Progressive muscle relaxation is a method to help you relax. You do a series of exercises in which you tense your muscles as you breathe in and relax them as you breathe out. You work on your muscle groups in a certain order.

Progressive muscle relaxation can reduce anxiety, stress, and muscle tension, and it may help if you have trouble falling asleep. It can help ease headaches by focusing on the muscles of the head, neck, and jaw. As you learn how your "tense" muscles feel and how your "relaxed" muscles feel, you may be able to tell when you need to relax.

Progressive muscle relaxation is easy to do. And if you can find a place to lie down and get comfortable, you can do it anytime you need it.

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.

1. Breathe in, and tense the first muscle group (hard but not to the point of pain or cramping) for 4 to 10 seconds.
2. Breathe out, and suddenly and completely relax the muscle group (do not relax it gradually).
3. 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.
4. 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.

Now that you have learned about progressive muscle relaxation, you are ready to give it a try. Check your local library, websites that sell audio programs, or a bookstore for progressive muscle relaxation audio recordings.

If you want to try another other relaxation technique, see:

Reference Reference Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation.

Reference Reference Stress Management: Doing Guided Imagery to Relax.

Reference Reference Stress Management: Doing Meditation.

Reference Reference Stress Management: Practicing Yoga to Relax.

Reference Reference Stress Management: Relaxing Your Mind and Body.

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