Mental and Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Body, Soul, and Baby: A Doctor's Guide to the Complete Pregnancy Experience, From Preconception to Postpartum
by Tracey W. Gaudet, M.D., Paula Spencer

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Mental Muscle Relaxation

1. Sit or lie in a comfortable and quiet place with your body fully supported by a chair or the floor. (Do not lie on your back after the fourth month of pregnancy.) Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths: deep inhale, deep exhale.

2. Begin at the top of your head, with your scalp and your forehead, noticing whether there is any tension there. Give it permission to let go.

3. Progress down your body, from head to toe, mentally assessing the muscles along the way and then mentally releasing any tension you find. Move from your head to your neck, your shoulders, your upper arms and lower arms, your fingers, all the way down your spinal column, around to your chest, your belly, your hips, your buttocks, your thighs, your knees, your calves, the arches of your feet, your toes. Let the tension go with your mind.

4. Take all the time you need. If there are places that still seem to be holding tension after you finish, return there. Only when you feel completely relaxed should you slowly bring your attention back to the present.

Try progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). Instead of patrolling for tension and then mentally letting it go, as you do in mental muscle relaxation, in this exercise you actually tense the muscle and then physically release it. PMR helps make you more aware of when your muscles are tensed and can help invite the relaxation response in your body.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

1. Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, on a firm but soft surface such as a soft carpet or a workout mat. (A bed is too soft.) After the fourth month of pregnancy, you should sit in a chair that supports your head and neck. Loosen any tight clothing and remove your shoes.

2. Ideally, when you are first learning this exercise, you should have someone slowly read the instructions below to you, or make a tape of them for yourself.

3. First, tense the muscles throughout your body, from head to toe. Tighten your feet and your legs, tense your arms, and clench your jaw. Pull in your stomach. Hold the tension while you sense the feelings of strain and tightness. Notice the difference between how this feels and how the muscle feels when it is relaxed. Notice that as you tense the muscles, you most likely naturally hold your breath. Hold it for a few seconds more, and exhale long and slowly as you relax all your muscles, letting the tension go. Notice the sense of relief as you relax.

4. Now you will tense and relax individual major muscle groups. Keep the rest of your body as relaxed as you can. You will hold the tension for a few seconds until you get a clear sense of what the tension feels like. Then inhale deeply, hold the breath, and release the tension as you exhale.

5. Start by making your hands into tight fists. Feel the tension through your hands and arms. Relax and release the tension. Now press your arms against the surface they're resting on. Feel the tension. Hold it ... and let it go. Let your arms and hands go limp.

6. Shrug your shoulders up tight, toward your head, feeling the tension through your neck and shoulders. Hold ... and release. Drop your shoulders down, free of tension.

7. Now wrinkle your forehead, sensing the tightness. Hold ... and let it go so your forehead is smooth and released. Shut your eyes as tightly as you can. Hold ... and let it go. Now open your mouth as wide as you can. Hold ... and let it go, letting your lips gently touch. Then clench your jaw, teeth tight together. Hold ... and relax. Let the muscles of your face be at ease.

8. Take a few moments to tense your arms and shoulders, up through your face. Now take a deep breath, filling your lungs down through your abdomen. Hold your breath while you feel the tension through your chest. Then exhale and let your chest relax, your breath natural and easy. Suck in your stomach, holding the muscles tight ... and relax. Arch your back ... hold ... and ease your back down gently, letting it relax. Feel the relaxation spreading through your whole upper body.

9. Now tense your hips and buttocks, pressing your legs and heels against the surface beneath you. Hold ... and relax. Curl your toes down so that they point away from your knees. Hold ... and relax, letting the tension go from your legs and feet. Then bend your toes back up toward your knees. Hold ... and relax.

10. Now feel your whole body at rest, letting go of more tension with each breath. Your face relaxed and soft ... your arms and shoulders loose ... stomach, chest, and back relaxed ... your legs and feet resting at ease ... your whole body calm and relaxed.

11. Take time to enjoy this state of relaxation for several minutes, feeling the deep calm and peace. When you're ready to get up, move slowly, first sitting, and then standing up gradually.

Take a mental vacation. This is one of my favorites! Get relaxed using any technique you like and then let an image come to mind of a place where you feel completely at ease and safe. It may be a place you've been before, or a place you have never been but would like to go, or an imaginary world that does not exist. Notice every detail about the scene with each of your senses: What do you see, smell, hear, feel, and taste? Who else, if anyone, is there? Spend as much time as you would like in the scene. Relax and enjoy it. And best of all, know that you can go back anytime you wish. When you feel ready, slowly return your attention to the reality around you - and don't be surprised when your body actually feels like you have been on vacation!

Copyright © 2007 by Tracy Gaudet

About the Author

Tracey W. Gaudet, M.D., is director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine at Duke University Medical School and a practicing, board-certified Ob-Gyn. She was the founding executive director of Dr. Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Gaudet received her M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine. A noted expert on women's health issues, she's been featured on Oprah, ABC News' 20/20, and the Arts and Entertainment network. She and her husband, Dr. Richard Liebowitz, live in Durham, North Carolina.

Paula Spencer specializes in health and family subjects for Woman's Day, Glamour, Parenting, Baby Talk, USA Weekend, and other publications. She is the author of four books on pregnancy and parenting, including Everything ELSE You Need to Know When You're Expecting.