The power and biology of belief

More than three decades ago, Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School proposed a theory in his multimillion-copy bestseller The Relaxation Response, which stated that by calming the mind, one could calm the body and alleviate stress, pain, and illness. Recent landmark research from the genome project has proven Benson's theory: using the mind to quiet the body not only eases stress, it actually alters the activity of thousands of genes, promoting...