Progressive Muscle Relaxation And Progressive Relaxation
WHOLE HEALTH: INFORMATION FOR VETERANSProgressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive RelaxationWhole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and enables YOU to takecharge of your health and well-being and live your life to the fullest. It starts with YOU. Itis fueled by the power of knowing yourself and what will really work for you in your life.Once you have some ideas about this, your team can help you with the skills, support,and follow up you need to reach your goals.All resources provided in these handouts are reviewed by VHA clinicians and Veterans.No endorsement of any specific products is intended. Best wishes!https://www.va.gov/wholehealth/
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive RelaxationProgressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive RelaxationWhat is progressive muscle relaxation?Progressive muscle relaxation, or PMR, is a two-step practice that you can do to reducestress and help relax. First, you tighten and then, you relax certain groups of muscles oneafter another. After practicing, you might be able to feel the difference between a tight andrelaxed muscle. Practicing multiple times may make you more aware of the feelings in yourbody, and help your mind and body to relax.How can progressive muscle relaxation help me?PMR can help many medical conditions. For example, it can help with anxiety, headaches,insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and high blood pressure.1-3Who shouldn’t do progressive muscle relaxation?If you have a history of muscle spasms, serious injuries, or chronic pain, you may not wantto do this practice. This is because PMR can be hard to do when you are dealing with painor discomfort in your body. Talk with your health care team before doing PMR.How can I do progressive muscle relaxation?There are many different ways to practice PMR. One method is described below andshown in the diagram on page 4. It takes about 10-15 minutes the first time you do it.After practicing a few times, you may not need as much time.Before starting, find a place where you won’t be bothered. Find a comfortable position.You can lie or sit down. If you wear contact lenses, consider removing them before youbegin. Let your eyes close or find a point to look at without straining. Take several slowand deep breaths.Do the following for each of the 14 muscle groups listed below:1. Inhale and tighten the muscles for approximately 5 seconds.2. Note how your body feels and what thoughts you have.3. Exhale and release the muscles for approximately 5 seconds.4. Notice how your body and mind feel.5. Move onto the next group of muscles and repeat steps 1-5.Muscle groups (if you can, do left and right at the same time):1. Hands: Make fists and clench them.2. Arms (biceps): Bend your elbows and make a muscle.3. Arms (triceps): Straighten your arms and tighten the backs of your arms.4. Shoulders: Shrug your shoulders.5. Forehead: Wrinkle your forehead.6. Eyes: Close your eyes as tight as you can.7. Jaw: Clench your jaw.8. Mouth: Smile as big as you can.9. Neck: Move your chin down to your chest then, on your next breath, look up aboveyour head.10. Lower back: Arch your back away from the ground or chair.Page 2 of 5
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive Relaxation11. Abdomen/stomach: Tighten your stomach muscles.12. Buttocks: Tighten your buttock muscles.13. Thighs: Tighten your thighs; this may cause your legs to come off the ground.14. Lower legs: Point your toes away from your head then, on your next breath, pointthem toward your head.How can I do progressive relaxation?If you don’t like tightening your muscles or if it causes pain, you can practice progressiverelaxation (PR) instead. In PR, you focus on relaxing each of the 14 muscle groups listedabove. Like PMR, you can prepare by finding a quiet place, a comfortable position, andtaking several deep breaths. Then do the following steps:1. Focus your mind on the muscles.2. Think about relaxing and softening the muscles, instead of tightening them.3. Notice how your body and mind feel.4. Take several slow and deep breaths before moving to the next group of muscles.5. Repeat steps 1-5 for each of the muscle groups.If taking slow, deep breaths is too hard or you don’t like it, you can breathe normally whiledoing this instead. Just be sure to breathe!What are other ways I can do progressive muscle relaxation? You can stay on one body part for multiple rounds if that is helpful. Tighten themuscle a little less each time.After doing PMR a few times, you can focus on fewer muscle groups. For example,do only the arms, or just the jaw.You can explore other ways to tighten the muscle groups. For example, you canfrown instead of smile for the mouth part.If you would prefer to hear someone talk you through the relaxation, you can buy ordownload recordings online. Search for “progressive muscle relaxation.” You canalso find recording on the VA website n Recordings.asp (Refer toTrack Number 3).Am I doing progressive muscle relaxation the right way?Be careful of the following things when practicing PMR: You should NOT have pain, cramping, or discomfort. If this is happening to you, stopthe practice. When you practice again, try squeezing the muscle less. You can alsotry PR, which doesn’t involve tightening the muscles. (Review instructions above.) Keep breathing. Do not hold your breath while practicing. If this is happening toyou, try saying “inhale” when you tighten the muscle and “exhale” when you releasethe muscle. If your mind wanders, that is okay and normal! When you’re able, return to thepractice.Page 3 of 5
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive RelaxationProgressive Muscle RelaxationDo the following for each of the muscle groups (1-14) marked on the graphic below.InhaleTake NoteExhaleNoticeMove onAnd tighten themuscles forapproximately 5seconds.Of how your bodyfeels and whatthoughts youhave.And release themuscles forapproximately 5secondsHow your bodyand mind feel.To the next groupof muscles andrepeat steps 1-5.Muscle groups (if it applies, do left and right at the same time):1) Hands: make fists and clench themYou should NOT have pain,2) Arms (biceps): bend your elbows and make a musclecramping or discomfort. It so, stop3) Arms (triceps): straighten your arms and tighten the back ofthe practice. You can try easingyour armsyour effort level.4) Shoulders: shrug your shoulders5) Forehead: wrinkle your foreheadKeep breathing! Do NOT hold your6) Eyes: close your eyes as tight as you canbreath while practicing.7) Jaw: clench your jaw8) Mouth: smile as big as you canIf your mind wanders, it’s OK!9) Neck: move your chin to your chest then, on your nextRefocus and resume.breath, look up above your head10) Lower back: arch your back away from the ground or chair11) Abdomen/stomach: tighten your stomach muscles12) Buttocks: tighten your buttock muscles13) Thighs: tighten your thighs; this may cause your legs to come off the ground14) Lower legs: point your toes away from your head then, on your next breath, point them toward yourheadPage 4 of 5
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Progressive RelaxationFor you to consider: Do you think PMR or PR is something you’d like to try? If so, when will you try it?What time of day will work best for you? How often will you do it?How do you think PMR or PR would be helpful for you?The information in this handout is general. Please work with your health care team touse the information in the best way possible to promote your health and happiness.For more information:ORGANIZATIONVeterans HealthAdministrationRESOURCESWEBSITEWhole Health handoutson a variety of ways touse the power of douts/index.aspThis handout was written for the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) by Mara Motley, MD,Academic Integrative Health Fellow, Integrative Health Program, University of Wisconsin Departmentof Family Medicine and Community Health. It is based in part on tools for clinicians “ProgressiveMuscle Relaxation” and “Progressive Relaxation” by Shilagh Mirgain, PhD and Janice Singles, PsyD.The handout was reviewed and edited by Veterans and VHA subject matter experts.References1. Morin CM, Hauri PJ, Espie CA, Spielman AJ, Buysse DJ, Bootzin RR. Nonpharmacologic treatmentof chronic insomnia. An American Academy of Sleep Medicine review. Sleep. 1999;22(8):11341156.2. Carlson CR, Hoyle RH. Efficacy of abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation training: aquantitative review of behavioral medicine research. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1993;61(6):10591067.3. Heymann-Monnikes I, Arnold R, Florin I, Herda C, Melfsen S, Monnikes H. The combination ofmedical treatment plus multicomponent behavioral therapy is superior to medical treatmentalone in the therapy of irritable bowel syndrome. Am J Gastroenterol. 2000;95(4):981-994. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2000.01937.x.6/15/2020Page 5 of 5
Nov 13, 2018 · 1. Morin CM, Hauri PJ, Espie CA, Spielman AJ, Buysse DJ, Bootzin RR. Nonpharmacologic treatment of chronic insomnia. An American Academy of Sleep Medicine review. Sleep. 1999;22(8):1134-1156. 2. Carlson CR, Hoyle RH. Efficacy of abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation training: a quantitative review of behavioral medicine research.
Progressive muscle relaxation exercises are relaxation techniques that involve progressively tensing and then relaxing muscles or muscle groups. By tightening a muscle and then releasing, you can feel the difference between tense and relaxed. Actively engaging in progressive muscle relaxation exercises effectively loosens and relaxes the muscles.
progressive muscle relaxation to decrease somatic stress and guided imagery, as well as meditation, for removing distractive thoughts during sleep (18). Malekzadegan et al. (2010) showed the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation in improving sleep disorders during the third trimester of pregnancy (19).
Mastering a strict bar muscle up will transfer directly to the strict ring muscle ups. There are also other muscle up variations, such as wide ring muscle ups, L-sit muscle ups, weighted muscle ups, explosive muscle ups, one arm muscle ups, etc. This guide is about learning your first
There are three types of muscle tissue: Skeletal muscle—Skeletal muscle tissue moves the body by pulling on bones of the skeleton. Cardiac muscle—Cardiac muscle tissue pushes blood through the arteries and veins of the circulatory system. Smooth muscle—Smooth muscle tis
In order to capture all randomized controlled trials that were related to mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, and relaxation, the following mind–body therapy search terms were used: mindfulness, yoga, qigong, qi gong, chi kung, chikung, tai ji, tai chi, relaxation, relaxation therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, meditation,
muscle relaxation daily for best results, With practice, you can learn to do progressive muscle relaxation while sitting in a chair, o Stretching-Most people hold tension in their head, neck, and shoulder areas (called the stress triangle), The base of the
nonnegative relaxation is equivalent to a tighter semidifinite relaxation. Finally, some comparative numerical results are reported to show that the efficiency of the doubly nonnegative relaxation is more promising than that of semidefinite relaxation for solving some specific BQP problems. Keywords—
Python for Scientific Programming Paul Sherwood CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory p.sherwood@dl.ac.uk. Overview Introduction to the language – (thanks to David Beazley) Some important extension modules – free tools to extend the interpreter – extending and embedding with C and C Chemistry projects in Python – some examples of science projects that use Python Our experiences – a GUI for .
