"Worried Sick: Just Relax", http://www.pbs.org/saf/1310/video/watchonline.htm
(found on http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/crazy.html)
To watch the video: go down to around the middle of the page, until you see the box with the "Just Relax" title in it, then click on the photo in the box. Tip: the Real Media 220K video choice does not work well for me for some reason (it displays mostly static pictures instead of smooth video playback), but the Windows Media 220K works well and I found it is quite acceptable in full screen. Also, note that a transcript of the video in located in the drop-down menu within the box.
One of the main characters is an investigator called Herbert Benson. Here is what the article on meditation in Wikipedia has to say, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation:
He makes the following points at the end of the video, corresponding with the results of the scientific experiments with meditating brains shown earlier in the video (the emphasis in bold is mine):Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard and several Boston hospitals, reports that meditation induces a host of biochemical and physical changes in the body collectively referred to as the "relaxation response" (Lazar et.al, 2003). The relaxation response includes changes in metabolism, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and brain chemistry. Benson and his team have also done clinical studies at Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains.
An interview with Dalai Lama is in the video, too, in which he talks about giving permission for scientifically investigating certain practices of Tummo yoga, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tummo.[...]you can protect against the harmful effects of stress, or at least lessen them, by regularly evoking the relaxation response. And people should do that regularly. Just think of the numbers of people who have told you, "without my yoga", "without my daily exercises"--many will say "without my prayer"--"I don't feel as calm as I do otherwise." And although this isn't speaking to the inherent value of the beliefs in these various things, it certainly shows their effects.
