Reduce Tension with Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a relaxing and effective technique for reducing overall body tension as well as psychological stress. This simple technique involves the tensing and relaxing of all of the major muscles in your body in order from your head to your feet. By tensing your muscles before relaxing them, you enable yourself to relax them more thoroughly after you release, letting go of physical tension more effectively. And, fortunately, it can be easily learned and practiced virtually anywhere.

Research shows that relaxing your body physically can also release psychological tension and stress, minimizing your stress reactivity and decreasing your experience of chronic stress. There are other effective ways to minimize psychological and emotional stress, but PMR can offer you one more tool to manage stress, which can help you to build your resilience overall. And with regular practice, the relaxation triggered by this technique can come ore quickly and automatically, making it a great go-to technique for many situations that involve physical tension.

As you practice tensing and relaxing all of your body’s muscle groups, you can move to a shortened version of this activity, known as Deep Muscle Relaxation, where you rapidly relax your whole body. (When practicing DMR, I like to imagine relaxation streaming from my head to my feet like water being poured, and gently engulfing me.) As you reduce the tension you carry in your body, your whole being will feel less stress and you will enjoy increased physical and emotional health. Here’s how to get started:

chest
abdomen
entire right arm
right forearm and hand (making a fist)
right hand
entire left arm
left forearm and hand (again, making a fist)
left hand
buttocks
entire right leg
lower right leg and foot
right foot
entire left leg
lower left leg and foot
left foot
face

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