Dr. Juna Bobby MD teaches a 10-minute relaxation response meditation from Harvard's Benson-Henry Institute. The technique uses a body scan and a personal mantra to trigger the physiological opposite of stress, healing down to the cellular level.
Chapters
The few minutes that you'll spend with me right now eliciting your relaxation response is healing you down to the cellular level. These are the 3 steps that I learned when I trained with Dr. Benson at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School. It's a very simple way to meditate, and the 10 minutes you spend here will pay you back all throughout your day. Welcome to the Mind Body Space Podcast, where you can stress less and boost your performance and wellness down to the cellular level just by listening. Hi, I'm Dr. Juna Bobby MD, a mom MD passionate about sharing evidence-based tips to keep you and your family well. For the past 10 years, I've been teaching the science of resilience to high-achieving individuals at many different schools and organizations, and currently I'm on faculty at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division teaching gifted students how to stress less and perform at their best. I started this podcast because I wanted to share what I learned with my students, fellow parents, educators, and anyone who's interested as I explore fascinating topics like neuroscience and meditation with experts in education, medicine, and psychology. Your support makes this possible. Please subscribe and share with a family friend, anyone who needs to stress less, boost performance, and be happier. If you have questions for my guests or for me, or if you have a topic that you'd like us to cover, please head on over to mindbodyspace.com/podcast and ask away, and we will answer your questions on the podcast on on the last Friday of every month. If you need a good night's sleep, head on over to my YouTube channel Fall Asleep Easy to drift off and sleep like a baby.
Hello and welcome to this meditation, which will elicit the relaxation response, the physiologic opposite of your stress response. If you're heading over here from my 10-day course as part of the continuing 10-day challenge, I welcome you. The Course is definitely not a prerequisite to use this meditation. It is meant to be portable for you to eventually use on your own anytime, anywhere, without needing anything but yourself. So please find a comfortable, quiet place where you can be safe and free from distraction for the next 10 minutes. As always, do not operate a moving vehicle, and remember that the relaxation response is a powerful tool to keep us well and resilient. So let's settle down. Get comfortable in your seated position. Just feel the chair, or whatever you're sitting on, supporting you. Feel the ground beneath you. And now gently close your eyes. Or just lower your eyes. Bring your awareness to your toes and feet, just relaxing them. Now your calves and your shin, bring your attention to them, relaxing the muscles there. Your knees, the back of your knees, your thighs, your buttocks and hips. Your belly and chest, your neck and face. Release any tension there. Now over the top of your head and down the back of your head and neck. And whenever your next exhale is, release your tension from your neck and shoulders and let it just melt away down your arms, out your hands and fingertips. Now bring your attention back to your neck and spine, releasing tension down your back, vertebra by vertebra by vertebra, all the way down your spine. And now bring a word or phrase to mind. It could be something like calm, or love, or it could be a phrase like, "I am calm." So go ahead and choose a word or phrase that feels positive to you. And now let this word or phrase arise in your mind, and anytime your mind wanders Just say, "Oh well," and come right back to the word or phrase. And at the end of 10 minutes, you'll hear a gentle bell. So let's start the practice by checking in. Simply notice your emotional valence, your thoughts, your physical state, and just make a mental note. And now let this word or phrase arise in your mind. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Our mind does wander naturally. It's just a matter of becoming aware when it wandered and coming back to your word or phrase. So whatever you experience at this time is perfectly fine. Again, there's no wrong or right way to do this. And remember that passive attitude. Whatever is happening, oh well. And just come right back to the word or phrase. And now inhale, grow taller. Exhale, release. Start to notice the room and your surroundings.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Start to stretch.
Whatever you need to do, whatever you need to move.
Inhale, bring your arms up overhead. And exhale, opening your eyes if you haven't already done so. And now just check in with yourself.
If you found this podcast helpful to you, please share it with everyone you know who wants to stress less and do more. Thank you for your time with me, and remember that these few minutes that you spend throughout your days eliciting the relaxation response is healing you down to the cellular level. This knowledge is really powerful and science-based. We need to share it with as many people as possible to help with this epidemic of stress and the stress-related diseases that we're seeing today. I know your time is gold, so thank you. Until next time, this is Dr. Juna Bobby MD wishing you wellness.
