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.

Continue to Why?

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.

Continue to How?

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.

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.)

Continue to Where?

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:

Stress Management: Breathing Exercises for Relaxation.

Stress Management: Doing Guided Imagery to Relax.

Stress Management: Doing Meditation.

Stress Management: Practicing Yoga to Relax.

Stress Management: Relaxing Your Mind and Body.

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