Your body holds stress and anxiety in your muscles, often without you realising it. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) gives you a systematic way to find that tension, release it deliberately, and teach your nervous system that relaxation is possible. It's one of the most evidence-backed tools in addiction recovery and stress management.
🎯 Guided PMR Session
Choose your session length, find a comfortable position, seated or lying down, and press Start. The timer will guide you through each muscle group.
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Find a comfortable position and press Start when ready.
Select a session and press Start
Before you begin: Silence your phone. Sit in a chair with feet flat on the floor, or lie down. Close your eyes if comfortable. Breathe naturally throughout. If any muscle group causes pain, skip it and move on.
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How PMR works
Each step has two parts: Tense (hold for ~7 seconds, you should feel real tension but no pain) then Release (let go completely and notice the contrast for ~15–20 seconds). The contrast between tension and release is what trains your nervous system.
📋 Complete PMR Muscle Sequence
Work through these 14 muscle groups in order. Tense each group for 7 seconds, release, and rest for 20 seconds before moving on. Print this page to use without a screen.
1
Hands & Forearms
↑ Make tight fists with both hands, squeeze hard
Hold for 7 seconds. Release and notice the warmth spreading into your fingers. Rest 20 seconds.
2
Biceps
↑ Curl both arms up, flex your biceps hard
Hold for 7 seconds. Lower your arms and let them feel heavy and loose. Rest 20 seconds.
3
Shoulders
↑ Shrug both shoulders up toward your ears
Hold for 7 seconds. Drop your shoulders, really let them fall. Most people carry enormous tension here. Rest 20 seconds.
4
Forehead
↑ Raise your eyebrows as high as they'll go
Hold for 7 seconds. Smooth your forehead. Feel your scalp loosen. Rest 20 seconds.
5
Eyes & Nose
↑ Scrunch your eyes and nose tightly together
Hold for 7 seconds. Gently release and let your face open. Rest 20 seconds.
6
Jaw
↑ Clench your teeth and press your lips together firmly
Hold for 7 seconds. Let your jaw drop slightly, lips barely parted. The jaw is a major stress-holding area. Rest 20 seconds.
7
Neck
↑ Press your head gently back, like pushing against a headrest
Hold for 7 seconds. Release and let your neck be fully supported. Skip this one if you have neck problems. Rest 20 seconds.
8
Chest
↑ Take a deep breath and hold it, chest fully expanded
Hold for 7 seconds. Exhale slowly and let your chest sink. Notice the release spreading into your lungs. Rest 20 seconds.
9
Stomach
↑ Pull your stomach in tight, like bracing for a punch
Hold for 7 seconds. Release fully, let your belly be completely soft. Rest 20 seconds.
10
Lower Back
↑ Gently arch your lower back, creating a small curve
Hold for 7 seconds. Return to neutral. Skip this if you have back pain. Rest 20 seconds.
11
Hips & Glutes
↑ Squeeze your glutes together as tightly as you can
Hold for 7 seconds. Release completely, feel the surface beneath you holding your weight. Rest 20 seconds.
12
Thighs
↑ Press your knees together and tighten your thighs
Hold for 7 seconds. Let your legs fall open slightly and go heavy. Rest 20 seconds.
13
Calves
↑ Pull your toes toward your shins, flexing your calves
Hold for 7 seconds. Let your feet drop and feel warmth in your calves. Rest 20 seconds.
14
Feet
↑ Curl your toes downward and tense your whole foot
Hold for 7 seconds. Spread your toes and let the release travel up through your legs. Rest 20 seconds. You're done.
Closing the session: After the final muscle group, spend 2–3 minutes simply breathing and noticing how your body feels. Compare your current state to how you felt before you began. That difference is your nervous system learning.
🔬 Why PMR works in recovery
Progressive Muscle Relaxation has been studied for over 90 years. The evidence for its benefits in addiction recovery is substantial and growing.
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Reduces stress-triggered craving
Stress is one of the most reliable craving triggers in addiction. PMR directly targets the physiological stress response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, sometimes called "rest and digest", which counteracts the "fight or flight" state that drives craving intensity. Multiple studies have found significant reductions in craving ratings following PMR sessions.
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Improves sleep quality
Sleep disruption is nearly universal in early recovery and significantly increases relapse risk. PMR done before bed reduces the time it takes to fall asleep and increases deep sleep stages. For people in withdrawal or post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS), where sleep problems can persist for months, regular PMR practice can meaningfully reduce the severity of sleep disruption.
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Decreases anxiety symptoms
Anxiety disorders co-occur with substance use disorders at very high rates, estimates suggest 45–60% of people with SUD have a co-occurring anxiety condition. PMR is classified as an evidence-based intervention for anxiety by multiple clinical bodies. Regular practice reduces both baseline anxiety levels and acute anxiety responses, making it particularly valuable for people managing both anxiety and addiction.
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Builds interoceptive awareness
Interoception is the ability to notice and interpret physical sensations in your own body. Many people in recovery have reduced interoceptive awareness, they've spent years using substances to manage internal states rather than noticing them. PMR trains this awareness directly, which helps with emotion recognition, distress tolerance, and knowing when you need support before a crisis arrives.
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Creates a learnable relaxation response
With regular practice, the relaxation response that PMR produces becomes conditioned, meaning shorter, abbreviated versions trigger the same response. After 4–6 weeks of regular practice, many people can achieve significant relaxation with a 5-minute abbreviated session, or even by tensing and releasing just one muscle group as a rapid intervention during a stressful moment.
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Reduces reliance on substances for relaxation
Many people describe their substance use as the only effective way to relax or turn off the mental noise. PMR provides an alternative relaxation mechanism that the person owns entirely, it requires no prescription, no money, and no outside resource. This autonomy over relaxation is therapeutically significant. It directly addresses the "I can't relax without it" belief that can maintain addiction.
"Progressive relaxation techniques are not a complement to addiction treatment. When practiced consistently, they address three of the most common relapse drivers simultaneously: stress, anxiety, and sleep problems."
💡 Getting the most from PMR practice
PMR is a skill, not just a technique. Like any skill, it improves with practice, and the benefits compound over time.
Daily practice matters more than perfect sessions
A 15-minute daily session done consistently produces far greater benefit than a 30-minute session done occasionally. The nervous system learns through repetition, not intensity. Choose a specific daily time, morning before breakfast, or bedtime are the two most common, and protect that time as you would a meeting or a medication schedule.
Don't skip muscle groups you can't feel
If you tense a muscle group and can't feel much difference when you release it, that group may carry chronic low-level tension that you've stopped noticing. Don't skip it, that desensitisation is often the group that needs the most attention. Continue visiting it in each session. Sensation will return with practice.
Keep the tension uncomfortable, not painful
You should feel genuine tension during the tense phase, about 70–80% of your maximum. It should be slightly uncomfortable but never painful. If a muscle group hurts even at low tension, skip it and mention it to your doctor or physical therapist.
Note which muscle groups hold the most tension
Most people discover consistent patterns, shoulders and jaw are common high-tension areas, as are hands. Once you know your personal tension pattern, you can do targeted 2–3 minute interventions during stressful situations focusing only on those groups without running the full sequence.
Combine PMR with breathwork
PMR and diaphragmatic breathing reinforce each other. A simple combination: inhale slowly as you tense each muscle group, hold the breath during the tension phase, then exhale slowly as you release. This adds the parasympathetic benefits of controlled breathing to the physical relaxation effect. The breathing exercise timer covers several techniques that pair well with PMR.
Use the Craving SOS session specifically for cravings
The Craving SOS session in the guided player is designed specifically for high-craving moments. It includes cue phrases that address the psychological dimension of craving while the physical relaxation works on the physiological dimension. Use it the moment a craving begins, before it peaks, rather than waiting until you're at maximum intensity. A craving that has been running for 10 minutes is harder to interrupt than one you catch immediately.
Track your before-and-after states
Rate your tension level from 0–10 before and after each PMR session. Over time, this reveals your baseline trend and reinforces the efficacy of the practice when motivation flags. Use the stress level tracker to log this alongside your other daily check-in data.
PMR works even if you fall asleep
A common concern is falling asleep mid-session. If this happens at bedtime, it's a success, your nervous system relaxed enough to sleep, which is one of PMR's primary goals. If you're practicing at other times and falling asleep is a problem, try practicing seated rather than lying down, and keep your eyes slightly open.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation in addiction recovery: what to know
Progressive Muscle Relaxation was developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson in the 1920s and remains one of the most studied relaxation techniques in clinical psychology. Its core premise is elegantly simple: by deliberately tensing and then releasing specific muscle groups, you can produce a deep state of physical relaxation and, through physical relaxation, achieve a corresponding reduction in psychological tension.
In the context of addiction recovery, PMR addresses several of the most common recovery challenges simultaneously. Stress is the most frequently cited relapse trigger, and PMR directly reduces the physiological stress response. Anxiety, which co-occurs with substance use disorders at very high rates, responds well to regular PMR practice, with studies showing significant reductions in both trait anxiety (baseline anxiety levels) and state anxiety (situational anxiety). Sleep disruption, which can persist for months in early recovery, is significantly reduced by regular pre-sleep PMR practice.
The technique also addresses something that is less often discussed in recovery: the loss of access to natural relaxation. Many people in recovery describe substances as the only thing that reliably quieted their minds or relaxed their bodies. PMR offers an alternative that the person owns entirely, requires no external resources, and actually works. The subjective experience of achieving genuine physical relaxation through a deliberate, sober practice, and knowing that you produced it yourself, is therapeutically significant beyond the physiological effects. Use the daily check-in dashboard to track how your tension and anxiety levels change with regular PMR practice over your first 30 days.
A note for people in early recovery: Sitting quietly with your own body can feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you've spent years using substances to avoid internal sensations. If PMR sessions produce anxiety rather than reducing it, that's worth knowing and worth discussing with your therapist. A trauma-informed therapist may recommend a modified version of PMR, or suggest working up to full-body sessions gradually. The discomfort typically reduces with practice, but you don't need to push through significant distress to benefit.
People also ask about progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a body-based relaxation technique that involves systematically tensing individual muscle groups for 7–10 seconds and then releasing them completely. The contrast between tension and release activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your body's natural relaxation response, and produces measurable reductions in physical tension, anxiety, and stress hormones. Developed by Dr. Edmund Jacobson in the 1920s, it is now one of the most widely used relaxation techniques in clinical psychology and addiction treatment.
Yes. Research has found that PMR reduces both the subjective intensity of cravings and the physiological arousal that accompanies them. Cravings are partly driven by stress-system activation, and PMR interrupts that activation directly. It's most effective as an early intervention, used when a craving first emerges rather than after it has peaked. The Craving SOS session in the guided player is specifically designed for this purpose, with instruction cues that address both the physical and psychological dimensions of the craving experience.
Many people feel noticeably calmer after their very first PMR session. For lasting changes to baseline anxiety and stress reactivity, most research suggests consistent daily practice for 4 to 6 weeks. The conditioned relaxation response, where the body responds to partial or abbreviated PMR cues with rapid relaxation, typically develops after 3 to 4 weeks of regular practice. Think of it like physical exercise: the first session produces some benefit, but the real gains come from consistent practice over time.
PMR is not the best technique for the peak of a panic attack, because the tense phase can be difficult to execute when muscles are already involuntarily tense, and the instruction-following required may be too cognitively demanding in that state. Controlled breathing, specifically extended exhales, works better at the peak. However, a shortened PMR session as the panic attack begins to subside can help accelerate recovery and prevent re-escalation. The most valuable thing is to have practiced PMR regularly before a panic attack occurs, so the relaxation response is well-conditioned and accessible under pressure.