Active relaxation: Progressive relaxation of Jacobsen

The paradox of relaxation: increase muscle tension to achieve relaxation

A lot of people are not aware of the continuous muscle tension in their body, due to their hectic life. As such, they lose the connection with their body and the actual sensation of relaxed muscles, which in turn makes it very difficult to actually relax them. Progressive relaxation, is based on the assumption that a muscle that is maximally tensed, will automatically relax a bit more if you let go. Moreover, your awareness of the different sensations will increase.Progressive relaxation is a physical entrance towards your stress system, but its effect goes beyond relaxed muscles: it influences your heart rate and cortisol (stress hormone) production as well. 

Progressive relaxation can be trained separately, but is usually part of the general stress management program of Brainwise.