Before the exercises | Progressive muscle relaxation

Before the exercises

As already mentioned above, you should try to create a noise-free environment before the exercise. Turn off your phone, close the window and check your diary to see if you have enough free time. You do not have to lie down while doing the exercise, but you can if it is more comfortable for you.

Experience shows that it is often easier for beginners to do the first exercises lying down.For relaxation while sitting, a normal, sufficiently comfortable chair is completely sufficient. Since the aim of the exercise is relaxation, you should get rid of all superfluous things that could disturb relaxation for the duration of the exercise. Conceivable here would be shoes that are too tight, glasses that could slip off your nose and maybe the belt that cuts into your nose.

It is also important to have an environment in which a comfortable temperature prevails. Some people need an almost desert-like climate, whereas others need a very cool environment to find peace and quiet. Often the question also arises whether the exercise should be performed with closed or open eyes.

In principle, both are conceivable here. From my personal experience, I can say that the “pictorial imagination”, which is part of the exercise, seems to be easier with closed eyes. The duration of the exercises varies.

Basically, the more experienced the practitioner is, the shorter the time required. The exercise instructions we have prepared have a duration of about 26 minutes for beginners and about 14 minutes for advanced students. The ultimate goal for the practitioner is to achieve the desired relaxation in stressful situations (exams, job interviews or standing in traffic jams etc.) in a few minutes even without instruction.

Implementation

The first exercises should always be done under supervision. If you do the exercises later without instruction, you should always take care not to over- or tense the muscle groups you are working with. Under no circumstances should you experience cramps or even pain.

This is especially true for muscle groups that are already in pain. Progressive muscle relaxation is about an improved body perception and not about a physiotherapeutic or physiotherapeutic measure! From time to time patients tell us: “I can’t do this at all.

Whenever I try to relax, my thoughts drift away… to my purchases, my husband, my girlfriend, my sports club etc… “At first, this is perfectly ok. The majority of people in our society are trained to function and cannot simply interrupt their (mental) daily routine. The most important thing with these shooting thoughts is to stay calm.

One should neither panic nor feel excessive anger about it, because there is no one who can relax in an angry state. Rather, the train of thought should go in the direction of: “Okay, now I’ve thought about it, so let’s get back to my relaxation image. “or “Okay, now I’m going to go back to the exact muscle group I’m working with.

“This acceptance of the digressive thoughts, with simultaneous centering on the desired point, is, by the way, a central theme in meditation. Here too, you will notice that frequent practice leads to a significant reduction in distracting thoughts and to faster centering. At the end of the exercise, even after following the instructions, you should once again mentally wander through the groups of muscles you have just traveled through, in order to visualize the relaxation once more.