Release Body Tension With Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Woman rubbing her neck to ease body tension

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Body tension happens when your muscles react to stress. You probably know what this feels like. When you're stressed out about work, relationships, family money, or other challenges, your muscles get taut and tense—you might feel like a rubber band that's been stretched too tight or like your whole body is tied up in knots. It's uncomfortable, but it can also trigger a host of other problems, such as headaches, neck pain, and back pain. Ouch!

Stress may take a toll on your body, but you don't have to just learn to live with the pain and discomfort. There are tons of relaxation and stress management techniques that really can help you release the tension in your body.

Letting go of this tension is important if you want to combat stress's damaging effects on your body. There are a variety of techniques that can help you accomplish this, including progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and exercise. Having a self-help "toolbox" of stress management strategies can help you feel less tense and cope more effectively.

At a Glance

Body tension caused by stress can cause pain and other health problems, but there are steps you can take to feel less on edge. Progressive muscle relaxation is one technique that can be particularly helpful. It takes a little practice, but you can use progressive muscle relaxation to quickly de-stress at any time.

Once you can relax your body from head to toe, your mind will feel more relaxed, and your overall stress levels will decrease. 

How PMR Can Ease Body Tension

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is an effective technique for reducing overall body tension and psychological stress. This simple technique involves the tensing and relaxing of all of the major muscles in your body, from your head to your feet. 

By tensing your muscles before relaxing them, you enable yourself to relax them more thoroughly after you release them. This allows you to let go of all that physical body tension more effectively.

The great news is that PMR is easy to learn and can be practiced virtually anywhere.

Benefits of PMR for Body Tension

Research shows that relaxing your body physically can also release psychological tension and stress, minimizing your stress reactivity and decreasing your experience of chronic stress. There are other effective ways to minimize psychological and emotional stress, but PMR can offer you one more tool to manage stress, which can help you build your resilience overall.

One study found that practicing an abbreviated form of PMR helped people feel less stressed and reduced their levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Other studies have shown that practicing PMR can also effectively eliminate the pain linked to stress-induced body tension. For example, progressive muscle relaxation can reduce migraines, lessen back pain, and ease neck pain.

With regular practice, the relaxation triggered by the PMR technique can come more quickly and automatically, making it a great go-to technique for many situations that involve physical tension.

As you practice tensing and relaxing all of your body's muscle groups, you can move to a shortened version of this activity, known as deep muscle relaxation (DMR). This is where you rapidly relax your whole body.

When practicing DMR, imagine relaxation streaming from your head to your feet like water being poured and gently engulfing you. As you reduce the tension you carry in your body, your whole being will feel less stress, and you will enjoy increased physical and emotional health.

How to Do PMR

Progressive muscle relaxation is not hard to learn, but it does take some practice. Here’s how to get started:

Find Some Time

Block off at least 15 minutes to begin. Consider setting an alarm for yourself in case you fall asleep. (This will allow you to relax more completely, knowing you won't lose track of time.) You might also want to practice in a private place so you'll feel more comfortable.

Sit and Make Yourself Comfortable

After finding a quiet place and several free minutes to practice progressive muscle relaxation, sit or lie down and make yourself comfortable. It's more effective to stretch out and lie down, but if you don't have room to lie down, sitting in a comfortable chair is fine as well. 

Unfold your arms, however, and uncross your legs so that you have easy circulation and your body is able to really relax.

Start With Your Face

Begin by tensing all the muscles in your face and scalp. Make a tight grimace, close your eyes as tightly as possible, clench your teeth, even move your ears up if you can. Hold this for the count of eight as you inhale.

Let Go of Your Tension

Now exhale and relax completely. Let your face go completely lax, as though you were sleeping. Feel the tension seep from your facial muscles, and enjoy the feeling. 

Take your time and relax completely before you move onto the next step. You can repeat this step until your face feels thoroughly relaxed if desired.

Move to Your Neck

Next, completely tense your neck and shoulders, again inhaling and counting to eight. Then exhale and relax. Again, this step can be repeated until you feel absolutely relaxed in this area, particularly because many people carry tension in their neck and shoulder muscles. Take your time, and let yourself go.

Work Your Way Down

Continue down your body, repeating the procedure with the following muscle groups:
chest

  1. Abdomen
  2. Entire right arm
  3. Right forearm and hand (making a fist)
  4. Right hand
  5. Entire left arm
  6. Left forearm and hand (again, making a fist)
  7. Left hand
  8. Buttocks
  9. Entire right leg
  10. Lower right leg and foot
  11. Right foot
  12. Entire left leg
  13. Lower left leg and foot
  14. Left foot
  15. Face
  16. Neck, shoulders, and arms
  17. Abdomen and chest
  18. Buttocks, legs, and feet

Practice

As you practice, you can also begin to abbreviate this process. For the shortened version, which includes just four main muscle groups, quickly focus on each group one after the other.

With practice, you can relax your body quickly, almost like having 'liquid relaxation' poured on your head, flowing down and covering you in a deep sense of calm.

Other Ways to Reduce Body Tension

There are also other tactics that can help you manage your stress and ease physical body tension. The key is to try several different methods and figure out which ones work most effectively for you. Some that you might want to try include:

Deep Breathing

People who are under stress tend to take short, shallow breaths. It's normal for your breathing rate to increase when anxious, but prolonged rapid breathing can increase stress and anxiety.

Countering it with slow, deep breathing exercises can calm the body's response to stress and induce greater relaxation, which helps ease body tension.

Exercise

Research has shown that exercise can effectively reduce and even prevent feelings of stress and anxiety. Moving your body can also release pent-up energy that contributes to body tension.

Plus, it's a great way to get a quick boost of endorphins, those feel-good chemicals that boost your mood and improve your outlook.

Yoga

Yoga is a discipline that combines breath control, meditation, and body movements to help promote better relaxation and health. It has been shown to have various mental health benefits, including reducing stress, improving mood, and boosting feelings of relaxation. 

Guided Imagery

Guided imagery is a mind-body technique that uses words and music to help people imagine positive mental imagery. It can be a great way to calm yourself during times of stress and to release the physical body tension that might be causing your muscle pain and headaches.

Research has found that guided imagery works quickly to reduce physiological tension. Fortunately, it's a quick and straightforward technique. There are also many free resources available online that can help.

7 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Chellew K, Evans P, Fornes-Vives J, Pérez G, Garcia-Banda G. The effect of progressive muscle relaxation on daily cortisol secretionStress. 2015;18(5):538-544. doi:10.3109/10253890.2015.1053454

  2. Meyer B, Keller A, Wöhlbier HG, Overath CH, Müller B, Kropp P. Progressive muscle relaxation reduces migraine frequency and normalizes amplitudes of contingent negative variation (CNV)J Headache Pain. 2016;17:37. doi:10.1186/s10194-016-0630-0

  3. Mateu M, Alda O, Inda MD, et al. Randomized, controlled, crossover study of self-administered Jacobson Relaxation in chronic, nonspecific, low-back painAltern Ther Health Med. 2018;24(6):22-30.

  4. Lauche R, Materdey S, Cramer H, et al. Effectiveness of home-based cupping massage compared to progressive muscle relaxation in patients with chronic neck pain--a randomized controlled trialPLoS One. 2013;8(6):e65378. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065378

  5. Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, et al. Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxationEvid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040

  6. Schultchen D, Reichenberger J, Mittl T, et al. Bidirectional relationship of stress and affect with physical activity and healthy eatingBr J Health Psychol. 2019;24(2):315-333. doi:10.1111/bjhp.12355

  7. Woodyard C. Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of lifeInt J Yoga. 2011;4(2):49-54. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.85485

Additional Reading
  • Davis, M., Eshelman, E.R., & McKay, M. (2008). The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook, 6th ed. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
  • Seaward, B. L. (2013). Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Wellbeing, 8th Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD
Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.