In this type of training, Dr. Edwards teaches you how to reliably and repeatedly enter deep states of relaxation, ease and comfort in order to improve sleep, lower blood pressure, manage pain, decrease anxiety and feel extraordinarily good! It is a set of skills that everyone needs, regardless of age or lifestyle. Who doesn’t experience daily stress? Who doesn’t need to know how to free their mind and body of that stress?
The stress response attacks virtually every organ of the body, even the skin. In fact research has shown that psoriasis improves through relaxation training and biofeedback. The stress response has even been shown to lower our immune response to viruses. Becoming skilled at invoking the relaxation response, as the famous Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD called it, improves sleep, immune functioning, recovery from illness, trauma and surgery, and reduces headaches, chronic pain, etc. The benefits are wide ranging and typically the training only requires 8-12 sessions before the individual has the skills and confidence to continue practicing on their own. The positive effects on one’s health and wellbeing continue to accrue over months and years as people continue to practice what they’ve learned. The training incorporates biofeedback modalities, including heart rate variability training, skin conductance and skin temperature biofeedback to ensure that you are entering into profoundly deep states of relaxation and teaching the mind/body to self-regulate in healthier more empowered and skillful ways. The training also includes working with the breath to teach you how to optimize your breathing in ways that research also shows support cardiovascular health and deep relaxation. To facilitate home practice, Dr. Edwards has recorded guided relaxation CDs that continue the learning process at home and strengthen your skills for letting go more and more deeply in order to enter the state of deep relaxation.