Overload Stress

PMR

Targeted PMR

Purpose:

Targeted Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a relaxation technique where you focus on specific muscle groups that often hold stress, like your neck, shoulders, or jaw. You tense and then release these muscles to directly reduce physical tension caused by stress. The purpose of this practice is to help you become more aware of where stress manifests in your body and use controlled relaxation to alleviate it. By concentrating on particular areas of tension, it helps you break the cycle of stress, promoting physical and mental relaxation in a manageable way.

Science:

  • Reduces Stress: By alternating between muscle tension and relaxation, PMR stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps lower cortisol levels and calm the body’s stress response.

  • Relieves Physical Tension: The practice targets muscle groups, helping to release built-up tension and increase blood flow, reducing discomfort caused by stress-related stiffness.

  • Enhances Emotional Regulation: By fostering deep relaxation, PMR reduces mental and emotional overwhelm, supporting a balanced response to stress and enhancing resilience.

When to Use:

  • During moments of stress when you are feeling physical effects

(ie. overwhelming study sessions, when the main effect of the stress is physical tension, when starting a stressful event)

How to Use:

  1. Choose Your Focus Area: Identify the muscle group that feels most tense or stressed, such as your neck, shoulders, or back.

  2. Tense and Hold: Inhale deeply and tense the selected muscle group for 5-10 seconds, focusing on the sensation of tightness. (Be careful. Don’t tense to the extent that you feel pain near the closest bone or feel extreme muscle strain. Listen to your body.)

  3. Release and Relax: Exhale slowly and release the tension, noticing the feeling of relaxation that follows.

  4. Focus on Sensations: Pay close attention to how the muscle feels when it’s relaxed, contrasting it with the tension you felt earlier.

  5. Move to Another Area: After releasing tension in one area, move to the next muscle group that feels tight and repeat the process.

  6. Repeat as Needed: Try to build up to 5-10 minutes for the best impact or until you feel the targeted areas of your body are fully relaxed.

Tools:

To practice a Thought Record try our:

  • Quick Guide

  • Targeted PMR Practice Tracker