How To Relax Your Muscles
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This is a slightly modified version of Edmund Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR; ca. 1939). It is widely used in the mental health field because it is simple to learn and easy to apply. The process involves purposefully tensing muscles and then immediately releasing the tension in order for the user to distinguish between muscle tension (which is highly correlated with stress and anxiety) and muscle relaxation. With practice, you will be able to mentally induce muscle relaxation at the first sign of stress and anxiety, which ultimately leads to mental relaxation. I have used this frequently in therapy sessions, especially group sessions. It also works with children. What follows is the basic script I used in therapy sessions for relieving stress. For professional books on muscle relaxation and stress relief, visit www.prohealingtools.com.* Be sure that you check out OK with your primary care provider to make sure you are physically prepared to use this.
* Start off by sitting in a quiet room and take off your shoes and any restrictive clothing; you can lie down and do this, but you may fall asleep.
* Also, don't eat or drink anything prior to this; your body will be focusing on your tummy and the digestive process if there's food in there.
* When you tense a muscle, make it REALLY tense! It's OK if there is some mild pain. You should make it tense enough to see some shaking, but don't try to injure yourself!
* Breathe in as you tense a muscle and hold it for a count of seven. Breathe out when you relax the muscle.
* For convenience, I have numbered the muscle groups in the order I used to perform it with my clients. You can take liberty to do them in any order, but it's usually easier to have some systematic method in doing PMR.
ARMS
1. Tense your right hand by making a fist. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your fist. Release the tension and relax your hand. Feel how the tension leaves your hand. Notice the difference in how your hand feels; it is now relaxed.2. Tense your right hand and your right forearm, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your hand and forearm. Release the tension. Feel how the tension leaves your forearm and hand. Notice the difference in how your forearm and hand feel; they are now relaxed.3. Tense your whole right arm, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your arm. Release the tension and relax your arm. Feel how the tension leaves your arm. Notice the difference in how your arm feels; it is now relaxed.4. Tense your left hand by making a fist, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your fist. Release the tension and relax your hand. Feel how the tension leaves your hand. Notice the difference in how your hand feels; it is now relaxed.5. Tense your left hand and your left forearm, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your hand and forearm. Release the tension. Feel how the tension leaves your forearm and hand. Notice the difference in how your forearm and hand feel; they are now relaxed.6. Tense your whole left arm, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your arm. Release the tension and relax your arm. Feel how the tension leaves your arm. Notice the difference in how your arm feels; it is now relaxed.
LEGS
7. Tense your right foot by curling your toes. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your foot. Release the tension and relax your foot. Feel how the tension leaves your foot. Notice the difference in how your foot feels; it is now relaxed.8. Tense your right foot and lower leg. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your foot and lower leg. Release the tension. Feel how the tension leaves your leg and foot. Notice the difference in how your lower leg and foot feel; they are now relaxed.9. Tense your whole right leg, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your whole leg. Release the tension in your whole leg. Feel how the tension leaves your whole leg. Notice the difference in how your whole leg feels; it is now relaxed.10. Tense your left foot by curling your toes. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your foot. Release the tension and relax your foot. Feel how the tension leaves your foot. Notice the difference in how your foot feels; it is now relaxed.11. Tense your left foot and lower leg. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your foot and lower leg. Release the tension. Feel how the tension leaves your leg and foot. Notice the difference in how your lower leg and foot feel; they are now relaxed.12. Tense your whole left leg, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your whole leg. Release the tension in your whole leg. Feel how the tension leaves your whole leg. Notice the difference in how your whole leg feels; it is now relaxed.13. Tense your butt cheeks by squeezing them together. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your butt. Release the tension and relax your butt. Feel how the tension leaves your butt cheeks. Notice the difference in how your butt feels; it is now relaxed.
UPPER BODY
14. Tense your abdomen (or tummy), hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your abdomen. Release the tension and relax your abdomen. Feel how the tension leaves your abdomen. Notice the difference in how your abdomen feels; it is now relaxed.15. Tense your chest by thrusting your shoulders forward and squeezing your chest muscles. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your chest. Release the tension and relax your chest. Feel how the tension leaves your chest. Notice the difference in how your chest feels; it is now relaxed.16. Tense your neck and shoulders by shrugging your shoulders. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your neck and shoulders. Release the tension and relax your neck and shoulders. Feel how the tension leaves your neck and shoulders. Notice the difference in how your neck and shoulders feel; they are now relaxed.17. Tense your back muscles by making your shoulder blades touch and holding your hands behind your back. Hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your back. Release the tension and relax your back. Feel how the tension leaves your back. Notice the difference in how your back feels; it is now relaxed.18. Tense your face by scrunching it up, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in your face. Release the tension and relax your face muscles. Feel how the tension leaves your face. Notice the difference in how your face feels; it is now relaxed.19. (Added 11/23/06) Tense your whole body at once, hold it for a count of seven. Notice the tension in every muscle of your body. Release the tension and relax all your muscles. Feel how the tension leaves your body. Notice the difference in how your body feels; it is now relaxed.
*** Please get up slowly after doing this. Orthostatic hypotension can occur (that's when you stand up suddenly and your blood vessels don't have a chance to adjust to the change in position, causing you to feel like you want to faint).
The basic idea is to train yourself to recognize the difference between a tense and relaxed muscle. With daily practice, you eventually won't need to tense your muscles first. You'll be able to mentally relax each muscle or group when you're feeling stressed by visualizing the muscle and doing things like increasing blood flow to that area and generating heat to ease the muscle. It's kind of like when asian monks increase body temperatures through meditation. It's possible and beneficial for us to do so.-RY
(UPDATE: 11/23/06 - Headers added for easier read)
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12/9/2006 9:00 AM
Straight to the Bar wrote:
Just came across this via Alexander Becker : How to relax your muscles. Very interesting (and after yesterday’s deadlifts, timely)....
Good post; you should make a recording of it on a cd like a relaxation cd. i'd buy it!
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Nice instructions. I usually do this myself. It works very well, and I can acutally relax different muscles now without tensing the muscle group beforehand. Progressive muscles relaxation has been shown in research to work! I wonder why so many more people don't use it. Probably because it takes practice to learn, and people might be too...dare I say it...lazy to actually learn something and apply it themselves. People would rather have a quick fix or magic pill, and not take responsibility for learning how to relax and manage their stress themselves. What a pity! Thanks for the post.
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Thanks for the mention. We appreciate the plug!
-Pro Healing Tools
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