Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Study tension, release it, and progressively let muscular effort go
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
Progressive muscle relaxation addresses what Edmund Jacobson called the effort error: people can relax moderately, then tense up again when they try harder to relax. Instead of directly forcing deeper calm, the person deliberately contracts a muscle group and studies the sensations of tension for a short period. They then stop contracting and attend to the feeling of letting go. Repeating this contrast across muscle groups makes release easier to recognize and can lower sympathetic nervous-system arousal. Robertson adds an important acceptance-based qualification. If the exercise is used to make anxiety disappear, it may become another avoidance strategy. A more useful frame is to release muscular resistance while allowing involuntary sensations, such as a fast heartbeat, to remain and be experienced.
Origin
Robertson attributes the method to physiology professor Edmund Jacobson, who developed major relaxation techniques in the 1920s after identifying the effort error.
Core principles
- 01Trying too hard to relax can create more tension
- 02Deliberate tension makes release easier to perceive
- 03Progressive release can deepen relaxation
- 04Relax into anxiety rather than trying to erase it
How to run it
- 1
Choose a muscle group
Bring attention to one area of the body where muscular effort can be deliberately changed.
- 2
Create tension
Contract the muscles intentionally and study what tension feels like for a short period.
Pro tip Robertson describes studying the tension for roughly 30 seconds as an example.
Watch out Do not strain or create pain.
- 3
Let go
Stop the contraction and focus on the contrast as the tension releases.
Pro tip Attend to letting go rather than trying hard to manufacture relaxation.
- 4
Progress through the body
Repeat the tension-and-release cycle with additional muscle groups so release can deepen progressively.
- 5
Relax into remaining sensations
Allow involuntary anxiety sensations to remain while reducing the muscular bracing around them.
Pro tip Frame the practice as acceptance of the feeling, not removal of the feeling.
Watch out Using relaxation to escape anxiety can maintain the original problem.
In the wild
Illustrative scenario: a person notices a fast heartbeat and tense shoulders before speaking. They deliberately tense and release the shoulder muscles, then allow the heartbeat to continue without treating it as dangerous.
→ Muscular bracing decreases while the person remains accepting of involuntary arousal.
Common mistakes
Trying hard to relax
Extra effort can reproduce the muscular tension that the exercise is meant to release.
Relaxing anxiety away
Using the method to suppress all anxious sensations can convert it into experiential avoidance.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people whose anxiety includes noticeable muscular bracing and who need a concrete release practice.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when used as a safety behavior intended to eliminate every symptom of anxiety.
From the transcript
“He found that most people can relax to a kind of medium level, but then when they try to relax deeper, they actually tense up.”
“you tense your muscles and you study the feelings of tension for like 30 seconds or whatever. Um and then you you let go of…”
“If I imagine myself as relaxing into them, then it could actually be turned into a form of uh emotional acceptance technique.”
From the episode
Practical Tools for a Less Anxious Life - Donald Robertson - #1050
Donald Robertson