Progressive Muscle Relaxation

How to do progressive muscle relaxation

Tense one muscle group for about 5 seconds, release it for 10 to 30 seconds, and move to the next. Start at the hands or the feet and work through the body in a fixed order.

1. Pick a group. Start with the first one on the list below or in the timer.
2. Tense it gently for a slow count of 5. Firm, not painful. Keep breathing.
3. Release all at once. Let the muscle go completely, as if dropping a weight.
4. Rest and notice. Spend 10 to 30 seconds feeling the difference between tight and loose.
5. Move to the next group. Keep the rest of the body soft.

Before you start, choose a quiet spot where you can sit or lie down, and wear loose clothes. A handout from the Centre for Clinical Interventions in Western Australia advises against practicing right after a heavy meal or alcohol, and advises people with injuries or long-term muscle pain to check with a doctor first ^[2]. Do not hold your breath while you tense. The timer above does the counting, so you can close your eyes.

Progressive muscle relaxation script: 16 muscle groups

The full script takes about 7 minutes and 20 seconds with a 15-second release. It follows the 16-group idea of Bernstein and Borkovec, who shortened Jacobson's longer method ^[3]. The wording of each tension cue is ours, and we use "dominant" and "non-dominant" instead of right and left, so it fits either hand.

1. Dominant hand and forearm. Make a tight fist and bend the wrist slightly back.
2. Dominant upper arm. Bend the elbow and tighten the biceps, as if making a muscle.
3. Non-dominant hand and forearm. Make a tight fist and bend the wrist slightly back.
4. Non-dominant upper arm. Bend the elbow and tighten the biceps.
5. Forehead. Raise your eyebrows as high as you can.
6. Upper cheeks and nose. Squeeze your eyes shut and wrinkle your nose.
7. Lower cheeks and jaw. Press your teeth together lightly and pull the corners of your mouth back in a forced smile.
8. Neck and throat. Press your head back gently, face forward. Go slowly, never to the point of pain, and skip it if your neck hurts.
9. Chest, shoulders and upper back. Breathe in, then pull your shoulders up and back. Breathe out as you release.
10. Abdomen. Pull your stomach in toward your spine.
11. Dominant thigh. Press the knee down and tighten the thigh.
12. Dominant calf. Slowly pull your toes toward you. Ease off at the first hint of a cramp.
13. Dominant foot. Curl your toes down gently. Do not point them hard.
14. Non-dominant thigh. Press the knee down and tighten the thigh.
15. Non-dominant calf. Slowly pull your toes toward you. Ease off at the first hint of a cramp.
16. Non-dominant foot. Curl your toes down gently. Do not point them hard.

The timer adds 30 seconds at the start for 3 slow breaths and 90 seconds at the end to rest and breathe quietly. If you want paper, there is a printable PMR script with the same 16 groups.

Short PMR script: 7 muscle groups in about 4 minutes

Seven larger groups take about 3 minutes 50 seconds with a 15-second release, about half the full script. This is our own simplified version, not a published protocol, and it merges neighboring groups. Choose "Short" in the timer.

1. Dominant arm, hand to shoulder. Make a fist and bend the elbow, tightening the whole arm.
2. Non-dominant arm. The same, on the other side.
3. Face. Raise your eyebrows, squeeze your eyes shut and press your teeth lightly together.
4. Neck and shoulders. Pull your shoulders up toward your ears. Press your head back only gently.
5. Chest, back and abdomen. Breathe in, pull your shoulder blades back and tighten your stomach. Breathe out as you release.
6. Right leg. Press the knee down, slowly pull your toes toward you, then curl them gently. Ease off at any cramp.
7. Left leg. Same.

Progressive muscle relaxation for sleep

This version is for bedtime: tense each area gently for 5 seconds, and there is no "open your eyes, wake up" step at the end, so you can drift off.

Lie on your back. NHS inform suggests a pillow under your knees if your lower back is sore ^[4]. Harvard Health's bedtime version moves from the toes up to the forehead through about a dozen areas ^[5]. We use 13 areas in that order, and the timer takes 4 minutes 50 seconds at a 15-second release:

1. Toes and feet. Curl your toes down gently.
2. Calves. Slowly pull your toes toward you. Ease off at any cramp.
3. Thighs. Tighten lightly, as if pressing your knees into the bed.
4. Buttocks. Squeeze gently.
5. Lower back. Press gently into the bed. Skip it if your back hurts.
6. Abdomen. Pull your stomach in softly.
7. Upper back. Draw your shoulder blades together lightly.
8. Shoulders. Lift them a little toward your ears.
9. Arms. Tighten both arms lightly.
10. Hands. Make soft fists.
11. Neck. Press the back of your head lightly into the pillow. Skip it if your neck hurts.
12. Jaw. Press your teeth together lightly.
13. Forehead. Raise your eyebrows gently, then smooth them.

Breathe out as you let go. If thoughts wander in, note them and go back to the next muscle. We found no trial that tests PMR on falling asleep faster, so treat it as something to try. For a breathing option, see 4-7-8 breathing. If tensing keeps you awake, try the body scan for sleep, which asks you only to notice. A shorter relaxation routine is the military sleep method, and how to fall asleep fast combines muscle relaxation with a longer exhale in one bedtime plan.

How long to tense and release

Tense for about 5 seconds; for release, sources range from 10 seconds to 40. The sources differ mostly on release, so the timer lets you choose 10, 15 or 30 seconds.

Total time follows from the numbers: groups × (5 + release) + 30 seconds of intro + the closing rest (90 seconds in the full script, 60 in the short one, none in bed). These are the totals the timer shows:

Our timer is shorter than the 15 to 20 minute sessions some sources describe, because it runs one cycle per group. Start with 15 seconds and lengthen the rest if you feel rushed.

Does progressive muscle relaxation actually work?

It helps many people feel more relaxed, but the studies disagree on how much, and the evidence is stronger for some groups than others.

A 2026 meta-analysis of 31 randomized trials (2,277 people) found better sleep quality and lower anxiety after PMR, with very large differences between trials (I² 92% for sleep) ^[1]. A second 2026 meta-analysis of 14 studies (957 people) found a benefit for adults under 55 but no significant improvement at 55 and older, and the number of sessions did not predict the effect ^[9]. In cancer patients, a 2024 review rated the evidence for sleep and fatigue "low certainty" and for anxiety "very low" ^[10]. In 60 healthy students, 20 minutes of recorded PMR raised self-reported relaxation compared with no intervention ^[11].

For chronic insomnia, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine conditionally suggests relaxation therapy; its strong recommendation is for multicomponent cognitive behavioral therapy ^[12]. PMR is a reasonable skill to try.

Is PMR good for anxiety and insomnia?

It may help with both, but the evidence for insomnia is a conditional recommendation, and the anxiety results vary a lot between trials. The AASM guideline: "We suggest that clinicians use relaxation therapy as a single-component therapy for the treatment of chronic insomnia disorder in adults. (CONDITIONAL)" ^[12]. The guideline names relaxation therapy, not PMR alone, and conditional means the evidence is weaker than for CBT for insomnia.

For anxiety, a 2024 systematic review of 46 publications covering more than 3,402 adults concluded that PMR reduced stress, anxiety and depression, though it did not pool the results into one number ^[13]. The 2026 meta-analysis found lower anxiety too, again with high variation between trials ^[1]. If sleep trouble or anxiety lasts, talk to a doctor.

Who shouldn't do PMR, and possible downsides

If tensing a muscle hurts, skip it; if you have an injury, long-term muscle pain or a medical condition, ask your doctor first. Use these rules:

• If a muscle hurts when you tense it, skip that group, or tense it at half strength.
• If your calf or foot cramps, release at once, stretch gently, and tense less next time.
• If your neck is sore or injured, leave out the neck group.
• If relaxing makes you feel anxious or strange, stop and breathe normally. Some people report this; researchers call it relaxation-induced anxiety ^[14][15]. We found no figures on how common it is.
• If you have just eaten a large meal or had alcohol, wait ^[2].

Safety data are thin. A 2023 review of PMR in COVID-19 (4 studies, 227 people) noted that one study reported worsening in 1 patient, and the authors said there was indecision about safety and long-term effects ^[16]. Questions about muscle relaxants or other medicines belong with your doctor.

Where PMR comes from

PMR was developed by the American physician Edmund Jacobson, whose book Progressive Relaxation appeared in 1929 ^[17]. His original method took many sessions and dozens of muscle groups. Bernstein and Borkovec cut it to 16 groups in 1973 ^[3].

Printable PMR script

A one-page printable version is free and needs no sign-up: the printable PMR script lists all 16 groups with the how-to line and the timing.

Frequently asked questions