Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a method of relieving physical and mental tension by alternately tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. This technique is considered one of the simplest and most accessible relaxation methods to learn. The method was developed by physician and physiologist Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s, based on the discovery of a close link between muscle tension and a person’s emotional state. In experiments in 1922, Jacobson found that emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, and panic are accompanied by increased muscle tone, and that by eliminating this muscle tension one can achieve a calmer emotional state. In other words, relaxing the body leads to calming the nervous system, allowing it to regain balance.
Today, Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation has become widespread and is used by psychologists and physicians around the world to help people cope with stress and anxiety. The technique is appealing due to its simplicity and effectiveness: it requires no special equipment and can be practiced in almost any setting. Even after the first session, many people experience a noticeable decrease in muscular and emotional tension. With regular practice, a lasting positive effect can be achieved, manifested as improved well-being and greater resilience to stress.
History of Progressive Muscle Relaxation
The development of the progressive relaxation method was the result of many years of scientific research. Edmund Jacobson began studying the relationship between muscle tone and emotions as early as the 1900s, and he summarized his initial findings after about twenty years of research. In 1929, he published a foundational work titled Progressive Relaxation, in which he presented the theoretical basis and procedures of his method. For the general public, Jacobson prepared a popular version titled You Must Relax, published in 1934. These books laid the foundation for the progressive muscle relaxation method, describing a stepby-step training course in voluntarily relaxing all the major skeletal muscle groups.
Jacobson’s research continued in the subsequent decades. In the clinical physiology laboratory at the University of Chicago, he refined his technique, and by the 1960s the full training procedure included up to fifteen muscle groups and dozens of practice sessions. Jacobson originally envisioned a very intensive training course: each muscle segment was given from an hour to several hours of daily practice, and the full course comprised over 50 sessions. This approach allowed one to almost completely eliminate involuntary muscle tension and achieve deep relaxation, but it was very labor-intensive and impractical for mass use. In later years, other specialists adapted and simplified the technique. For example, in the 1960s psychologist Joseph Wolpe incorporated progressive relaxation into a behavioral therapy program (systematic desensitization) and cut the training down to a few 20-minute sessions with self-practice at home. Despite the reduction in training time, the basic principle remained the same – sequentially tensing and relaxing muscles under guided instructions, resulting in reduced anxiety and stress responses.
Jacobson’s method quickly gained recognition. The author himself reported that his technique helped with a wide range of disorders, from insomnia and stuttering to depression. In subsequent years, progressive muscle relaxation became firmly established in the arsenal of psychotherapy and self-regulation techniques. It was used both as an independent technique for relaxation and anxiety reduction, and as part of comprehensive programs (for example, to teach stress-management skills, in treating phobias and panic disorders, in rehabilitation of cardiac patients, etc.). Thus, the method’s journey from Jacobson’s initial experiments to its widespread use demonstrates the reliability and effectiveness of progressive relaxation, as confirmed by both clinical practice and scientific research.
