Murrell Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique

This technique has evolved over 30 years to become the standard for reducing anxiety whether during the day because of a traumatic moment or at night to aid in getting to sleep. The script below is used by my client to provide them with a program that they can record, in their own voice, to play back to themselves as needed. The individual sentence target specific body areas and when they are repeated three times at a slow soft voice they have the effect of increasing the relaxation response. Most people have heard of the Stress Response (also known as Fight Flight, Flight or Freeze Response) but fewer have heard of The Relaxation Response which is the exact opposite of the Stress Response. In short, the Stress Response amps up your body with increased adrenaline, cortisol, heart rate, muscle tension and elevated blood pressure. All this activity is to prepare you to either aggressively fight the threat, flee the threat by running away and leaving, or freezing and hoping that your enemy will not notice you standing still. The Relaxation Response on the other hand, slow everything down. That means your heart rate slow down, your blood pressure comes down, your lungs breath more slowly and deeply, and you begin to experience a deep emotional calm. This response is very useful in the treatment of anxiety and can be learned on your own with intensive practice. So to begin to benefit from this technique record this script in your own voice. As you read each phrases slowly and deliberately read it outloud. Repeat each phrase three times before moving on to the phrase.