The word 'biofeedback' was coined in the late 1969 to describe laboratory procedures (developed in the 1940's) that trained research subjects to alter brain activity, blood pressure, muscle tension, heart rate and other bodily functions that are not normally controlled voluntarily. Biofeedback is a training technique in which people are taught to improve their health and performance by using signals from their own bodies.

Clinicians rely on complicated biofeedback machines in somewhat the same way that you rely on your scale or thermometer. Studies have shown that we have more control over so-called involuntary bodily functions than we once thought possible. As a result, biofeedback can train individuals with techniques for living a healthier life overall - whether one is afflicted with a medical condition or not.