Quick & Easy Stress Reduction Solutions – Part 4

In my last article I talked about how we can use our breathing to help us relax.  Here is the link my blog page where that article is if you missed it:  https://biofeedbackinternational.com/blog/

Here I will talk about another powerful relaxation tool that you can use with or without any physical tools.  Muscle relaxation is another tool you can use to quickly and easily relax.

Stress Reduction Solution #4 is Using Muscle Relaxation to Reduce Stress

We represent stress in our muscles.  As a reaction to stressful events we tend to contract our muscles and hold some excess tension in our muscles chronically.  This can lead to problems.

Muscles are intended to contract to either to cause movement of our body or to maintain posture.  A certain amount of muscle contraction is necessary to maintain posture so that you don’t fall over.  Additional contraction is necessary to move a part of your body.  Once the movement is over the muscle is supposed to go back to a resting state.

Muscles also contract in reaction to stress as part of the fight or flight response.  This is a normal reaction which is intended to prepare your body to respond physically to an emergency.   This is very helpful if there really is an emergency that requires a physical reaction like if a car jumped onto the sidewalk and you have to run for your life.  The extra tension in your muscles would allow you run faster, jump higher, and hit harder.  This reaction might save your life in a real emergency.

Here is the problem, your nervous system doesn’t tend to be smart enough to not react in the same way when you have a problem at work or you get stuck in traffic.  Your muscles contract as though you had to run, jump, or fight.  Since it is not necessary to react physically, that extra tension is not useful.  In many cases at least some of the extra tension doesn’t go away meaning that the muscles stay partially contracted for no useful reason.  When the muscles don’t go back to a resting state it can lead to pain.  The constant muscle contraction can also continue to send signals to the brain and nervous system to stay in an emergency mode which can cause you to feel stressed or anxious.  It can also be physically draining because the muscles are using resources and energy to maintain the contracted state.

When your muscles stay partially contracted for a long period of time it begins to feel normal to you.  You may not feel tense when you really are.  We are not taught to be sensitive to differences in our muscle tension.  EMG biofeedback uses technology to measure the electrical activity that is produced when the muscles contract.  This is a way that people can learn to be more aware of excess muscle tension.  It can be used to help you learn how to relax your muscles and to be sensitive to when your muscles become tense so that you can release the excess tension.   It’s great if you have access to EMG Biofeedback and I strongly recommend it.  If you don’t have access to it then progressive muscle relaxation is a way that you can learn how to relax your muscles without any technology.

Click here to see a video demonstration of using EMG Biofeedback for muscle relaxation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZVKEHdd9oE

The idea of progressive muscle relaxation exercises is to learn how to release excess tension from your muscles and to be able to notice when even small levels of tension are present in your muscles so that you can release it.    There are various versions of progressive muscle relaxation exercises.  Many of them are somewhat time consuming.  What I want to do here is to give you a tool that you can use at any time to reduce stress.

I will take you through a relatively brief exercise to release muscle tension throughout your body followed by an even quicker way to do it when time is even more limited.

Take a slow deep breath with your belly, pause for a few seconds, and breathe out slowly.

As you exhale, feel any muscle tension in your body being released and flowing out of your body.

Continue to breathe in this way.

Tense the muscles in your forehead by frowning like you are angry. Hold the tension for a few seconds and then quickly release feeling all of the tension flow away.

Pause for about 10 seconds.

Notice the softness in your face.

Next slowly pull your head back and look at the ceiling. Feel the tension in your neck.  Hold for a few seconds, and release, feeling the tension melting away.

Next, clench your fists and hold this position for a few seconds and then release.

Just relax for about 10 seconds.

Now, flex your bicep muscles in your arms. Feel the tension.

Hold it for a few seconds, then and relax your arms totally and let them hang loose.

Take another deep breath and exhale.

Now tense your tricep muscles in the back of your arms by extending your arms out so your elbows lock. Hold this position for a few seconds then relax.

Take a 10 second break.

Now shrug your shoulders up towards your ears. Hold for a few seconds, and then relax and let your arms drop and hand loose.  Feel the heaviness of your arms.

Take a 10 second break.

Now tense your upper back by pulling your shoulders back like you are trying to make your shoulder blades touch. Hold for a few seconds and then relax.

Relax for 10 seconds.

Tense your chest muscles by flexing your pectoral muscles, hold for a few seconds, and relax.

Next, tighten the muscles in your stomach by pulling it in. Hold for a few seconds, and relax.

Tale a 10 second break.

Now gently arch your lower back. Hold the tension for a few seconds, and relax.

Feel the relaxation in the muscles of your upper body.

Tighten your buttocks muscles and hold for a few second then relax and feel the relaxation.

Now tighten your thighs by pressing your knees towards each other. Hold the tension for a few seconds and relax.  Feel the relaxation.

Next, pull your toes towards you and flex your feet to feel the tension in your calves.  Hold for a few

seconds, and then relax.  Feel the relaxation in your legs.

Curl your toes downward to tense the muscles in your feet.  Hold this position for a few seconds and release.

You have now relaxed all of the major muscle groups in your body.  Now let the feeling of relaxation flow throughout your body from your head down through your toes.

Your body should feel loose and heavy.  Continue to breathe at a slow pace for the next few minutes.

As you can see this whole exercise can be done in about seven minutes.  After you have practiced this several times you can do a shorter version of this when you don’t have this much time.  Simply scan the muscles of your body from head to toe detecting any areas that feel tense and just release the tension without tensing first.  You can do this in less than a minute even while other people are around you without them having a clue as to what you are doing.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of quick stress reduction techniques.

Harry L. Campbell

President, Biofeedback Resources International

Author of the book What Stress Can Do (available on www.Amazon.com )

www.biofeedbackinternational.com