Progressive muscle relaxation is a calming technique that involves systematically bringing your awareness to different parts of your body by tensing and relaxing the muscles. The technique is based on the idea that muscle tension is commonly associated with stress, anxiety, and fear. Therefore, if we are experiencing these feelings, progressive muscle relaxation can help to relax muscle tension and ease these sensations.

How to do it

  • Find a quiet place – you can lay down flat or sit in a comfortable chair. Try to wear loose clothing to allow for full awareness of your muscles.
  • Slow your breathing down and give yourself permission to relax. Begin by taking a few deep breaths into your belly
  • When you are ready, tense or squeeze the muscle group described in the list below, you should feel the muscles becoming tighter and tenser. Keep the muscle tense for approximately 5-15 seconds and then slowly release the tension and relax the muscle fully over another 15 seconds. Notice the difference in how your muscles feel as you relax

Move systematically through your body and the different muscle groups, breathing slowly and evenly the entire time. If you want to coordinate your breathing, inhale and tighten the muscle group, exhale and relax the muscle group. End by taking a few deep breaths deep into your belly and notice how your body feels now compared to when you first started.

You can listen to a guided meditation or perform the exercise on your own. Here is a list of the sections of your body to work through during your session. If you experience pain with any of the muscle groups simply ease up your muscle contraction or skip ahead to the next one.

Muscle Groups

  1. Forehead: squeeze the muscles in your forehead by wrinkling them into a deep frown
  2. Eyes: close your eyes as tightly as you can
  3. Cheeks: tense the muscles in your cheeks by smiling as widely as you can
  4. Jaw: tense the muscles in your jaw by opening your mouth as wide as you can, as you might when yawning
  5. Lips: Press your lips together tightly, keep the rest of your face relaxed
  6. Neck and shoulders: increase tension in your neck and shoulders by raising your shoulders up toward your ears
  7. Shoulder blades/back: push your shoulder blades back, trying to almost touch them together, so that your chest is pushed forward and your back arches away from the floor
  8. Hands: clench your hands into a tight fist
  9. Arms: bring your fists into your chest, squeezing your arms in as tight as you can, then separately straighten your arms as hard as you can
  10. Chest and Abdomen: create abdominal pressure by bracing your stomach as if someone was going to punch you in the belly
  11. Buttocks: squeeze your buttocks together tightly, feeling your body lift as you tighten the muscles
  12. Thighs: clench them hard, think of straightening your legs as hard as you can while squeezing your legs together
  13. Lower Legs: pull your toes toward your face
  14. Feet: point your toes away from your body, and curl them downward at the same time.

MSK-0063 RevA