Anxiety x Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Everything Jasmine
- Dec 29, 2020
- 3 min read
Are you someone who experiences a lot of physical tension when you are going through high stress situations or anxiety?
Dr. Edmund Jacobson was an American physician in internal medicine and psychiatry and a physiologist. Dr. Jacobson was also known as "the father of progressive relaxation", as he invented Progressive Muscle Relaxation back in 1920's as a way to help his patients deal with anxiety. Dr. Jacobson believed that mental calmness was a natural result of physical relaxation and invented a technique that would target just that!
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a deep relaxation technique that has been effectively used for many years to control stress and anxiety. PMR has also been effective for relieving insomnia and reducing certain types of chronic pain. PMR is a fairly simple physiological practice that requires the person to practice intentionally tensing specific muscle groups in sequence followed by a relaxation phase through release of the tension in each area.
PMR has shown to produce a range of positive outcomes such as decreased stress, anxiety, and physiological arousal. Some other interesting research findings is that PMR has been found to be effective in decreasing cortisol levels, reducing pain, regulating physiological processes, and increasing overall quality of life (Rausch, Gramling, & Auerback, 2006).
Research suggests that the cognitive-behavioral model of relaxation proposes several mechanisms of why PMR can effectively reduce stress and physical symptoms of anxiety. One of the proposed mechanisms is tension relief. Tensing and relaxing muscles alleviates physical tension and increases feelings of relaxation. Another mechanism is maintaining focus on a simple stimuli. For instance, mentally focusing on the guided instructions and the contrast between tension and relaxation is a cognitive technique that sustains attention on the task at hand, leaving little time to focus on thoughts of stressors (Dolbeir & Rush, 2012). Research also supports PMR as an empirically validated clinical treatment to reduce negative stress responses and has become a popular intervention because of its benefits, low cost, level of ease in teaching, and effectiveness across a range of populations (Dolbeir & Rush, 2012).
PMR is understood to be simple enough to be learned by nearly anyone and typically only requires 10-20 minutes of practice per day, or as needed. There are MANY Youtube videos and audioguides that you can use to assist you in this process. With that said, be patient with yourself and the process of finding a guide that is right for you. this may look like finding the best sequence, the best guide voice, and the best location to practice this. In general, this technique should be practiced either sitting in a chair or laying down and in a quiet place free from distractions. Most practices will recommend tensing and relaxing the muscle groups one at a time in a specific order, generally beginning with the lower extremities and ending with the face, abdomen, and chest.
I will link a few different YouTube videos to help you begin your journey of finding the best guide for you.
I hope you enjoyed this article and find this to be a useful tool in moments of stress, physical tension, and anxiety.
Citations:
Dolbier, C.L. & Rush, T.E. (2012). Efficacy of abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation in high-stress college sample. Internal Journal of Stress Management, 19(1), 48-68. DOI: 10.1037/a0027326
Rausch, S.M., Gramling, S.E., & Auerbach, S.M. (2006). Effects of a single session of large-group meditation and progressive muscle relaxation training on stress reduction, reactivity, and recovery. International Journal of Stress Management, 13(3), 273-290. DOI: 10.1037/1072-5245.13.3.273.
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