of the most powerful ways to counter aging is to trigger what might be called the “relaxation response,’’ which is hard-wired into human biology as much as a the “fight or flight’’ response to danger, said Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The relaxation response changes gene activity, he said, countering negative effects of stress, which causes or exacerbates many of the scourges of later life: high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and rheumatoid arthritis, according to recent research.

Newer evidence suggests it’s also effective against irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive disorders, he said.

“It’s not a drug, there are no side effects, and it’s cheap, other than your time,’’ said Benson “It changes your genes’ activity. What could be more profound than that?’’

So how do you trigger this age-defying response? The key is to set aside time each day to relax, said Benson. You can’t just relax once in a while and expect to age better.

When he first started researching ways that the mind can influence the body’s health, Benson stayed away from intentionally drawing out the relaxation response in himself. He thought it might bias his research.

But as more data suggested its usefulness - and he started to feel the effects of aging himself - he became a regular relaxer. Now 76, Benson said he doesn’t allow a day to go by without spending 10-20 minutes purposefully relaxing.

For him, the key is to break his everyday train of thought by focusing on and repeating a word, phrase, or movement. When his thoughts drift away from this word or activity, he gently redirects himself back.

Other people find relaxation in yoga or running, he said, explaining that so-called runner’s high is the same chemically as the relaxation response.

“Older people as well as preschool children can evoke this response,’’ he said. “You simply have to choose one [approach] with which you’re comfortable.’’

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