REST - Week 5
Weekly Sleep Topic
Weekly Integrative Sleep Technique Video
Patient Sleep Resources
Weekly Sleep Topic
When you’re feeling stressed, the last thing you want to do is invite more tension and it’s well known that stress interferes with sleep. One great way to relieve tension is to immediately follow it with relaxation. This is how progressive muscle relaxation works. It’s a method used to reduce stress and improve sleep that involves focusing on specific muscle groups, tensing them up, and then relaxing them. If you’re stressed or have difficulty sleeping, this Monday or any day of the week, tense up – and then let go!
It may seem counterintuitive, but progressive muscle relaxation has been shown to help ease muscle tension (a common physical symptom of stress) and bring about deep relaxation. When your body relaxes, it will feel several effects such as a slower heart rate, deeper breathing, lower blood pressure, and increased blood flow to the brain, all of which can contribute to getting a good night’s sleep. The key to progressive muscle relaxation is focusing on individual muscle groups in the body, from toe to head or vice versa, and then gradually releasing the tension. It’s a simple way to calm your body and mind when you feel like stress is having an effect on your physical health.
Learning progressive muscle relaxation is simple, but some audio guidance can help you learn this skill to improve your sleep. Listening to an audio meditation can teach you the right way to relax your muscles a little bit at a time while incorporating deep breathing and mindfulness. You can continue to use the audio meditation or take what you’ve learned anywhere, whenever you need it including at bed time when going to sleep or even when you want to take a brief rest in an oncall room.
The audio meditation above will give you more detailed instruction on progressive muscle relaxation, but here is a basic how-to guide. You can even practice this sitting at a desk, in your bed, or in an oncall room!
- Get into a comfortable position.
- Take a few deep breaths to clear your head.
- Beginning with your right foot, concentrate on how it feels. For five to 10 seconds, tense up the muscles in your foot.
- Release the tension. Focus on how good it feels to let the tension melt Allow your foot to go completely loose.
- Take a brief moment to exist in this relaxed state.
- Repeat this for the following muscles groups, one at a time:
- Right foot, then left foot
- Right calf, then left calf
- Right thigh, then left thigh
- Hips and buttocks
- Stomach
- Chest
- Back
- Right arm and hand, then left arm and hand
- Neck and shoulders
- Face
Carrying tension in your muscles is one way stress can affect your physical health and interfere with sleep. This Monday, learn how to use and apply this valuable practice to improve your sleep throughout the week!
Weekly Patient Sleep Resources
Click here to download the Acupressure for Sleep PDF.
Epic Smartphrase: .AcupressureSleep
Click here to download the Progressive Muscle Relaxation graphic.
Epic Smartphrase: .ProgressiveMuscleRelaxationSleep