ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

STRESS MANAGEMENT: Progressive Muscle Relaxation - Melt Stress Away For Good

Updated on September 26, 2021
Permanently tense muscles lead to tension headaches and chronic back pain
Permanently tense muscles lead to tension headaches and chronic back pain

Your body responds to stress with muscle tension. This tension in turn, increases the experience of stress and anxiety.

This vicious circle never stops until you make a choice - learn and implement some stress management routine into your life.

Most of you are so used to tense muscles (stress in your life) that you even do not realize which of your muscles are chronically tense.

Permanently tense muscles lead to tension headaches and chronic back pain and they themselves can cause stress, anxiety and worry.

Besides that constant tension causes fatigue which depletes your already few coping resources.

Its easy to think you are relaxed but there could still be many tense areas in the body.

The only way to know you are totally physically relaxed is to go systematically through each area and relax it.

Deep muscle relaxation is an effective stress management, stress relief and stress prevention technique.

Progressive muscle relaxation is not only very easy to learn and practice but also extremely effective destress technique: it reduces physiological tension and is incompatible with anxiety, panic and worries.

If you can relax you can control stress. Guaranteed!

It is simply impossible to be anxious when you are relaxed and your muscles are soft and relaxed.

Highly Recommended - My Personal Relaxation Refrence Book

Learn Progressive Muscle Relaxation


  • Choose a quiet room, lay down or sit in a comfortable chair. If you want to, you could play soothing, relaxing music in the background or use essential aromatherapy oils to enhance the relaxing experience.
  • Make yourself as comfortable as possible. Use extra cushions if need be or loosen any tight clothing.
  • Take a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
  • Tense each muscle or muscle group from five to seven seconds and then relax for twenty to thirty seconds.
  • After tensing and relaxing your entire body, close your eyes and sit quietly for at least five minutes. Breathe deeply and concentrate on a pleasant thought or peaceful scene.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation Sequence

  • Right foot
  • Left foot
  • Right calf
  • Left calf
  • Right thigh
  • Left thigh
  • Hips and buttocks
  • Stomach
  • Chest
  • Back
  • Right arm and hand
  • Left arm and hand
  • Neck and shoulders
  • Face

When you start practicing progressive muscle relaxation it may seem that some muscles just do not want to relax.

Be patient.

It takes time to change bad habits. Spend a few extra minutes on those muscles each day. If it is your hands, flex and unflex the fingers and then try to relax the entire hand.

About the Author

Dr. Inese Millere, is a medical doctor turned diplomat, turned mindful eating coach for busy women over 40 who want to overcome stress eating, have a healthy and joyful relationship with food and enjoy healthy living and longevity.

Visit http://www.inesemilleremd.com/individual-course/ to learn more how you can change your eating habits for good.

If you'd like to talk about working with me, please contact me directly at info@inesemilleremd.com with a brief description of your situation.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)