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This simple exercise is, in a way, a step ahead of deep breathing. While deep breathing forces us to focus on breathing alone, muscle relaxation calms all muscles down. To effectively practice progressive muscle relaxation, it’s crucial that you first find a quiet and comfortable environment to lay down. The process of muscle relaxation involves three simple steps. The first step consists of the tightening of the muscle group. Next, you focus on maintaining the contraction for about 20 seconds. Lastly, you slowly release the tightening. While performing all three of these steps, it is essential that you also are continually practicing deep breathing and focusing on the muscles being tensed and relaxed.
If you’re new to this exercise, you can start with your facial muscles and then slowly progress down the body to your toes. The ideal chronology is your forehead, eyes, nose, tongue, face, jaws, neck, back, all the way down to your feet. To get the best results possible, it is recommended you either record instructions or download the ones available online and then carry forward the progressive exercise to reduce stress. You can also use an audio recording to help you focus on each muscle group or learn the order of muscle groups and do the exercises from memory. When your body is physically relaxed, you cannot feel anxious. Practicing progressive muscle relaxation for a few weeks can help you get better at this skill and, in time, can be used to alleviate stress.
