Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) works by deliberately tensing each muscle group in your body for a few seconds, then releasing that tension and noticing the contrast. The whole process takes 10 to 20 minutes and moves systematically from your hands down to your feet. It’s one of the most well-studied relaxation techniques available, with research showing it can reduce stress hormone levels by about 8% and self-reported stress by 10% with regular practice.
Why Tensing Before Relaxing Works
The core idea behind PMR is simple: most people don’t actually know what relaxed muscles feel like. You carry tension in your shoulders, jaw, or back without realizing it. By intentionally tightening a muscle first, you create a clear contrast that teaches your body to recognize and release tension on command.
This works through two pathways. The “top-down” route is your conscious decision to focus attention on specific body parts, which quiets mental chatter. The “bottom-up” route is the physical release itself sending signals back to your nervous system that it’s safe to shift out of fight-or-flight mode. The relaxation phase activates your parasympathetic nervous system, the branch responsible for slowing your heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing digestion. Edmund Jacobson developed this technique in the 1920s, and it remains a standard tool in clinical psychology nearly a century later because the mechanism is reliable.
Before You Start
Find a quiet spot where you won’t be interrupted. You can sit in a chair or lie on your back. Loosen any tight clothing and remove your shoes if you’d like. Close your eyes or soften your gaze toward the floor.
Take three slow breaths before you begin, focusing on making each exhale longer than your inhale. This matters because the exhale is what activates your calming nervous system response. Inhale-heavy breathing can actually increase arousal rather than reduce it.
The basic rhythm for every muscle group is the same: tense for 5 to 7 seconds, then release and relax for 10 to 20 seconds. During the tension phase, squeeze firmly but not to the point of pain or cramping. During the relaxation phase, pay close attention to how the muscle feels as the tension drains out. That awareness is where the real benefit lives.
The 14 Muscle Groups, Step by Step
Work through these in order. If possible, do both sides of your body at the same time.
- Hands: Make fists and clench them. Hold, then release and let your fingers spread open naturally.
- Biceps: Bend your elbows and flex like you’re showing off your muscles. Hold, then straighten your arms and let them go limp.
- Triceps: Straighten your arms fully and tighten the backs of your upper arms. Hold, then release.
- Shoulders: Shrug your shoulders up toward your ears as high as they’ll go. Hold, then drop them.
- Forehead: Raise your eyebrows and wrinkle your forehead as much as you can. Hold, then smooth it out.
- Eyes: Squeeze your eyes shut tightly. Hold, then let your eyelids rest gently closed.
- Jaw: Clench your teeth together firmly. Hold, then let your jaw hang slightly open.
- Mouth: Smile as wide as you possibly can. Hold, then let your face go completely slack.
- Neck: Tuck your chin down toward your chest. Hold, then on your next breath, gently tilt your head back to look upward. Hold, then return to neutral.
- Lower back: Arch your back gently away from the chair or floor. Hold, then settle back down.
- Abdomen: Tighten your stomach muscles as if bracing for someone to poke you. Hold, then release.
- Buttocks: Squeeze your glutes together. Hold, then let them relax completely.
- Thighs: Tighten your upper legs (your legs may lift slightly off the surface). Hold, then release.
- Lower legs: Point your toes away from your body. Hold, then on your next breath, pull your toes back toward your shins. Hold, then release.
After you finish the last muscle group, sit or lie still for a minute. Scan your body mentally from head to toe and notice any spots that still feel tight. You can repeat the tense-and-release cycle for those areas a second time.
How Long a Session Takes
A full session through all 14 muscle groups typically takes 15 to 20 minutes. If that feels like a lot, abbreviated versions that combine muscle groups (tensing both arms at once, for example, or grouping the entire face into one step) can bring it down to about 10 minutes. Research on these shortened versions found a moderate effect size across 29 studies, and the benefits held up at follow-up assessments weeks later. So a shorter version still works, especially once you’ve practiced the full version enough to know what each muscle group feels like.
That said, longer and more frequent practice produces stronger results. People who practiced individually and used audio recordings to guide their sessions showed the greatest improvements. If you’re just starting out, following along with a guided recording for your first few sessions is a good idea until the sequence becomes automatic.
Getting Better Results Over Time
PMR is a skill, not a one-time fix. The first session might feel awkward or only mildly relaxing. That’s normal. The relaxation response deepens as your body learns the pattern. Most clinical programs recommend practicing once or twice daily for at least a few weeks before judging whether it works for you.
A few things that help: practice at the same time each day so it becomes routine. Many people find it works well right before bed, since the parasympathetic activation naturally promotes sleep. Others prefer a midday session to reset after a stressful morning. Try not to rush through the relaxation phase. The 10 to 20 seconds of letting go after each squeeze is where your nervous system actually recalibrates, so give it the full time.
Over weeks of practice, you’ll start noticing habitual tension in daily life, catching yourself clenching your jaw during a meeting or hiking your shoulders while driving. At that point, you can do a quick “release only” version for a specific muscle group without needing the full sequence.
Who Should Modify or Skip PMR
If you have chronic pain, a history of muscle spasms, or a serious injury, the active tensing portion of PMR can make things worse rather than better. You should not feel pain, cramping, or sharp discomfort during any part of the exercise. If you do, stop and try again with much less force. You can also switch to “passive relaxation,” which involves focusing your attention on each muscle group and mentally releasing tension without the squeezing step. This variation still produces calming effects through the top-down attention pathway, just without the physical component that could aggravate an injury.
For the lower back and neck steps in particular, go gently. These areas are more vulnerable to strain than your hands or biceps. A small arch or a slight chin tuck is enough to create the sensation of tension without pushing into a risky range of motion.