Relaxation and Meditation

Relaxation therapies developed in the early twentieth century, such as neuromuscular relaxation, visualization, and Autogenic Training, paved the way for secularized meditation practices that emerged later. From the 1960s, modern yoga and Transcendental Meditation gained popularity, followed by mindfulness-based approaches in the late twentieth century. These practices have been both distinguished from and combined with one another as they were marketed to health-seeking Western audiences. The chapter offers a historical perspective that helps explain why meditative techniques have been adapted for therapeutic use and what the limits of such adaptation are.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This chapter elucidates the shared socio-cultural history of modern, therapeutic relaxation and meditation strategies. It demonstrates how the promulgation of relaxation therapies from the early twentieth century strongly influenced the later advancement of secularized, therapeutic meditation practices. It traces the development of scientifically grounded neuromuscular relaxation techniques, visualization methods and Autogenic Training in the first half of the twentieth century, through to the proliferation of modern yoga and Transcendental Meditation practices from the 1960s and mindfulness-based approaches from the late twentieth century. It shows how and why relaxation and meditation have been variously demarcated and amalgamated, in their common outreach to health-seeking Western populations. The chapter contributes a new historical vantage point for better understanding both the appeal and limitations of adapting and appropriating meditative techniques for therapeutic ends.