Relaxation Skills

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation

The body responds to tense thoughts or situations with muscle tension, which can cause pain or discomfort. Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and releasing each muscle group to create a deeper sense of relaxation. It can reduce muscle tension as well as general mental anxiety. You can use a prerecorded tape to help you go through all the muscle groups or you can follow the instructions below. Progressive muscle relaxation is effective in combating stress-related health problems and often helps people get to sleep.

Note: If you have fibromyalgia or myofascial pain syndrome, check with your health care professional before practicing progressive muscle relaxation.

Muscle Groups and Procedure

Pick a place where you can stretch out comfortably, such as on a pad or carpeted floor. Tense each muscle group for 4 to10 seconds (hard, but not to the point of cramping). Then release the muscle and give yourself 10 to 20 seconds to relax. Try to relax each muscle group a little more each time you do this exercise.

How to Tense Muscle Groups

Hands: Clench them.
Wrists and forearms: Extend them and bend hands back at the wrist.
Biceps and upper arms: Clench hands into fists, bend arms at elbows, and flex biceps.
Shoulders: Shrug them.
Forehead: Wrinkle it into a deep frown.
Around the eyes and bridge of the nose: Close eyes as tightly as possible. (Remove contact lenses before beginning this exercise.)
Cheeks and jaws: Grin from ear to ear.
Around the mouth: Press lips together tightly.
Back of the neck: Press head back against the pad or supporting surface.
Front of the neck: Touch the chin to the chest.
Chest: Take a deep breath and hold it, then exhale.
Back: Arch the back up and away from support surface.
Stomach: Suck stomach into a tight knot.
Hips and buttocks: Press the buttocks together tightly.
Thighs: Clench hard.
Lower legs: Point toes toward face, as if trying to bring toes up to touch head.
Lower legs: Point toes away and curl toes downward at the same time.

Relaxation Response

The relaxation response slows the heart rate and breathing, lowers blood pressure, and helps relieve muscle tension. In this way it can help you slow down, reduce stressful feelings and refocus your thoughts.

Technique (adapted from Herbert Benson, MD)

Sit quietly in a comfortable position with eyes closed.
Become aware of your breathing. Breathing slow and steady, concentrate on breathing from your abdomen and not from your chest.
With each exhalation, say the word “one” (or any other word or phrase) silently or aloud. As an option, instead of focusing on a repeated word, you may choose to fix your gaze on a stationary object. Any mental stimulus will help you to shift your mind away from distracting thoughts.
Continue this for 10 to 20 minutes. As distracting thoughts enter your mind, don’t dwell on them. Just allow them to drift away.
Sit quietly for several minutes until you are ready to open your eyes.
Notice the difference in your breathing and your pulse rate.

Don’t worry whether you are successful in becoming deeply relaxed. The key to this exercise is to remain passive, to let distracting thoughts slip away like waves on the beach.

Practice for 10 to 20 minutes once or twice a day, but not within two hours after a meal. When you have set up a routine, the relaxation response should come with little effort.

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