Biofeedback: Know Thyself
This high-tech relaxation technique, designed to teach the body how to directly and immediately reverse the stress response, puts you in control of the bodily functions once considered to be involuntary. Biofeedback was developed in the 1960s and was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. A biofeedback session involves getting hooked up to equipment that measures certain bodily functions such as your skin temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, and muscle tension. A trained biofeedback counselor then guides the patient through relaxation techniques while the patient watches the machine monitors. When heart rate or breathing rate decreases, for example, you can see it on the monitor. You learn how your body feels when your heart and breathing rate decrease. Eventually, after a number of sessions, you learn to lower your heart rate, breath rate, muscle tension, temperature, and so on, on your own.
The first time some people try biofeedback, they actually experience a heightened stress response. This is normal and natural. Once the subject gets comfortable with the process of monitoring physical reactions, body functions normalize.
Because biofeedback requires special equipment and a trained counselor, it isn't something you can figure out on your own at home, but once you've learned the technique, your vital functions are in your own hands — or head!
To find a certified biofeedback counselor near you, search your city on the Biofeedback Certification Institute's Web site at
