Iournal of tho Indian Acadom)' -of Applied Psychology,

1995. Vol. 21. No, 1. 29-36..

Role ofRelaXatiQn in Hypertension

.. .'.
Aruna BlOots,.Ruchi Vanna, and Archaoa Singh
. Universityof Delhi, Delhi I
I
I

'The main objective of the present study is to compare the efficacy Ofthree different !i
rc1axa~onteclmiques in reducing symptoms ofhypcrtension. A sample of 40 patientS.was I
selected ftom clinics of West Delhi, All the subjects were established cases of hypertension I
and were under similar medi~on. 'Theirage varied ftom3S to 59 ye&1I.'Theeffect of three
di1fereDtrefaxation techniques, ~.e.Broota Rdaxation Technique,.la~QD.'s ~gressive ;
:~
I
!
Relaxation Teclmique and "Shavasana" were studied and the results are compared with a :. ~
, ;
control (no treatinent) IP'OUP. AnxietysymptOmcbec1dist,bloodpnuure (SBP & ~Bp)and
GSRmeasures havebeencomparedbeforeandafterre1axationsessi~. AtOtal ofBsessionS :: !
on 8 consecutive days were-taken.Sinslefacto1'8Iia1y." ofcOv8ri8nce(ANCOVA)has been ., :
useCion which relaxation technique is the only factor. hsu1ts Ihow that aU the three ~ j
relaXationtherapies are quite df'ective in reducing symptOmsof hypertension as compared :j
~ j.
to the control group. It is furtherob~ed tbateach ofthc three~on therapies produce '1 !
di1ferentforms ofrelaxatione1rects OIlhypertcusion.uShavasana" has beenfoUlidto be the :1 ~
:11
mostejfcctivefollow~ by the Broota~tiontecbniqueandtben l~son'8 Progreuive
Relaxation, . L
.d:
i
. . "

Stratton (1980) .states'~ in the 1ast . atian and ~roota Re18xation techDiques are
decade there has emerged an interest in the forms to aChieve relaxation where 1hepeqcm
treatment of hypertension through nonophar- actlvelypCrformssome activity. .
macologica1 or bdlaviourai methods including.
. ,.
. psychotherapy, hypnosis, placebo, relaxation USJiavaSana"is a from .of passm;
. ~:,il
.' 'therapies and 'cOmbinations of the above. Re- rclaxation. Itis a Yogic posture (1he COIpse like. .
. '.
'.. J,axationtherapy refcrstothe1herapeutic 1:JSe
of posture)tol'emoWfatigue~dtimlDess.lta1so
relaxation as the sole or primary intem:ntion provides a soothingcomfort because it'elimi- . ,.

'bysome.However,relaxation_y functionas . nates tensions anclturbulatioDs of mind

an acljunctto primary strategy.ema regular of (B1'ahmachari,
U)70).' .
interniittaItbaSis... .

1acobsdn's ProgressiveRelaxation . Method

'. Tedmiciue; cineof the :most praCticed method,
,
is a muscle rc:1axation'tcchnique In which the . StuDpJo: .
subject is taught c:Ii1feR:Dtia1relaxation, i.e. the . .
abilityto relax each of,~ .'muSclegrouP~ A.sample of ~ patients was sele«ed .
. startinguom one extremeof the bodyto the ftom the Ctinic:s of a locality in the :West. Delhi
I
. other..Broota.Relaxationte~que isa setof . ~on:1he. criteriausedfortheselection
four exC;fCi~ adapted from' Yoga and com- . was to take paiti-. who were willingand c0-
bined With auto-suggestion (Broota &:.Dhir, operative au6 were su1fering 1iom hyperten-. .
1990). Both 1acobson's Progressive Relax-' . .sion ~y. i.e. bemg physically actiW and free

-- - - - - --- - - -
 .-~--- - ---

.. -----..--
I
I
,i
~
30 Relaxation in Hyperten8ion

. . . . '.
from otherphysicalailments like cardiac prob- a) Symptom Check List: A symptom checklist
lems, arthritis, diabetes, neurological deficits, consistingof24 ~ of anxietYwith
etc. The patientS.were selected with the help of some 00111II1OI1pSychological.ancfphysi-'
the practici11
. .g physicians
,,
,of the .~rea.
. , ologica1factors whicharethe characteristic.
. .... , .ofhypertensiveswas used. This check list
, Allthepatientswereestablishedcases has been checked earlier by' two clinical t
of hypertension'and were under similar medi- psychologists In a hQspital settiJig at the
cation. The age of the patients vafied from 3' Shahadfa Hospital for Mental Diseases,
to S9years. All the subjects were males and Delhi. Also included were the verbal proto- .

majority of ~an frOm business profession. . colsoflO'hypertensivepatiems; S~

. Theireducati~backgroundvariedfromclass' inchidedin the check list arci P$1ic restless-
eight to post-grBduation. ,All'the'subj~ were ness, ~ess, impaired~centration, res-
married. The sampling was JDcidental. . . pirato.y~cu1ty, etc..
~
DesigrJ: , b) SphYplQinanometer:.A ~ type of'
,sphygmomanometeror sphygmowas used
, Anxi~ symptom check1i~ blood'
pressure readings. 'and GSR readings were
~~
,.Jects;'" '
th~'blood })tessUrcof the sub-
. "
comparedbeforeandafter,thetr~(relax-
ation sessions);' ,A siDgle factOr analysis of C)'.~c Skm'ResoonseA(niaratus:The
covariance (Brdota, 1992; p.408) was used in GSRsca1ewries from -3 ohms to +3 ohms.
which the .reI8.iation technique (independent The clcctroClcs. arc placed cD the inner side \
variable) was'the main. factor:baving four. .,oftlie 'fingertips. The power is 'switched on
levels: where's;. represents BWOta.'rel8xatioil :.theJnner side of the finger tips. The power . I

Technique, ~ l~~obs~'s ProgressiveRelax- ,15switchCd emthe reaeJings arc taken. Care I

"
ation technique';:it, Shavasana ~d a..the con- is takeO.that there arenohandlfingermove-
I trol group (notteatmemgroup). Four groups of meatswhilethe~~ are,beingtaken.
,I
1'0su1;j!:Ctsea~were cr~ted thi'ouglu~l1do~
I
.1 procedure and the assignment of~sto Relax.~OD J:«:bDiques~ t
.: the groups was also randomly detennined. A
,
.1 consecutiveeig.a day session' of' respectiVe' a) . BrOOtaRela~on Technique: ~~ Re- . I
I
i
:\ laxation Technique,has 'been develqJCd by' I
. ~tment was ~~istcred ~ eaCh~bject. the. first author. Thetedmique consists of a
. On. eaC:hSubject measuremcuts were set offour exercisesadaptedfromYoga and
-
,
.\
.:.. l
., ot:rtamedtwiCe 9llebefore (covariate,X) and " combined \Wh,..autO-suggestiem. The four f
one 'after the- administration of the treatment I
i exercisesindudedare:
DeepbiCathing.
~ .

, I I
(ciiterioo, Y). Dq:etowideiliitialdift'erenccsin Posture ("'DhanurasnaU), RaisiJig the le.gs .
i tJ:te subject, the':Covariatc (X) was included and cycling.Theva1ue of auto suggestion in
pri.niari1y'to adjbst:the measurements ori the the CQDtrol of emotionally disturbing
criterioo ~able 00. h heJped to. reduce the . tIiCn1ghtshas been amply:estabUshed by the
,I expc;rimeuta1error ducto iriitial differences in psychoanalytic school of thought. Brootam
'1 the groups. Thus, it was a single fitctor'Analy- her relaXation techniquemakes'~:ofauto- '
sis of Covarian~ design., ., suggestion with. yogic exercises.. The ad~ !
q i
i .,. ministration of the techniqUe takes aboUt
: i Tools:, . 15-20 antes. The detailed tedWque is i
." ."
'..

1
~ '. giveiJ.in Broota and Dhir, 1990. .
'j The fOlloWing.toolsweteadniiniStered , , .

:1
,; to cach.ofthe40subjeas.inthe ~eni. . b) Jacobson's .prollJ'CSsiveRelaxation Tech-
.

1;' ., , ,'.. " . ' .

: ': .',
.,,!

d'

----------------
 --~~-- --- _..

I I:

Aruna Broot&, Ruchi Varma & ~chana Singh 31

'.

~: Muscle re1ax8tion bas been used for Procedure.'

'many yearS f9r tc2Isionreduction. The best
known technique'is of Edniund.Jacobson
(1938) which is very frequently :used in
clinical settings. The procedure eliables the
subject to ~d3pt, in genera1,muscle relax':'
. atian and then teach tbe subjeqt di1f~tial
relaxation, that is, the abi1ityto relax each
. of the muscle groups. .This technique is
with the helP of' 'physicians of the
~ous c1inicsthcpatients sufferingfi'om hy- ,.
pertCnsion were selec:ted acCording to the sam-
. piing criteria. Theywcre randomly aSsigned to
the four groups. The three~.anda
control cOnditionwere assigned randomly to
:1
the four groups. The patients took the treat- . I. II

. .Called progres~ive muscle 'relaxatiQll be- meats as an adjUnct,totheir'existing medical L.

cause the subject proceeds systematically .
from one m~sc1e group to another, staI:ting' .treatment., ~ : .';_:: ':'.~". I

from one end of the body to the other.' Eachpatientwas ~redare1aX- !

ation iedmique consecutiVely for 8 days. Re-
c) .. Shavasana": ":Shavasana", literally . laxationWas a~red~aquietroom. Pre-
~ .means, lying down like a dead bo4y. It is, and post-u~ 'bloodpressure,galVanic
also ..Caned ."Mritasana" '(Brahm-chari, s~ l'Cg)ODSe
(GSR), andtheamdet}icheck list .

1970). This particular Yogic pos:ture has were.secured 1i'omea~ of the 40 subjects~
, ,.
.beeri knoWn to remove any amount of fa- .,After~ch sessiOnan inttO~e report Was
tigue and tiredness. It has specially been , also Obtained;:the ~e' procedurewas fol- :
, , i h

I
recommended for those who do' not have .Iow~' tOr all the forty patients. Each s~sion' !1
I
lasted for .a'period o( 2Q. ~utes. AU the . . I
I
much energy and stamina or tho~ who get :I
i .tired very easily.. .'Shavasana'" is believed
.to remove aU the tiredoess.ofnerves and
patients were \YSMednot to practice the tech-
riique at,home. In the no ~eDt group, a~ .: !
i
.' I I

I tissues and ~ pr:ovides a soothing coinfort general ConVersationwas Carriedoutwith each , d:

I by elimination oft.cnsions and.turbuJations patient for a'period of'20'minutes for 8 con-
, I!

i
I
.

ofmind andheart. Themostili1po~thing, secutivedays:'IhccooversaUon centeredaround " I'

. "j
i to be kept in IQiDd.jSthat the body has to be ~y mCmbers00 day ooe;hobbies on 2nd.
",

! j:r
I . completely loosened. It'is Jcnownto reduce . day, mends on 3rd:day, food ~ 4th day, 'TV".
t blood' pressure and is used in Y9P centers', viewingon Sthday, filmson 6th day, music on.,
I . for pati~ ofhypertensloo. " . 7th &Jy,and;politicson.$.thday. Any Jdnd of ,.
!i emotlooor cci1ttictit;ever exp~~ thetoPic
I
was ~ to genera1,~versatiOl1 so as to
't-
,"
!
I
'd) Control ~up: The subjects of.thiS 'grOUp'
(n=10) were given no re~on therapy. IIi
this case, agener8l, light conversation was
avoidcatharticeffect. . ."
J
;1:
. c8rrledout Withthe subjectsUnrelatedto ; III!
,.
their probl~ of hypertepsian. Care' was . llesUlts "....
taken that~epatieat docS'hot direct his talk
towards hiS own problems, especially hy- Blood Pressure: The'Systolic Blood Pressure
pertension. His attention is to be divertedto ~gs (SBP) and Diastoli~ Blood Pressure
more neutral topics. 'The reason'being that (DBP)readingshaye been
'.
analyzed
'. . I
separate1y.....
if thepatic:at is' allowed to talk about his
physical problems itmay resu1tinto cathar- a) 'lbe SBPmeasureswere subjectcdto analy-
sis. Conversation was carried out for a' . sis .of covariance in. accordance with the
i .periOdof20 minUtes for ~ch subject in this .' desip of the study. Theresults.showthatthe .
group. ThistimewaSe'quivalcatto the time effect.ofie~ODtedmiques is significant,
~tmeilt groups spent in'taking relaxation F(3,3S)-18.11;p<.01; ThiS shows that the
therapy. four. groups differ significantly on SBP.
r-
I
I

.d.y#t!

.",:....

- --- - - - - - -- - - -- - --
I' .-

I 32 Relaxation in HypertonaiOD
i
I

after' accounting fortheregressioo of Yon X
(ANCOVA).
The above rC$Ultsare clearly observable in
the graphical presentation of the outcomes
.' for aU the eight sessions. The-pre- and poSt-
readings of each subjec::t's SBP were 0b-
tained and the ciurcreoce measures (pre mi-
, nus post treatment)were obtainedfor each
of the 8 days for ~ of the.subjects in each
of the groups. The n1eandi1Jcrcnc:ooutcOme
is .presemccl,inFigute 1.
h is observed tha.t the best,outcome,
of~ reductiooin'SBPis observec!in
Group~ III; which was adDiinistered.
"Shavasana" - a passive form of relax-"
atioo (GrOUpI) and the Jacobson Progres-
siwPetnationTedm.iqucs (GroupJI)":How-
ever, it is observed form Fig.l that th~
rCductioointhe SBPis consistti1t1yimprov-
'ingwitbtheB~ relaxatiootedmique anct
inthec:aseofJacobS(D'stecbniquetherc~' r
greater varlatims in the improvementover I I
the scssiOll$."Sbavasana" is'relatively in~ I
variantowr the scssioos and gave the beSt
outcome. Tho coDtrolgroup (GroUp IV),
however, .shows relatively in rcc:tu~on in
. SSP.
. ..
iri teinui b) The DBP measures were.also Sdbjected to
analysis of c:ovarianc:e in 'accordance with
thedesip ofthestudy. The results .showtbat .
tbeeft'ec::tofrcllP{l'dCliis significant, l'{3,35) '.

ation. h is foUowedby the .BrOOta. ~1ax- - 8.68; p<.OJ.. This shows that the four
.' . . /
.'
'. . '.
. ,

SYSTOLIC-BLOOD PRESSURE,.. . "

10

'2
'9

.8 ' ,
.

"
. ." ,
. ... .
,
" :,'
.
'. ' ...'.' ... ...
..., ,
:' ..-
. :
.
0
....
......
(,).
7
.g
I)

et 6 {
, .'
I) .. I
(,)
S
U'
It!
....
0
4 tI
r. . .
I)
3
.' ,
i
I
I
2 fit .,
:--,.
" !
... ': .' " . . '. . i
"". ..' .......... . ... I
. 'I
.. ...'.. . I

Q I
I ' 2 ,3 . .~. 4', ,5'- 7' 8
T~eatmCnt Seliions (Days)' !'
i
Figure 1: MeaDDiffe~~ce Me.sur08 of th~'"pur Group. as ..
I
J~: .' Function of .Treatment Sessions (D8Y')
. ,

I
.....
\,
I Shava Asana ~,
'Jacobson ~J:osres.ive R~laxatiOD'~ .-
I' Broota Relaxation Technique (:~m,oUCci Condition. .....

----- ---------
 - ---------

Aruna BrooD. Ruchi Varma &.Archana Singh 33

groups differ' 'significantly. 00 DBP after , curves represciiting the Broota Rc1axaticJn
acco~g :for the regrcssioo, Qf Y ci1 X . Tedmiquc(Graup l)andthcJ~ ~
(ANCOV A). It is further observed that an greSsivc ~on Tcdm1qUc (~ D).
the.comparisoos among1heactiu~ Ymeans' The bJ,provementin the DBP Un~ the .
with the help of t test, indicate signi1i~ "Shavasna" is however,not so stable as
,difference (p<:.0l) eXcept .comparison be-- . .obt8medfor the 'SBP. Such t1uciuatiOl1S
in
tween the Broota and .Iacobs~ tccbniques. the curve are appareatm. an the four gioups.
,The CODtrorgroups .did not mow visible
SiniiIar procedure" as follOwed in SBP re- ~rOvemcatin both tho SSP andDBP over ,,.
sults, wasusec:ttppreParc1hegraph~owin&' the sessions, . .' .
~ di1fereneemcasures ofthefourgroupl$
to
~ resPect the DBP. Outcome is pre- , Ga1variicskbi '~ lGSR): The ~ I
i
. sentcd in'Figure 2. obtained were su1Uectedto analysis of,covari~ I II.
anee and. the analysis shows that the four I
i,
Here again, it is observed that tlJe best groups ~er sigJ1iftNlnt1yOIlOSR, rt3.3S) =='
'. outcome, in tenDs ofm8ximum.rectuction in . 7.90; ,J7<.01. after accounting for the regres-
DBP is observed in' Grbup ,m ("Shav- . sim of Yon X. .Though M:lCOV A shows a

asan~"): Figure2
. alsoshowsoverlapPingof
. significant~,:but muChreliancecaunot
. .

. DIASTOLIC BLOOD ~RE~SURE..

10

""
9
. .-
. .:.,
....
'8

..- . .
.. . .. -.....- "

-.
~ .
1)
.g
7 . . ..
0

0
6 ... . .....
u
c:I S
e. ,:'
.\i.i '. 4
....
Q
3
'fJ
o.
2

0
.~..
. . .. .,.. . .... .
.
'
.. '. .
. . .. . . .
. . . . .. ' ,..
",

I
i
j
Iii
I;,

1 2' '3 4, ,'S '.6 ',7 8. Ir

'. Treatui~t Sessions (Days). I(

,Figure 2: Meani>iffer~ce Measures of tho' Four Groups as a

, .' . FWiction' of TreatJnent~ Sessions (Days) . .

.' Shava Asana . ~:JI . pi Jacobson

. Prog~ess.ve
. . 'Relaxation
Broata Relaxation Technique' . ControlledCond~iOD'..'...

--- ---- ------ - - - - -

 -- -----.-.----.-------
- --

-,-._~ -. -.. .' _ _. .n_.~_.'''''.._ ..._ ~ -

34 Rolaxation in Hypcrtension

..
beput inthe~s variabilityoverthe
1:Jecause
sessions is high in'aUthe groups. Perhaps. GSR
is not a gOQdindicator:of improvement.in
hyperteosi9Ji, .'
.(;
, .,'
AnxietvCheckList:1beo\ltc9meofANCOVA
for the fcwr.groups indicates that the groups
differ atj;<.OlleW1'ofconfideoce. 1\3.35) ='
2.49; p<.OI.The outcome is presentedgraphi-
callyandit isobservedthat:tluctu8tionsover ,
. thy sessions are minimum in thiS measure~
. '~Shavasana.' gives again the' best reSults and
overlap in the. curves i'epres'entmg Jacobson
and,Br~ techniqtJCSis observed, 11ie curve
. repres.eotingthe contiol group is the lowest. the
. results on this measure are wry similartothose
obtained under the',SBP' and DBP measures,
~<?u~, the differen~
~ ..
- .
not ,that large. .
,.
. Discussion:
,
'
Relaxationmethodsseekto elicitcalm-
ness and hypometabolic state caned the
4'trophotropbic'respoose" by Hess (1957).
Southamet aI. (1982)examinedthe BP lower-
ing effect of 'relaxation,training during the
working'day and suggested thatreJaxation
':therapy'leads to a .reduction in BP that is
evident in :the'natural environmCDt.Similar
resultswere found by Dua (1976)in the'reduc-
tion o.fanxiety, by Doha. (1984) f~r car-
diac patientSand by Larason, Bo., and Melin 'I
(~986) in the treatment' of chrOnicheadache
between the $foups arc etc. ' ',.
..

.. GAL VANIC SKIN RESPONSE

10

' .....
0
8
....
...
(,)
7""

6
0
(,)
. . 5
0
,..

.-1_. . .
4 .~.
.....
, .
3
. .
.
.. .
..
0, ,
,
.
~.-....
2 . ~
~W.(.~
, " ,

0
1

1
.

. .... . .-,
\::7.
-. .' . .~.",..
2., 3
~~ 4
........
, 5' . '6 8
, 7 .
-Tr~a~~t Sessions (Days) "

'. . .' .. .

Figure 3: Mcan'DifferenceMeasures of the Four GrQupsas a

.' . . Funet.ionof Treatment Sessions (Day~) , ':"

. Shava Asana , . '.. ,. .. ' : JacobsonProgressjyc

Rel;axatiqn
. Broota Relaxati0r;a Technique ' CODtrolled
Condition" . '. . . . .
..

-- - - - - - -- --- --- ---- -----

 - ----.------.---
-

3S

I. I .
...u ~~... Ru<h;
.
Vu_" u S;...
~ the presentinvestigationit is o.b- auto-suggestions. Yogic exercises have been
'. .servedthat the three differentrelaxationthera- found'to provide soothing ~ort because
pies prOduce.different effects. .. SJiavasana" these e~ercise~ eliminate' tension and
, proves to '~e the most effective one in the
reduction of ~lood, pressure as it leads to
turbulatians
. ofmUid (BrabmadJari,
, .
1970). ,; '

m-eatestmean differenceson the pre and post-
treatment sessions. Closely fonowed by this
are the Broota RelaxatiOnTechniqueand the
Jacobson'sProgressiveRe~tion Technique.
with are'1nore or less overlapping and show
. similar patterns on the graph: However, the'
. Broota.ReIa~OI1 Techniquehas been found
to pt:oducegreater reductions as comparedto
.
, For ~le, deep breathing checks
emotional excitement and c;tisturbance; {:)ow"
posture activates autonomic' nervous~system' .
' and the hypothalanttts and alSo these exercises
give anew $Clf-coofidencetotbesubject (.Anand,
'1984). Whereas,. the Jacobson's Progressive
Relaxatioo involves sman ~cle group areas

.'the Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation Tech-

only at any given' time: Thus, the effects, of
relaxation may be more,pervasive in case of
I
i,
nique. This is due to the. diffcrencein. the .Broota'R.c1aXatiO)Technique. Another advan-' . I
i'ationalebcl1indthetWotedmiques. TheB~ . tage with BrOota Re18xation :J:'eduUqueis that "!
.J:
Relaxation Techirique actively involves the it can 1Jelw.Dt in nOtmore than 3 tQ4 sessioos. I
,
I
wholebody. Itis baSedonYogicex~~, and :',~ereforp~ thepatieDt'.~ use!1aS ,take home !

ANXIETX 'CHECKLIST
10

9
'""
8 8
...
=' 7
.'tS
«)
.
-,«) '6'

.(,) , .- . . , .
'S
.-
! ..
5
lot , .. '.. . -.. .. .. .. .' '. ... ..~
, .' . ...
.- : ' . ' ...,
Ij.j 4
...
'A
3,
fa
«)
'. . . ..-- . - - . ... ..
::s 2
. .. . . . ......
-. .. . .
1
,11'
0
1 2 3. 4 S 6 7 8 , :

Treatment Sessions' (Days)

'. f! I.
.

Figure 4: Mean Differ~"e:Measures of the Four Groups as 'a . '

. "
. Function otTrcatme~t Sessions (Days)' ' '.

.' ShavaAsana
' 8. . . . , Jacobson PtogressiveRelaxation
ControlledCondition . .....
'j"I a,roota Relaxation Technique .

-"' j
/.\-.

--- -- - - - - -- - --- - - - - --
 Relaxation in Hypertonsion

therapy. In the case of Jacobson's Teclmique References

many more sessions are requircdforthe subject
to be 00 I;1isown. Anand. 8.(1984). 'lbtlcolDpltltt1bookoD Yog..: Hllr1DOlIy'
, of body ad mind. Orient PapoI'-Bacb. , .

, MillerandBornstein(1977)compared Bohachiclc. P. (1984). Progressive relaxation trainini in

the effect of muscle relaxatim, mental relax-
atiOOand self re1axati~ 00 Taylor Manifest
,Anxiety scale. state Trait Anxiety In~rY
(STAi)~BMGindicesand foundtbatdiffer-
em techniquesmow varying results in the'
relaxatioo effects they produce.,'
A recent study involving different
fortns of relaxationteclmiqtieswas coo.ducted
by Blanchardet a1. (1989) Whomade a con-
trolled comparison of Thermal Biofeedba,*
and ProgressiVeMusc1eRe1axati00 inthetreat-
"meDt'ofessenUa1hypertension'and psychologi-
cal changes ae<:o111'anyingtreatment. It was .
reported that whatever the form. relaxatioo.
therapies shared the featureS of muscular re-
, laxatioo. mental focussing. task awareness.
m~reased inn~r control, increased cooccntra-
tioo and attCnticinwhich isotberwise a problem
generally reported by hypertensives.
From the above results and discussiQll
,ooemay.surmisethatcombinmg "Shavasmia"
. andBrOOtaRelaxati~,TeclmiquemaytuDi out
'to be the most eft'edive way to deal' with
hypertensioo and this combmauoo (being both
" basedoo Yogicexercises)shouldbe verifiedin
another stUdy.It may show greater reduction in:
," hyperteDsionbecause combining active' and
passiverelaxatioos could be the ideal combina-
cardiac rehabnitation: Effoot on psychological vari-
ablos. Nuning RMt16mb. 33('), 283-287.
Blancbarcl. £.B., McCamet, lU., Muuo. A.,.I; <:1enrdi,
M.A. (1989). Acontrollecl comparison oftliermal bio-
feedback in tho treatment of eisential hyperteaaion:
, Psychological changos accompanying ~tment.
BioftJedbllCk..&UhguJ..tion.. l~), 227-240.
'
BroOta, A... .I; Dbir, R.. (1990). Efficac)' of relaxation
techniques in depreaion. JounJ6l of Pt1nosWity 4
Clittic61
StudiM,6(1),~-90.. .
Brocta, K.D: (I ~92). ExptJrimtmW dtlsip in bt:baviounJ
.rt:StJv:ab.Ne", Delhi: Walley Eastern.
DuG,J.K. (1976). Relaxation and hierarchy in anxiety
relaxation. lD.dia Joupu1 OJ'PsycboJogy, Sl, 307-
'317. '
He... W.R.. (19"). 'lbtl ibnctiODJll org6Diz/Jtion.of thtl
ditmctJpbaJon..Now Yorlc Grune .I; Stratton.
Jacob8Ol1,B., Bo, L., & Molin, I. (1986). Chronic headache
in ~olellCOJ1ta:Treatment in schooisettinS with relax-
ation training as compared with information contact
and self registration. hiD,~), 325-336. , "
Miller, R.K., .I; Bomstein. P.H. (1977). Thirty minute
relaxation: A Comparison ofsomo JI!.Othods.Journal of
/JtJluviour 'lbtlnlPY cf:&pt1rirrttmW PII}IDbi..try,~),'
:J91-294.
8outhan, M., Agsraa, W.S., Taylor, C.B., .I; Kraemer, H.C.
(1982). Relaxation training: Blood pressure lowering
. durillgtho workhig day. .An:biVM OJ'Oencn1P.rya/Jis-
try, 3!{,6), 71'-717.
Stratton, R..(1980). Behavioural thorapyin the treatment of
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ogy.BuUtJtJn, ~). 104-112.

tion to provide teJaxatioo for the h~ive Received: October 1',1994

.individuals. Accepted: Janwuy 10, 1m

Dr. Arora Bro~ta 'is a Reader in Clinical. Psychology U- the Department of

, P~cbology. Delhi University. Her major research interests are' Schizophrenia,
Examination Anxiety and Relaxatio~ T~~hniques.
, ' '

, Ruchi VenD. is an ex-student of the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi.

Archana Singh is a Res~ch Sc}101ardoing Ph.D in the area of e1tamtnatiop anxiet:)

in the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi.

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