In her book “Progressive muscle relaxation”, Edmund Jacobson in 1929 mentioned a method of achieving deep relaxation called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). PMR relaxes the sympathetic nerves caused by chronic muscle tension. To achieve a deep relaxation of the body. This method was developed by Jacobson specifically for anxiety sufferers. His theory concluded that anxiety and relaxation cannot exist at the same time. Therefore naturally achieving a state of relaxation can defeat the state of anxiety one is experiencing.
Before you start practicing PRM, take a moment to look at your body. Where is your tension? In your jaw? Your neck? Your shoulders? Note these areas of tension in your book and focus on them when practicing PMR.
The following PMR guidelines are based on Jacobson’s technique. Each step describes gripping and relaxing specific muscles. Before starting PMR, make sure your body position is comfortable so as not to be distracted. As you follow the instructions, each tension state lasts 10 seconds, then relax for 20 seconds before moving on to the next tension state. Focus on the differences between the relaxed and tense states.
1.Let your back rest in a comfortable position.
2. Make a fist and bend your hand toward your elbow, bringing your wrist closer to your forearm. Bring your forearm closer to your upper arm and flex your biceps. Now release and allow your hands, forearms, and upper arms to relax. Focus on the difference between the sensation of tension and relaxation.
3. Bend your knees slightly and lift your legs about six inches. Bend your toes toward your knee. Feel the tension in your calves and thighs. Now, gently relax your leg, relax your calf muscles and thigh muscles, noting the difference between the tense and relaxed state.
4. Pull your abdominal muscles toward your back and tighten your abdominal muscles. Now relax your abdominal muscles, focusing on the difference in feeling between tension and relaxation.
5. Breathe deeply and feel the tension in your chest muscles and rib cage muscles as you inhale. On the exhale, feel the muscles loosen and relax. Note the difference between tension and relaxation, repeat twice.
6, arch your back. Feel the tension in your spinal muscles. Now gently put yourself back and relax completely. Feel the difference between stretching and relaxing your back muscles. (If you have a bad back, you can skip this step.)
7. Pull your shoulders back and try to get them to meet behind you, now relax your body and mind and feel the difference between tension and relaxation.
8. Bring your shoulders close to your ears and feel the tension caused in your shoulders and neck. Let your shoulders relax completely and go to feel the sensation in your neck and shoulders.
9. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible, your forehead. Notice the tension in the muscles on your forehead. Now relax these muscles and focus on the feeling of relaxation.
10, put your eyebrows down as if you were frowning. Feel the tension in your eye muscles. Now relax these muscles and focus on this feeling.
11, Close your eyes and feel the tension in the muscles around you. Now release these muscles and relax completely.
12, Now just relax and release all the stress on your body and focus on your breathing while taking deep, slow breaths.
PMR takes about twenty to thirty minutes to complete. Some people find it useful to record these instructions and listen to recordings to do PMR exercises. If you are going to make a recording, use a calm, soothing voice and allow ten seconds for tension and twenty seconds for relaxation between each step.
Following this routine once a day will help you develop an overall sense of calm, less tension and less worry. You may also experience fewer physical symptoms with anxiety, such as headaches and neck pain. Don’t mind if you don’t feel immediate relaxation during this exercise. Just like any skill, PMR takes time to master. You will find it helpful by recording the results of each exercise you do in a notebook.
Mainly record your overall relaxation level, 1 (very tense) to 10 (very relaxed), with each assessment per exercise. This way you can track your progress and develop this skill.
Abdominal breathing
Chronic anxiety can alter your natural breathing patterns and lead to bad breathing habits. The tension caused by anxiety moves your breathing from diaphragmatic breathing to your chest. This is known as chest breathing, which tends to be shallow and fast.
Humans don’t build their breathing on their chests. See how we build up our breathing and watch a baby sleep. The abdomen expands slowly, in a slow rhythm, with the rib cage moving only a little, if at all. Notice that the basis of breathing is deep in the abdomen, concentrating mainly on the abdomen. This is abdominal breathing. Many people lose the ability to breathe abdominally as time pushes on. In fact, one of our colleagues claims that singers can acquire adult abdominal breathing by training the singer. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly button to test your breathing style. Breathe several times. Which hand is moving? The more your hand moves across your chest, the more evidence you have that you are chest breathing.
Hyperventilation syndrome
Chest breathing often leads to hyperventilation. When you hear “deep breaths,” you can imagine a movie scene with actors dramatically roaring, some even into a paper bag.” However, hyperventilation is not always so exaggerated. In fact, it can be so subtle, you may not even know it’s happening. That’s because hyperventilation is simply defined as taking more oxygen than your body needs. For example, if you’re sitting at your desk working on your computer, your body’s oxygen needs are low.
However, if you feel stressed and worried, you can breathe into a rapid inhalation and an incomplete exhalation. When this happens, the amount of oxygen you contain exceeds the amount of carbon dioxide you exhale, and therefore, the amount of carbon dioxide in your blood reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood. relative to the decrease in the level of oxygen in your blood. This change, the result of hyperventilation, triggers an array of unpleasant physical symptoms, including these.
Dry mouth, fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, numbness and/or tingling, chest pain or pressure, pounding, rapid heartbeat, feeling anxious and nervous, frequent sighing or yawning
Guiding Words for Abdominal Breathing
Abdominal breathing is done in a rhythmic, controlled manner to counteract the effects of hyperventilation and unpleasant breathing. Here are the steps for abdominal breathing.
1. Lie in a comfortable position.
2. Scan your body and relax any tense muscles.
3. Turn your attention to your breathing.
4. Place one hand on your chest and the other hand above your belly button.
5.Breathe through your nose.
6, Try to move the position of your breath from your chest to your abdomen. Your chest should remain still and your stomach should expand and contract like a balloon with each breath.
7.Inhale slowly, exhale, inhale, inhale, exhale, inhale slowly, inhale three to three on the exhale.
8.Continue for about ten minutes.
If you have difficulty breathing with your abdomen, place a book on your abdomen and practice making the book move up and down. In practice, avoid gasping, yawning, and inhaling. Instead, use smooth, flowing breaths. Once you slow down your breathing, count to three as you inhale and three as you exhale.
Today we briefly covered 2 types of relaxation: progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal breathing, and next week we will continue to give you guided imagery and meditation.