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power, position, our lusts and superstitions-all call upon the reserve supply of adrenal secretion until the glands are exhausted. The system is under constant shock and the reserve energy is under call all the time. Under too long continued stress, the endocrine system first breaks down and then ceases to function altogether. The adrenals stop sending out the supply of epinephrine. Consequently the heart slows, the blood vessels relax and the brain loses its blood-supply and unconsciousness may follow. A general condition of collapse may ensue and if adrenalin is not supplied by artificial means to give a chance to the latent forces within to recuperate, death may follow.
Tranquilizers, the pills of modern pharmacology, may bring an apparent temporary respite, but in the long run the remedy proves worse than the disease. Question then arises : are we destined to be doomed by our environment or are we capable of adapting ourselves so as to aviod, at least, the more injurious effect of the daily stress?
Fortunately, we do also possess an innate protective mechanism, which, if activated, produces physiological condition that is diametrically opposite to the 'fight-or-flight' response. Nobel-Laureate, Swiss Physiologist, Dr. Walter has called this mechanism 'tropotrophic response', and described it as a protective mechanism against overstress promoting res. torative processes. Dr. Herbert Benson, M.D. has termed this reaction as the 'relaxation response'. It is possible to train ourselves to activate this mechanism and to reverse the hyperfunction of the adrenal through controlled mental practice, viz total relaxation.
What is Relaxation?
Relaxation is the most direct and harmless antidote to tension. Without it there is no chance of peace, health or happiness, although one might possess everything else to make one happy. If one learns the technique of relaxation and practises it every day for 1/2 to 3/4 an hour, he would remain relaxed in any situation.
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