Stress Management: Doing Progressive Muscle RelaxationStress Management: Doing Progressive Muscle RelaxationHow do you do progressive muscle relaxation?The procedure You can use an audio recording to
help you focus on each muscle group, or you can learn the order of muscle
groups and do the exercises from memory. Choose a place where you won't be
interrupted and where you can lie down on your back and stretch out
comfortably, such as a carpeted floor. - Breathe in, and tense the first muscle group
(hard but not to the point of pain or cramping) for 4 to 10
seconds.
- Breathe out, and suddenly and completely relax the muscle
group (do not relax it gradually).
- Relax for 10 to 20 seconds
before you work on the next muscle group. Notice the difference between how the muscles feel when they are tense and how they feel when they are relaxed.
- When you are finished
with all of the muscle groups, count backward from 5 to 1 to bring your focus
back to the present.
After you have learned how to tense and relax each muscle
group, here's something else to try. When you have a very tense muscle, you can
practice tensing and relaxing that muscle area without going through the whole
routine. The muscle groups The
following is a list of the muscle groups in order and how to tense them.
Remember to lie down when you do this. Muscle group | What to do | Hands | Clench
them. | Wrists and
forearms | Extend them, and
bend your hands back at the wrist. | Biceps
and upper arms | Clench
your hands into fists, bend your arms at the elbows, and flex your biceps.
| Shoulders | Shrug them (raise
toward your ears). | Forehead | Wrinkle it into a
deep frown. | Around the eyes and
bridge of the nose | Close your eyes as
tightly as you can. (Remove contact lenses before you start the
exercise.) | Cheeks and jaws
| Smile as widely as
you can. | Around the
mouth | Press your lips
together tightly. (Check your face for tension. You just want to use your
lips.) | Back of the neck | Press the back of
your head against the floor or chair. | Front of the
neck | Touch your chin to
your chest. (Try not to create tension in your neck and head.) | Chest | Take a deep breath,
and hold it for 4 to 10 seconds. | Back | Arch your back up
and away from the floor or chair. | Stomach | Suck it into a tight
knot. (Check your chest and stomach for tension.) | Hips and
buttocks | Press your buttocks
together tightly. | Thighs | Clench them
hard. | Lower
legs | Point your toes
toward your face. Then point your toes away, and curl them downward at the same
time. (Check the area from your waist down for tension.) |
Test Your Knowledge When you first start, it may be helpful to use an
audio recording until you learn all the muscle groups in order. - True
- False
Continue to  Where to go from here
Return to  Stress Management: Doing Progressive Muscle Relaxation Medical Review: Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine Steven Locke, MD - Psychiatry Last Updated: May 15, 2012 |
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