Research on the physiologic changes in response to stress from the practice of the Release® Technique was conducted by Dr. Richard J. Davidson of the State University of New York in collaboration with Dr. David C. McClelland of Harvard University. Dr. Davidson has been associated with some of the best research in the field of stress reduction, and Dr. McClelland is an internationally known authority.

Testing parameters

The testing involved three groups of 20 persons each: one group was taught the Release® Technique, a second group was taught Progressive Relaxation, and a third, Control group comprised people who were interested in a stress reduction technique but who were not taught any. (Progressive Relaxation is a technique of tensing and relaxing muscles. It has been a well accepted technique for stress reduction since 1935.)

All subjects were shown a film of three gory industrial accidents once before the training, two weeks post-training, and 3 1/2 months post-training. Various physiologic measurements were made during the film and immediately afterwards.

Results

HEART RATE

The Control group had a 5% reduction in heart rate during the third viewing of the film compared with their heart rate during the first viewing. Seeing the film for the third time was apparently not as stressful as seeing it for the first time.

The Progressive Relaxation group had a 10% reduction in heart rate during that third viewing.

The Release® Technique group showed a 23% reduction in heart rate during the third viewing.


BLOOD PRESSURE

The diastolic component of blood pressure is the second of the two blood pressure readings and is considered to be the more significant measurement. A comparison between the final diastolic measurement (after the third viewing) and the first showed that the Control group had a 2% increase.

The Progressive Relaxation group had a 3% reduction in diastolic blood pressure after the third viewing.

The Release® Technique group had a 10% reduction after that third viewing.


MUSCLE TENSION

Muscle tension during the third viewing of the stressful film showed that the Control group had a 14% reduction during the final viewing as compared with the first.

The Progressive Relaxation group showed a 28% reduction.

The Release® Technique group showed a 26% reduction in muscle tension.

It is interesting to note that even though the Progressive Relaxation group was specifically taught a muscle relaxing technique, and usually scores much higher on this scale against other relaxation methods, the Release® Technique group had almost as great a reduction in muscle tension. There was only a 2% difference in results, even though the Release® Technique is not aimed at muscle tension, but is rather an internal mental technique.

Conclusion

The researchers found that the Release Technique "stands out far beyond the rest for its simplicity, efficiency, absence of questionable concepts and rapidity of observable results."  The scientific results support the experience of the many graduates who report that they are calmer in difficult situations after having learned the Release® Technique with repetitive observable results that get even better with time.