nexNeuro

A long time back in history, things like yoga, herbs and meditation were what were used in treating whose that were ill. Without antibiotics or even aspirin those treating the sick were left to more natural interventions. Although they were not cures, they relieved symptoms. Today some of those same interventions are what we call “Complementary Therapies” today.  Such things as yoga and Ti-Chi are once again being used to relieve symptoms of diseases & disorders. With the lack of cures, main stream medicine doctors and researchers are embracing “Complementary Therapies” to enhance the typical care they are able to deliver today.

The Mayo Clinic recognizes complementary medicine as:
“Complementary medicine is thought of as treatments used in addition to the conventional therapies your doctor may prescribe, such as using tai chi or massage in addition to prescription medicine for anxiety.”

The Mayo Clinic’s statement on combining complementary treatments with conventional care:
Integrative medicine: Combining complementary treatments with conventional care
Conventional doctors are learning more about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) because they recognize that more than half of people try some kind of alternative treatment. Many health care institutions have begun integrating therapies that aren’t part of mainstream medicine into their treatment programs. A number of medical schools now include education on nontraditional techniques in their curriculum. As complementary and alternative therapies prove effective, they’re being combined more often with conventional care. This is known as integrative medicine. You’re practicing integrative medicine when you choose to add a complementary treatment to an existing conventional treatment. For instance, you may decide to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement to help keep your heart healthy in addition to statins your doctor prescribed to reduce your cholesterol. Remember, talk to your doctor before combining complementary and alternative treatments with conventional treatments to avoid possible problems.

Today we most often rely on drugs for symptom relief.
These drugs are helpful, yet can have their own set of “symptoms” and “side-effects”.  Combining today’s remedies with complementary therapies not only eases the discomforts, but can reduce the amount of medication required for symptom relief. The SMART lounge by nexNeuro is one of these “complementary therapies”. The goal of the SMART lounge is to induce the “Relaxation Response”. By triggering the relaxation response the body begins its own natural healing abilities.  The following is detailed description on the “Relaxation Response” and its benefits.

The “Relaxation Response”
Dr. Benson a professor at Harvard was a pioneer in defining the “Relaxation Response”. Dr. Benson has continued with his research today and has founded his own organization dedicated to the “Relaxation Response” and how it affects our daily lives.
“The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress… and the opposite of the fight or flight response.”

Dr. Benson has been a pioneer with intestinal fortitude, studying the physiological changes during meditation techniques since 1968 as a professor at Harvard helping them become acceptable topics of study.

Dr. Benson and Dr. Robert K. Wallace published first study, “A wakeful hypo metabolic physiologic state” in the American Journal of Physiology, 1971

The relaxation response is perhaps one of the most important skills you will use to gain control over your body. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the relaxation response as having broad health benefits including the reduction of pain and restoration of sleep.

Just as we have the “Stress Reaction” as a one of the body’s built-in response systems, so there is an innate “Relaxation Response”.

The relaxation response undoes what stress has been doing to you.  The relaxation response brings about decreased muscle tension, lowered heart rate and blood pressure, a deeper breathing pattern, calming of the belly, and a peaceful, pleasant mood. The problem we face in managing illness is the stress response is more easily elicited than the relaxation response. The stress reaction happens immediately without any effort on your part. A loud noise at this moment would startle you, and the stress reaction would speed through your body. A stress reaction happens automatically while the relaxation response must be purposefully sought and brought under control. While the relaxation response will occur naturally as when you sit on the beach watching the ocean; most often during illness our stressed bodies and minds find it hard to reach the “relaxation response”. To control our stress during illness we must engage in an intentional practice of creating the relaxation response.

What is the Relaxation Response?
The relaxation response is defined as your personal ability to make your body release chemicals and brain signals that make your muscles and organs slow down and increases blood flow to the brain. Drugs can do some of this for you; however they often have unwanted side effects. You can get your body to relax just as well without drugs while remaining conscious and aware at the same time. To be physically relaxed and mentally alert is the goal of the relaxation response.

The Relaxation Response is not: 
Laying on the couch, 
Sleeping or 
Being Lazy
The Relaxation Response is:
A mentally active process that leaves the body relaxed
Best done in an awake state
Trainable and becomes more and more profound with practice

There are many ways of achieving the relaxation response.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (tense & relax)
Visual Imagery,
 Deep Breathing
, Meditation, 
Hypnosis
, Yoga, 
Biofeedback
, NexNeuro Auto Relax System

To date, there is no data supporting the idea that one method is any better than any other. What does matter is your willingness to use a particular technique for your own health and your ability to gain relaxation through that method.

There are two different versions of the relaxation response: Progressive Muscle Relaxation (also known as Tense & Relax) and Visual Imagery.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Tense & Relax Technique)
Everyone has a resting level of muscle tension. Some people have a great amount of tension at rest, others less. When people are under acute stress, their muscles tend to have higher levels of resting tension that can be painful and fatiguing. After you tense and relax muscles, the tension level not only returns to the original level, but will automatically drop below the original level, producing even greater relaxation to the muscles.

Visual Imagery
While some people like tensing and relaxing, others can often become more relaxed by simply imaging a beautiful place.  This technique uses your mind to distract you from pain, tension, or problems. It asks you to create images in your mind that are so captivating, so rich in detail, and so all-consuming for your mind, that you get lost in the images your mind creates.

As you have read above, triggering the relaxation response has many benefits both physically and mentally. The act of being able to do this on your own is not so easy for some. Long ago, they taught and practiced this “complementary therapy”; they just didn’t have a name for it.  We at nexNeuro have automated the process and are happy to join the community of “Complementary Therapy”.