What: Follow along through a progression of tensing and relaxing muscles, paired with controlled breathing, to achieve deep relaxation.
Benefit: This activity can be effective for controlling stress and anxiety, relieving insomnia, and reducing symptoms of certain types of chronic pain. Even if the exercise does not relax you, you benefit from noticing your degree of tension and relaxation.
Ganjeali, S., Farsi, Z., Sajadi, S. A., & Zarea, K. (2022). The effect of the demonstration-based progressive muscle relaxation technique on stress and anxiety in nurses caring for COVID-19 patients: a randomized clinical trial. BMC psychiatry, 22(1), 791. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-04456-3
Ozgundondu, B., & Gok Metin, Z. (2019). Effects of progressive muscle relaxation combined with music on stress, fatigue, and coping styles among Intensive Care Nurses. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 54, 54–63. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31371164/
Toussaint, L., Nguyen, Q. A., Roettger, C., Dixon, K., Offenbächer, M., Kohls, N., Hirsch, J., & Sirois, F. (2021). Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2021, 1–8.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8272667/