Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Dimension: Mindset · Type: Foundation

A tense-and-release sequence through the major muscle groups: hands, shoulders and neck, face and jaw, legs and feet. Five seconds of contraction, then release. Reduces the muscular hypervigilance that uncertainty produces.

Introduced by Susanne Baberg (Senior Psychologist, OSCE Occupational Safety and Health Unit) at the Activating Inner Resources in Uncertain Times session of the UN Inter-Agency Career Week 2026, on 8 May 2026, as the active-tension companion to the body scan and as a specific response to the muscular hypervigilance that uncertainty produces. The underlying technique is Edmund Jacobson’s Progressive Relaxation (1929), one of the most empirically supported relaxation techniques in clinical psychology.

The framework

PMR is built on the contrast between contraction and release. The release is felt more clearly when preceded by deliberate tension. For someone whose body is heavily activated, PMR is often the easier of the two body-based tools to start with, because doing-mode is more familiar than being-mode. Once PMR has discharged the most acute muscle tension, the body scan can land more effectively.

When to use it

• When uncertainty is showing up in the body: back pain, clenched jaw, teeth grinding at night, neck stiffness, gripping the mouse.
• Before bed when the day’s residue is keeping you awake.
• After a difficult meeting or a stressful piece of news, to discharge what the body absorbed.
• During the anxiety stage of a William Bridges transition, as a daily practice.
• As a 60- to 90-second mid-day reset between meetings (short version: hands, shoulders, jaw).

What you need

Five to fifteen minutes (full version), or 60 to 90 seconds (short version). A position you can hold without strain: seated upright with feet on the floor, or lying down. Standing also works. Privacy enough to make funny faces during the jaw segment without self-consciousness. One full breath cycle of warm-up before starting.

How it differs from the body scan

The Body Scan is observe-only: notice sensation, do not try to change anything. PMR is the active-tension companion: deliberately contract a muscle group, hold for five seconds, then release. Both can sit in the same routine; they do different work.

The sequence

Five major regions, in this order. Each contraction is held for five seconds; release should be slow, not abrupt; pause for several breaths after each release before moving on.

1. Hands and arms. Make tight fists. Squeeze your forearms, biceps, and shoulders into the contraction. Hold five seconds. Release. Let your arms hang heavy. Notice the warmth flowing back. Stay for several breaths.
2. Shoulders and neck. Lift your shoulders toward your ears. Hold five seconds. Drop them down, more than the resting position. Then gently press the back of your head against the chair behind you. Hold five seconds. Release. Stay for several breaths.
3. Face and jaw. Squeeze your eyes shut, wrinkle your nose, clench your jaw tightly. Hold five seconds. Release. Let the face go slack. Notice the unclenching of the jaw specifically, which most people carry tension in without awareness. Stay for several breaths.
4. Legs and feet. Press your heels into the floor, contract your thighs and calves, curl your toes. Hold five seconds. Release. Let the legs go heavy. Stay for several breaths.
5. Whole-body close. One slow breath in, one slightly longer breath out. Notice the body as a whole. Notice the difference from when you started.

The session’s run-through covered hands, shoulders and neck, and face and jaw, then closed for time. The full version with legs is the standard. The short version (hands, shoulders, jaw, close) is the 60- to 90-second reset.

Steps

1. Take a comfortable position. Seated or lying down. Both feet on the floor if seated.
2. One warm-up breath cycle. In, out. Notice you are about to start.
3. Run the five regions in order. Five seconds tense, slow release, pause for several breaths before the next region.
4. Do not skip the pauses between regions. The release is where the regulation happens. Rushing through removes most of the value.
5. Close. One longer exhale, whole-body awareness, open your eyes.

Worked example

A staff member runs PMR before a difficult meeting at 14:30.

She sits, both feet on the floor, hands on her legs. One slow breath in, one slow breath out.

Hands: makes tight fists, squeezes the arms tight. Hold. Releases. The warmth in her hands is striking. She did not realise how much she had been gripping. Stays for a few breaths.

Shoulders and neck: lifts her shoulders to her ears. Hold. Drops them. They are noticeably lower than where she had been carrying them. Then presses the back of her head against the chair behind her. Hold. Release.

Face and jaw: squeezes her eyes shut, wrinkles her nose, clenches her jaw. Hold. Releases. Her jaw, which she had not realised was clenched, goes slack. The relief there is the biggest of the sequence.

Legs and feet (she has time for the full version): presses her heels into the floor, contracts her thighs and calves, curls her toes. Hold. Release. Heavy.

Whole-body close: one longer breath out. Notices that her shoulders, jaw, and hands are all softer than when she started. Three minutes have passed. The next meeting will be different.

On the muscular signal of uncertainty

The body holds tension that the mind has not consciously named. Common signs:

• Back pain, especially lower and upper back.
• Clenched jaw and teeth grinding (often at night, sometimes during the day).
• Neck stiffness and shoulder tension.
• Forearm tightness (gripping the mouse).
• Headaches, especially tension headaches around the forehead and temples.

These are not separate problems to address one by one; they are the muscular expression of sustained vigilance. PMR addresses the muscular expression directly, and often produces relief more quickly than cognitive tools alone.

Pitfalls

• Holding the contraction too long or too hard. Five seconds at moderate intensity. Strain or pain is not the goal. If you have any joint or muscle injury, modify or skip the affected region.
• Rushing through. The pause between regions is where the regulation happens. Without the pause, you are just doing isometric exercise.
• Treating it as physical training. PMR is for regulation, not strength. Light to moderate contraction is enough.
• Doing it once and concluding it does not work. The first one or two sessions sometimes feel mechanical. The relief becomes more reliable with repetition.
• Skipping the jaw region because it feels awkward. The jaw is often where the most tension lives, especially in people who grind their teeth at night.
• Using it as a substitute for clinical care. PMR is a self-help regulation tool. If you have chronic pain, persistent insomnia, or severe physical symptoms, see a healthcare professional.

When not to use it

When you have an acute injury or muscle strain in any of the regions. Modify or skip. PMR should not produce pain.

When you are in acute panic. Strong contractions can intensify panic responses. In that case, an external-anchor exercise (5-4-3-2-1 senses) is safer.

When you are driving, operating machinery, or in any setting where the temporary inattention during contraction is unsafe.

Resources

The UNDP wellbeing portal at https://wellbeingundp.org has guided audio versions; the OSCE Mental Health Library (internal) has further recordings.

How I use it

Personal note pending. Davide to fill.

Related frameworks

• Body Scan, the observe-only companion. Use PMR to discharge muscular tension and the body scan to track what the body is carrying afterwards.
• One-Minute Inner Reset, the five-step in-the-moment routine that complements PMR at a smaller timescale.
• William Bridges Transitional Model, the curve that tells you when body-based regulation is the right priority.
• Accurate Thinking, the cognitive tool that becomes more available once the body has settled.

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Notes compiled by Davide Piga. Last updated 2026-05-09.