Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Reviewed by Dr. Nicholas Gehle, Psy.D., licensed clinical psychologist (FL PY8489) · Updated
Some nights your mind is tired but your body is still braced: shoulders up near your ears, jaw tight, hands curled. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) works through that tension on purpose, one muscle group at a time. It might help you settle, before sleep or whenever your body feels wound up.
What is progressive muscle relaxation?
In PMR you gently tense one muscle group for a few seconds, then let it go and notice the difference. Then you move on to the next group, until you've worked through the body. The method comes from the physician Edmund Jacobson, whose book Progressive Relaxation described the link he saw between muscle tension and mental distress (Jacobson, 1938).
The contrast is the point. Tensing first gives you a clear before and after, and many people find they were holding tension in places they hadn't noticed, like the forehead or the jaw.
PMR is not the same as a body scan. In a body scan you only move your attention through the body and notice what's there, without tensing anything.
What you need: somewhere to lie down or sit: a bed, a couch, or a chair. A guided pass takes about two minutes; on your own, you can go as slowly as you like.
How to do progressive muscle relaxation, step by step
Step 1: Get comfortable
Lie down or sit, whichever suits you. Close your eyes if that feels right, and let your breathing settle on its own.
Step 2: Tense your hands
Make fists and tense the muscles in your hands for about five seconds. Firm, not straining.
Step 3: Release and notice
Let go all at once. For about ten seconds, notice the contrast between how the muscles felt tight and how they feel now.
Step 4: Work through the body
Repeat the tense and release for each muscle group in turn: arms, shoulders, face, chest, belly, thighs, calves, and feet.
Step 5: Rest
After the final release, stay still for a moment and notice your whole body at rest.
Prefer to be guided?
Talking yourself through each muscle group is a lot to hold when you're tense. Strua's Progressive Muscle Relaxation guides each tense and release with timed prompts, takes about two minutes, and can be followed with your eyes closed. It's free with a Strua account. You can use a whole tool before you sign up for an account (four are open to try first); this one isn't among the four. No chatbot and no AI-generated advice.
Create a free account to use Progressive Muscle RelaxationAdapting it, and when to choose something else
- In bed: lying down works well. Many people use PMR as part of winding down, and some fall asleep before they finish. That's fine.
- In the middle of the night: keep the room dark and skip the clock. Our guide to waking up anxious in the middle of the night walks through using it at 3am.
- Short on time: work through larger areas (arms, shoulders and face, legs) instead of each group.
Tensing isn't comfortable for everyone, for example with pain or an injury. Skip any area that hurts, or tense it only lightly. A body scan is the gentler option: you notice each region without tensing anything.
Some people feel more anxious, not less, when they first try to relax, something researchers have called relaxation-induced anxiety (Heide & Borkovec, 1983). If that happens, you can stop at any point and open your eyes. Something outward-facing, such as 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, may suit that moment better.
What the research says, and what it doesn't
A meta-analysis of 27 studies of relaxation training for anxiety found medium to large reductions in anxiety. PMR was the method studied most. Some of the studies had no control group, and effects were larger with longer programs and regular practice at home (Manzoni et al., 2008).
For sleep, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's guideline on chronic insomnia in adults includes relaxation therapy as an option on its own, with a conditional recommendation (Edinger et al., 2021).
Most of that research looks at structured relaxation programs practiced over weeks, not a single two-minute session. Treat one session of PMR as something that might help you settle, not as a treatment for anxiety or insomnia.
Full References
- Edinger, J. D., Arnedt, J. T., Bertisch, S. M., Carney, C. E., Harrington, J. J., Lichstein, K. L., Sateia, M. J., Troxel, W. M., Zhou, E. S., Kazmi, U., Heald, J. L., & Martin, J. L. (2021). Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17(2), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.8986
- Heide, F. J., & Borkovec, T. D. (1983). Relaxation-induced anxiety: Paradoxical anxiety enhancement due to relaxation training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(2), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.51.2.171
- Jacobson, E. (1938). Progressive relaxation (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
- Manzoni, G. M., Pagnini, F., Castelnuovo, G., & Molinari, E. (2008). Relaxation training for anxiety: A ten-years systematic review with meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 8, 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-8-41
When to talk to someone
If tension, anxiety, or sleeplessness is most days and wearing you down, a clinician can help you look at what's underneath it. This page isn't a treatment for anxiety or insomnia, and a self-help tool supplements care rather than replacing it. If you're in crisis in the US, you can call or text 988 anytime.