Progressive Muscle Relaxation For Stress And Anxiety Relief

Stress And Anxiety Relief With Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

How Progressive Muscle Relaxation Facilitates Stress And Anxiety Relief

Stress is a normal psychological reaction in the face of situations perceived as threatening. It is accompanied by many physiological and chemical changes in the body - known as the fight or flight syndrome. It is a life preserving natural reaction that prepares one for fighting with the perceived threat or retreating to safety.

The normal reactions witnessed during stress – the increase in blood pressure, perspiration, flow of blood away from the extremities and towards the large muscles, increase in adrenaline levels, etc. - are all a part of this fight or flight reaction.

Now, viewing a situation as threatening depends upon your perception. You feel stress in a variety of situations. If you feel stress often, the body has to endure these symptoms so many times. Besides weakening you psychologically, these symptoms, when they occur frequently, are harmful for the body in the long run. The body is not made to endure these symptoms for long.

Here comes the very important role of Progressive Muscle Relaxation in stress and anxiety relief. The PMR is meant to relax all the muscles of body. It can be learnt with a little practice. Don't get deceived by its simplicity; it is much more effective and healing than you may realize. When you do PMR you are telling your body – and through it, your mind – that the situation is not threatening to the extent that your body is telling by its reactions. When you practice it regularly, you can learn to trigger it at will and train yourself to relax in situations of extreme stress. Eventually, you start to view those situations as less threatening which earlier caused lots of stress and anxiety in you.

Practicing stress management and relaxation techniques like Progressive Muscle Relaxation strengthen you psychologically and enhance your self esteem by increasingefficiency. PMR reduces blood pressure and decreases perspiration, and slows down the breathing.

The technique is used effectively in the treatment of -

Anxiety,

Insomnia,

Irritable bowels,

depression,

mild phobia,

stuttering, etc.

Preparing for Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Find a quiet place where you may not be distracted,

Wear comfortable clothes. Remove glasses if you wear them.

You can practice it lying on your back or seated on a chair with your head supported. If you practice PMR lying down, you may fall asleep, so plan ahead for it.

Tense And Relax Technique

You relax your body by tensing various muscle groups, one after the other. You start from your feet and proceed towards your head.

While inhaling, tense a group of muscles and hold the tension for about 8 seconds.Feel the tension.

Then exhale and let go of the tension. While relaxing a muscle group, feel the relaxation enveloping the muscle. At the end of PMR you have relaxed your entire body.

Discriminate clearly the various muscle groups while practicing. Tense only the muscles that are intended. Initially it might be difficult for you to discern muscle groups, but slowly you will learn to differentiate.

Do not apply excessive tension to the back, neck, toes and feet.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: The Exercise

Now, after having understood the technique, let us proceed to actually doing it. Take a couple of deep breaths and start.

Start with your right foot. Inhale, squeeze the muscles tightly and hold for about 8 seconds. Feel this tension. Then loosen and let go of the tension while exhaling. Feel the relaxation permeating the foot. Savor this feeling of relaxation.

Repeat the same procedure with right lower leg and foot.
Then continue the same procedure with other parts of your body in the following sequence -

Entire right leg,

Left foot,

Left lower leg and foot,

Entire Left leg,

Right hand - making a fist,

Right forearm and hand,

Left hand – making a fist,

Left forearm and hand,

Entire left arm,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Neck and shoulders,

Face – tense your face muscles, make a grimace, close your eyes tightly, clench your teeth. Hold the tension for about 8 seconds while inhaling. Then relax and exhale. Feel the tension draining out, and muscles getting relaxed. Enjoy the feeling.

Take a few deep breaths while feeling the relaxation that has now overcome your body. Feel this relaxed feeling. Count up to five and slowly get up. Don't

You may not feel much difference the first time round – though not necessarily so – butafter practicing it a few times, you will actually start enjoying it.

Then you will be able to do it without much effort. Make Progressive Muscle Relaxation a part of your daily life for stress and anxiety relief. It will reduce your stress levels. Practice it some more till you get a deep feeling of relaxation.

After all what do you need to do it – a few minutes and a quiet place! Practice it two times aday for a few weeks. Then you can move on to the shortened version of the PMR.

The Shortened Version Of Progressive Muscle Relaxation

In the shortened version, youconcentrate on muscle 'groups', rather than the individual muscles. The group of muscles are as follows -

Legs, feet and buttocks,
Abdomen and Chest,
Arms, shoulders and neck,
face.

Apply the same 'tense and relax ' technique as described above – now on the 'muscle groups'. Inhale slowly while you apply the tension. Exhale slowly when you release the tension and relax the muscles.

Practice it enough so that, later on, you can apply this technique anywhere for stress and anxiety relief and achieve quick relaxation.

Further Reading

Stress Management And Relaxation Make You More Productive

Stress Relief Tips & Techniques – Top 10 Stress Relievers

The Relaxation Response – A Perfect Antidote To Stress

HowDoes Stress Affect A Person – How It Affects You!

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