Muscle relaxation techniques for stress relief

Getting your body to relax physically is a great way to feel calmer and less tense. Here is how you can use muscle relaxation techniques for stress relief.

Stress relief through muscle relaxation

Muscle relaxation techniques are a great way to feel calmer and more physically relaxed. Meditation, yoga, a hot bath or shower and even vigorous exercise can all help you with stress relief by relaxing both your body and mind.

Basic muscle relaxation technique

The following technique involves progressive muscle relaxation. You tense and relax each part of your body, one by one. It is an easy way to get started with muscle relaxation for stress relief.

Getting ready to relax
Choose a time of the day when you are confident that you will not be interrupted – for example, when your baby is having a nap or after your children have gone to bed in the evening. Allow about 20 minutes for this exercise.

Find a place in the house that is quiet and away from everyone else.

Make sure you are wearing comfortable clothes and that you are neither too warm nor too cold. Take off your shoes if possible.

When you are ready, sit or lie down with your eyes closed. If you sit, you might want to sit in a comfortable chair or on the floor against the wall.

Basic steps
Start by noticing where in your body you feel tense or tight. You can do this by mentally scanning your body from top to bottom to identify these areas. This will help you to become aware of how your body is feeling.

Next, start tensing individual parts of your body. As you tense each part, hold it for 5 seconds, then allow 10 seconds when you relax. Slowly breathe in when tensing muscles and slowly breathe out when relaxing them.

Arms

Start with your right hand – clench it into a fist and then relax.
Tense your right bicep and then relax it by dropping your arm to your side.
Do the same for your left hand and bicep.
Lift your shoulders up as high as they can comfortably go and then relax them.

Head

Lean your head back so that you are looking at the ceiling. Relax by moving your head back to its normal position. Do not tense your neck if you have any neck problems.
Open your mouth as wide as possible and relax.
Poke your tongue out as far as you can and relax.
Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth as hard as is comfortable for you and then relax.
Clench your teeth and notice how your cheeks and jaw are becoming tense and then relax.
Close your eyes as tightly as you can and then relax.
Raise your eyebrows as high as you can and relax.

Legs

Tense your bottom tightly and relax.
Tighten your right thigh muscle and relax.
Tighten your right calf muscle by pointing your foot down and relax.
Do the same with your left thigh and calf.
Tighten your toes if you are lying down, or dig them into the carpet or floor if you are sitting and then relax.

Whole body

Take a deep breath. When you feel that your lungs are full, take in a little more breath. Hold the breath for five seconds and then slowly breathe out.
When your whole body feels relaxed, continue to breathe gently in and out.

If you have got only a few minutes, try this relaxation exercise on just your arms, shoulders and face. You will be surprised at how well it works.

Making muscle relaxation work for you

While you are doing this relaxation exercise, it might help to imagine yourself in a quiet, serene setting. You could picture yourself in your favourite place, like the garden, or imagine you are in a forest, by a river or on the ocean. Keep imagining yourself in this place for a while.

As you are doing the exercise, make sure to look after your body – do not tense a body part if you are worried that you might hurt yourself.

This muscle relaxation technique can be very useful if you have not been sleeping well. In this case, do it just before you go to bed. In fact, you might feel very tired after this exercise.

You can get more detailed exercises on the internet and YouTube.