Once JT’s pattern recognition system recognizes that his wing’s are powered up, he can relax and—according to experiments run by Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson—that’s flow’s real trigger. This so-called relaxation response floods the body with high quantities of nitric oxide (NO)—an endogenous gaseous signaling molecule. “[T]he NO,” writes Benson, “counteracts the norepinephrine and other stress secretions. Simultaneously, as the NO puffs billow forth in the brain and body, the brain releases calming neurotransmitters…such as dopamine and endorphins. As a result of these secretions, the
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