Negative thoughts cured with Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Negative thoughts and feelings can significantly contribute to the tension we experience in our bodies. Most of the time we are unaware of the tension in our bodies until it manifests as a physical condition such as muscle tightness in the body, headaches and even stomach ulcers. Progressive muscle relaxation serves as a great way relax the body at the first sign of tension.

Progressive muscle relaxation has been around for decades. Just like deep breathing, it's as simple as it is effective. All that you do is first tense and then relax muscle groups in order. When you tense a group of muscles and then relax them, they will automatically relax more than they had been originally. The particular order is up to you, the order we are describing is an example.

When performing the progressive relaxation technique it important to follow the following guide lines

• Do this technique in a quiet room where no one can interrupt you
• Sit on a comfortable chair, couch, recliner or lie on a bed
• Allocate around 10-15 minutes every day as your scheduled time for this technique
• Note the sensations you experience tensing and relaxing the various muscle groups

Close your eyes and quiet your breathing. Tense the muscles in your right hand and count to five, then relax them. It doesn't matter how you tense the muscles. Some people will make a fist, others will straighten out their hand. The key is to tense the muscles to a comfortable degree. Over-tensing the muscles can cause discomfort, much the same as an overdone workout.

Start progressive tensing and relaxing the various muscle groups. The sequence of muscles varies slightly depending on how much time you have however the general order is as follows: Toes, Knees, Entire right leg, Entire left leg, Right hand, Right forearm and hand, Entire right arm, Left hand, Left forearm and hand, Entire left arm, Abdomen, Chest, Neck and shoulders and Face.

Be gentle when you move on to your neck. Tense the muscles by gently moving your neck to one side and the other, forward and back, remembering to completely relax after tensing each muscle group. Move down your back, down your legs and to your feet until you have tensed and relaxed every muscle group in your body.

By the time you finish this progressive muscle relaxation exercise, you will probably already notice that your breathing has relaxed and deepened quite a bit. Remember with transcendental meditation, you can also achieve similar goals.