Biofeedback is a
mind-body technique in which a
practitioner uses a special
monitoring machine to teach people
how to control bodily functions,
such as heart rate, blood
pressure, skin temperature, and
muscle tension, in order to
improve their health and
well-being.
The first
important studies on biofeedback were
conducted in the late 1960s by Barbara
Brown, of the Veterans Administration
Hospital in Sepulveda, California, and
Elmer and Alyce Green of the Menninger
Foundation, a clinical and research
center for mental illness in Topeka,
Kansas. Prior to these studies, it was
thought that the body's autonomic
functions--heart rate, digestion, blood
pressure, brain waves, and muscle
behavior, for example--could not be
voluntarily controlled. The
researchers' studies of Indian yogi
masters showed that the nervous system
and metabolic rate could be consciously
regulated.
Their
work led to an exploration of the use
of biofeedback for a wide range of
physical ailments, including migraine
headaches, insomnia, and circulatory
and gastrointestinal disorders. How
Does It Work? During biofeedback, the
therapist uses electronic equipment to
help you understand how your body
responds physiologically to various
situations--to stress, pain, or other
conditions.
The
therapist will also teach you
relaxation techniques, such as guided
imagery and progressive muscle
relaxation, to provide a way to
actively control these bodily
responses. While biofeedback is known
to be quite effective for stress, it
differs from other stress-reduction
techniques in that it focuses on a
particular stress response--tension in
the neck and shoulders, for example, or
variations in breathing
patterns--rather than on relaxing the
whole body. With help from the
therapist, you learn to control the
actions of your nervous system during
and after times of
stress.