Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), originally known as progressive relaxation (PR), is a systematic clinical procedure that aims to teach individuals how to relax muscles throughout the body. For some individuals, subtle increases in muscle tension can accumulate over time in response to stressful life situations. For others, unintentional habits of holding tension in certain muscles may develop, resulting in an inability to identify and/or release unnecessary physical tension. When delivering PMR, the clinician teaches an individual how to produce tension deliberately across various muscle groups of the body followed by deliberate release of such tension. The individual not only learns the physical movements involved but also directs attention to associated physical sensations, eventually becoming increasingly aware of tension- and relaxation-induced sensations. Once the individual ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles