Today I want to talk about the Progressive Muscle Relaxation which was made famous by Edmund Jacobson. He created this process in the 1920’s.  It seems that people were stressed out even in those days.

This form of relaxation is all about relaxing one muscle group at a time – like the hands or feet or your face. You may ask: “How do I relax a tense muscle? It is very difficult for me to do so!” You may be one of these people who react in a paradoxical way. Somebody tells you to relax and you get even more tense. This is where Jacobson’s method may help you.

His method works the following way:
Before you can relax you have to tighten the tense muscle even further. Yes, you heard right, tighten the muscle even further and then it will be much more willing to let go.

Just try it with your hands – make some really, really tight fists and then as you breathe out with a big sigh through your mouth,  open your hands. They should feel nice and loose now. When you have a chance, you can work your way all around your body, tensing and then relaxing. it is best to do it in a
logical fashion, from your feet up all the way up to your face seems the easiest. This relaxation is best done lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair. To go through the whole body will take you at least 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Please use your common sense – in case you have any injuries or had surgery recently, do not tense that particular body part. Of course, if you are pregnant, you do not tense your abdomen. If in
doubt about anything, consult your doctor.

Have fun and try this form of relaxation, it is very effective.

Till next time,

Charly and Connie

from

http://www.stretchyourmindandbody.com