The One Exercise you Need to Reduce Anxiety

If you are struggling with anxiety, and have looked into some of the potential treatments, you’ll likely have noticed just how many different options are available. The good news is that many of these are highly effective for a lot of people – whether this is mindfulness meditation, psychological counselling, lifestyle changes or stress management. The bad news is that it can be difficult to know where to start. If it’s an option for you to visit a counsellor or Psychologist, then that might be the best place to start; they may be able to give you a formal diagnosis and a treatment plan based on the details of your personality, history and life circumstances. That said, there is one exercise that is almost universally used for anxiety treatment – and that you can do right now, with or without the help of a mental health professional. Curious? Let us tell you a bit about Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR. 

What is Progressive Muscle Relaxation? 

PMR is a widely used anxiety and stress management intervention, and involves clenching and releasing the muscles in different areas of your body. This mimics the anxiety response of tensing muscles, but is different in that the muscle areas are then released, unlike the anxiety response. PMR is a bit different from other anxiety treatments in that it focuses entirely on the body, rather than talking about the thoughts or feelings you might be having. PMR is thought to work so well because it operates on our parasympathetic nervous system – the functioning of our bodies that happens automatically, without us even noticing. When we tense and release our muscles systematically (more on that below), it sends powerful messages to our brain that we are safe and can relax physically. As a result, this can make a huge difference in how we feel.

How does it work? 

There are different ways to do PMR (and you can learn more from doing the guided exercise in Mind Ease), but one good place to start is to sit comfortably and take some deep breaths, with your eyes closed. You can then start by clenching the muscles in your feet for five seconds, and then release them for five – and move up your body, clenching and releasing your ankles, calves, thighs, ect. Once you reach the top of your head, you can repeat the process but this time in reverse: going down your body – from your head, neck, shoulders, ect. The exercise in Mind Ease has more detailed instructions and can be played as audio – so you can really focus on the exercise. Once you’ve done a couple of rounds of PMR, you’re done! After even one or two minutes of doing this exercise, people report feeling calmer, more relaxed and comfortable. 

Why is PMR helpful for anxiety? 

PMR works so well because it operates on the same body system as anxiety does – and so by doing PMR, you’re impacting your anxiety symptoms directly. While a stressful situation or anxiety trigger is kicking your system into ‘threat mode’, PMR is working to relax your body and send safety messages to your brain.

How can I fit it into my day?

Often when people are anxious, they find it difficult or inconvenient to reach for something that helps them feel calmer. For example, they may feel like the last thing they want is talking to someone about it, or writing down their anxious thoughts. You may find PMR easier to do because it can be done subtly (eg. in a meeting or on the train), quickly (it works within one or two minutes), and it doesn’t take much effort! 

You might also benefit from using the exercise on a daily basis as part of your self care routine – especially if you know you are going to have a busy day. For example, you could do PMR before bed, since it is likely to help you get into a restful and relaxed state of mind as you go to sleep. 

How can Mind Ease help? 

As we’ve mentioned, Mind Ease has a user-friendly PMR exercise. The app will also check your mood before and after the exercise, to help you assess how much better it made you feel. In fact, Mind Ease does that for all its calming exercises, and also allows you to keep track of your exercise history, so you’ll know which ones worked the best for you. Mind Ease also has a number of other exercises that help to lower anxiety – like PMR, they work on your mind and body to help lower the discomfort associated with feelings of anxiety. 

If you’d like reliable relief from anxiety, you can install Mind Ease for free here.