Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR): Reshaping your Body's Stress Response

Imagine this: You’re sitting at your desk, juggling deadlines, emails, and an endless to-do list. Your shoulders are tense, your jaw is clenched, and your mind is racing. This is the body’s natural response to stress — a survival mechanism that has been hardwired into our physiology for millennia. It's what gave us a fighting chance when we had not much else in a world inhabited by many who considered us their next snack. But in today’s world, where stressors are constant and often psychological rather than physical, this response can become chronic, leading to persistent muscle tension and a host of related health issues.

This is where Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) comes in. As you practice PMR, you’ll be deliberately tensing and then relaxing various muscle groups in your body. This seemingly simple process is underpinned by a complex interplay of physiological mechanisms that help to reduce stress and promote overall well-being.

When you’re under stress, your body activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is responsible for the “fight or flight” response. This response evolved as a way to prepare you to either confront or escape from immediate danger. As part of this process, your muscles tense up, getting ready for action.

However, in your modern, everyday life, stress is more likely to come from a looming deadline or an argument rather than from something trying to eat you, at least I would hope. Yet, your body responds the same way — your muscles tighten, your heart rate increases, and stress hormones like cortisol flood your system. Over time, this chronic muscle tension can lead to discomfort, pain, (hello tension headache, stiff back, and sore neck anyone?) and even long-term health issues like hypertension or anxiety disorders.

PMR helps you break this cycle by teaching you to recognize and control muscle tension. By deliberately tensing and then relaxing each muscle group, you learn to identify what relaxation feels like, allowing you to intervene before tension escalates into a full-blown stress response.

Let’s take a look at some of the mechanisms by which PMR accomplishes that.

Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System

Your body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) operates largely out of your conscious control, regulating essential functions like your heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate. It has two primary branches:

The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): This is what kicks in during stressful situations, triggering the fight or flight response.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): Often referred to as the “rest and digest” system, the PNS is responsible for bringing your body back to a state of calm after the perceived threat has passed.

When you practice PMR, you’re actively shifting the balance from the SNS to the PNS. This shift is crucial because chronic activation of the SNS (as in ongoing stress) can be harmful over time, leading to high blood pressure, weakened immune function, and other stress-related conditions. PMR, by promoting relaxation, helps engage the PNS, slowing your heart rate, reducing muscle tension, and lowering levels of stress hormones like cortisol.

Think of PMR as a reset button for your body’s stress response, helping you move from a state of high alert back to one of relaxation and recovery.

Biofeedback and Body Awareness

One of the main ways PMR exerts its effect is by enhancing your internal body awareness through a process known as biofeedback. Biofeedback is essentially your body’s way of sending you signals about its current state — like how fast your heart is beating or how tense your muscles feel.

However, most of us are not fully attuned to these signals, especially when it comes to chronic tension, which can become so habitual that we no longer consciously notice it. PMR changes that by helping you become more aware of your physiological state. As you practice tensing and relaxing your muscles, you’ll start to notice subtle differences in how your body feels in various states. This awareness is critical because it empowers you to identify and address tension before it spirals into more significant stress.

In other words, PMR acts as a tool to fine-tune your internal radar, allowing you to detect when your muscles are tensing up and to consciously relax them.

Lowering Stress Hormones

When you’re stressed, your body releases a cascade of hormones — primarily cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are part of the body’s natural way of preparing you to deal with a threat. In the short term, they are beneficial, helping to boost energy, sharpen focus, and prepare your muscles for action.

But when stress becomes chronic, these hormones remain elevated, which can have detrimental effects on your brain and body, including impaired cognitive function, suppressed immune function, and increased fat accumulation, particularly around the abdomen.

PMR helps you to counteract this by lowering the levels of these stress hormones. Regular practice of PMR has been shown to reduce baseline cortisol levels, helping your body to recover from stress more effectively and mitigating the long-term effects of chronic stress.

The process of tensing and then relaxing your muscles in PMR activates what is known as the relaxation response. This term, coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, describes the physiological state that is the opposite of the stress-induced fight or flight response.

When you trigger the relaxation response, your body undergoes a series of changes: your heart rate decreases, your breathing slows, your blood pressure drops, and your muscles relax. This response is not just about feeling more relaxed in the moment; it’s about reversing the physical effects of stress on your body.

The relaxation response is a deeply restful state that can counteract the harmful effects of stress, improve mood, enhance sleep, and boost overall health. PMR is an effective way to induce this state because it systematically reduces muscle tension — a key component of stress.

Mindfulness

PMR is also a form of mindfulness. By focusing on your body and the act of relaxation, you naturally divert your attention from stressors and negative thoughts.

This focus on the present moment, combined with the physical relaxation, helps you reduce anxiety and improve emotional regulation. Over time, PMR can help you develop a more balanced mental state, where you are better able to manage your emotions and respond to stress in a healthier way.

As you practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation, you’re not just engaging in a simple relaxation exercise — you’re actively reshaping your body’s response to stress. By systematically tensing and relaxing your muscles, you’re teaching your body to shift from a state of high alert to one of deep relaxation. This process engages your parasympathetic nervous system, reduces harmful stress hormones, and enhances your ability to recognize and control muscle tension.

In the long run, PMR can help you build resilience against stress, improve your physical health, and enhance your overall sense of well-being. It’s a powerful tool that combines physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits, all rooted in a deep understanding of the body’s stress response.

I have included some links to guided sessions on YouTube but you can also find classes if you would like to start with more support.

The first one is a nice, short version to use when ever needed, the second is considerable longer and designed for those struggling with stress induced insomnia. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyxvL1O2duk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1TOqzOWV3M

Sybille Hazward