"Mind-body wellness" is one of those phrases that turns up on spa menus, supplement labels and yoga studio windows, often without much explanation. Behind the marketing there is a real and fairly simple idea: what happens in the mind and what happens in the body affect each other, and some practices deliberately use that connection to support health. This guide explains what the term means, how the best-known practices are described by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the US National Institutes of Health, and what the research summarized by the NCCIH does and does not show. It is general information, not medical advice.
What "mind-body" practices are
The NCCIH describes mind and body practices as a large and diverse group of procedures or techniques that target brain-body interactions as a way to promote health. It says they are typically administered or taught by a trained practitioner or teacher, and its examples include acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, relaxation techniques, spinal manipulation, tai chi and yoga. This guide focuses on four of them: relaxation techniques (including breathing), meditation, tai chi and yoga.
The agency has since changed how it groups these approaches. It now classifies complementary approaches by how they are taken in or delivered, so what used to be called mind and body practices are now described as psychological approaches (such as meditation, mindfulness and music therapies), physical approaches (such as acupuncture, massage and spinal manipulation) or combined psychological-physical approaches (such as yoga, tai chi and dance therapies).
The "relaxation response"
Much of the logic behind mind-body wellness rests on what the NCCIH calls the body's relaxation response. It describes this response as being characterized by slower breathing, lower blood pressure and a reduced heart rate, and as the opposite of the stress response. Relaxation techniques are practices meant to help bring it about.
The NCCIH lists several types of relaxation technique. They include breathing exercises, progressive relaxation (tensing and then releasing different muscles), autogenic training (mental exercises that focus attention on the body's experience of relaxation), biofeedback-assisted relaxation (using feedback from a device to learn how your body responds), guided imagery and self-hypnosis.
Breathing: a practical starting point
Slow breathing can be practiced seated or lying down. The NCCIH says breathing exercises can involve taking slow, deep breaths, also called diaphragmatic breathing. Cleveland Clinic describes the diaphragm as a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs. In diaphragmatic or "belly" breathing, the stomach moves out as you breathe in, while the chest stays as still as possible.
A simple way to try it, summarized from Cleveland Clinic's instructions (not a protocol from the NCCIH):
- Get comfortable. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your head supported, or sit with your knees bent and your shoulders, head and neck relaxed.
- Place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage, so you can feel your diaphragm move.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should stay as still as possible.
- Breathe out through pursed lips, tightening your stomach muscles so your stomach moves back in.
- Practice for a few minutes at a time. Cleveland Clinic suggests five to 10 minutes about three to four times a day at first.
If you begin to feel dizzy or light-headed, stop the exercise and let your breathing return to its usual pattern before you stand up, as an NHS-affiliated relaxed-breathing leaflet advises.
What the research summarized by the NCCIH shows
This is where it pays to read carefully, because claims about mind-body practices are often bigger than the evidence behind them.
Breathing and stress. The NCCIH cites a 2019 review of 3 studies with a total of 880 participants that found preliminary evidence that diaphragmatic breathing exercises may help reduce stress, with promising changes in mental health self-evaluations and in some physical measures such as cortisol levels and blood pressure. "Preliminary" is the key word.
Blood pressure. According to the NCCIH, a 2019 review of 17 studies involving 1,165 participants indicated that slow breathing exercises led to a modest reduction in blood pressure. The same page notes that those studies differed in how they were done, had short follow-up periods and a high risk of bias. For anyone with high blood pressure, this is general information rather than a reason to change a treatment plan; questions about treatment are best discussed with a health care provider.
Anxiety. The NCCIH describes a 2018 review of 16 studies, including 856 people with anxiety disorders, that found relaxation therapy reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, phobia and worry. It also describes another 2018 review, of 50 studies, which found relaxation therapy seemed less effective than cognitive behavioral therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and noted that most of those studies had a high risk of bias.
Meditation, tai chi and yoga. On its mind and body practices page, the NCCIH says research suggests that meditation and mindfulness may help reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder; that tai chi appears to help improve balance and stability and reduce back pain and pain and stiffness from knee osteoarthritis; and that yoga may benefit general wellness by relieving stress, supporting good health habits and improving mental and emotional health, sleep and balance.
Sleep. The picture here is more mixed. The NCCIH notes that relaxation techniques can be one part of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, but that on their own they "don't seem to be especially promising" for sleep.
The honest summary is that these practices may help with stress and general wellbeing, with some evidence for specific uses, but much of the research is small or of limited quality. They are tools, not cures.
Safety and sensible limits
The NCCIH says relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people, and that mind and body practices generally have good safety records when done properly with a trained professional or a well-qualified instructor. For relaxation techniques, it notes that occasionally people report negative experiences such as increased anxiety, intrusive thoughts or fear of losing control, and that there have been rare reports of certain techniques causing or worsening symptoms in people with epilepsy or certain psychiatric conditions, or with a history of abuse or trauma. It also says your own medical conditions or circumstances, such as pregnancy, may affect whether a given practice is safe for you.
Two pieces of NCCIH advice are worth repeating. First, ask about the training and experience of any teacher or practitioner. Second, do not use a mind and body practice to postpone seeing a health care provider about a health problem, and tell your providers about any complementary approaches you use.
Building a simple routine
Mind-body wellness does not require a retreat or special equipment. A realistic starting point might be a few minutes of slow breathing at a fixed time of day, a beginner yoga or tai chi class with a qualified teacher, or a short guided meditation. These are general suggestions, not a prescription. Pick one, repeat it for a few weeks, and notice how you feel. Readers interested in the thinking side of calm may also like our overview of Stoic philosophy, and our guides to back-to-basics wellness and a holistic wellness philosophy.
The short version
- Mind-body practices target brain-body interactions; the NCCIH's examples include meditation, relaxation techniques, tai chi and yoga, as well as acupuncture, massage and spinal manipulation.
- Slow, diaphragmatic breathing is discussed above, and the NCCIH says relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people.
- Reviews cited by the NCCIH show preliminary or modest benefits for stress, blood pressure and anxiety, with real limits in study quality.
- Use these practices alongside, never instead of, medical care when you need it.
Sources
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, "Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know" (last updated June 2021): https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/relaxation-techniques-what-you-need-to-know
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, "Mind and Body Practices": https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/mind-and-body-practices
- Cleveland Clinic, "Diaphragmatic Breathing" (medically reviewed, last updated 03/30/2022): https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9445-diaphragmatic-breathing
- SHARP (University of Huddersfield and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust), "Relaxed Breathing" leaflet: https://research.hud.ac.uk/media/assets/document/research/sharp/managingyourproblem/RelaxedBreathing.pdf