Question

In what method for reducing stress does a health professional measure tension in the body’s muscles in response to certain stressors

Answer 1

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a physiological method, used by health professionals that is oriented towards rest, it is increasingly used in order to obtain relief from stressful factors, being considered one of the simplest and easiest methods utilization. It represents an active, participatory and dynamic method - which promotes the autonomy of the subject, since it is related to the individual's learning - which evaluates their tensions in specific muscle groups, to later relax them. This method has three phases:

• The first phase is called tension-relaxation. It involves tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups throughout your body, in order for you to learn to recognize the difference between a state of muscle tension and a state of muscle relaxation.

• The second phase consists of mentally reviewing the muscle groups, checking that they have relaxed to the maximum.

• The third phase is called mental relaxation. In which you should think of a possible pleasant and positive scene or keep your mind blank, it is about relaxing your mind while continuing to relax your entire body.

Thus, we can say that Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a method that favors deep relaxation with little effort, helping to reduce tension or stress in the muscles.