The main idea behind this type of procedure is to control each muscle in the body by recognizing the muscle, making the muscle tense then relaxing the muscle. With practice this will enable you to release stress throughout your body muscle by muscle. This particular exercise is great in conjunction with self-hypnosis, self-imagery and deep breathing techniques.

 Make sure the place that you do this exercise is quiet and you won’t be interrupted.

Use the following progressive muscle relaxation steps:

1. Start with your feet, concentrate on your feet then tense the muscles of the feet. Say out loud or to your self. “My feet are tense”
2. Relax your feet and say out loud or to your self. “My feet are relaxed”
3. Move on to your calf muscles, tense the calf muscles “My calf muscles are tense”
4. Relax your calf muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My calf muscles are relaxed.”
5. Tense your thigh muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My thigh muscles are tense.”
6. Relax your thigh muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My thigh muscles are relaxed.”
7. Tense your stomach muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My stomach muscles are tense.”
8. Relax your stomach muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My stomach muscles are relaxed.”
9. Tense your hand muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My hand muscles are tense.”
10. Relax your hand muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My hand muscles are relaxed.”
11. Tense your forearm muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My forearm muscles are tense.”
12. Relax your forearm muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My forearm muscles are relaxed.”
13.  Tense your biceps and say out loud or to your self. “My biceps are tense.”
14.  Relax your biceps and say out loud or to your self. “My biceps are relaxed.”
15.  Tense your shoulders and say out loud or to your self. “My shoulders are tense.”
16.  Relax your shoulders and say out loud or to your self. “My shoulders are relaxed.”
17. Tense your neck muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My neck muscles are tense.”
18. Relax your neck muscles and say out loud or to your self. “My neck muscles are relaxed.”

 At this point your body should be relaxed, if not repeat the steps. It is important to practice this and take time to concentrate on each set of muscles. Don’t forget any of the muscles.