According to research carried out by scholars from three American universities, progressive muscle relaxation, a technique of contracting and relaxing the muscles of the body can help people to have a deeper, more peaceful sleep and restorative.
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What do the studies say?
According to information present in the article published in the Journal of Sleep Research by researchers from the universities of California, Irvine and Princeton, this technique, also known as PMR (from the acronym in English), can be more efficient than the recommendation of listening to relaxing music at bedtime.
Thus, progressive muscle relaxation is widely used to treat symptoms of anxiety and muscle pain. Individuals who practice the technique turn their attention to specific muscles to be able to feel the states of relaxation and muscle contraction.
The evidence analyzed
Scholars were able to analyze the sleep of 50 people during an afternoon nap. Some of them followed the recommendations of a ten-minute PMR video, and the others listened to ten minutes of classical music.
After that, each group showed distinct patterns of brain rhythm during rest. Those who followed the progressive muscle relaxation technique before falling asleep were able to produce greater right-side sleep rhythm brain activity. Such an action is expected from more rested people.
Thus, it can be concluded that this group achieved a 125% deeper sleep and a better resting pattern than individuals who listened to classical music before going to sleep.
“The PMR may provide pre-sleep restoration benefits that normally occur during the night and possibly allow sleepers to focus their support on other functions, benefiting general health and cognition, such as memory formation or emotional health”, explained one of the main authors of the article, Katharine Simon.
The scientist was very enthusiastic about the ability of such a simple technique, which can be performed at home. just by watching tutorial videos, becoming a great ally for those who feel difficulty to sleep.
“There are tons of free scripts online. People can watch videos or listen to audio versions, all of which will guide you through the steps of tightening specific muscles in your body. Closing your fists and squeezing them tightly for 10 seconds and then releasing them causes the muscle to be more relaxed than before the initial strain.”
