Timeless Healing

Benson's book "Timeless Healing," contrary to its subtitle, "The Power and Biology of Belief," is not just for believers. Benson defines belief in epistemologically correct way: belief is nothing other than a set of operating assumptions, as a substitute for immediate and direct experience. It is with this epistemologically value-neutral manner that Dr. Benson approaches the topic at hand - the biology of expectation. Benson - as most psychologists know from their grad studies - is the guy that brought the Relaxation Response to the West. Sure, the East-West synthesis had predated his writings and research, but Benson is arguably the first to have empirically studied and reported on the physiology that underlies relaxation. The present book is an excellent resource for a behavioral medicine/health psychology clinician as well as for a general reader who is interested in leveraging the mind-over-body self-help. The book offers a cogent, highly accessible coverage of the concept of placebo (and its "evil twin," nocebo); it details the psycho-neuro-physiology of the relaxation response; it examines the variables that potentiate therapeutic suggestion and expectation in the clinician-client interactions; the book summarizes the mind-over-body research, and generally succeeds in making a good case for the need to infuse a greater degree of psychological savvy into the Western medical training. The book is in some ways auto-biographical. Benson shares his journey from the medical establishment to the study of the relaxation response and, arguably, back to the medical establishment but on a mission of integrating what he had learnt. As such, the book is a kind of life-review, perhaps, an attempt at professional legacy, and a suggested mission statement. A particularly secular reader might find Benson's book to be slightly evangelical. But Benson doesn't deceive: he checks his faith at the door, so to say, and offers an explicit "disclosure of belief." As a scientist-practitioner, he appears to be acutely aware of his potential for bias and narrates in a respectfully parenthetical manner, always seemingly cognizant of not overstepping the value boundaries of his hypotheses. In short, Benson's "Timeless Healing" is an effective attempt to redefine "faith healing" in medical terms and to ground it in the axioms of behavioral medicine. Benson - in my opinion - succeeds in leaving a cosmopolitan enough legacy that is compatible both with secular and non-secular worldviews. Pavel Somov, Ph.D. Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008)

This is a well-written book that clearly describes the links between our thoughts and our physical health. It is written in an accessible personal style, without the "guru" overtones of works by Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer (good writers, just with a different style). Everyone, regardless of their view of God, can benfit from the concepts of Remembered Wellness and the Relaxation Response described in this book. A personal recomendation - couple this book, with its "unproven healing energy", with Greg Bradden's "The Divine Matrix", which describes this energy, and you will be good to go.

Through many of the medical observations made by the authors, this book provides some interesting ideas about the connection between the mind and body. Even though we all know that stress (which comes from our minds) influences our health, many of us find it difficult to put the mind and body together in one equation. This book is a great attempt to begin making the bridge between the subjective and objective world. It is full of insightful ideas and inspiring anecdotes. Just excellent overall. If you'd like to read about a sound theoretical framework that explains many of these things, I strongly suggest "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. When I read Sato's book, everything clicked so much is was unbelievable!

I think what is amazing about this book is that Herbert Benson states without a doubt that faith in God is healthy for us. While our ancestors took it for granted that God healed them, as Dr. Benson explains, we have been taught to see healing purely in technical scientific terms. Dr. Benson explains that when we repudiated the importance of belief in healing we deprived ourselves of a powerful healing force.Dr. Benson knows that his rational-scientific audience will be skeptical of his arguements. So, he provides us with well-reasoned arguements supported by ample evidence. He explains that we need to relax our over-stressed minds on a regular basis. We need this as an antedote to our hurried lives that stress us out and make us sick. He cites many studies (much from his own research) that daily meditation stimulates the bodies natural healing mechanisms.Now, the radical finding of Dr. Benson's research is that belief in God makes a difference in healing. If a person meditates regularly using a spiritual phrase they are more likely to heal than those who use a secular word such as "peace". The person's religion doesn't matter. It seems that God is an equal opportunity healer.

Dr Benson presents strong evidence for what others have called the "mind / body connection." Mainstream medical science has not yet recognized the importance belief plays in health but, Dr. Benson presents numerous studies that validate the major role belief plays in the healing process and wellness. Practitioners of complimentary therapies will find this book especially helpful in understanding how many non-drug based therapies can work. Well written and thought provoking!