How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation Handout

How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation Handout Overview

We hold a lot of physical tension in our bodies, especially when we’re distressed. This handout helps you engage in (or lead someone through) paired muscle relaxation, a specific type of progressive muscle relaxation from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in which releasing tension is paired with exhalation and repetition of the word “relax.”

In this handout, we’ll:

• Provide a brief introductory description of the goal of paired muscle relaxation
• Provide prompts for tensing each of 16 muscle groups
• Provide recommendations for practicing PMR with increasingly large sets of muscles

Feel free to use this handout to lead your own PMR meditation. Or, if you’d prefer a scripted version, check out our written script and accompanying guided progressive muscle relaxation meditation on YouTube.